Development of the Cold War Essay

Up until 1945 the tensions between the USSR and the USA had been covered by the fact that both sides were trying to fight against Hitler and therefore relations up until the war had been relaxed. However this changed after 1945 the victory against Germany brought them international superpower status giving them more control and influence over many countries especially in Eastern Europe. As a result Stalin changed and adapted policies accordingly to increase competition with the USA; both countries were fearful of each other hence why Stalin concentrated on things such as industry and ignoring agricultural production for example. I will explain what and why the cold war influenced Stalin’s policies inside the USSR and come to a conclusion. My first point is that Stalin focused his efforts even more on the development of industry than ever before. The reason why Stalin did this was to rival the USA’s superpower status and therefore they focused on quantitative rather than the qualitative side of industry. Stalin wasn’t worried if the products they produced were any good as long as they met the 5 year plan targets then he believed he could compete with the USA. This showed as according to the statistics every planned target in 1950 was apparently met e.g. the coal target was 250 million tons which they surpassed and reached 261 million tons. Even the figures may have been exaggerated it is clear that the Stalinist approach had worked in terms of recovering from the war as well making significant progress in terms of producing goods. My next point is again to do with industrial production, but more specifically how they focused on heavy industry and capital goods in order to help with defence and the production of nuclear weapons. In 1950 industrial production was almost up by 75% compared to 1940. The most significant increases were in the production of capital goods such as coal and steel which were important in terms of everyday living. Defence was also an important sector in the USSR as it received the most favourable treatment in the allocation of resources, including skilled labour. The reason why Stalin concentrated on these things was because he wanted to carry out the task and maintain their new superpower status. Stalin was also fearful of the USA and the UK because they had refused to share information with him on the atom bombs which increased the tensions further between them and the USA. But because of Stalin’s drive to carry through heavy industry and concentrate particularly on their defenc e he was able to use his skilled labour and eventually managed to produce their own bomb by 1949. Another change to policies inside the USSR was to do with social policies and more specifically the campaign against cosmopolitanism. The reason why Stalin approved of the campaign against cosmopolitanism was because he feared anything from the Western world and he was particularly scared of what would happen in Leningrad as it was known as the â€Å"window to the West† where Stalin believed foreign influences was most likely to enter the USSR. He therefore opposed and banned things such as jazz music which was seen as something that was particularly Western. It wasn’t just that though as what was known as the â€Å"Leningrad purge† in 1948 where over 200 leading Leningrad party officials were either arrested or shot also occurred. Other things that were controlled because of the cold war tensions included controls on what was read as well as what was viewed at cinemas & theatres. But the campaign against cosmopolitanism was also linked with the increased anti-Semitism, the discrimination and violence against Jews. Other examples include the doctor’s plot where Jewish doctors were blamed poisoning Zhadnov and plotting Stalin’s death as well as banning marriages with foreigners. The reason why Stalin did this was because the cold war essentially made him even more suspicious of the West and therefore made him become stricter in terms of the policies he carried out. Alongside the campaign against cosmopolitanism was the rise in Russian nationalism. The USSR distrusted the Western powers and capitalism and Stalin knew that the two sides (USSR and USA) could not work together without trying to fight for supremacy at some point. The USSR decided that they would do this by praising everything that was Russian and making out that anything Russian was better than anything from the West. But in general this was excessive and made them look insecure; this reflected that in the past they were often invaded by Western powers that had better technology, as well as showing that they weren’t used to their new superpower status. The reason why Stalin imposed these policies inside the USSR was to make sure the people knew that anything Russian was far superior to anything that was Western and make the USSR look even better in terms being seen as a great country from anywhere in the world. The essence of competition was important to Stalin as he wanted his country to look even greater than the USA. The victory against Germany in the Great Patriotic war gave the USSR the chance to expand and gain more communist allies and help spread their influence in Eastern Europe particularly as well as the world in general. Stalin concentrated his efforts mainly on Eastern Europe as an â€Å"insurance zone† essentially to help protect them if they did come under attack from the USA. After 1945 the USSR recaptured Baltic States and therefore he had control over some major Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. This was important for two reasons, one because it would add protection if they came under attack again as well as spread their communist roots/ideologies so that they would gain more influence for the future. This was even discussed with wartime allies, the USA and the UK at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. This was to help decide the fate of post-war Europe. It was dominated by Stalin and the conferences helped decide on the amount of influence countries had and who would make key decisions. Stalin also used his powerful position to strip assets from the Eastern countries mentioned above to help rebuild Soviet industry. By doing this they could deal with the fact that Stalin was fearful of the USA because of their development of the atomic bomb and the increasing tensions between the two countries. The tension between the USSR and the USA also explains to some extent to why Stalin continued to ignore agricultural production and focus on industrial production as mentioned above. The situation got worse first during the war when the general public faced starvation because there was a lack of food and this continued to get worse as famine affected the USSR in 1946 & 47 when other Baltic states e.g. Moldova had to deal with drought. Agricultural production during the development of the cold war therefore continued to get worse as the planned 1950 target wasn’t met (didn’t get close). Another reason that could be suggested why Stalin ignored agricultural production was because there was a lack of competition with the USA in terms of agriculture, and therefore to him it didn’t really matter. Stalin’s rural economy was consequently a failure, which clearly underperformed and was obviously a weakness in the Soviet regime. The fact was because money was being directed towards industry there wasn’t any many to spend on producing food and providing modern equipment. My last point is what was known as â€Å"comecon† or short for The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. The Comecon was founded in 1949 by the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. The primary factors in Comecon’s creation were that Stalin’s desire was to co-operate and strengthen the international communist relationship at an economic level with the lesser states of Eastern Europe. This was a response to the USA’s marshal plan which provided aid and money to European countries that were affected by the war. Again this gives the sense of competition that Stalin liked to implement and show that the USSR was more than a match to the USA. The programme also encouraged trade and industrial between the communist countries. There was also an important legacy of this brief period of activity; the Sofia principle which radically weakened intellectual property rights, making each country’s technologies available to the others which greatly benefited the USSR because in terms of technology they were far behind most countries. If it wasn’t for the USA’s Marshall Plan then the USSR would probably not have gained advanced technology, but because of the influence of the cold war Stalin wanted to compete with the USA at everything and make them look superior in any way possible. In conclusion I believe the development of the cold war greatly influenced Stalin’s policies in the USSR. The fact that Stalin saw the USA as major competition in terms of being the ultimate superpower in the world also drove these policies faster than they might have been without the tensions of the cold war. But the fact that Stalin became more paranoid and suspicious as this reign went on also explains some changes in his policies e.g. becoming stricter on Jews. However in my opinion most of his policies including focusing on industrial production, ignoring agricultural production, introducing Comecon and the upsurge in Russian Nationalism can all be accounted for by the influence of the cold war.

