America’s Vision Essay

Fame, wealth, freedom, and success. Every person desires a life where riches, glory, or freedom surround them. Numerous people consider this dream the American dream, however, is it truly possible to achieve? Even those various immigrants who travel a great distance to come to America to live their own American dream shortly become intemperate people. The idea of the American dream is not attainable because people in general are exceedingly paradoxical and are constantly left yearning for more in a variety of ways. In the heartfelt story â€Å"America and Americans, Is the American Dream Even Possible,† by John Steinbeck, he wrote, â€Å"One of the generalities often noted about the Americans is that we are restless, a dissatisfied, a searching people† (Steinbeck 1). I feel that Steinbeck conveys a great deal of truth about American’s and how we live our lives. We all aspire to have something and once we acquire it we become discontent and strive to have more. For instance, a man work’s his whole life to become someone or something he truly is not and once he gets there he realizes that he wants more and longs to become more. In truth we all do what we want to and are searching for the greatest, but nothing ever seems to be good enough in our dissatisfied lives. Immigrants from all over the world arrive in America to pursue their own American dream. Whether they come for religious freedom, education, or just to obtain better lives, they quickly strive for more and more even though they have accomplished their intended goals. After residing in America for year’s they overlook the ways of their homeland customs and become drawn to the lives of American’s even when it is in opposition to their original traditions. In numerous ways they somewhat become brainwashed by American’s who live their lives not in reality but in idealism, and they attempt to live their life like them as well. However, once they return to their homelands after believing they have obtained their goals, they cannot figure out why their families and friends no longer wish to speak to them. They have altered and become intemperate people resembling us Americans and have brought back terrible habits and ways to their homelands that their people have despis ed in their customs for several years. American’s are truly paradoxical people who say one thing and do another. We  are constantly contradicting ourselves and others and cannot comprehend why we are so unhappy. We make every effort to achieve happiness but nothing ever seems to be good enough. John Steinbeck expresses that our priorities are extremely wrong in this quote, â€Å"Americans are remarkably kind and hospitable and open with both guests and strangers; yet they will make a wide circle around the man dying on the pavement. Fortunes are spent getting cats out of trees and dogs out of sewer pipes; but a girl screaming for help in the street draws only slammed doors, closed widows, and silence† (Steinbeck 1). Steinbeck puts across a serious point and I boldly agree that we Americans have our priorities twisted around. Ultimately, Americans have a large number of adjustments they will have to carry out before they will ever be able to achieve their American dream and be content. We are so full of dissatisfaction and failure to stick with our goals. We tread on friends and family who get in the way of our so called American dream, and after we believe we have attained it we are not sure as to why we are so miserable. If Americans can take that further step to transform, the American dream may become possible. However, until then the American dream will merely be an idea, not a possibility. Works Cited: 1. Steinbeck, John. † America and Americans, Is the American dream even possible.†

Supporting Good Practice in Performance and Reward Management

Supporting Good Practice in Performance and Reward Management 3PRM Activity 1 Performance management Performance Management is both a strategic (about broad issues and long-term goals) and an integrated (linking various aspects of the business, people management, individuals and teams) approach to delivering successful results in organisations by improving the performance and developing the capabilities of teams and individuals.Two main purposes of performance management are; * To help the employees in identifying the knowledge and skills required for performing the job efficiently as this would drive their focus towards performing the right task in the right way, which in turn helps work towards the business objectives as their tasks are generated and focussed around the organisations goals. Promoting a two way system of communication between the supervisors and the employees for clarifying expectations about the roles and accountabilities, communicating the functional and organisat ional goals, providing a regular and a transparent feedback for improving employee performance and continuous coaching and development. The most important stage and component of any performance management process which forms the basis of performance is Appraisals.Appraisal systems are a formal method of monitoring and reviewing individuals’ performance. This is important as they enable the individuals to gain a clear picture of how they are doing and to identify areas where they may need additional support or training. They also ensure that the work of the individual is focussed towards the overall objectives of the organisation and whether they are on track to meet their objectives they have been set. There are three main components of performance management; Planning – This is done in form of appraisals. Performance planning is jointly done by the appraisee and also the appraiser in the beginning of a performance session. During this period, both the manager and staf f decide upon the targets and the key performance areas which can be performed over the next year. * Monitoring – Regular monitoring of performance is one of the key component to performance management it is usually done in the form of informal appraisals and these should also occur though regular contact and one to ones.It gives an opportunity to monitor the achievements of objectives for staff, keeps a check on how the individual is getting on in relation to the tasks, identifies any problems which can prevent the individual from achieving their work objectives. * Review/evaluating – Managers should be giving feedback on a regular and continuing basis. This is the stage in which the employee acquires awareness from the appraiser about the areas of improvements and also information on whether the employee is contributing the expected levels of performance or not.The employee receives open feedback and along with this the training and development needs of the individua l is also identified. The appraiser adopts all the possible steps to ensure that the employee meets the expected outcomes for an organisation through guidance, mentoring and representing the employee in training programmes which develop the competencies and improve the overall productivity. This stage also is an opportunity for strengths to be identified and how these can be utilised to support the business objectives further. Motivation and performance managementThe relationship between motivation and performance management is a close one, they work along each other. Motivation is the key to an individual's degree of willingness to exert and maintain their efforts towards the organisational goals. Motivation levels are likely to have an effect on performance. If an individual has high motivation, it is likely to increase their performance. Although this may not always be the case. Here is a list of some of the things that motivate individuals; * Money * Reward schemes * Sense of ac hievement * The environment * Professional Development * Benefits Etc. There are many motivational theories here I will explain two of them. Herzberg’s two factor theory of motivation at the workplace shows the difference between two factors of motivation. The two factors being satisfiers, which are the main causes for job satisfaction (motivation), from hygiene factors which are the main causes for job dissatisfaction (demotivation to stay in the job). Examples of motivating factors are achievement, recognition, responsibility and the work itself. Hygiene factors include: working conditions, salary, relationship with colleagues, supervision, etc.An organisation needs to influence satisfiers through performance management using range of tools such as: job descriptions, supervision, performance appraisals, continuous development/training, rewards and career development. Maslow’s theory of motivation is called the â€Å"hierarchy of needs†. Maslow believes that pe ople have five main needs in the following order of importance; 1. Physiological – the need to eat, drink, sleep, reproduce. 2. Safety – the need for shelter and to feel secure. 3. Love/Belonging – the need to feel part of a group and to be accepted. . Esteem – the need to feel good about themselves and the need to be recognised for achievements. 5. Self-actualisation – the need for personal fulfilment and the need to grow and develop. Maslow's hierarchic theory is represented as a pyramid, with the lower levels representing the more fundamental needs, and the upper levels representing the growth/being needs, and ultimately the need for self-actualisation. According to the theory, the higher needs in the hierarchy become evident only after all the needs that are lower down in the pyramid are met. RewardsMost organisations use rewards within their performance management system to motivate individuals. Two main purposes they do this are; * To help at tract individuals – The better rewards that the organisation gives the more people are going to be attracted to work for them so more people will apply for jobs there. * Retain the individuals – Rewards for good performance is motivation for staff to stay with the organisation it helps make them feel valued in turn makes them work harder. Rewards are not just financial but non-financial too. Rewards can be things such as; * Pay rise/ bonus.Some bonuses are based on performance of an individual, the team or the organisation and is usually target / objective focused. * Recognition. This could be through increased responsibility, praise during one to ones, a certificate of recognition, etc. * Flexible hours and time off – This could be a generous holiday period or increased holiday to reward employees for long service. Also some organisations use flexible working as a reward. Data needed for managing performance All materials need to be prepared for managing perfor mance (appraisal meetings) these would include internal and external data, although most are internal.An internal piece of data for example would be if it was a sales organisation they would bring along the report for the percentage of sales the individual has made and this would be compared to the targets set. The comparison would show how well individual has done to meet these this would then be discussed in the next stage. Other examples would include notes agreed tasks and records of performance, achievements, incidents, reports, previous performance appraisal documents and a current job description.An example of an external piece of data would be benchmarking, where the manager would collect data from other organisations to analyse and compare the sales the individual has made, this would show how the employee's participation is developing not only themselves, but also the constitution as a whole, compared to the other organisations, earlier collected data from. Another example would be feedback from external customers or other organisations. Managing Performance The key aims of performance management are to continuously improve the performance of individuals and that of the organisation.It involves making sure that the performance of employees contributes to the goals of their teams and the business as a whole. Part of the management is to review the individuals performance whether it be good or poor performance. The aims of the meetings for performance management are to encourage and motivate not to undermine. Factors to be considered whilst managing good performance would be reward for the individuals’ performance, how to keep the individual motivated to keep up the good work and any training needs to help develop further.Factors to consider whilst managing poor performance would be thinking about how to deal with discussing the performance as these can be difficult conversations for managers, thinking about why the performance is poor and think ing about how to improve the individuals’ performance, what measures can be put in place and how this can monitored. Most organisations have their performance reviews at once a year in the form of appraisals and have 6 month reviews. Although managers should keep their staff informed of their performance and giving feedback throughout the whole year.This can be done through one to one’s or regular meetings. The purposes of the performance reviews are * to check how the team member is getting on in relation to the tasks and objectives agreed, * to identify any problems which may be preventing the individual from achieving their work objectives, * to highlight opportunities for improving work processes, * to build confidence and self-esteem within the individual * to plan future work, set tasks and agree objectives * to agree ways to support the individual in the future, * to discuss the individuals feedback and how they feel about their job.The process of appraisals App raisal systems vary in different organisations, some have standardised procedures, some have few guidelines and leave it to the manager to plan and implement. There are three main stages of an appraisal preparation, the meeting and the follow up. * Preparation – Both the manager and the individual need to prepare for the appraisal by reviewing the individuals performance including the overall performance, the quality of the work and checking if targets have been met. * The meeting – The manager needs to make sure that a suitable venue is planned and available, private and free from interruptions.Within the meeting the manager needs to set the tone which will influence whether the discussion is helpful to both manager and individual they need to make sure that the individual is relaxed. Then both the manager and individual going through the appraisal document discuss * Performance and identify areas of good performance and the weaker investigate the reasons for the weak ness and highlight the areas for improvement * clarifying, defining, redefining priorities and objectives making sure that they are specific to the organisations objectives * motivation through agreeing helpful aims and targets motivation though achievement and feedback * training needs and learning desires – assessment and agreement * identification of personal strengths * career and succession planning – personal and organisational * team roles clarification and team building * organisational training needs assessment and analysis * the individual and managers mutual awareness, understanding and relationship * reinforcing organisational philosophies, values, aims, strategies, priorities * additional responsibilities, employee growth and development * counselling and feedback * manager development The follow up is the review by the manager where they need to complete the documentation by writing up what had been discussed. Making sure that the write up is agreed and s igned by the individual. Managers need to keep continuous monitoring and evaluation on the individual throughout the year and ideally hold a review within that time. Activity 2 The hopeful outcome of the meeting was to discuss with the individual their performance over the last six months, including what went well and what hadn’t gone so well. Why things had gone well or not so well and if there was anything to improve performance or training needs.The outcomes of the appraisal with Hannah were that over the last six months as the manager I felt that Hannah has been doing well and providing a good service. Her only downfall is that sales have gone down but this was due to Hannah having a month off work with a broken leg. This was discussed within the meeting using the Appraisal form and was met with targets to be achieved. The appraisal form used was effective as it covers all areas of performance including how the individual felt about the previous six months it also covers how the manager felt they performed.It discusses what they have enjoyed most and least, quality of their work, management of workload, targets and identifies if any training is needed. These things covered are important as it lets both the manager and individual know how the individual is doing within the organisation and whether they need any further development or training. This is a motivator to the individual as they can gain job satisfaction that they are going in the right direction and helping towards the overall aim and objectives of the organisation.This appraisal system could be improved by having more input from the individual so they can have their say on what they have done and how they feel they have done which maybe the manager has not recognised. This would help the individual to feel they receive the recognition they deserve for the work they have input. SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) should be incorporated to the form as the targets need to be SMART otherwise it would be unfair for the individual to set unattainable targets to meet as they won’t meet them which will affect their performance reviews.