Shui Fabrics Question 1 Ans

Economic factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and theinflation rate. These factors have major impacts on how businesses operate and makedecisions. For example, interest rates affect a firm’s cost of capital and therefore to what extent a business grows and expands. Exchange rates affect the costs of exporting goods and supply and price of imported goods in an economy. There are economic differences that influence the relationship between the partners at Shui Fabrics. Chiu Wai, operated Shanghai Fabrics LTC located in China, before it became a joint venture with Rocky River Industries in the United States. When the companies became a venture, Chiu Wai became the Deputy General Manager for Shui Fabrics in China and venturing company Rocky River Industries located in US. Ray Betzell who is the General Manager for Shui Fabrics came to China from Rocky River Industries. Many companies who do business in others countries and cultures fail miserably. Managers must do their homework and learn the business ethic and culture lifestyles before even considering venturing into markets in different counties. To me it seems like neither of the managers did their homework and are having problems maintaining the economic factors that influence their company. A developing country is a non-industrialized poor country that is seeking to develop its resources by industrialization. A developed country is a country that has a high level of development according to some criteria such as income per capita and industrialization. Political-Legal factors include discrimination, consumer, antitrust, employment, and health and safety law. They also include how and to what degree a government intervenes in the economy. Specifically, political factors include areas such as tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restriction tariffs, and political stability. These factors can affect how a company operates, its costs, and the demand for its products. Political factors may also include goods and serves which the government wants to provide or be provided and those that the government does now want to be provided. Furthermore, governments have great influence on the health, education, and infrastructure of a nation. Political officials are going to be a big part of the team because they have strong influence on economic life in China. Ray must reach out to them and understand their goals. Success will depend on the personal involvement of top executives. The partners differ dramatically in terms of what constitutes an acceptable financial return. Chiu Wai is happy with achieving a 5% to 6% profit and believes he is viewed as a local hero. Upon achieving his goal he feels that he has done a good job for his country morally and for their side of enterprise by creating jobs for close to 3,000 people. He wants to grow the scope of Shui Fabrics and establish a national brand. Ray Betzell wants a 20% ROI and will only consider growth if it improves profitability, has no interest in creating employment unless it improves the bottom line, is considering maybe having to layoff employees to improve bottom line. He wants to improve quality, and sees no benefit to creating a Chinese brand because it views China as a low-cost manufacturing platform rather than a market. Social factors include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, populations growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safely. Trends in social factors affect the demand for a company’s products and how the company operates. With this being said, Ray needs to move outside his personal comfort zone as a manager. There seems to be a lack of clear, shared strategy between the two partners. When the company started 10 years ago, Rocky River has launched Shui Fabrics, a 50/50 joint venture between the U. S. extile manufacture and the Chinese company, to produce dye, and coat fabric for sale to both Chinese and international sportswear manufacturers. Intent seemed clear in beginning after many obstacles, considerable red tape and several money losing years the joint venture was fulfilling China expectations and those of local government and party officials. It seems there was once a clear strategy that has been forgotten over the course of ten year s. Another social factor that is different between the partners would be that a profit over 20% return on investment may be perceived as Western exploitation. When it comes to doing business in China, respect for people’s feelings is paramount – this sensitivity that needs to be taken in respect to people’s ‘face’. Face – a cliche, is the currency of advancement. It’s like a social bank account. You spend it and you save it and you invest. And when you take away somebody’s face you take way someone’s fundamental sense of security. Because of China’s history of exploitation by foreign countries who colonized China or raided China for business purposes, particularly in the business sphere, Chinese do not want to be seen culturally as having been ‘had’ by Western usinesspeople. (http://www. nytimes. com/2010/12/14/business/global/14iht-busnav14. html)Chiu Wai is pleased with the way the company is operating and feels that Shui is generating just the right level of profit especially because many U. S. -Chinese joint ventures are still operating in red tape. He se es no reason why Ray’s American bosses shouldn’t be more than satisfied with their 5% annual return on investment. This tells me that Chiu is unclear of his company’s strategic goals. Without a clear strategy it is impossible to choose right structure and extent of cooperation with a foreign partner. Unfortunately Chiu Wai attitude at Shui Fabrics jeopardizes the success of joint venture investment. As you can see the partners don’t share the same vision or philosophy at Shui Fabrics, the joint venture within China and the U. S. The disparity in viewpoints can dramatically hamper performance. In order for them to make the company succeed they need to come up with a clear, shared strategy that they both can agree and understand. Power Distance is the extent to which a community accepts and endorses authority, power differences and status privileges. In China, social relationships are formal, hierarchical. People mostcomfortable in the presence of a hierarchy in which they know their position andthe customs/rules for behavior in the situation. The Americans social relationships are informal, egalitarian. People mostcomfortable with their social equals; importance of social rankings minimized. 2. Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which a society, organization, or group relies onsocial norms, rules, and procedures to alleviate the unpredictability of future events. In China, obligation relationships with other people involve reciprocalobligations. In American, obligation people avoid interdependent relationships andsituations that might entail long term obligations. 3. Individualism and collectivism Individualism stands for a society in which the ties between individuals are loose and everyone is expected to look after him/herself and hisor her immediate family only. Collectivism stands for society in which people from birthonwards are integrated into strong cohesive in-groups, which throughout people’slifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The Chinese are collectivist because they place higher value on groupcooperation and individual modesty. The Americans are individualism because they place higher value on self-reliance. Self-promotion is more accepted. High value on freedom from externallyimposed constraints. 4. Masculinity/femininity indicates the extent to which dominant values in a society tendto be assertive and look more interested in things than in concerning for people and thequality of life. The Chinese are relationship-oriented maintaining a harmonious relationshiphas priority over accomplishing tasks. Americans have task-oriented relationships that are less important than gettingthe work done. 5. Assertiveness is the degree to which individuals are assertive, confrontational, andaggressive in their relationships with others. The Chinese avoid direct confrontation, open criticism, and controversionaltopics. Concern maintaining harmony and with face. Americans are willing to confront directly, criticize, discuss controversionaltopics, press personal opinions about what they consider the truth. Little concernwith face. 6. Future Orientation is the degree to which a collective encourages and rewards futureoriented behaviors such as planning and delaying gratification. The Chinese pay relatively more attention to the past and the longer termfuture. Americans are less interested in the past they focus on the near-term future7. Gender differentiation is the degree to which a collective minimized gender inequality. In China, traditionally a person’s status in the society was based importantlyon inherited characteristics such as age, gender, and family. This is changing. In America, traditionally a person’s status in the society was based importantlyon inherited characteristics such as age, gender, and family. This is changing. 8. Performance orientation

Great expectations Essay

Dickens engages his audience by creating vivid images of people and places. Comment on this with close references to two parts in ‘Great Expectations. ‘ The two sections I will be referring to are chapter 1 and chapter 8. In these chapters Dickens describes two different settings; the church yard and Satis house. He also introduces us to Philip Pirrip known as Pip. Pip’s ambition is to become a blacksmith. Magwich is an escaped convict. Estella is Mrs Havisham’s ward. Mrs Havisham is a rich but heartbroken woman who despises men due to her own marriage breakdown. In the opening chapter, Dickens describes the marshland and the graveyard. The impression I get of the setting is unwelcoming and desolate. He describes the marshland as a damp swamp with unfriendly plants such as stingy nettles. He also describes graveyard as a dark gloomy surrounding with little warmth and hospitality ‘a man soaked in water, covered in mud†¦.. as he seized me by the chin. ‘ Charles Dickens describes the atmosphere as a raw afternoon with the help of the weather. He achieves this with the help of creative weather descriptions throughout the fist chapter ‘†¦ which the wind was rushing†¦.. and that small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all†¦. ‘ Although the scene is serious, Dickens still manages to bring humour into it. For example: when pip was tilted upside and robbed off a stale piece bread. ‘The man, after looking me for a moment, turned me upside down and emptied my pockets. ‘ I think dickens added humour to dilute the tension and to give us a laugh. He also introduces us to pip and Magwitch, the convict. Pip feels intimidated by the convict, due to the way the convict enrols power over pip as he tilts him down on top of the grave. ‘†¦ so that his eyes looked most powerfully down into mine, and mine looked most helplessly up into his. ‘ We feel pathos for pip as Magwitch verbally threatens pip with no regrets. Magwitch is describe as a fearful man, a man with no hat, soaked in water and smothered in mud. The impression we get from the description of Magwitch is that he wasn’t gentlemen due to no hat. We feel empathy for the convict as we get a strong description of what he has been through. ‘A man soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ seized me by the chin. ‘ In chapter 8 Pip, again, feels uneasy when he visits Satis house. It is described as a dark, uninviting resident with old bricks, iron barred windows and a courtyard that is also barred. The atmosphere portrayed to us is that Satis house is an unappealing place to visit. Dickens creates this atmosphere detailed information and through the characters thoughts and feelings. Pip meets Estella and Miss Havisham at Satis house. He is surprised by Miss Havisham’s appearance. She is dressed in an outfit that can only be worn only on one particular day and that was her wedding dress. We learn as we read on, she is dressed in her wedding gown as she believes her husband, who fled on the wedding day, would come back and wed. We assume that pip is having second doubts of the arrangements and is cautious of behaviour. The impression we get of Miss Havisham is she is an aged but rich woman who despises men due to her marriage failure. Nevertheless she puts her misfortunes a side and treats pip kindly. Estella, by contrast, is a young, vibrant girl but has a bad attitude. She treats pip as an inferior with no respect at all. One major example was when she referred to him as ‘boy’. †¦ ‘but do not loiter, boy. ‘ Pip reacted in polite way no matter what she said. We see Estella as a rude and spiteful child. Dickens is successful in creating different settings by giving the readers detailed description of the setting and through the characters thoughts and feelings. Dickens has drawn on his own experiences and this is why he is successful.

Heart Disease in low income geographical area Research Paper

Heart Disease in low income geographical area - Research Paper Example The paper tells that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in Georgia. Statistics in this respect reveal that many women are at a substantial risk of developing heart disease. Activities like smoking are common among 19% of women whereas, 27% face obesity problems, 27% have high blood pressure, 37% have high cholesterol levels, and 60% are not physically active. Georgia’s death rate is 9% higher than the rate of U.S on average. During 2006 an estimated of 143,800 hospitalizations took place because of cardiovascular diseases, which amounted to almost $ 4.4 billion spent by people living in the state on heart-related problems. Moreover, the heart diseases, as a cause of death, remained 16% higher than the overall deaths caused in the whole United States. Research revealed that the death rate for men was 1.4 times higher than for women in 2006. Furthermore, it revealed that it was 1.3 times higher for blacks than for whites; black males were more prone to prema ture deaths due to CVD and had a higher risk of having a heart disease. The statistics of 2006 noted incidents in which black people who were below the age of 65, died due to heart problems. Although there are innumerable prevention programs, there are galloping graph depictions that reveal an increase in the rate of women developing heart trouble. However, one of the most authentic cardiovascular health surveillance was considered that highlighted the results.... were those who belonged to the lower-income group and had poor life style, and are facing various mitigating health problems such as hypertension and diabetes that may lead to a heart trouble. Later secondary research was conducted where findings and conclusions reached by researchers in the past were considered. This research confirmed the results that most of the low-income groups are at stake mainly because either they have no facilities at their disposal, or they are not thoroughly aware of the factors that may lead to the problem along with recognizing the initial symptoms. On the other hand, secondary research revealed that there are various other factors too which lead to heart problems in low-income groups. Statistics and Partnerships Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in Georgia. Statistics in this respect reveal that many women are at a substantial risk of developing heart disease. Activities like smoking are common among 19% of women whereas, 27% face obesity problems, 27% have high blood pressure, 37% have high cholesterol levels, and 60% are not physically active (Bryan, 2007). Georgia’s death rate is 9% higher than the rate of U.S on average. During 2006 an estimated of 143,800 hospitalizations took place because of cardiovascular diseases, which amounted to almost $ 4.4 billion spent by people living in the state on heart related problems. Moreover, the heart diseases, as a cause of death, remained 16% higher than the overall deaths caused in the whole United States (Health State, 2008). Research revealed that the death rate for men were 1.4 times higher than of women in 2006. Furthermore, it revealed that it was 1.3 times higher for blacks than for whites; black males were more prone to premature deaths due to CVD and had a higher

Geographic Information Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Geographic Information Systems - Research Paper Example This computerized system would ease the timely calculation of the organization’s payroll and with very little chance of any errors in those calculations. If witnessed on a larger scale, there is a number of information handling requirements of organizations. Every organizational level within a business needs certain information in order to execute the set of processes at that level. Managers at the higher management level need to make decisions for which they need results of reports and data analysis. This enables them to successfully embed the processed information into their decision making procedures. Likewise, managers at the middle managerial level would need more simplified information that would enable them to keep an eye over the day to day ongoing business activities. Thus, it may well be said that the execution of a full day of business processes running within an organization requires the operating of a number of information systems simultaneously each of which woul d cater to the specific requirements at each organizational level. Following is a narration of a specific type of information systems termed as the Geographical Information Systems. The narration has been done in first person. GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) My name is Geographical Information System. I am a perfect example of practically implemented Information systems. WHY AM I IMPORTANT (WHY IS A GIS IMPORTANT?) The geography of land on which human beings live is of immense importance to them. Ever since the ancient times of the human society these living beings have looked up locations of areas to analyze the possibility of presence of prey in that particular area. The early hunters based their living on moving from one location to the other. Geographical importance of land and the details of its terrain have been of integral importance to man since centuries ago. Maps, spatial information have been the source of discovery and planning since times unknown. Geographical ma pping is the most integral use of the geographical information at hand. Looking up the route to a particular location is among the most basic ways in which geographical information helps. Spatial information, on the other hand, affects the most basics of human society such as the growing up of crops, the production of energy, the making of clothes worn by man. With the discovery of computing technology all the geographical and spatial information was put to even better use. It was possible only after the integration of computing technology that my creation was planned. My development was aimed as the making of a tool that would be able to assist human beings with the geographic knowledge associated with themselves and their belongings. I am designed to help in the gathering and use of spatial data. I embed within myself certain technological features such as advanced networking abilities for establishing effective and timely communication, space age data collectors for maintaining a ny data collection in massive databases for future use and other highly sophisticated and intricate computing features. My capabilities and features continue to evolve with the passing of time since technological advancements are rising on a very rapid rate. These ever-developing technological changes are making my systems more enhanced with every passing unit time. The basic

How successful has the prison system been in achieving a balance Essay

How successful has the prison system been in achieving a balance between disciplinary and therapeutic strategies in dealing with - Essay Example Northern Ireland has the least number of inmates at less than 2,000 and only few prisons. Drug abuse in the UK is governed by Misuse of Drugs Act and several other laws that prohibit organised crimes related to illicit drugs. It is estimated that over 300,000 individuals in UK consume illegal drugs and one third of the drug addicts engage in routine crimes. About 75,000 drug users enter the prison system annually with about 16 percent of the drug addicts abusing drugs regularly while in prison (Robinson & Crow 2009). On average, 55 percent of prisoners have drug related problems while about one third of suicide deaths and self-harm crimes are committed within the first week of imprisonment (Robinson & Crow 2009). The UK prison system has successfully attained a balance between the disciplinary role of the prison strategies and therapeutic strategies in dealing with drug abuse problem (Tonry 2004). Historically, any prison system was used to discipline the offenders through harsh puni shments and long imprisonment terms. However, due to the high number of repeat offenders, many prison systems including the United Kingdom have implemented new measures of rehabilitating the offenders and controlling repeat offences (Robinson & Crow 2009). ... The prison system has contained the offenders in a humane manner thus allowing the offenders to successfully integrate in the society after their imprisonment term (Gravett 2000). Substance abuse is a critical problem among the prison population. Therapeutic treatments for the offenders benefit both the individual and wider society. Some therapeutic strategies include detoxification in order to manage the withdrawal symptoms and prevent the long run relapse in to substance abuse (Mathiesen 2006). The UK prison system has also implemented community based therapeutic services within the prisons that enable health workers to attend to drug offenders. The National Probation Service ensures that the prison staffs continually improve the access to therapeutic care and implement strategies that minimize supply of drugs in the prison system (Tonry 2004). Some of the challenges experienced in the therapeutic strategies include illicit access of drugs in the prisons, increased harm to prisoner s due to overdose and integration of the CARAT services in to a multi-agency therapeutic team. The prison system provides methadone or buprenorphine that is made to limit withdrawal symptoms. The prison population has increased and role of drug enforcement must be emphasized. Significant populations of the drug offenders are seeking minimal punishments under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Drug law enforcement is responsible for about one third of the imprisoned offenders in the UK prison system. Illegal drug users over the age of 18 years are considered serious criminals while high drug dependency among the low-income individuals is likely to engage in other

The Violence of Video Games on Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Violence of Video Games on Children - Essay Example Violent video games can have a serious negative effect on children, by giving them aggressive thoughts and actions. Aggressive acts are â€Å"acts that make a person more likely to commit a dangerous or harmful act† (McCormick, 2001, 279). Video games make some children aggressive in all of their behavior. Children who like to play video games sometimes try to imitate those things in real life. Video games make children become lost in the game and can be very addictive. In addition, video games make children scared because they have challenges with opponents in the game. Children who play video games may also experience emotional imbalance or bad dreams when they go to sleep. Because of the use of video games children â€Å"behave more aggressively† with their siblings and friends (Whitaker, 2009). When a child plays video games that have aggressive behavior, they will want to repeat that behavior with their siblings or friends. Children typically apply what they learn from violent video games to real life. Violent games reinforce bad behavior in children and can negatively affect the friendly relationship between siblings. In addition, children can also lack of a sense of their feelings. Children become violent with their siblings or friends because they cannot control themselves and their feelings of anger. Children who cannot get along with their friends without using violence think that they can always get what they want. Also, they feel glad when they make someone cry. Also, sometimes when they can’t win they will take it out on their siblings or friends. Children who play violent video games can thus become very antisocial because they don’t know how to get along with their peers. Another side effect of violent video games is that children may become less obedient to their parents and teachers. They may think they are smarter than those people and lie to them if they think they can get away with it. Children often need to stay with their parents and siblings so they can talk about real life issues, but video games can distract their attention. This negative behavior can make children stubborn. In addition, violent video games cause children to miss out on valuable lessons from their parents and teachers. These children often don’t follow school rules or respect the teachers. Once this happens, it is only a matter of time before these children suffer from poor grades due to their decreased focus on studying. Some of these same children will even go to school with having enough sleep and so they will be very tired. Video games can also destroy a child’s personality because it will lead them to not do homework. Some children can forget to do homework because they are so busy playing video games. Students can also lose interest in other activities. Video games prevent them from exercising because that time is spent playing video games instead. These children don’t read anymore because the y have found something that is much more exciting than reading. Therefore, their reading ability begins to suffer. These children also cannot go to play football outside with their friends because they are too busy enjoying time by themselves when they play video games. Furthermore, some children have drawing talent, yet when they ultimately get into video games

Family Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Family Law - Research Paper Example According to a survey report, 43 to 46 percent of all marriages that have happened in the US in the year 2000 will eventually end in divorce (Smith et al., 1453). This paper explores the US law of divorce and dissolution of marriage on the grounds of husband’s chronic alcoholism and physical violence. It shows that divorce and dissolution of marriage are two separate ways of separation. As per Section 3105.01 of Ohio Divorce Law extreme cruel behavior of either spouse and chronic alcoholism of either spouse are considered as valid reasons for dissolution of marriage. Therefore, Jennifer was granted divorce. As for child custody, court considers the best interests of the child. In this case, it was granted that Martin is alcoholic and violent therefore Steve will not be safe if he stays with his father. Therefore, Jennifer was granted custody of her son. Moreover, Jennifer will find it difficult to do a full time job because she will have to look after a minor child; therefore she was spousal support. Martin and Jennifer have been married for 9 years and they have a son Steve who is 7 years old. The first year was happy and peaceful for the newly married couple. In the beginning of their second year Martin left his old company and joined a new multinational company as a software developer. After joining the new company, Martin often complained about cultural dissatisfaction and low salary. This job dissatisfaction was manifested in Martin’s personal life as he began to get engaged in long arguments with his wife and began to neglect his son’s studies. Martin gradually developed a habit of drinking alcohol along with some of his colleagues either at office parties or at their residence. Initially, Jennifer was not concerned since Martin was a light drinker and although he returned home in late evenings slightly