Swot Matrix for Starbucks

SWOT matrixkey success factors for star bucksStarbucks has a strong brand name and its known international. Starbucks was the first coffee shop whereby high quality coffee and products at accessible locationsand affordable prices, provided a community to share in the coffee drinking experience| Strengths: * Brand recognition * High quality coffee * Business ethics * Location they are located everywhere| Weakness * Competition a lot of coffee shops are offer coffee at a lower price. * Overexposure star bucks Is obsolete according to some consumers. Too many products * Not enough marketing | Opportunity * Business leaders * New strategy * Expand franchise| Threat * Recession * Mc-cafe offers lattes and cafes at very cheap price with the same quality. * PLC is at declining stage. | 2. Generic strategy pursued at starbucks: Differentiation strategy Differentiation strategy star bucks offers high quality coffee that you cant find at other coffee shops. Starbucks spends minimal cost on mar keting although they have great market share due to the product differentiation star bucks has a unique line coffee shops so advertising is through a method called word of mouth.Their core competencies can be defined as high quality coffee and products at accessible locations and affordable prices, provided a community to share in the coffee drinking experience, and variety of choices. They also value ethics and good business practices. Starbucks provide a high quality coffee and unique experience in the convenience of a large volume of locations, which separates them from their competition ,the new instant coffee line is straddling differentiation and low cost- leadership.While it will be a low cost and convenient alternative to Starbucks regular coffee, it is still unique from other products in the market. The in-store gifts and brewing utensils are in the focused differentiation category as they cater to the coffee lover, and are unique items found only in the Starbucksstores. 3. strategic direction pursued by star bucks? Starbucks new strategy is to refocus on some of the areas that decrease risk and up front investment. Franchising, expanding products and selling at convenient stores not just coffee shops.This includes expanding foreign stores, with aid of partnerships that share risk and costs, selling whether its instant coffee and other products in retail and convenience stores, and reinvigorating the Seattle’s Best Brand coffee. 4. I would pursue cost differentiation since star bucks is already I would add a few new bistro’s or pastries or offer special deals that wouldn’t harm my profit margin but gain more market share. Starbucks doesn’t focus on marketing since the brand is already famous so by offering new flavors of coffee, pastries and beverages would attract attention. Swot Matrix for Starbucks SWOT matrixkey success factors for star bucksStarbucks has a strong brand name and its known international. Starbucks was the first coffee shop whereby high quality coffee and products at accessible locationsand affordable prices, provided a community to share in the coffee drinking experience| Strengths: * Brand recognition * High quality coffee * Business ethics * Location they are located everywhere| Weakness * Competition a lot of coffee shops are offer coffee at a lower price. * Overexposure star bucks Is obsolete according to some consumers. Too many products * Not enough marketing | Opportunity * Business leaders * New strategy * Expand franchise| Threat * Recession * Mc-cafe offers lattes and cafes at very cheap price with the same quality. * PLC is at declining stage. | 2. Generic strategy pursued at starbucks: Differentiation strategy Differentiation strategy star bucks offers high quality coffee that you cant find at other coffee shops. Starbucks spends minimal cost on mar keting although they have great market share due to the product differentiation star bucks has a unique line coffee shops so advertising is through a method called word of mouth.Their core competencies can be defined as high quality coffee and products at accessible locations and affordable prices, provided a community to share in the coffee drinking experience, and variety of choices. They also value ethics and good business practices. Starbucks provide a high quality coffee and unique experience in the convenience of a large volume of locations, which separates them from their competition ,the new instant coffee line is straddling differentiation and low cost- leadership.While it will be a low cost and convenient alternative to Starbucks regular coffee, it is still unique from other products in the market. The in-store gifts and brewing utensils are in the focused differentiation category as they cater to the coffee lover, and are unique items found only in the Starbucksstores. 3. strategic direction pursued by star bucks? Starbucks new strategy is to refocus on some of the areas that decrease risk and up front investment. Franchising, expanding products and selling at convenient stores not just coffee shops.This includes expanding foreign stores, with aid of partnerships that share risk and costs, selling whether its instant coffee and other products in retail and convenience stores, and reinvigorating the Seattle’s Best Brand coffee. 4. I would pursue cost differentiation since star bucks is already I would add a few new bistro’s or pastries or offer special deals that wouldn’t harm my profit margin but gain more market share. Starbucks doesn’t focus on marketing since the brand is already famous so by offering new flavors of coffee, pastries and beverages would attract attention.

Finanical Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Finanical Management - Essay Example (Investing, 2005) For instance, the US government is the seller of the bonds. When you buy bonds, you become an investor, and they are practically lending money to the US government. The bond bears a promise of the seller to repay the principal amount of the loan at a specified time. When the US Treasury issues a bond, the government guarantees to pay back your principal known as the face value plus interest on maturity. When the investor buys a bond and waits until it matures, he will know exactly how much he is going to receive at the maturity period of the bond. It also called a fixed-income investment as a steady payout is given annually, or semi-annually. For example, you purchase a bond at $1,000 with a fixed rate of 6%, with 4 years of maturity, your income ($60/1000) is $60 which is payable to you every year for 4 years, then you receive the face value of the bond. The coupon rate in bond is fixed and is carried until the maturity of the bond, but the quoted price of the bonds varies because of the interest rates fluctuation. Fluctuations in interest rates values bonds higher or lower than its original value. So when an investor buys a bond and the interest falls, the value of the bond rises, and when the interest rises, the price of the bond falls. Price changes in bonds occur in choices of bonds. Longer term bond prices are more changeable than short term bond prices and more risky. Longer term bonds are more exposed to interest rate risks because the long stream of interest payments to investors does not match the current market interest rates. (AAII) Coupon interest rates vary and changes because it is caused by the fluctuation of rates of interests. Interests in bonds may be fixed, floating or payable at maturity. Interest rates vary because some sellers and buyers of bond want to have an adjustable interest rate which is related to the prevailing market rates. This is called a

Economic Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economic Models - Essay Example The aggregate supply and demand model is dictated by the standard of the models in the market. This captures the level of interaction between the buyer and the seller in both the long and short-term model. In the economy, there is a great relationship between the demand and the supply in the market. The fluctuation of one greatly affects the balance of the other. For instance, it is traditionally known that whenever the level of demand is high, there would be an automatic increase in price to contain the equilibrium in the market (Cohn 2007). The case is vice versa when there is low demand. The demand of commodities in the market is low, and then the prices would be lower to attract more buyers. The AS/AD model explains this phenomenal to an understandable degree of agreement between the market dynamics. Demand, in o5ther economic terms is explained as the quantity of goods a population is willing to purchase in an economy at a particular price. On the other hand, supply is the amoun t a market can offer to its people. The law of the demand in a market dictates that, the higher the price, the lower the demand of goods and services in a specific market. The opportunity cost of buying the goods goes higher because people would have other preferences in their decision. It is most apparent that people would look for other alternative means when the prices in the market are not favorable. The law of supply also has a great determination in the market. This law dictates that, when the prices are high, there are high supplies in the market. This is because suppliers seek the opportunity to make more profit when the prices are high. The Aggregate supply and demand graph When the supply and the level of production are lower than the natural level, then the economy is bound to suffer. This would mean that the level of gross domestic product of a country is low. This would mean that the government would not be in a position of raising enough capital to fund its endeavors. When the level of production goes below the natural levels, the rate of unemployment would also rise. A number of people would be laid off because the government would not be in a position of maintaining. The impact of reduced GDP would further pose many challenges in the economy. People’s welfare would not be adequately looked into and the government would neglect their wellbeing. Prices of goods are bound to increase in such a situation. The prices would take the effect of the law of demand, but this would further pose challenge to the economy of the state. When the supply is low, people are not willing to pay more for the goods, and services would further make suppliers and investors hard time in supplying the economy. This is a major setback. In a situation where people are not willing to supply the market due to poor prices and at the same time, people do not have resource to buy the products in the market. The situation should not be like this in any economy. The adjust ment process in the economy It is a natural phenomenon that people and situations would always resist change but rather choose to be comfortable with the normal. However, not every market is marked with an absolute degree of permanency. A time comes when things have to change. Things have to be done in a new way to enable the market of the economy to take care of the ever-increasing value and demands of humanity. In every day’s market, prices are bound to change; the quality and quantities in the market fluctuate. The first cause of the market adjustment is the determinant. The determinant of a market adjustment

Cross-Cultural Perspective - McDonald's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cross-Cultural Perspective - McDonald's - Essay Example During recent years, the company faced severe competition the United States of America (considered to be the home market for the organization. This severe competition led the company to focus on revenue being gathered from international market. Internationally, fifty percent of the company’s retail outlets are franchised to local people of that particular market/country in which the company operates. Hence the main revenue generated is from Royalties, Rents, etc. McDonald’s has followed a brilliant strategy by focusing on the smallest of details within the international market. This includes McDonald’s focus towards social, religious and cross cultural issues that the company faces in all the different countries in which it operates. One of the major cultural issues that the company has faced over the years of its operation is the fact that it is hugely criticized for adversely affecting local customs of eating and lifestyle in the area in which it operates e.g. the replacement of traditional teahouses in Japan by American fast food franchises. The company has expanded so much that it can be found in more than 120 countries around the globe. Individuals find McDonald’s retail store very easily because of the increased number of retail stores within any particular city e.g. Rome has more than 33 McDonald’s retail stores and it is because of such reason that people may get tempted to try out the products offered by the restaurant because of abundant retail stores at every corner. People who might not be fond of such food may opt for it because of the cleanliness and the environment that the offer within their different restaurants. McDonald’s offers different products so as to suit the differing cultural and religious perspective e.g. Hamburgers are not offered in Muslim countries because of a Muslim religious restriction towards eating Pork. To cater to the demand of these Muslim customers, McDonald’s have setup o utlets which offer food termed as â€Å"Halal†. In India, the scenario is totally different, the country is known for its vegetarian eating habit and it is because of this reason that the Indian market is served with totally different products such as the sandwich known as the â€Å"McAloo Tikki† (sandwich with a fried breaded potato and pea’s patty). These cross cultural differences do not restrict themselves to product only, the website being created for the different countries too have cross-cultural aspects addressed in them. The company has to focus on many ethical issues in order to maintain their standard of being a global organization. The company has taken many steps in order to prove to the world that the organization’s social responsibility towards the environment is properly dealt with. McDonald’s has completed a comprehensive sustainable land management commitment in order to ensure that the sustainability of the organization’s supply chain is maintained and improved. The company clearly shows that it cares for its customers and its environment by acquiring their unprocessed or minimally processed raw materials from legal and sustainable managed sources. McDonald’s care for the environment can be easily witnessed from their packaging

Problem Resolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Problem Resolution - Essay Example he first important issue to be answered is whether the position of an administrator has indeed the authority to approve any cancellation of privileges and credentials of a medical staff including that of physicians and the authority to approve their termination from employment. On a side issue which must also be determined but however must be answered primarily by Dr. Clark, is whether a chief of the medical staff has the authority to cancel privileges and credentials of a medical staff and to terminate them from employment of the hospital. These issues are important since the Dr. Clark’s proposed action is premised on his claim that he has the power to cancel Dr. Kirk’s privileges and credentials and also the power to terminate him. Dr. Clark also claims that this proposed action could be done if there is approval from the administrator which is given such great weight. Hence, an examination of applicable laws, rules and regulations including an examination of the hosp ital handbook or policy is important to answer this issue. The second issue is on the validity of the employment contracts which serve the basis for any physician’s employment. In the cited scenario, physicians are employed by means of employment contracts. Its validity serves as a basis for either party in defending a discharge or termination of a medical staff or the basis for a claim on the part of the medical staff claimant (Shepard, 2007). Hence, it must be determined whether the employment contract is in accordance with the Constitution, applicable laws, statutes, policies, rules and regulations governing employment in healthcare organization, to be considered as a valid contract. Otherwise, the contract may be declared void for being against the Constitution or against the applicable law, rule, regulation or hospital policy, and may not be used by either parties for their respective claims and defenses. Other relevant laws, rules and regulations would then apply. If there is a valid

Strategies in Order to Avoid Plagiarism Assignment

Strategies in Order to Avoid Plagiarism - Assignment Example plagiarism could be a way to hold back people’s potential to exercise their creativity and personal ideas on certain things because, in the end, there would only be relevant duplications of concepts as an upshot of not significantly citing the right author or taking others’ words as own. For this reason, plagiarism could stand as an activity limiting the potential of a person to think of his own ideas and concepts on certain issues for instance. This activity should, therefore, degrade academic quality, so it is important to consider vital strategies in order to prevent somebody from plagiarizing. Below are some of the strategies in order to avoid plagiarism. Three strategies to avoid plagiarism Citing or attributing the reference source is one important strategy to avoid plagiarism (EC-Council, 2009). By attributing the reference source, a writer or speaker is giving credit to a person or article as the starting place of corresponding ideas. It is not good to consider an idea and regard it with full ownership if somebody already had it owned in the first place. In order to consider that idea without any problem, attributing the source is one of the most relevant actions a writer or speaker could apply.  So in order to achieve this, it is good to go back to the basic and employ substantial effort to cite authors and other related sources of some important ideas. In the age of advanced technology, it is now easy to detect whether a piece of article is a plagiarized output. There are some available online tools or software that could be used in order to identify the similarity of used words or information. Such are the common tools used in various academic institutions. In order to prevent from having similar outputs, one should, therefore, understand how these online tools work. In the case of some of these tools, the number or percentage of similar words is usually taken into account. Thus, when there is a higher number of percentage of proximit y, there is, therefore, a superior indication of actual plagiarism. At this point, another potential strategy that could be used in order to prevent plagiarism involves either paraphrasing or rephrasing (Tensen, 2012). This strategy would also be effective when one has to properly document the source (Van Blerkom, 2009). At some certain level, one is not limited to combine these two. In fact, this, for instance, would further enhance the writing skills of the writer, but above all, there is great consideration of warding off the high value of similarity between the recent and existing outputs. However, in this strategy, it would still be effective to attribute the source. Thus, paraphrasing or rephrasing plus citing the source would ensure a free-plagiarized output.

WEEK 4 DQ 7 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

WEEK 4 DQ 7 - Assignment Example Legitimate, coercive and reward as forms of formal power. Personal power deals more with what other individuals see and regard of someone they respect or like, thus giving someone the ability to influence. Expert, information and referent power have been classified as personal power. An example of an unethical use of power was when I was instructed by my superior to perform a task that was supposed to be his. In this case, my superior exercised his formal power, and was able to influence me to do the work for him. My superior unethically used legitimate power over me, emphasizing that I should be the one following the orders. Such scenarios I believe are common in many organizations where the people in authority tend to abuse the power accompanied in the positions they fill in. Political behaviors are actions with which an individual or a group of individuals make to be able to influence others in the organization to get the result they want. The three dimensions of political behavior are: upward influence, downward influence and peer influence. Upward influence refers to the capability of the people at the lower level of the organization to influence the decisions of the people with authority in the organization. Downward influence is the capacity of a superior to influence those under his or her department, such as general managers influencing department managers and their subordinates. Peer influence is the most common and this usually occurs with people who are in the same level of the organization. In laymans term, this may also be seen as peer pressure. However, this kind of influence may be destructive if there is no common goal among the people involved. Individual and organizational antecedents greatly influence political behavior. Political skill, investment in organization, internal locus control and expectations of

Base on the case study Critically review and discuss how the NIBCO Essay

Base on the case study Critically review and discuss how the NIBCO carry out the implementation of Business Prpcess Reengineering(BPR), Enterprise Resource Plan - Essay Example Most of the top brass (including Davis, Beutler and Wilson) fell under the Heiracrhists division as far as their social relationships were considered. Being high on grid (the extent to which an individual is influenced by the need for rules and regulations The Business Review roles (under the Business Process Teams) were assigned to people who were more of Individualist (low on group low on grid) so that they can use their own knowledge and experience in decision-making. Some of the members were taken from the Board of Directors, to add credibility and authority for the task. The Power Users and Business System Analysts were basically Egalitarians (high on group and low on grid) and hence they could work comfortably in groups. Same for Wilson’s technical team. Davis’ Change Management team, especially the chosen Focus Group, again fall under the Egalitarian division: they thrived on cooperation, collective work and teamwork for bringing about a concerted change. Any deadlocks faced by them were cleared by Rex, who can be classified with the Heirarchists. At NIBCO, there were a few Fatalists too, (like the few who left) who could not change their apathetic attitude and were unable to streamline themselves with the changing environment. However, they were few and were greatly outnumbered by the other, more positive staff. By the consent of the Tiger Team, an almost no-individuality culture was fostered (space arrangement in the Tiger Den). This went a long way in developing the esprit de corps, and even making the non-cooperative streak of the Individualists fade away. Above all, though the project was driven by a top-down approach, the sub-cultures (how do workers interact with each other at their levels), and nuances of relationships between co-workers were adequately harnessed. The sheer vigour, from Rex Martin to the lowest rung,

John Adams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

John Adams - Essay Example This is evident from the contributions made by Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams. John Adams and Abigail Adams, as a couple, have been researches upon in the past because of their tremendous duo performance in the revolution. Those who may consider John Adams to be more supportive of the American Revolution need to understand that Abigail has also played the similar role as her husband. The relationship between John and Abigail is considered to be very strong because they had similar outlook of life. They both understood the need of democracy in America for which they had to counter monarchy system (Adams). The great relationship between John Adams and Abigail Adams has been well addressed by Jeff Shaara in his book â€Å"Rise to Rebellion". He has summed up the relationship of John Adams and Abigail Adams in a very bright picture. He has mentioned in his book that John Adams and Abigail Adams were sharing same viewpoints. They both thought that slavery was not the future of America n nation. They knew that the American nation had a lot of potential for which they needed their rights to practice (McCullough). It will not be incorrect to mention that the charisma which must have drawn John Adams to Abigail Adams was her strong standing of political ideology. Abigail was a very strong lady who was able to express her views to politicians confidently and with the usage of correct words for delivery of her ideas. John and Abigail were proven to be a very strong team working as a single unit in the shape of marriage. Both of them have been living apart from each other but they were still in contact with each other. It is an evident fact that relationship become vulnerable when they are not able to communicate with each other. The example of John and Abigail relationship should be used for understanding the strength of relationship (Sloan). When John was away from home, Abigail was writing letters to him and other founding fathers of the revolution in order to keep t hem morale high and understand the development marked in the timeline. It is interesting to note here that the reason behind John staying away from his family was due to the role of diplomacy that he had to play in the European region. At the same time, Abigail was involved in communicating with nation to make them powerful and nationalistic about their motives. In this course, Abigail proved herself as a very good mother who nurtured her kids in the best way (Waldstreicher). Abigail Adams has also gone through a number of threats from the courts because of her ideological practices. But she did not feel fearful and rather tackled the situation herself. This was the uniqueness of Abigail that helped both of them to become one of the most desirable couple in American history. Other than their political life, John Adams and Abigail Adams really liked each other. The letters that was shared by both of them showed that they were greatly connected to each other. They had stronger trust o n each other and often considered each other to be the sole reason for their complete life. The separation of eighteen years rather increased their love for each other. This is quite different from the love stories that we witness in the present era. It has often been noted that separation for many years ultimately leads to divorce rates. In the case of John Adams and Abigail Adams, love bloomed since teenage. Among several other qualities that were admired by John in Abigail, her intellect