Samsung Group Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Samsung Group - Research Paper Example The company was founded in 1938 by Lee Byung-chull in Daegu City. The company’s first name of incorporation was Samsung Sanghoe. The company started off small with forty employees. It was initially a trading company whose dealings involved locally grown groceries and noodles. After the progress of the enterprise and its flourishing, the owner of the business decided to move Samsung Sanghoe to Seoul. Byung-chull had to move the company to Busan during the Korean War, and the company started trading in a woolen mill. The company then diversified to different regions in the world and begun to trade in various commodities. The company became Samsung Group in 1947 after the two founders of Samsung Trading Corporation went into conflict. Samsung Group went into the electronics business in the 1960s. There were several electronic divisions’ formation from the company. The first product from Samsung Electronics was a black and white television. The company entered the telecommunications market in the 1980s(SG, 2011). The earliest products from the company were switchboards. The company rose to become an international company in the 1990s exporting their products to Europe and America. They were the world’s largest producers of memory chips in 1992. The company is notable in being able to survive the 1997 Asian market crisis. The company eventually moved to Digital television and Smartphones in the 2000s. It was possible for them as they opened a computer programming lab in Warsaw, Poland. It is the largest producer of smartphones in terms of unit sales.

Corporate law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate law - Case Study Example The exception to this is that the reserve may be applied by the company in paying up its unissued shares which are to be allotted to company members as fully paid bonus shares. Further, if the permissible capital payment exceeds the nominal amount of the shares redeemed or purchased, the amount of any capital redemption reserve, share premium account or fully paid share capital of the company, and any amount representing unrealised profits of the company for the time being standing to the credit of any revaluation reserve, may be reduced by a sum not exceeding, or by sums not in the aggregate exceeding, the amount by which the permissible capital payment exceeds the nominal value of the shares.4 Where, however, the proceeds of a fresh issue are applied by a company in making any redemption or purchase of its own shares in addition to a payment from its capital under these provisions, the references to the permissible capital payment are to be read as referring to the total amount of that payment and those proceeds. The CRR is mainly used to ens... The CRR is mainly used to ensure that the company's capital is not reduced by the redemption of its shares. If the company was to redeem its shares, and the CRR was not used, then there would be a reduction in the company's capital in line with the reduction of the amount of shares redeemed. Although the CRR cannot be distributed out to shareholders by way of dividend in the same way that profits would be utilised, they would be available for issuing bonus issues of share capital should such a scenario arise. Accordingly, the CRR plays an important role in maintaining the value of the company, by both keeping shareholders of redeemable preference shares happy in allowing them to redeem their shares, while also keeping the other shareholders content as the value of the share capital in the company is maintained. This means that there shareholding will be in no way diminished as a result of the redemption. Revaluation Reserves Revaluation reserves arise when the value of an asset becomes greater than the value at which it was previously carried on the balance sheet, increasing shareholders funds.5 Not every increase in value is added to the revaluation reserve, and the exact treatment depends on the history of the asset. Revaluations are carried out when there is a material difference between the current market value of an asset and the value at which it is carried on the balance sheet. Revaluation reserves are not distributable, but may be used for scrip issues, where there is an issue of new shares to existing shareholders at no charge, pro rata to their existing shareholdings. A scrip issue is essentially when one shareholder moves their money from one account to another account belonging to the

Using examples, critically discuss the importance of gastronomy to at Essay - 1

Using examples, critically discuss the importance of gastronomy to at festivals - Essay Example In today’s tourism industry, destinations are presenting food as a key element of their package to attract tourists. The objective of this essay is to analyze the role of gastronomy at festivals. A very good example of festival and trade based on gastronomy is Whitstable Oyster Festival in Kent. It is one of the ancient food festivals in the UK (Hall et al, 2008). It celebrates the tradition of the oyster industry in Kent. Haven-Tang et al (2006) have discussed the role of food festival in developing a sense of place. In the context of Monmouthshire food festival, the focus on local food and drink has been reported to have significant positive impact on the local economy Haven-Tang et al (2006). Moreover, it has proved that the emphasis on local food and drink through these festivals improve the visitor experience as well. A very interesting gastronomy project that was customized and exclusively designed for the promotion of local food and community was the ‘Eat the View’ project developed by the UK countryside agency. The festivals as part of this are reported to have created awareness among the travelers on the local food and culture and have had substantial positive influence on the promotion of local food ventures (Hall, 2005). The Great British Food Festival - Staffordshire, The Colchester Food and Drink Festival are some among a lot of food festivals coming up in the UK confirming the increasing role of gastronomy in tourism. Wine festivals are reported to be of great potential in the context of the United Kingdom (Hall et al, 2008). The ‘Taste of London Festival’ which was conducted in Regent Street in the summer of 2007, was a gourmet festival which is reported to have important role in improving awareness among the tourists on British Food. This brand of food festiva l was later replicated in the cities of Bath, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Dublin (Hall et al, 2008). The impact of

College Tuition Essay Example for Free

College Tuition Essay In todays society, the idea of a college education has become less of an option and more of a necessary requirement and is commonly considered the only way to acquire a successful career and life. There are many careers, in which a college education is not technically necessary, that can often be just as or even more successful. With the cost of college tuition increasing with every passing year, the controversy of whether college is really worth the cost and burden is growing too. If our society wants to continue displaying a college education as somewhat of a necessity for success, I believe the cost of it should shift to being a more realistic price, suitable for the majority of students striving to go to college. Most high school students feel pressure by not only the family, but also peers and teaching faculty to go to college because it’s â€Å"the smart thing to do†, but some may be hesitant to choose the college route because they believe their experiences will be different and the benefits of getting the job and making all their money back wont apply to them. Economic research concludes that more students would gain from college rather than opting out from it, and choosing a different route. Yes, there are many careers that require little or no further education after high school that may be considered successful jobs, such as construction and more hands on jobs, but it is averaged that over a lifetime those who attend college make about $500,000 more than those who do not. â€Å"Seven out of ten college seniors (71%) who graduated last year had student loan debt, with an average of $29,400 per borrower. From 2008 to 2012 debt at graduation †¦ increased an average rate of six percent each year. † (The Project of Student Debt). With all of the debts, not covered by either scholarships or financial aid, accumulated over the course of an individual’s schooling, the amount of additional money made becomes less substantial; if the tuition and fees were to decrease, the additional money made would not be as affected. The costs to attend two of the leading universities in Oregon, University of Oregon and Oregon State, for four years averages at about $88,000, and that doesn’t even include everyday personal expenses. For non-residents that price is more than doubled that of a resident student. â€Å"In 1980, it cost an  average of about $56,000 (adjusting for inflation) to attend a university for four years. This figure includes tuition, fees, and the â€Å"opportunity cost,† or income one foregoes to attend school instead of holding a job. (This figure excludes room and board: one must eat and sleep whether she is in college or not. ) In 2010, four years of college cost more than $82,000, a nearly 50 percent increase over that 30-year period. †(Brookings Institute). Sure there are many scholarships and financial aid a student is able to apply for, but with so many students applying for such scholarships, you’re chances of receiving them become slimmer. A lot of scholarships also do not benefit students as a whole and either target minorities, athletes, or financial aid students. Community college is also a viable option for many, but is often looked down upon. You don’t often hear a high school student say â€Å"I want to go to a community college† or â€Å"I can’t wait to go to a community college† with loads of enthusiasm. Not only do students and their families look down upon going to a community college, but teachers as well think lesser of community colleges and often express their opinions out loud. This makes students look at community colleges as less of a viable option and more of a last option. When applying for jobs, it also looks a lot more prestigious when it is shown that one attended a university rather than a community college. Although most colleges may not consider ways to lower the costs of college, there are many ways in which a lower tuition and overall price is possible. One direct contribution to the costs of schooling is the professor’s salary. Many college educators do not actually deserve the amount of money they make. Teachers should receive a salary that accurately reflects how affective the professor is at teaching. College fees also include unnecessary additions that are not required and could easily be taken off, such as gym memberships, recreation center memberships, and other additional bonuses that are not essential. Also, although I’m a student-athlete as well, the amount of money given away in scholarships just to play sports at that school has become a bit ridiculous. If the amount of money for scholarships went back into the school directly, the cost of tuition would decrease, and the need for those said scholarships would decrease as well. It is apparent that student athletes are held to a higher regard than other students. Often, you see students that are all-state athletes that get decent grades receive more money and â€Å"special treatment† in comparison to a student that does not do related extra-curricular activities, yet gets exceedingly high grades. This is not fair in any way; the elimination or decrease of athletic scholarships given out would eliminate the inequality commonly displayed throughout colleges. College tuition is at an outrageous high right now and is not showing many signs of decreasing. The costs of college and sending a student off to college have become much of a burden for many families across America. With how necessary getting a college education is considered, the cost of it all should shift to a more suitable price. The shift would be very difficult to achieve, and would be a very long process, but I do believe it is possible, not only for my generation, but the next several generations of students on the path to attend college. Work Cited Page: Greenstone, Michael, and Adam Looney. Regardless of the Cost, College Still Matters. The Brookings Institution. The Hamilton Project, 05 Oct. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. . Student Financial Aid and Scholarships. Cost of Attendance. University of Oregon, n. d. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. . Financial Aid and Scholarships. Cost of Attendance. Oregon State University, n. d. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. . State by State Data. Project on Student Debt:. The Project on Student Debt, 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. .