Capital Punishment is Wrong Essay Example for Free

Capital Punishment is Wrong Essay â€Å" For hundreds of years people have considered capital punishment a deterrence of crime. Seven hundred and five individuals have died since 1976, by means of capital punishment; twenty-two of these executions have already occurred this year at Death Penalty Information Center†, exclaims Tara Volpe in her article, Capital Punishment: Does Death Equal Justice? In another article written by Coretta King, the author states that, â€Å"In recent years, an increase of violence in America, both individual and political, has prompted a backlash of public opinion on capital punishment†. Capital punishment is a tremendous issue that faces the criminal justice system. Some people think that capital punishment is a good idea for those who commit capital or very serious crimes; on the other hand, some people believe that capital punishment is wrong. In reality, capital punishment is wrong for several reasons. According to the free online dictionary, â€Å"capital punishment† is defined as the penalty of death for the commission of a crime. There are several words, which are the same as capital punishments are execution, death sentence, judicial murder and death warrant. To begin with, capital punishment is wrong because it is immoral and unfair. Some people are subjected to capital punishment even when there is speculation as to whether they actually committed the specified crime. A known case of this kind was the one involving David Spense who was given the death penalty even though there was no substantial, concrete evidence to pin the crimes he was being charged. The homicide detective responsible for conducting the investigation clearly said â€Å"there was no physical evidence connecting David Spense to the crime† (Volpe). According to the article â€Å"Capital Punishment: Does Death Equal Justice,† those who testify against these criminals maybe bribed or coerce d into doing the act. More to it the article reiterates that there have been quite a number of cases in which people that were nearly given capital punishment were save by â€Å"last minute presentation of evidence. This is construed to mean capital punishment is bad practice. It ends up killing people who don’t deserve to die. The worst part of the matter is that capital punishment is irreversible. Secondly, capital punishment is not even worth it because it does not stop or reduce criminal acts. Michael Meltsner points out that â€Å"capital punishment is done in privacy and infrequently† hence capital punishment as a deterrent does not work at all (Volpe). In other words, capital punishment is done in itself and not to prevent anything. The statistics in the article shows that death penalty prove the lack of deterrence. For instance, the average of murder rates per 100,000 population in 1999 among death penalty states was 5.5, whereas the average of murder rates among death penalty was o nly 3.6. NEED SUPPORT or ENOUGH SUPPORT Lastly, capital punishment is a bad option because it is very expensive. The statistics in the article shows that California had spent approximately about nine millions dollars annually on execution itself. It is a waste of millions of dollars for death sentence. It would be better for capital criminals be used for community services such as land conservation projects, and road construction. By doing this, there are less expenses and what is at best for the criminal is made to contribute to society progress. The criminal can also be rehabilitated especially if the culprit has mental or psychological issues. Volpe states that life imprisonment costs less than execution. These criminals should go for rehabilitation for treatments and mental diagnosis. They can change their ways and become productive citizens for the society. In contrast to opponents’ views mentioned above, the supporters of capital punishment oppose that, the practice should still be protected in the justice system. They completely ignore the benefits of saving cost, eliminating inhuman conduct of the practice and saving the innocents from being killed wrongly. In conclusion, some people believe that capital punishment is wrong. It is such as waste of money on execution only. Capital punishment have no deterrent the crimes. Capital punishment is immoral and unfair.

Strategic Leadership In An Organizational Change Process Management Essay

Strategic Leadership In An Organizational Change Process Management Essay The following essay will critically discuss the role of strategic leadership in an organizational change process using relevant theories and example. The objective of this paper is to come up with a solution of the many challenges that occur in the process of organizational change through implementing proper leadership. Organizational change refers to a situation whereby an organization adopts a new strategy in the way it carries out its activities and management for better or removes a major section or an operational department (McNamara, 2011). Strategic leadership on the other hand refers to the implementation of strategies in the management of workers in any organization. Organizations always go through change, at times gradual and other times drastic throughout their normal life cycle whereby organizational leaders may create change driving forces within the organization. For example, radical changes may take place in an organization leading to structural transformation through which organizations attempt to revitalize business orientations through changing the reporting structure. Other changes, for instance, merger and acquisition, transforming the top management of an organization, reorganization and restructuring of the company may affect the organization culture and processes. Most of these transformations in organization are mainly meant to down size the size of the organization (Pryor et al, 2008). However, organizational change is not always embraced positively by the employees and the stakeholders thus it is a very challenging process (Appelbaum, St-Pierre Glavas, 2000, Pg 293). Most people are either afraid or unwilling to try out something new and they may go ahead convincing their counterparts otherwise. In other instances, organizational change is viewed like a threat by those who have been used to the old system (Pryor et al, 2008).. For instance, when a certain unproductive department may be scrapped from the company by the management, the employees feel threatened to loose their jobs thus resisting this change. This may lead to demonstration and if the leadership is not very careful, they may end up frustrated and may even fail to achieve their objectives and goals. This is where leaders ought to undertake proper change management in order to accommodate the views of each party and to make proper decision which wont affect the overall performance of the organization ( Thompsons, 2008, p5). When an organization is going through change, proper change management is vital in order to take the company through proper and successful transition. This is a time when the leaders and the managers need to exercise their leadership fully. Leaders should be the role models and the best examples to the rest of the employees in the implementation of change to show the positive attitude and that change is possible. Apart from action, they should explain the need for change to the employees, displaying the benefit and the importance of change in order to create a positive attitude even as they work towards the change. Once the employees find the attitude that their leaders have towards the change, they will be willing to learn more about the change and they will be motivated to participate more in implementing the change (Pryor et al, 2008). Several theories will be discussed in the essay pertaining the organization change and change management. We will also look at the economic importance of strategic leadership in change management. This will be in relation to the Arabic nature of the organization culture. Strategic leadership Strategic leadership involves use of strategy to manage workers in an organization (Cyprus, 2010, Para1). Strategy refers to a long-term plan of action that has been laid down by a company in order to achieve competitive advantage, by meeting the market needs and the stakeholders competition, through proper combination of resources (Johnson Scholes, 2011). The basic strategy that managers employ in organizations is motivation of workers in order for them to be productive at the end of the day. For strategic leadership to be successful, the managers ought to be critical thinkers and to apply the theories of strategic planning. Leaders are the most important assets of the company since their mode of leadership determines the future of the company and the productivity of the workers. Their input to the company and to the employees inspires them to take the appropriate action thus laying the foundation for the future of the company (Cyprus, 2010, Para1). Strategic leadership works handy with strategic planning, competitive advantage and comparative advantage. Competitive advantage refers to an advantage an individual or a company has over his competitors by offering goods and services to the market at a lower opportunity cost (Annon, 2011). It is a theory that tries to address some of the criticisms of comparative advantage which refers to the ability of a firm to produce goods and services at a lower opportunity cost as compared to its rivals. Since competitors can easily learn any strategic position, it has become so challenging for leaders to maintain competitive advantage over their rivals. Also, there has been acute and drastic global competition and technological changes that require the leaders to be updated and we set with the current affairs in order to protect the future of their organizations. Strategic leaders are therefore always focused and looking ahead as well as analyzing the present to prepare the business for what may be ahead (Cyprus, 2010, Para1). The major aspect in strategic leaders is awareness of the market, current as well as possible future occurrences, critical thinking out of action, adaptability as well as growth oriented. They implement their leadership roles by training the employees to get things done by combining resources in order to come up with the best results for the company (Cyprus, 2010, Para1) . Organizational Change Organizational change refers to a situation whereby an organization adopts a new strategy in the way it carries out its activities and management for better or removes a major section or an operational department (McNamara, 2011). Organizational change may also occur when the organization evolves through growth with time from what was established to something else after input of resources. This is the development that an organization gains as it grows and it is a major and very significant process of organization change. Since no organization remains static or the way it was established, the topic of organization change has become a very common and widespread topic among business people as well as scholars (McNamara, 2011). Strategic leadership is very core in the process of organizational change in order to embrace this change in a positive and rewarding way as well as preventing negative impact of change to the company. Leaders and managers are faced with a challenging task to accomplish successful and significant change whereby some achieve beyond our expectations whereas others struggle a lot and fail. Reasons for organizational Change Organizational change is brought about by different reason, some of which are from the management whereas others are out of human control. Natural disaster and acts of terrorism are some of the major reasons that may bring about organizational change. The Arabic community has been facing many of these kinds of hazards in their continents directly or indirectly which has made it important to embrace the culture of organization change in their organizations. For instance, the long time war in Afghanistan and Iraq has affected many organizations leading to implementation of new strategies and dynamics. This is because the terrorist attacks may at times target an organization in such a manner that it is not possible to continue with its ordinary culture. Also, major disasters in the United States have been associated with the terrorist groups in the Arabic community making it very hard for the two parties to do business together thus need for organizational transformation to accommodate these changes. Change management theories An organization must be in a position to understand the changes itmight be going through for it to manage it successfully, otherwise, any change is doomed to serious problem and failure. Some of the change management tactics include accepting the brief, diagnosing the change through investigation to be able to understand the change, managing the stakeholders carefully, planning for change by creating a bullet proof plan, managing change project by making it happen in practice, investing in means of turning the plans in to reality, designing the organization in such a manner that it will accommodate the changes and successfully move from the old organization in to a new organization, employing change techniques that will instill personal change among the parties involved in the organization to make it easy in to reality and adopting the 4D change project framework that is good at managing organizational change projects (Annon, 2002-2011, Chapman, 2005-2010). Scholars have come up with various theories that explains change management some of which include the action research theory, Lewins three step modal, Scheins Extension of Lewins Change Model, The Lippit, Watson and Westley model of planned change which expanded Lewins Three-Step Model to a Five-Phase Model, Kotters Strategic Eight-Step Model, Mento, Jones and Dirmdofer.s Twelve-Step Model, Jicks Ten-Step Model and Shields five-step model (Pryor et al, 2008 Kritsonis, 2005). Let us look at some of the change management theories in details. Action Research Model Action Research Model or Theory involves several and diversified tactic of implementing change. It involves a combination of changing the attitudes and behaviors as well as crosschecking and testing the change technique to be employed. Changing of attitude and behavior mostly involves the leadership and the employee (Pryor et al, 2008). This is the very important stage whereby the leaders and the managers ought to exercise their leadership and help their juniors in to the change process. This involves training the employees concerning the change process that may be required as well as giving them a good example by acting as their role models. At this stage, the management should take their time to let the employees and the stakeholders the importance, reasons and benefits of change process that needs to be undertaken in order to create a positive attitude in them and to give them morale towards wanting to learn more concerning the new change in the organization. This part of changing the actions and behaviors of the parties involved in the organization is action oriented because the ultimate goal is to make change happen. The other part that is covered in the action research theory involves testing the change method being utilized. In this part, the leaders revolve around trying different frameworks in a real situation as a means of testing or confirming whether the theories can yield their objectives. They may also apply different theories in different situations they have identified in the organization that require change. The basic requirement in this part is to understand the change itself in order to avoid repeated try and error but to identify the matching theory easily. There are three major steps that lead to the implementation of the change through strategic leadership. It requires first to diagnose the need for change in an organization probably due to global and technological changes or any other reason. After identifying the need to do organizational change, it is followed by introducing an intervention and finally evaluation and stabilizing change. The above three steps of change are cons istent with the three steps to be discussed in the Lewins Model (Pryor et al, 2008) Lewins Model/ Theory Lewins model is characterized by three major steps of implementing change which include 1) Unfreezing the present- This involves diagnosing the need for change in an organization. 2) The second step involves moving from the present by introducing intervention. This is where the parties involved stop using the old and the ordinary methods in running the organization and starts using the new changed techniques. 3) Refreezing- This is the final stage of action as seen in the Lewins Model and it involves final evaluation and stabilizing of the change process. This is where the organization community is now convinced that the direction the leadership took is the best and the results may even be felt (Pryor et al, 2008). For the Lewins model to be significant and permanent it is important to carefully follow the above mentioned steps, otherwise, the impacts will be short lived. It is important to move from the present without giving room to the possibility of moving back. It is a planned change whose speed has drastically increased in the present day. However, the Lewins model can be applied in unplanned changes in a situation where there is a high probability that change will occur. For instance, in the cases of natural disaster like hurricanes, earthquakes and floods, the probability of change taking place is very high whereby, these occurrences happen unplanned. It is therefore possible to apply this model on preparation of a disaster to take place in some unknown time. In most cases, the public may not be willing the changes proposed by their leaders whereby the three stages are not carefully followed and this results in damages when the public is caught unawares (Pryor et al, 2008). Scheins Model This theory is an extension of Lewins Model which describes how the three stages of action should be implemented. It describes on the best methods of unfreezing, moving from the present and freezing. Schein describes that for unfreezing to work, or diagnosing the need for change in an organization, in order for people to embrace the change, they must first see the need for change, whereby they are not satisfied with the prevailing status quo. This is where people start seeing the difference between the existing state and the expected state. Once people realize the gap between what is prevailing and what is expected, they are motivated to work towards change in order to bridge the gap and achieve their goals. In order to achieve or accomplish the desired goal, people must be assured that taking the action of change wont humiliate or frustrate them in any way (Pryor et al, 2008). The second stage of organizational change involves moving or changing from the present to the future or the expected goal. Schein identifies this stage with cognitive restructuring which helps people adopt a different view of event from the present to the future. He describes that for cognitive restructuring to be effective, people must identify with new role models as well as acquiring new and relevant information pertaining the new changes to help them move forward (Pryor et al, 2008). The third stage of organizational change according to the Lewins model of change management is the freezing stage. This stage is involved in stabilizing the change making it permanent and ensuring that it is not short-lived. In his description over this stage, Schein has divided this stage in to self and relation with others. He describes that for the change to be stable and permanent, people must personally adopt the changed way of doing things and make it comfortable and usual to work out things using that method. In relation with others, they must ensure that their attitude and behavior are aligned towards the new system permanently (Pryor et al, 2008, p9). Lippitt, Watson and Westleys Expansion of Lewins Change Model This model expands and changes the Lewins model by making the steps of change five instead of three. The five stages of the expanded model include unfreezing, establishing a change relationship, moving, refreezing and finally achieving a terminal relationship (Pryor et al, 2008, p10) Kotters Model Kotters model of change management is an eight phase theory whereby each step lasts a certain period and mistakes in one phase can affect the success of the whole plan. This model is best suit in strategic leadership and strategic management whereby through changing the vision of an organization, it is possible to change the vision of the organization. The eight phases of Kotters model include 1) Creating a sense of urgency 2) Proper handling of the resistant groups 3) Creating a plan of action 4) Proper communication of change to the organization 5) Doing the necessary training pertaining the new idea 6) Short terms rewards to those who have embraced change 7) Process evaluation and implementing the necessary changes 9) demonstrating the relationship between new behaviors and organizational success change to reinforce making the change permanent (Pryor et al, 2008, p10) . Role of Strategic Leadership in Organization Change Strategic leadership involves the application of strategy in the management of an organization. In this case, leaders are very instrumental in ensuring that organizational change establishes and is permanent. There are different types of leaders some of which cannot be able to see through a process of change while others are very good at it However, due to specialization, the two kinds of leaders to discussed briefly below are necessary in an organization setting in the process of change (Centre for Creative Leadership, 2005, p1). The charismatic leader- This kind of a leader has personal quality and ability to mobilize and sustains a n activity in an organization. During the process of change, a charismatic leader, through personal action and perceived personal characteristics, is able to mobilize the employees and sustain an efficient adoption towards the new dynamics. A charismatic leader can easily change an individuals values, goals, needs and aspirations. Though he is the popular kind of a leader, his leadership is observable and definable since his behavioral characteristics are very clear. A charismatic leader has three major components: envisioning, energizing and enabling which are very key in the process of organizational change (Schneier, 2011, Pg 281). Instrumental leader- This kind of a leader ensures that every person in the management team as well as all the employees follow the proposed line of change to ensure that the process is consistent and permanent. He invests in building of competent teams, clarifying the line of action to his team, both leaders and the employees, building in measurements and administration of rewards and punishment depending on how individuals handle the process. An instrumental leader ensures that the established process of change is not short lived but lasts permanently (Schneier, 2011, Pg 281). Effective organizational transformation requires both charismatic and instrumental leaders. A charismatic leader is good at generating energy, creating commitment and directing individuals towards the new approach of the organization. An instrumental leader eurs consistency in the adoption of te new organizational approach. Let us look at some of the roles of strategic leadership in organizational change management (Ireland Hitt, 2006, p63). As mentioned earlier, organization change is not always embraced positively in an organization. In this case, strategic leadership should be capable of introducing the news about change in a very professional and conducive way to ensure that the parties involved receive them positively (Heller Bonno, 2006). This includes proper prior training, workshops and acting as role models to the rest such that the rest of the people are motivated and are eager to learn more and adopt the change. It is necessary to introduce the process of change in piecemeal to reduce chances of resistance (Appelbaum, St-Pierre Glavas, 2000, pg 294). Once the organization is aware of the intended change and the means and dynamics of implementing change, it is the role of leaders to ensure that the procedures are carefully followed. This involves consistent monitoring and evaluation of the employees, rewarding those who do well to motivate them whereas those who entertain laxity are faced with the appropriate repercussion. If the leadership is consistent with monitoring and evaluation processes, adoption of the new leadership techniques may take root very easily and the employees will forget the old system and get used to the new one (Schneier, 2011, Pg 281). The effectiveness of the management affects the success of change management a great deal. During the initial stages of a change process, a leader ought to be envisioning such that he is able to create a picture of the future which people can identify with and work towards its achievement. People are more likely to be committed when working towards a common goal (Schneier, 2011, Pg 281). Another role o a strategic leader is generation of energy and motivation of workers in the organization to motivate them to work towards the set goal. The common method a leader may use in energizing the employees is through demonstration of personal excitement through personal contact with the organization employees. Once employees identify the confidence in their leaders, they may not hesitate to be involved in the process of change (Schneier, 2011, Pg 282). Furthermore, strategic leadership is responsible of helping people psychologically to be able to perform when faced with challenges. After everything has been done for the employees and is set to do the work, it is important to give them emotional support in times of need. A good leader should be able to listen to his employees, understand their problem and participate in coming up with a solution. Employees tend to have more confidence in that kind of a leader whereby a charismatic leader is better suit for this position (Schneier, 2011, Pg 282). Economic importance of strategic leadership and change management Strategic leadership in change management has got its own benefits in the overall community of the organization. Some of its benefits towards the organization include, providing the staff with direction and focus, Forming the basis for objectives and strategies, Inspiring positive emotions about the organization, Ensuring unanimity of purpose and Helping resolve divergent views among employees. It is the basic core of an organization that determines success or frustrations in it (Bondenm, 2009). However, strategic leadership may at times be biased and fail to provide the benefits thats meant to bring in an organization. For instance, the strategic vision to be effected by the leaders may only be favoring the interests of the leaders while failing to consider the interests of the subordinate and ordinary employees. Also, senior executives use failureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ prone practices, may engage in or condone unethical conduct, may pay little or no attention to productivity, quality, and innovation, may allocate time and money unwisely and may apply too much intuition and too little rational analysis (Bondenm, 2009). Conclusion Strategic leadership and change management are two very close areas which are very interdependent. Change management can be very frustrating and at times disappointing if it is accompanied by poor leadership. To have proper and effective organization change, it is necessary to employ good management whose source is from the leaders. This is why it is important as the essay pertains, to learn the relationship between the two, including the theories describing them, their economic importance as well as the role of strategic leadership in change management. Every organization has its culture and in this particular case, the organization change must be in line with the Arabic culture. This is because each community has its own beliefs which are different from the rest in the whole globe. However, since diversified kinds of people are likely to work within the organization who may not be necessarily Arabs, it is important to have policies and changes within the organization that are open to the global and technological changes. Organizations always go through transformation throughout their life cycle. This is because an organization starts when it is small and as people continues investing in it , it continues growing and there may be need for change in one area or another. Also, the prevailing global and technological changes have got so much impact on the well being of an organization. For instance, introduction of the internet has reduced the world in to a cyberspace whereby most of organization needs to adopt these changes. Technology has also reduced the need of so much manpower since most of the work can now be done using the machine. This has led to drastic organizational changes whose goals I mainly to downsize the companies. This results to laying off of staff whose solution has been brought about by the introduction of 24 hour working shift that ensures that work is done all the time. Organization change may either be planned or unplanned. H planned change s mainly mean to improve the conditions of the organization while the unplanned depends on its nature. For example, natural unnatural disasters r not planned and the change enforced by them may not be positive whereas technological and global effects impacts organizations positively and they are not planned. Strategic leadership is very important in managing both of these changes to ensure that their results ar always positive. Several theories have been laid down to show the relationship between strategic leadership in change management. When learnt keenly, it is clear that change involves stages which leaders should overlook carefully since a mistake in one stage of change may affect the overall results of the change process. It is also clear that the leaders should be in the front line in the implementation of the change process. Firstly, they should be the role models to the rest of the organization; they should make proper communication to the people and should ensure that the employees stick to the set plan to ensure consistency. Though strategic leadership has got many benefits, it does not lack a few challenges that affect the effectiveness of the change process. For example, there may lack proper leadership to implement the change process or the change may be biased. Also, the community may resist change making it hard for them to achieve their goals. Through proper leadership and proper prior preparation, It is possible to prevent negative results in a change process.