Strengths and weaknesses of situational leadership model

Strengths and weaknesses of situational leadership model According to situational leadership models in general, leaders should adopt different leadership approaches depending on the situations that they encounter. Leadership competencies which work in one given situation may not be effective under different circumstances (Graef, 1983). In other words, other factors must be taken into account when deciding which leadership style to use in a given situation. Therefore, successful leaders can be characterised as those who are able to adjust their leadership styles according to situations which warrant their intervention. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model is built on the concept using follower maturity as the key issue which affects adjustment in leadership styles.  [1]  Follower maturity, which defines the readiness of followers to perform in a given situation, is based on two major factors the ability and confidence in performing the tasks. Four leadership styles which emerge from this two-by-two matrix model (see Table 1) are Participating, Selling, Telling and Delegating. All these four leadership styles have varying levels in terms of follower ability and confidence. Table 1: Hersey-Blanchard Situational Table Leadership Model High PARTICIPATING STYLE Followers are capable but Relationship Behaviourunwilling and not confident SELLING STYLE Followers are unable but willing and confident DELEGATING STYLE Followers are capable, willing and confident TELLING STYLE Followers are unable, unwilling and not confident Low Task Behaviour Low High Managers who are keen to use the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model must first fully understand or be able to assess/gauge the level of maturity of its subordinates with reference to their readiness or commitment to perform their job tasks.  [2]   Based on the case analysis presented and the leadership model depicted in the table above, it can be concluded that John Terrill had adopted the Delegating Leadership Style in dealing with the situation at DGI Internationals Technical Services division. Delegating Leadership Style Looking at the two-by-two matrix, the Delegating Leadership Style is described as Low Task, Low Relationship, whereby intervention from managers is kept to a minimum with the assumption that the subordinates are able, willing and confident of accomplishing the tasks at hand. Managers who adopt this style of leadership will allow their followers or subordinates to take responsibility for their assigned tasks with minimal supervision from them. In the case of DGI Internationals Technical Services division, John Terrill practiced the delegating style based on the profile of the team in his division. Since it was stated that all 20 of his subordinates are engineers who are highly paid and best educated, it can be deduced that this group of employees are high performers in their area of expertise within the organization. Management will not be willing to pay them highly if they do not possess high level of job maturity, which refers to their job capabilities and confidence in accomplishing their tasks as engineers. Based on their aptitude and the fact that the engineers requested top management to stop making them spend too much time on writing reports, Terrill was able to gauge that the employees possess high capabilities of performing their tasks and are also willing and confident to do their job provided that they were given the opportunity and time needed to accomplish their tasks. The engineers did not need much prompting and directions from him to take on new initiatives which help contribute to their productivity. Terrills delegating style can be further identified when he promised to stay off the engineers backs and also make sure that top management did the same. This indicates that Terrill will not interfere much with the daily tasks of the engineers because he believes the engineers know what are expected of them, what they are supposed to do and do not need much direction from Terrill to accomplish their tasks. Strengths of Delegating Style This style of leadership empowers followers to be responsible for their own actions and decisions. For example, the engineers are given high autonomy in completing their tasks with minimal supervision by Terrill. For mature followers who have high level of job readiness, this leadership style will give them a great sense of accomplishment which acts as motivator to give their best and increase productivity (Hersey and Blanchard, 1988). In this case, the engineers are able to concentrate on accomplishing their tasks and productivity of the division will improve. Empowerment allows for a certain degree of independence which promotes accountability and creativity in individuals. A leader who is able to delegate his authority in terms of job accomplishment will have time to focus on other strategic matters. Followers of this leadership style will feel more trusted and will build a closer working relationship with the leaders and foster better team work. Inadvertently, it will be easier for Terrill to turn around the department because his engineers will have more respect for him and will not hesitate to help him achieve their goals. Weaknesses of Delegating Style Measurement of job readiness is subjective and based on several factors, mainly job ability and job confidence (Hambleton et al., 1977(. However, if a leader wrongly gauged the job readiness of his followers and leave it to them to accomplish certain tasks, he may not achieve the desired results at the end of the day. This style of leadership is open to abuse. Followers may be able, willing and confident to perform the tasks but they may also take advantage of the low intervention from their managers so that the tasks may not be completed on time or productivity is not up to par as expected. A leader is able to delegate the tasks to his followers but accountability of the job still lies with the leader. To sum up, job delegation should be a gradual process until the leader is satisfied and confident that the tasks can be accomplished with minor supervision. However, in the real world, there is no single leadership style that can be applied in all situations. Effective leaders should be able to adjust their leadership styles according to the situation at hand. Leaders who are able to adopt different styles based on what is required of them will be most successful. Question 2 What do you think was John Terrills source of power? Do you think it is effective? The concept of power can be defined in varying ways but generally power is regarded as the ability to influence, affect and mobilize the attitudes and behaviour of others. The term power, authority, domination and control are often used interchangeably as there is a thin line separating their meanings (Pheby, 2004). However, power is not exclusive to only managers and leaders as opposed to authority which comes with certain legitimate positions. Power is able to shape ones actions and behaviour; thus, it can be maintained that decision making can be influenced with the existence of power sources in a system. In an organizational context, power is directly related to hierarchy or structure and legitimacy which come with positions. The ability of those in higher ranking positions to influence their subordinates is driven by power. It is an element which is able to shape managers and followers, and is the key underlying factor for leadership effectiveness. In fact, one of its most important functions is to build interdependency between leaders and followers. Ogden et al. (2006) entails that power need not have goal compatibility but only dependence. Researchers French and Raven (1959) had studied the sources of power and successfully listed them in five distinct forms. The five bases of power in organizations which are able to affect success in leadership are described as follows: Category Source of power Description POSITIONAL POWER Legitimate power This source of power usually comes with specific roles and positions in organisations. This power is also embedded in formal job descriptions that are mutually agreed to by employees in an organisation. Generally, people holding higher position are able to exert more organisational power compared to those in lower ranking jobs. Reward power Normally associated with the formal authority to allocate organisational rewards to employees. This type of power can weaken if the reward is no longer perceived as valuable by the receiver. Coercive power The person holding this power is able to impose punishment. In organisations, punishments can be in the form of reprimand, disciplinary action, suspension, demotion, dismissal, etc. Coercive power is usually associated with authority and can be used as a coercion tool at the workplace. PERSONAL POWER Expert power The ability to influence based on a persons knowledge, skills and expertise which originates from within an individual. This type of power is normally acquired by experts in certain fields. May not necessarily linked to position or authority in an organisation. Referent power An individual with referent power is looked upon as a role model by others. The individual usually possesses a charm, appeal, charisma or admirable qualities which others want to identify with. These five sources of power can be broadly categorised into positional power and personal power. Positional power refers to external power which is vested in an individuals formal role, position or authority. Legitimate power, reward power and coercion power fall in this category. On the other hand, expert power and referent power can be grouped as personal power because they involve internal or personal traits which belong to individuals. In DGI Internationals case study, John Terrill applied a combination of both position and personal powers to solve the problem faced by his subordinates in the Technical Services division. 1. Positional power Being appointed as the head of Technical Services Division clearly indicated that John Terrill held legitimate power over the department. As the new boss to a team of highly paid and skilled engineers, it can be assumed that John Terrill himself possessed quality traits which made top management at DGI International very confident that he can turn the non-performing department around. Terrill first demonstrated his legitimate power during his meeting with the engineers. First, he cleverly gained the engineers confidence by showing great concern for their welfare. Then he exerted his legitimate power by demanding to know the reasons for their lack of productivity and factors which hamper their expected performance. His ability to influence the engineers to voice out their grievances which affected their performance showed that he was successful in getting to the root of the departments productivity problem. In this case, Terrill did not use any reward or coercive power because he did not impose any reward or punishment in getting to the root of the problem and then making sure that his engineers would carry out their tasks after that. He used empathy and diplomacy as a leader by exerting his influence to make them follow his instructions. Terrill also exercised his authority when he issued immediate order for reports to be sent to his office instead of the headquarters as warranted by top management. He was well aware that his orders were against top managements instructions, but he was not afraid to use the legitimate power vested in his position to stand by his decision to keep the management off the engineers backs as promised. 2. Personal power The top managements concern about the low productivity further showed the importance placed on his team. Terrill understood that his team of engineers is crucial to the organisations growth since they are the best educated and highly paid employees in the company. From this profile alone, Terrill knew that his division held a lot of expertise required in the manufacturing of refinery equipment. Knowledge and skills of the engineers are highly valued by the organisation, which was why they were never reprimanded for their lack of productivity before. In other words, the engineers have expert power which made them indispensable to the company. Terrills source of expert power was also derived from the engineers knowledge and skills. He could anticipate that top management would agree to his recommendation that management should not bog down the engineers with daily reports because their engineering expertise is a critical resource in meeting the companys production objectives, whereas internal reports are only administrative requirements. In this example, Terrill obviously used the divisions expert power to negotiate with top management to stay out of their way so that they can carry out their engineering work as expected, and hopefully increase productivity as expected of them. Terrill seemed to have gained support from his engineers because they cheered him when he was about to meet top management to fight for their cause. If he successfully gets top management to agree with his plight, he will undoubtedly build his referent power and be admired for his charm and charisma in carrying out his task as their leader. It can be summarized that Terrill effectively used his legitimate power to influence his engineers to confide in him about problems that they faced which hampered productivity of the division. Terrill also successfully exercised the divisions expert power to ensure top management did not impose trivial matters (such as writing internal daily reports) which consume much of the engineers time so that they could concentrate on accomplishing their engineering tasks. Question 3 Henry Mintzbergs research indicates that diverse manager activities can be organized into ten roles. Identify two of these roles that John Terrill performed in carrying out his duty. According to Henry Mintzberg (2004), based on his research on the various activities of managers in a business setting, the roles of managers can be classified into ten types as depicted in the following table: CATEGORY ROLE ACTIVITY Interpersonal Figurehead Perform duties which are symbolic and ceremonial. Regarded as symbol of authority. Leader Directing, motivating, training, advising, influencing, encouraging, promoting development of others. Liaison In charge of internal and external information links. Engage in exchange of information. Informational Monitor Process and assess information. Maintain information and contacts. Disseminator Transmit information to other via phone calls, memos, notes, etc. Spokesman Representing organisation to outsiders in public relations capacity. Decisional Entrepreneur Project initiation, business identification and leads for opportunities. Disturbance Handler Handles internal crises and conflicts involving employees, and also external changes. Resource Allocator Responsible for allocation and sets priority for organisational resources via budgets, etc. Negotiator Negotiates with suppliers, unions, etc. Through his research, Mintzberg (1973) also managed to conclude that all the above ten roles fall into three broad categories which are