The Difficulties Which International Students Face

The Difficulties Which International Students Face Introduction: This article is about the difficulties which international students face, especially for Asian students, including thinking styles, learning attitudes and writing and presenting styles. In spite of its publication date, it is still helpful for us to understand the international students` situation abroad. In the text, the authors argue all the issues are rooted in traditional culture. In general, the authors` arguments are reasonable, but to some specific cases their views are no longer suitable. The reasons involve the development of education within the approximate twenty years and their limitations of visual views. In this paper, evaluations about every main idea are presented. About the situations which the authors` ideas are not suitable, some suggestions are indicated. As for the applicable arguments, more evidences are provided to back up. Background: In this day and age, quite a few of Asian students go abroad to study. However, there are some typical difficulties they must overcome because of their innate tendency. In Ballard and Clanchy`s research, the innate tendency totally stem from oriental tradition, which is a typical viewpoint in the past. Some subsequent research taken by David Kember and Lyn Gow indicates that the issues result from the curriculum and teaching environment [1]. With the development of the education system in Asian countries, the issues seem to be fade away during recent years. Asian international students become more and more familiar to western culture, and they can cope with the assignment from their lecturer more smoothly. This makes investigations in past time become unsuitable, so some updating surveys are necessary to cover new situations. Summary: The title of the article is â€Å"Cultural Variation: Difficulties for Student Studying Abroad†. It is from a book named â€Å"Study Abroad: A Manual for Asian Students† written by Ballard and Clanchy (1984). In this article, the authors argue three main difficulties that Asian international students face in their studying process. Further, the authors suggest Asian students adjusting their studying style for successful study abroad. The first main idea in the text is about variations of thinking styles. As the authors say, different thinking and learning purposes lead to different results, which stem from varying cultures. A particular example of a Japanese student who adjusted his purpose and adapted his essay structure to meet his lecturer`s requirement is utilized to support the main point. The variation in learning attitudes is argued as the second main idea. In the authors` opinion, different educational traditions create different learning attitudes. Then different learning approaches, including reproductive, analytical and speculative, are presented in particular education levels, although they are not separated totally. The authors quote three Asian students` words and describe an Indonesian postgraduate`s situation to back up their main idea. The other main idea concerns differences in writing and presenting styles. Five distinct writing patterns, including English, Romance, Russian, Semitic and Oriental patterns, are described in the text (Kaplan 66: 1-20). As indicated, a typical example of a Thailand student whose thesis was crossed out by his Australian supervisor suggests that different writing styles differ widely. As the authors` suggestions, a more analytical and critical learning approach is expected for Asian international students to succeed in their study. Critique (general): Generally speaking, the three main difficulties pointed out in this article are reasonable. Although this article was published in 1984, the problems still exist in current international students. The influence stemming from traditional culture is significant, which cannot be eliminated within about twenty years. The thinking and writing styles which are trained during their studying process imperceptibly, still influence international students. Something different, however, has happened in these twenty years. Internationalization has been an unstoppable tendency, for which relationships between countries has become more and more closed. In the trend, education internationalization is a representative one. Compared with the situation in 1984, much more students go abroad to study, especially for students from developing countries. With the number of international students increasing, abroad studying is no longer mysterious or unattainable. Most students who are ready to go abroad can get much useful information from internet and relevant agents. As the result of this, students are relative familiar to the education environment abroad. Additionally, they usually can get experiential knowledge from forthgoers. Thus, they are able to adjust themselves to the expectations of foreigner universities more easily, In addition, a series of language tests and record examinations are developed to ensure that students who are admitted b y foreign universities can survive in another country. Critique (specific): As the statement above, the main ideas argued in this article is still reasonable at present, however, the situation has changed. So to a certain extent, the descriptions in the text are no longer suitable. As the authors` assertion, the variations in thinking styles stemming from traditional cultures, made the Japanese student fail in his first year. Considering the source of variations, it must be true, but this example should be an extreme one. Normally, the thinking style of oriental students is implicative. They always make effort to avoid evaluating topics directly. When they are considering a topic, they usually think over the influence of background firstly. With the introductions of western educational culture, however, most students are likely to compare the views and evaluate the topic, although they may describe the background at first. In Chinese secondary school, many assignments are to conclude the main ideas of prepared texts and evaluate these main ideas from your own viewpoint. Through training like this students obtain the capability to assess the relative merits. So the description as the text presented, only may happen in extreme case. With the increasing of the fam iliarity to western thinking pattern, the similar extreme case should be less likely to happen. About the different learning strategies mentioned in this article, the authors claim that it is needed to develop a more analytical and critical learning style for many Asian students. It should be a believable recommendation at that moment. However, in today`s school, not only universities or colleges, but also secondary schools, it is paid attention to analysis ability. Basically, the teachers and lecturers encourage students to ask questions and think more deeply. In this way, students are required not only to remember the knowledge points, but also to understand how the process is going. In addition, many universities in China establish funds to support undergraduates to take experiments. Then, students who want to do some research in particular fields are encouraged to apply them. In this way, students` speculative capabilities are cultivated. Furthermore, according to relevant research, there is no significant difference between Australian and Asian students [2]. As reported, A sian students are not rote learners. In other words, the reproductive learning strategy is not directed towards Asian students. Then, for Australian students, the best way to learn is also to remember and understand by heart. For these reasons, the authors` assertions about these three learning approaches are not in accordance with facts and suitable to the development of education. Concerning writing styles, the authors cite Robert Kaplan`s theory to explain the varying writing styles successfully. For oriental writers, explaining the issue directly is a blunt way which lacks of ideations. In their views, a better way to express their ideas is to describe the background and the influence factors as implications. The end results should be obtained by readers themselves. As the authors suggest, this indirect writing approach is not suitable to academic thesis in Australian universities. In western scholars` views, the â€Å"relevant descriptions† are not relevant at all. It is a real difference between western and eastern writing skills, while it is unnecessary to discuss which one is more advanced. Expect from the variations between different cultures, the differences between each academic discipline are also mentioned in the text. In this day and age, more and more interdisciplines are developed, for which flexible writing styles are required. Additional ly, as a relatively objective writing style, science and engineering articles should be paid more attention to attract readers. Conclusions: In this paper, in connection with every main point mentioned in the original article, evaluations are provided. Generally speaking, the authors` main ideas are still applicable at present stage, although in this article there are some details should be changed to suit modern education. When the authors are comparing with Asian students` works and Australian lectures` expectations, extreme examples are cited. This is the biggest weakness, because it ignores the general status. Implications of this article are that student who study abroad should learn how to adjust himself to the requirement. References: David Kember, Lyn Gow: A Challenge to Anecdotal Stereotype of the Asian Student, 1991. F. Sushila Niles: Cultural Differences in Learning Motivation and Learning Strategies: A Comparison of Overseas and Australian Students at an Australian University, 1995.