interlinked. To illustrate the point, all three interpersonal roles Figurehead, Leader and Liaison provide information. Informational roles Monitor, Disseminator and Spokesperson process the information and act as a link to all the managerial roles. Meanwhile, the decisional roles make decision on how to deliver the information to other parties. All these ten roles can be applied to any managerial situation depending on the requirement of the circumstances. Based on Mintzbergs theory, in the DGI Internationals case, John Terrill played the roles of Liaison and Negotiator. Liaison John Terrill applied his interpersonal skills excellently when he first approached the engineers to seek information on their current problems which affected their productivity. During his meeting, he played his role as a liaison or intermediary between the engineers and top management. He did not reprimand the engineers for the poor performance of the Technical Services division without first finding out the cause of their low contribution to productivity; instead, he offered to resolve the conflict by trying to get to the root of the problem and find a lasting solution that will help them to increase their output in the organisation. His openness may have encouraged the engineers to confide in him even though he was new to the organisation. Terrill also successfully executed this role by openly showing his concern for the staffs welfare. Perhaps this helped open up the communication channel between him and the engineers because they feel that Terrill was acting in their interests. After that, the engineers willingly voice out their grouses and complaints when Terrill asked them point blank as to why the division was not performing as expected. His networking skills were clearly demonstrated when he empathised with the engineers and responded positively that engineers in the Technical Services division should not be tied down with paperwork if top management expected them to be more productive. Instead, they should be allowed to focus more on accomplishing their engineering tasks. In his liaison role, Terrill tried to maintain positive relationship with the engineers and not take sides with the top management by using any form of coercion on his team. His objective was to turn around the division and increase the engineers productivity. Therefore, he carefully played his role by offering them a possible solution. Using the power vested in his position as the manager of the team coupled with the mandate given by top management to solve the productivity issue, Terrill issued an order which was against the wish of company management. To illustrate, while the company management requires that the engineers turned in daily reports to headquarters, Terrill ordered them to turn in the reports to his office instead. However, Terrill had anticipated a showdown with top management and had already thought up a plan to back up his actions. He had proven that while the engineers were asked to turn in daily reports, actually nobody in top management would need the report dai ly because for three weeks, nobody in headquarters enquired about the missing daily reports. Negotiator In solving the low productivity issue of the Technical Services division, Terrill also played the role of a negotiator. This role was demonstrated during his first management meeting with the engineers. He explained to them the managements concern for the low productivity of the division despite being the highest paid and best educated group within the organisations. He also asked them to voice out their grouses and the possible reasons for their non-performance. When he found out that the engineers were demotivated by the amount of daily reporting that they had to do instead of focussing on their engineering tasks, Terrill asked the engineers to carry out their engineering duties like they were supposed to and increase the divisions productivity while he took care of the daily report generation problem with top management. He convinced them that he would stay out of their way and get the top management off their backs so that the engineers can accomplish their tasks as expected. Wit h Terrill at the helm of the division, the engineers are able to concentrate on their primary tasks and not worry about other petty issues. The engineers were also confident that Terrill will be able to prove a point to top management by keeping the daily reports in his office, and they seemed to have supported his actions. During the showdown with top management in the presidents office, Terrill displayed his negotiation skills by informing top management that the main reason for Technical Services divisions low output was that the engineers were more occupied with writing daily reports than actually doing their engineering tasks. He successfully proved his point by showing top management that the high stack of report produced over the last three weeks were not read by anyone because no one asked to look at them. He evidently showed them that the amount of time spent on writing the report had gone to waste, and that the precious time should be spent by the engineers to accomplish other important engineering duties. He then suggested that management do away with the daily report and one brief report from his office on a monthly basis is sufficient. In conclusion, managers are involved in a myriad of activities when performing the managerial functions. These activities can be clustered into broad categories and identified into roles. By understanding these managerial roles, managers will be able to discharge their duties more efficiently and effectively. Question 4 Do you think gender makes a difference when it comes to leadership style? Use example(s) and literatures to support your stand. Gender is a socially constructed concept of men and women which varies according to cultures, societies, social classes and even periods in history (FAO, 1997). It is sometimes misunderstood as being biologically determined and solely related to the sexual characteristics of men and women. However, according to Bravo-Baumann (2000) gender relations involves how society determines the rights and responsibilities of women and men. Traditionally, the roles of women are mostly confined to household-related chores and nurturing of family. Many cultures across the globe regarded women as the weaker sex with limited roles to play in the social system. In some countries, women are even denied access to education, rights to freedom, and in extreme cases are relegated to subordinate status (Bass et al, 1971). However, with the rise of movements towards equality in gender in the modern world, more societies have begun to change their mindsets and accept the fact that women also have roles to play in the development of the society and economy (Inglehart and Noris, 2003). The last several decades have witnessed the emergence of women holding managerial roles in organizations. Although men still hold the fort, more women are seen entering the workforce with an increasingly number of them being promoted to high managerial positions (Druskat, 1994). However, many women nowadays earn their organisations mandate and are appointed as CEOs and MDs of companies. Currently, some countries are headed by female premiers and presidents, for example Australia and New Zealand. These show that women are fast being recognized in their roles as capable leaders. As a result of the increase in female leadership roles, there have been a string of researches aimed at studying the leadership styles and behaviour differences between men and women leaders (Statham, 1987; Carless, 1998; Davidson Ferrario, 1992; Van Engen et al., 2001). Some researchers failed to find disparities in leadership styles between men and women (Pounder and Coleman, 2002; Van Eagen, Van der Leedeen Willemsen, 2001). Even though there are varying outcomes from these researches, a majority of the research results agreed that differences in leadership styles definitely exist among male and female leaders. Conceptually, due to the differences in nature and characteristics of men and women, there are bound to be distinct features which affect their leadership styles. It is generally accepted that the leadership styles of men and women vary because of differences in behaviour of men and women which are shaped by society and culture (Eagley, Wood and Diekman, 2000). Women in leadership roles were seen to be more collaborative, less hierarchical and more cooperative, caring and promoting self-worth of others (Helgesen, 1990; Book, 2000; Rosener, 1995). In contrast, due to the masculine nature of men as perceived by societies, male leaderships tend to be more assertive, aggressive, controlling and confident (Eagley et al., 2000). The above findings are further supported by a study by Eagly, Karau and Johnson (1992) on leadership styles among school principals supported this notion. From the study, it was concluded that: Female principals are more task-oriented compared to male principals. In the role as school principal which requires more interpersonal ability, women display greater task-orientation. However, in male dominated roles, men will appear to be more task oriented (Eagley and Jonhson, 1990). Female principals are also more democratic or participative while male principals adopted a more autocratic or directive approach. Due to social values, experience and thoughts associated with feminine characteristics (Goldberger, Clinchy, Belenky and Tarule, 1987), women leaders generally use the soft approach when dealing with others. Hence, women naturally develop leadership styles that are more democratic and participative. Male leaders, on the other hand, adopted stronger approaches which are consistent with natural dominating and controlling characteristics of men. Differences in leadership styles have an impact on the effectiveness and direction of an organization. Leaders must be able to adopt different approaches when confronted with varying circumstances because not all situations will warrant the same types of actions. Hence, leaders are most successful and effective when they can evaluate a situation accurately and act according to the requirements of the situation instead of generally applying the same form of leadership across all circumstances (Fiedler, 1951). Leadership styles can also be affected by external factors such as the nature of work, business environment, organizational culture and industry structure. To illustrate the point that gender differences in leadership styles do exist (Kanter, 1991), we will take a closer look at Transformational (largely associated with women leaders) and Transactional (dominant in male leaders). The following table highlights the differences in the two types of leadership:  [3]   Transformational Leadership Transactional Leadership * Leaders motivate their followers by arousing their emotions and acting beyond the framework of exchange relations. * Leaders are proactive and help form new aspirations and expectations of followers. * Leaders are differentiated by their ability to inspire and provide individual consideration, stimulation and influence to followers. * Leaders help in creating learning opportunities and stimulate their followers to find solutions to their problems. * Leaders develop emotional bonds with their followers using their management and rhetorical skills and great visions. * Leaders encourage followers to strive for their goals beyond self-interest. * Leaders are conscious of the relationship between reward and effort. * Leadership is responsive with high orientation to solve present issues. * Leaders control the actions of their followers by depending on reward, inducement, punishment and sanction. * Leaders use rewards to encourage their followers to achieve desired results. * Leaders reinforce behaviour of followers for successful execution of plan. Source : http://leadershipchamps.wordpress.com Introduced by James MacGregor Burns (1978), the transformational leadership concept defines an approach which encourages positive and valuable changes in performance and morale of followers based upon the behaviours and characteristics of leaders. Transformational leaders brought about changes in organizations by inspiring, motivating and sometimes acting as role models for employees to identify with (Bass, 1985). By being role models, such leaders will encourage employees to develop skills which could help them enhance their productivity. Transformational leadership style is often displayed by women leaders since women have innate nurturing ability (Kornives, 1991; Ross, 1990). This style can be effective in less-hierarchical organizations such as schools or retail outlets. In male dominated settings such as the military, transformational leadership may not be preferred. On the other hand, transactional leadership style is more visible in traditional organizational settings where male leaders are dominant (Rosener, 1990). Transactional approach values desired results in exchange for rewards, motivations or punishments; thus, transactional leaders will stress on higher productivity and offer rewards (or punishment) as motivation ( Burns, 1978). In conclusion, there are differences in leadership styles by gender. Women leaders generally tend to adopt a softer approach such as democratic and participative. These styles involve relationship with followers through understanding of their emotions and building the self-worth through motivation, aspiration and encouragement. Women leaders try to stimulate the working environment and develop confidence through empowerment (Burke, 1986). In contrast, men display more traditional leadership characteristics such as assertive, controlling, aggressive and dominating. However, the above differences do not limit men and women to any one leadership style. Regardless of gender, successful and effective leaders will find their preferred leadership style, that can be a blend of gender-specific roles, which is most suitable to the situation that they are in. Question 5 If you were the president of DGI International, would you recommend modifications in John Terrills leadership style that you would like him to adopt? Do you think it will be possible for John Terrill to make necessary changes? Why? In the DGI International case study, John Terrill adopted the Delegating Leadership Style (Hersey and Blanchard, 1982) based on the assumption that the team of engineers in the division that he was heading has high level of job readiness or maturity owing to the fact that they are the highest paid and best educated employees within the organization. Also, the statement made by Terrill that he will stay off the engineers back and get top management to stay off their backs too indicates that he will not interfere much with the engineers daily tasks. This indication further supports the notion that the team of engineers is able, willing and confident to accomplish their tasks without much direction or supervision from Terrill. Terrill was hired by DGI International to turn around a non-performing division. When he decided to adopt the delegating style, he must have based his decision on solid grounds highest paid and best educated group of engineers must have possess