Colonial Discourse in Jane Eyre :: Essays Papers

Colonial Discourse in Jane Eyre The plot of Jane Eyre is well known and it is not my intention to outline it here. Instead I want to draw attention to a number of key points which relate to the theme of colonies and colonialism. The figure of the first Mrs Rochester, the insane and promiscuous Creole who stands in the way of Rochester's marriage to the modest Jane is the most obvious example of Bronte's use of the colonies to provide the material for her work, but there are other moments of interaction throughout the novel. As a child, Jane is fond of likening her position to that of a slave, but Bronte distances her character from the slavetrade in the West Indies by placing the model for Jane's slavery in the Far East, where England has no hand in the business. The slave metaphor is repeated throughout the novel to describe the position of women in British society, but it is always distanced. When Jane eventually comes into her inheritance from her uncle, the source of her wealth is Madeira, another slave society. Jane acts in an honourable fashion by dividing her wealth with her cousins who saved her, but the means of her independance is undeniably due to the colonies. The treatment of India is important in this context. St. John Rivers wants Jane to join him as his wife on a missionary expedition to India, but Jane sees the discipline and severity of his character as too stifling for her to thrive in. The implication is that she would revert to her former slave position under his influence. But Jane recognises that although his discipline is too much for her, he will do extremely well in India, perhaps indicating that the Indians are in need of such a severe influence to keep them under control. Colonial Discourse in Jane Eyre :: Essays Papers Colonial Discourse in Jane Eyre The plot of Jane Eyre is well known and it is not my intention to outline it here. Instead I want to draw attention to a number of key points which relate to the theme of colonies and colonialism. The figure of the first Mrs Rochester, the insane and promiscuous Creole who stands in the way of Rochester's marriage to the modest Jane is the most obvious example of Bronte's use of the colonies to provide the material for her work, but there are other moments of interaction throughout the novel. As a child, Jane is fond of likening her position to that of a slave, but Bronte distances her character from the slavetrade in the West Indies by placing the model for Jane's slavery in the Far East, where England has no hand in the business. The slave metaphor is repeated throughout the novel to describe the position of women in British society, but it is always distanced. When Jane eventually comes into her inheritance from her uncle, the source of her wealth is Madeira, another slave society. Jane acts in an honourable fashion by dividing her wealth with her cousins who saved her, but the means of her independance is undeniably due to the colonies. The treatment of India is important in this context. St. John Rivers wants Jane to join him as his wife on a missionary expedition to India, but Jane sees the discipline and severity of his character as too stifling for her to thrive in. The implication is that she would revert to her former slave position under his influence. But Jane recognises that although his discipline is too much for her, he will do extremely well in India, perhaps indicating that the Indians are in need of such a severe influence to keep them under control.

Transformation of Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

Transformation of Macbeth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the beginning of Shakesphere's, Macbeth, the character, Macbeth is basically an everyday normal type of soldier fighting and killing for his king.   His title at this point is the Thane of Glamis.   Upon having a great day on the battlefield, including killing MacDonwald, Macbeth has no clue as to what is in store for him. When Macbeth and his friend Banquo meet the witches for the first time, they are completely shocked.   While talking with the witches Macbeth and Banquo are told that Macbeth will be named the Thane of Cawdor, and then later king.   They also told Banquo that his children will be kings, but that Banquo would not.   After hearing this Macbeth begins to become ashamed with himself to think that he actually thought about killing the king in order to the throne from Duncan.   At this point he is somewhat confused and maybe more curious than anything.   His thought was not to do anything drastic to become king.   He basically says, whatever happens, happens.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Macbeth arrives home to his wife, Lady Macbeth, she begins to play mind games with him.   She does this by trying to convince him to murder Duncan. She tells him things like â€Å"If you were a real man you'd do it†.   This upsets Macbeth, and he begins to think that he is actually going to do it, and eventually carries it out. What he doesn't realize is that he will later regret his actions, and wish that he could turn back time.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As soon as Macbeth has killed Duncan, he seems to start to lose his mind. He just doesn't know what to do with himself.   In fact, he cannot finish smearing the blood on the chamberlains, lady Macbeth had to.   As time goes by Macbeth begins to think that to keep his name clear he must kill all the people that may pose a threat to him.   Even if it means killing his best friend, Banquo.   Macbeth did this by hiring people to kill him.   They succeeded in killing Banquo but his son Fleance escaped. Although this wasn't the end of Macbeth's killing, for instance he killed one man's(Macduff's) family, which basically didn't make any sense.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After a couple more run ins with the witches, Macbeth completely loses all his ability to think straight and starts killing people just to prevent anyone from finding that he killed Duncan.   Not only has Macbeth lost his mind, so has lady Macbeth.   She is always caught walking in her sleep talking about Duncan's death, and she eventually commits suicide.

Self-Managed Work Teams

SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS Class: Human Resource Management November 29th, 2012 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION___________________________________________________________1 SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS DICIPLINES_________________________________2 LEADING A SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS_________________________________5 THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL TEAMS AND SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS____________________________________________________________6 SUCCESS FACTORS OF SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS______________________8 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS____10CONCLUSION___________________________________________________________13 REFERENCES____________________________________________________________14 INTRODUCTION: Self-managed work teams are work teams that are given permission to organize and control the work that they do. Self-managed work teams are independent and interdependent as the self-managed work teams itself is independent while the members are interdependent. The team is self-regul ating, operating with few external controls. Team members determine schedules, procedures and the need to make adjustments.Self-managed work teams delegates specific responsibility and decision-making authority to the team itself, it is expected that the individual will set their own goals, monitor progress, adjust behavior to increase the chances of attaining goals and in some instances even self-reward or punishment comparing to the traditional work team, in where it is control completely by the management. By Self-managed work teams, each independent is given freedom and responsibility to accomplish tasks in an efficient way as the main idea of self-managed work teams is positional authority.By adopting self-managed work teams, the individuals can create synergy through the contribution of several team members all engaged on the same task, while psychological well-being arises through increased opportunities for interaction between team members and involvement in job-related deci sion making. In general, self-managed teams have considerable discretion over: * The work done and setting team goals * How work is achieved – which processes are used and how work is scheduled * Internal performance issues – distributing the work and the contribution made by each member of the team * Decision making and problem solving.SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS DICIPLINES: In order for an organization that wanted to establish and achieve the self-managed work teams from the traditional teams, there are disciplines of the self-managed work teams that need to be follow. These disciplines are a set of skills, approaches, insights, and practices that are not typically mastered by more conventional teams. As the disciplines itself, is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, the teams need to move toward self-management along a continuum from â€Å"other-directed† to becoming self-directed.By mastering the self-managed work team’s disciplines, it is the main key to achieve and understand the concept of self-managed work teams itself. These disciplines also ensure the long-term success of the teams. A self-managed work teams discipline consists of: * Establish & Communicate the Boundaries of Team Authority: Aside from defining the boundaries of the team authority, a self-managed work teams must clearly communicate to its members, to the steering committee, to other teams, and to the entire organization the specific boundaries of its ole and authority. When a self-managed work teams can’t uphold its communication it can cause a self-destruction, as it fail to negotiate a clear and agreed-upon charter up-front. Aside, to maintain the communication between members, a consistent measurement or checking is required to ensure its relevancy. * Develop Cross-Functional Skills or Knowledge: Another difference of self-managed work teams and conventional team is that all members of the team are intimately familiar with all of the tasks done wit hin the team.All members on a self-managed work teams must not only understand the variety of jobs and tasks performed within the team, they must also have the capability to perform each of these jobs or tasks. Training all team members in each other's tasks is an important component of the self-managed work teams skill or practice set. * Develop Critical Thinking Skills: A self-managed work teams must critically evaluate its role in the organization, its charter, and its goals, its evolving norms of behavior, its performance, its successes and others.A self-managed work teams must always examining its processes, its environment and its results. The skills of critical thinking include identifying our mental models or assumptions, challenging the â€Å"context† within which the team operates imagining and exploring alternative realities, and becoming â€Å"reflectively skeptical. † * Become Self-Directed Learners: Conventional work teams often depend upon the learning p riorities set by management or the training office; self-managed work teams break this dependency and define for themselves what they need to know.Aside from learning their job, the team also learn to handle responsibility for identifying needed skills and knowledge essential for their and the company's long-term success. The team assumes full responsibility for exploring what they must know and master next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. The self-managed work teams’ works with the training office to discover new methods and approaches for learning what the team needs to become self-directed, long-term learners. * Manage Team Performance:Conventional teams may be involved in goal setting and performance evaluation, but management still plays a major role in molding these goals and in evaluating the team's performance. A self-managed work teams assumes full responsibilities for these tasks, the self-managed work teams, therefore, must be trained in the skills and knowledge of team performance management. This includes the skills of goal setting, establishing benchmark standards, evaluating performance against standards, developing plans for performance improvement. Manage Human Resources: In traditional work teams, management usually assumes the primary responsibility for defining needed positions, recruiting the right candidates, establishing criteria for evaluating the candidates, selecting the new worker, and orienting him or her to the job. Further, once the employee is on the job, management then monitors and evaluates the employee's performance and takes corrective action if required to improve performance. However, the self-managed work teams assume full responsibility for managing its human resources.Following guidelines established by the HR department, the self-managed work teams usually performs all of the functions that result in a new hire. It also assumes responsibility for resolving individual performance problems t hat occur when individual members don't meet team expectations. As a result, team members must learn to master such HR skills as recruiting and selecting new hires, monitoring individual performance, and then taking action to correct performance problems. While it might be true that SMWTs will approach performance problem solving quite differently than traditional management approaches (e. . , looking for cause not blame), the team must be capable of dealing with the team member who fails to work effectively with the team. This may even include the difficult task of disciplining or even terminating a team member. Although managing its human resources may be the hardest skill for the team to master, it is probably the most critical to the team's long-term success. Self-directed work teams, also known as self-managing teams, represent a revolutionary approach to the way work is organized and performed.Instead of organizing work based on the traditional Taylor model — reducing a process to individual steps — work becomes restructured around whole processes. There must be interdependence and joint responsibility for outputs if there is to be a self-directed work team. Whereas the traditional system reduces the required skill at every level of work, producing boredom in the bottom-level jobs, the new system integrates the needs of the people with the work to be done, and those closest to the jobs help design the job. LEADING A SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS:The leadership role in a self-managed team is very different from that of a team leader in a traditional hierarchical team such as a functional team. In a hierarchical team the team leader allocates work. In contrast, in a self-managed team, the leadership role involves taking on more of a supporting role, which includes identifying the long-term career and personal development needs of the team within the context of the overall organization. The team leadership role in a:| Hierarchical team| Self-managed team| The role is vested in one individual. | The role may be shared. | To manage the team. To support the team by providing (or arranging others to provide) coaching and advice. | To plan and allocate the work done by the team. | To agree, in discussion with the team, the standard of work and the aims, objectives and targets of the team. | To monitor and appraise the performance of team members in carrying out the tasks allocated to them. | To monitor the achievement of the team as a unit. To appraise individual performance. | To motivate the team members. | To provide the conditions for high motivation. | To act as the main contact point for communication between the team and the rest of the organisation. To facilitate the creation of channels of communication with the rest of the organisation. | THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL TEAMS AND SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS: In an organization, there are many types of work teams that is apply in the organization itself, each of the work teams have different structure and way of communication with their members. The differences of work teams’ structure * Managed Team: A group of people working together toward a common goal. The ‘what’ will happen, ‘where’ it will happen and ‘how’ it will happen is set by the organisation and/or the manager. Self-Managed Team: Is a group of people working together in their own way toward a common goal which is defined outside the team. The team decides their work schedule, in what order, when to deliver, how, to what standards, and by whom. * Self-Directed Team: A group of people working together in their own way toward a common goal which the team defines. They will perform all of the above but in addition also have input on recruitment to the team, training, compensation, performance management, discipline, and acts as a profit center by defining its own future.The difference of self-managed work teams with conventional teams is self-ma naged work teams complete an entire piece of work, whether it's a product, a service, or part of a large product of service. The team assigns tasks that individual team members perform. In other words, the team plans, organizes, and controls work activates with little or no direct involvement of a higher status supervisor. Self-managed work teams control most work inputs, flow, and output. Aside, they are responsible for correction work flow problems as they occur.On other words, the teams maintain their own quality and logistical control. Self-managed work teams receive team-level feedback and rewards. This recognizes and reinforces the fact that the team – not individuals – is responsible for the work, although team members may also receive individual feedback and rewards. Characteristics of a mature self-managed work teams SUCCESS FACTORS TOWARDS SELF-MANAGED WORK TEAMS: There are some factors that need to be considered by the organization as those factors are the s uccess factors towards self-managed work teams.When an organization neglects those factors, there is a high possibility that the organization will not achieve an effective self-managed work teams. * Learn: A key success factor for self-managed teams is to be open to, and continuously gather, information about how other self-managed teams are operating, through meetings and other forms of communication. These may be teams within the organization or within other organizations. Even if the self-managed teams learn about work in other organizations whose business is very different to the original organization, there may still be valuable lessons to learn.Aside, the organization should consider involving representatives of successful self-managed teams as mentors to the team, if possible. * Structure Just because a team is self-managed doesn't mean it can work with a nebulous structure where nobody is clear about who does what. There is a need to structure the team in the most efficient way. This will depend on the organization's business, the team's function and the individuals within it. Some self-managed teams work best where one member serves as a leader. Others are successful where all members are of equal status.However, the common success factor is that everyone is very clear about roles and accountability's within the team. * Achieve Most likely, a self-managed team will be endeavoring to achieve outcomes agreed with the organization's management team. However, within the team, each employee have different goals, like they wanted to try and achieve more than the agreed outcomes, as an indication that the self-managed team is functioning to a commendable level of efficiency and success. A self-managed team's achievements are particularly important where elements within the organization are dubious about the wisdom of implementing the teams. Evaluate Evaluation is an important part of a successful self-managed work teams. Just as in any organizational structu re, evaluation is the way of discovering to what extent aims and objectives have been achieved. A critical success factor of all self-managed teams is the ability to respond positively to evaluation, identify where improvements can be made and develop a plan to implement the changes needed to deliver them. ADVANTAGES VERSUS DISADVANTAGES: There is nothing perfect in a work teams, there are always limitations of it but aside of limitation, there are benefits of the work teams.The organization can decrease the impact of its limitation by improving in that certain weak area. The advantages of self-managed work teams are: * Job Satisfaction: With self-managed teams, employees have more job satisfaction because they are directly involved in the day to day running of a company and are more independent. This direct involvement helps them to identify more closely with a company's objectives. Employees also derive a sense of satisfaction from developing new decision-making and problem-solvin g skills and working as part of a close-knit team. Improved Productivity: According to â€Å"Business Week,† companies that use self-managed work teams are 30 to 50 percent more productive than those with a traditional hierarchy. This is because workers have a greater commitment to company goals when they are more closely involved in helping to achieve these goals. Having a greater share in the results ensures that teams quickly address a product's problems and defects and are sensitive to customers' needs and requests. Self-directed work teams have a wide range of skills because of the diverse backgrounds of individual members.This helps teams to develop innovative products and services and to take a creative approach to problem-solving. * Increased compatibility between employers and employees: Self-managed teams can relieve stress for the leader, who is then able to concentrate on other tasks. The team is mutually supportive and members learn from each other instead of app roaching the team leader for advice. * Commitment: Team members can become more involved in projects as a direct result of having increased autonomy and responsibility. * Motivation: Team members have shared or equal responsibility so members are accountable for their actions.The disadvantages of self-managed work teams are: * Extensive Training: Companies making the transition from a traditional management structure to self-managed work teams must invest considerable time and resources in training people in management skills. Training goes through several stages and this process can last between two and five years. Employees get additional training in providing customers service and satisfaction and must learn how to work effectively as part of a team. * Managing Managers: Managers may actively resist the concept of self-managed work teams because it makes their role effectively redundant.Organizations may have to offer additional professional training to managers before they can r eassign them to jobs that offer the same level of pay and status. Managers being reassigned need to receive highly specialized technical training. CONCLUSION: The introduction of employee empowerment through self-managed teams program can provide the necessary edge required to remain competitive in today's global market. However, no empowerment program can be successful in the long term if management does not take adequate steps before the program is introduced and utilize an adequate management strategy once the program has been initiated.The pre-program steps and the management strategy must be more than words on paper. Management must be sold on the idea of employee empowerment and develop a management strategy that fully supports the empowerment program or it will eventually fail. If management supports its self-managed teams, they will foster its success. In Asia itself, companies are not familiar with the terms of Self-Managed Work Teams as in Asia having a particular leader a re viewed as the best option in a management. There is still a high importance of hierarchy in the Asian society. REFERENCES: 1.Career Track, â€Å"Implementing self-directed work teams† (Newsletter, SV-No. 16), 1995, pp. 1-8. 2. Ankarlo, L. , â€Å"The best value in training†, Career Track, 1994, pp. 12-16. 3. Pett, T. and Miller, T. , â€Å"Employee empowerment: old wine in a new bottle†, Southwest Academy of Management, Proceedings, Mescon Group, Dallas, TX, March 1994, p. 153. 4. Fisher, K. , Leading Self-directed Work Teams, McGraw-Hill, Chesterfield, MO, 1994, pp. 1-26, 164-70. 5. Conger, J. A. and Kanungo, A. T. , â€Å"The empowerment process: integrating theory and practice†, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 13 No. 3, 1988, pp. 471-82. 6. Madonna, J. C. Allaire, P. A. and Drew, E. H. , â€Å"Leadership and empowerment for total quality†, The Conference Board, Vol. 24 No. 2, 1992, pp. 9-25. 7. Mears, P. and Voehl, F. , Team Building, St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL, 1994. 8. Dumaine, B. , â€Å"The trouble with teams†, Fortune, 5 September 1994, pp. 86-92. 9. Stokes, Jr and Stewart, L. , â€Å"IS without managers†, Information Strategy: The Executive's Journal, Fall 1991, pp. 11-15. 10. McKee, B. , â€Å"Turn your workers into a team†, Nation's Business, July 1992, pp. 36-8. 11. Barry, D. , â€Å"Managing the bossless team: lessons in distributed leadership†, Organizational Dynamics, Summer 1991, pp. 1-47. 12. Brucker, D. , â€Å"Spurring on reengineering†, Fortune, 26 June 1995, p. 15. 13. Sirkin, H. L. , â€Å"The employee empowerment scam†, Industry Week, 18 October 1993, p. 58. 14. Dean, J. and Evans, J. , Total Quality: Management, Organization, and Strategy. West Publishing Co. , St Paul, MN, 1994, pp. 197-26. 15. Overman, S. , â€Å"Saturn teams working and profiting†, HR Magazine, March 1995, pp. 72-4. 16. Grates, G. F. , â€Å"The subtlety and power of com munications in corporate renewal initiatives†, Public Relations Quarterly, Spring 1994, pp. 40-3. 17. Holpp, L. â€Å"Applied empowerment†, Training, February 1994, pp. 39-44. 18. Bowen, D. and Lawler, E. E. III, â€Å"The empowerment of service workers: what, why how, and when†, Management Review, Spring 1994, pp. 31-9. 19. Flanagan, P. , â€Å"IBM one day, Lexmark the next†, Management Review, January 1994, pp. 38-44. 20. Burrows, P. , â€Å"Playing ball without the coach†, Business Week, July 1993, p. 99. 21. Spanbauer, S. J. , â€Å"A quality system for education†, Quality, Vol. 6 No. 4, 1990, pp. 55-65. 22. Macher, K. , â€Å"Empowerment and the bureaucracy†, Training and Development Journal, September 1988, pp. 41-6. 23.Dumaine, B. , â€Å"Who needs a boss? â€Å", Fortune, 7 May 1990, pp. 52-60. 24. Caudron, S. , â€Å"Are self-directed teams right for your company? â€Å", Personnel Journal, December 1993, pp. 76-84. 25. Be nnett, S. , â€Å"Turnaround at Kodak Park†, Business Quarterly, Spring 1994, pp. 31-41. 26. Ferero, M. , â€Å"Self-directed work teams untax the IRS†, Personnel Journal, July 1994, pp. 66-71. 27. Wellins, R. , â€Å"Texas Instruments gets from here to there†, Training ; Development, June 1995, pp. 26-41. 28. Hopp, L. , â€Å"If empowerment is so good, why does it hurt? â€Å", Training, March 1995, pp. 53-7. 29. Stein, R. E. Next Phase of Total Quality Management, Marcel Dekker, Inc. , Boston, MA, 1994, pp. 103-23. 30. Pasmore, W. A. , â€Å"An approach to successful integration†, Self-Managing Work Teams, July/August 1994, pp. 15-23. 31. Andrews, G. , â€Å"Mistrust, the hidden obstacle to empowerment†, HR Magazine, September 1994, pp. 66-70. 32. Thibodeaux, M. and Faden, S. , â€Å"Organizational design for self-managed teams†, Industrial Management ; Data Systems, annual 1994, pp. 20-6. 33. Giordan, J. and Ahern, A. , â€Å"Self-mana ged teams: quality improvement in actions†, Research Technology Management, May/June 1994, pp. 33-5.