Ethnicity And Democracy In The Case Of Kenya Politics Essay

Ethnicity And Democracy In The Case Of Kenya Politics Essay Ethnicity is derived from Greek word ethnos, which means a nation or a people. The term ethnicity may also mean a race or group of people with common racial features and common cultural uniqueness. Once consciousness of being part of an ethnic group is created, it takes on a self preservation dimension and is passed from one generation to another. Also, Max Weber  [2]  defined an ethnic group as those human beings or groups that entertain a subjective belief in their common descent because of migration or colonization in such a way that this belief is important for the continuance of non-kinship communal relationships. Ethnic affiliation is deeply embedded inside peoples consciousness and is difficult for them to break away from it. Thus ethnicity is natural and innate in human beings as part of their nature, which is inevitable. Every human being has a natural inclination towards identifying with other persons whom he/she share common interests, history or origin. Mans sense of belonging makes him associate with people he/she is closely related with, which results in the formation of an ethnic group with its unique and peculiar way of life. A fundamental unity between the different persons in an African community, that is, a unity of human relationship, underlies Traditional African morality. African morality places considerable value on the conformity of the individual to the social group in order to preserve the unity of communal associations. It could be said that in a way, African thought is indeed more concerned with the relationship than with the different entities which constitute the relationship. All human behavior is thus expected to conform to this value to ensure social harmony. Kenya is a multicultural and multi ethnic country comprising of more than forty two ethnic identities each with its own unique way of life. In the opinion of this study, good governance is the starting point for Africas recovery, not only for the benefit of Africans themselves, but also to pacify western fears of failed states which may harbor volatile dissidents or terrorists. According to the Wests experience, a fundamental element of improving governance is the transition to a democratic society. While it is accepted that dictatorships tend to offer more stability, democracy if all of the conditions are met is promotive of the best outcomes in terms of human liberty. Legitimate democratic governments are less violent towards their citizens, and because they permit opposition, are less likely to result in bloody revolutions  [3]  . Negative ethnicity still remains a dominant political force and it has brought with it poverty and exploitation which have for a long time held Kenya hostage. Since Independence, Kenyan politicians have manipulated ethnic divisions for their own myopic political and economic agendas, maintaining ethnicity at the forefront of the collective psyche. Despite being a powerful tool for conflict, ethnicity has simultaneously evolved into a valuable resource for access to economic stability for corrupt politicians, and opportunities to plunder state resources. In Kenya, state fund allocation is distributed by ethnic region, creating disparities and animosities between different ethnic groups. In fact the major reason that caused the infamous 2007 post election violence and skirmishes in which over 100 people lost their lives and property worth millions of dollars destroyed, was due to the perceived marginalization of some Kenyan communities denying them access to state resources and employm ent opportunities. In terms of democratic elections, ethnic or tribal affiliation dictates loyalties. Regardless of electoral platform, the Kenyan citizenry will almost exclusively vote for their ethnic representative. In the 2007 presidential elections, ethnicity played a crucial role. Mr. Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, got few votes in Nyanza province which is predominantly Luo, whereas his opponent Mr. Raila Odinga, a Luo, got minimal votes in Central province which is predominantly Kikuyu. Kenyan politics has always been practiced based on a high degree of ethnic exploitation and opportunism. Kenyan politicians frequently base their political campaigns by appealing to tribal fears, stereotypes and ethnic expectations thus relegating to the backseat broad-based genuine and ethnically inclusive and equitable democratic platforms. Because I am from your tribe, you can trust me I will not eat alone please Vote for me, with the implied meaning that you cannot trust those who do not belong to your tribe and they will not share with you the national cake. This is because voters think that having their tribesmen and women in power necessarily translates to better life for them. So when ones kinsperson loses a competitive election, violence usually breaks out. This can be explained by the fact that when an individual wins an election whether fairly or through fraud, he/she diverts all state resources to his/her region and the rest of the country has to wait for five years until elections are held for them to get a chance to have one of their own in power. Kenyans vote as ethnic blocs partly because the economic inequalities in the country has brought with it widespread poverty and political illiteracy. People who are politically illiterate and poverty stricken need basic needs like food and not freedom of thought and conscience. They do not care about their right to vote and how it affects them. Thus potential voters always sell their electors cards for a loaf of bread or for a sum of less than one US dollar to their tribal kingpins. The less fortunate are the majority in Kenya and thus more vulnerable to ethnic manipulation by crooked politicians and lords of impunity. The Kenyan electorate has become sycophantic and in most cases rarely make autonomous choices when voting due to negative ethnicity. This violates an individuals ability to exercise his/her voluntariness. This is ones ability to make a choice without being unduly pressured to make a particular choice for any specific reason. Being free in making a decision means that w e own the decision as ours and that one ought to have a better option. The principle of voluntariness removes coercion or any influence as possible so that the decision is the individuals and not someone elses. The purpose of coercion and undue influence is to do an end run around a choice or judgment so that an individual will do what he/she might not ordinarily have done in the absence of such irrationally persuasive techniques. An individuals decisions and choices at their very best ought to be as a result of his /her own self determination. The well being of a nation depends on the capacity of the electorate to choose leaders wisely and prudently. Ethnic voting patterns undermine the common good in terms of the quality of leadership since in most cases the ones whose ethnic group is more populous even if their leadership qualities are deficient, are the ones who get elected. Taken to its extreme, negative ethnicity results in coups and revolutions. In Kenya ethnicity has been used as a partial criterion for apportioning benefits and burdens among the citizenry. This practice is rampant during employment and discharge of public services in which special and undue consideration is given to a person on the basis of his/her ethnic identity. Here meritocracy is not the criterion. Negative ethnicity has undermined the common good by placing unqualified persons to positions of responsibility. It is also worth noting that the current president Mwai Kibaki has on many occasions been accused of favoring his community in making public appointments. Plum government jobs are held by people from his Mount Kenya region and Kikuyu community. It is not surprising to see key government ministries like that of Finance, Trade, energy, Provincial Administration among other plum ministries are being run by people from the presidents community. Corruption is rife in these ministries as no one is willing to blow up the whistle since it is one of their own eating (muntu wa nyumba, a slang word people from the presidents community use to identify one another). This has not only denied the qualified and deserving persons the opportunity to actualize their potential but has also led to ineffectual performance of duty and services to the public. Negative ethnicity violates the principle of equity, which allows discrimination by reference to morally relevant differences and forbids discrimination in the absence of such differences. It is fair to discriminate in favor of the needy or the meritorious or the able; it is unfair to discriminate between people who are equally able by merely appealing to ones ethnicity. Loyalty to ones ethnic group is highly celebrated in Kenya and this has become more rampant than moral rules in shaping behavior. The culture of us versus them is so ingrained in our country that politicians have coined all types of ethnic expressions and innuendos to whip up ethnic emotions among the citizenry. Phrases such as Eshienyu ne Eshienyu (ours is ours however rotten or bad it may appear to others), Kamwene (it has its owner, it belongs to us not them) have taken centre stage in Kenyas political lingo. A public office is seen to belong to a whole community by virtue of one of their own being the holder of that office. Consequently any positive criticism aimed at the holder of the office is taken to be an affront and assault on the entire community. Thus this way obligation to ones ethnic group often take precedence over those of public office, resulting in political leaders deviating from established rules and thus sowing seeds of corruption and impunity. Ethnic loyalties and other primordial ties have made political leaders develop a sense of obligation that is inconsistent with ethics of public office. Failure to discharge these obligations even if inspired by a need to follow moral rules and values may result in a backlash from the persons respective ethnic community. Ethnic chauvinism is an extreme form of collective self interests where ones ethnic group is the centre of everything and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it. Thus, ethnocentrism is responsible for many armed conflicts in Kenya and Africa at large. When ethnic loyalty becomes the guiding principle in awarding burdens and benefits in society, there is no objectivity in carrying out public appointments, awarding contracts or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits. The choices are not based on merit but on ethnic identities. Political power allocation of resources, jobs and services cannot be left at the mercy of ethnic self interest, private ownership and personal possession because this can have adverse effects on the basic inherent rights of others whose interests have been excluded. Social exclusion damages the social self thus spoiling personal identity. Social inclusion and participation in terms of access to the material conditions of well being in society is an important pre-condition for human freedom. If people are excluded from such access, the development of their social self becomes impaired. In the language of Plato and Aristotle, equal shares ought to go to equals and unequal to unequal. In Politics III, 12, Aristotle puts it thus if flutes are to be distributed, they should go only to those who have the capacity for playing flutes, that is, benefits and responsibilities should be proportionate to the worth of those who receive them. Thus it is fair to discriminate in favor of the needy or meritorious but unfair to discriminate between people who are equally needy and equally meritorious. Justice which is one of the basic pillars of humanity deals with the distribution of burdens and benefits of goods and services according to a just standard to all human beings in any society. Negative ethnicity in Kenya has hindered the growth of democracy. This is because the Kenyan electorate votes along ethnic lines. Thus the electorate will vote for a candidate who is from their ethnic community even if he/she does not have good leadership qualities. This in turn has affected the quality of leadership in our country since undeserving candidates (tribal jingoists) whip up ethnic emotions of their community to rally behind them. This has bred leaders who distribute national resources along ethnic lines. Thus one can only access national resources and privileges if he/she has a member of his/her community holding a public office. This has sowed seeds of corruption, ethnic strife and impunity. Thus it is not strange to see two communities forming an alliance to defeat a candidate from a community they consider to be their common political enemy. This cultural myopia is destructive and undermines the quality of leadership and also quality of life of the entire Kenyan citiz enry. It is also worth noting that currently a group of politicians led by the current Vice President, Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka, are at the moment touting of forming a tribal alliance called triple K (KKK) comprising of three ethnic communities, the Kamba, Kikuyu and Kalenjin so as to front one candidate whose myopic agenda is to block the current Prime Minister Mr. Raila Odinga from winning the 2012 presidential elections. Such alliances undermine democracy and the rule of law in Kenya. This has bred impunity and entrenched corruption since one can get away with theft of public resources as long as his/her kinsperson is in power. Majority of Kenyans have great expectations in the International Criminal Court (ICC) stepping in, and helping entrench the rule of law in a country in which tribe matters than law. This is because without the rule of law being entrenched in society, there can never be any meaningful democracy in a country. Socrates set the agenda of reflectively questioning common beliefs and explanations carefully distinguishing those beliefs that are reasonable and logical from those which however appealing they may be to our native ethnocentrism, even if they serve our vested interests, may lack adequate rational foundation to warrant our belief. In the opinion of this study ethnic loyalties that discriminate against others on the basis or arbitrary criterion of ones tribe undermine human dignity. Jesus Christ affirmed that Love your neighbor as you love yourself. This is the way in which dignity fulfills itself. It means transformation from being self centered. Human dignity is destroyed by self love. Self interests are good when united with others interests to form common interests and bad when fulfilled at the expense of others. Ethnic common interests as represented in a democratically organized society are the best way of guaranteeing everyone some basic means of existence. Ethnicity per se however, is not divisive or alienating when not taken to the extreme as is the case with tribal jingoists. This paper argues for the enhancement of criticality among Kenyans to curb negative ethnicity. Kenyans need to be thoroughly reflective in every area of their lives. Such criticality will enhance individuality in the Kenyan electorate. This will transform people into persons who, motivated by high order value of truth, universal well being of all ethnic communities and the inter-relatedness of humanity would transcend personal and group egoism. This will inculcate tolerance among the various ethnic groups in Kenya. A critical thinker thinks for himself/herself as an individual and only accepts what has been proved or demonstrated to the satisfaction of reason. A critical thinker cannot be short circuited in his/her decision making process so as to choose one alternative rather than another. Autonomy empowers a person to have a strong sense of personal responsibility for his/her own choices and actions. Critical thinking will minimize incidences of blind unquestioning ethnic loyalties and conformity to established cultural norms that perpetuate ethnic chauvinism and impunity..

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many examples of racism. During this time in history racism was acceptable. Racism is a key theme in her book. Not only those who were black, but also those who affiliated with blacks, were considered inferior. Atticus, a lawyer, who defended blacks in court, was mocked. An example of this is when Mrs. Dubose said, â€Å"Your father’s [Atticus] no better than the niggers and trash he works for!† Mr. Dolphus Raymond was also criticized for affiliating with blacks, especially black females. Example is when Jem said, â€Å"He likes ‘em [blacks] better ‘n he likes us [whites], I reckon.† Basically, you were black if you â€Å"liked† blacks. Blacks, because they were considered inferior, were expected to do everything for whites. Everything had to be perfect, without excuse. Even when Calpurnia, a Finch family friend, did not make the perfect cup of coffee, she was mocked. Book excerpt, â€Å"She [Calpurnia] poured one tablespoon of coffee into it and filled the cup to the brim with milk. I [Scout] thanked her by sticking out my tongue...†. Even when blacks did do good, they were still mocked. An example is when Aunt Alexandra said, â€Å"Jem’s growing up now and you are too. We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence.† Even though Calpurnia was a female, Aunt Alexandra over-looked this, because of her race. People were so biased, it didn’t matter how good a job a black person did. Since there was such strong racism in Maycomb, there were excuses made for whites. In the book, it was obvious that Bob Ewell was a mean man. It was also obvious that he was abusive to his daughter, Mayella, and he was the one who violated her, not Tom Robinson, because what the evidence showed. But, the people of Maycomb over-looked the evidence in favor of Tom Robinson, just because he was black. In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many examples of racism. The legal barriers to racial equality have been torn down, and racial exclusion from the benefits of society and the rights of citizenship is no longer nearly total, as it once was. But discrimination still limits the opportunities and stifles the hopes of many black Americans and other minorities. In the realms of housing, employment, medical care, education and the administration of the criminal justice system, we are still, as the 1968 Kerner Commission Report on civil disorders warned, â€Å"two separate Americas.† At this moment