Police Organizational Structures Essay

Organizations are entities of two or more people who cooperate to accomplish an objective. (Peak, Policing America, 2012). A police department structure must be parallel so that this way its structure can be effective in completing the overall goal of protecting and helping the public. Over the years police agencies have followed a traditional structure but by the passing of years the structure is starting to evolve. Traditional police structure Traditional structures are based upon principles such as â€Å"specialization, Hierarchy of offices, rules and regulations, technical competence, official activity demands the full working capacity of the official and the office management following exhaustive stable written rules. These principles allow the structure to work efficiently. With that said â€Å"most police organizations are based on a traditional pyramidal quasi-military structure† (Peak, Policing America, 2012).in where all those principles are present shows an inverse relationship between rank and the number of personnel allows the structure from anyone having too much of authority. this is called the hierarchy rank which allows an organization to have a chain of command. for example from the base of the pyramid up the base is supervisor then mid-level managers and the top is administrators the higher you are on the pyramid the more responsibility you have. So in the chain of command the supervisor would report to mid-level managers and the mid-level managers would report to the administrators. Basically this structure in the past a police officer would be hired and would be able to get promoted through political favoritism it didn’t matter if the person was qualified or not because they attained he job through political favoritism. Evolving organizational police structure Organizational police structure has changed over the years as technology is changing, some of the things that have changed or in other words evolved from the traditional police structure is that in efforts to prevent corruptions they have got rid of some rules and policies this also helps to prevent â€Å"red tape†. Now instead of having a centralized organization the evolved structure has been decentralized. This means â€Å"Cities were divided into precincts, and precinct-level managers often, in concert with the ward leaders, ran precincts as small-scale departments by decentralization combined with  primitive communications and transportation gave police officers substantial discretion in handling their individual beat† (Moore, 1988) basically in the evolved structure the hiring of all personnel was not left to change they look for qualified managers, supervisors and administrators and after they are chosen they recruit qualifying officers. What do these both structures have in common?

Promotion of Healthy Lifestyle Essay

Nowadays our life is getting more and more tense. People live under the press of different problems, such as social, ecological, economic and others. They constantly suffer from stress, noise and dust in big cities, diseases and instability. A person should be strong and healthy in order to overcome all difficulties. To achieve this aim people ought to take care of their physical and mental health. There are several ways to do it. The state of your body depends on how much time you spend doing sports. At least everybody must do morning exercises every day. The most healthy kinds of sports are swimming, running and cycling. Doing simple exercises every day can increase your health level and improve your immune system. Physical training strengthens your organism and allows effective fighting with illnesses. So if you are active, breathe fresh air and don’t stay too much time indoors you will not have problems with your health. Healthy food is also a very important factor. Overeating causes many dangerous diseases. The daily menu should include meat, fruit and vegetables, milk product, which are rich in vitamins, fat, proteins and etc. On the other hand modern diets are very popular especially among women. Diets may be harmful, if they are used in the wrong way. Food is a key element of our good health. Eating healthy, nutritious and vitamin-rich products can improve your health. Fruit and vegetables are natural resources of vitamins A, B, C and E and other useful substances. Bread, dairy products, nuts and low-fat meat give you a large amount of energy and nutritious elements. To be healthy, people should get rid of their bad habits. It’s necessary to stop smoking and drinking much. Everyone should remember that cigarettes, alcohol and drugs destroy both body and brain. Besides according to statistics most of crimes are committed by people under the influence of drugs and alcohol. A person with bad habits risks to get a lot of illnesses. Smoking cigarettes shortens your life and can cause cancer. Drinking alcohol ruins your organism, destroys your nervous sytem and leads to liver malfunction. Taking drugs causes addiction and a large number of such illnesses as cancer, AIDS and tuberculosis. If you want to live a long and healthy life you should give up all your bad habits. In addition it is recommended to watch TV less, avoid anxiety and observe daily routine. Certainly it’s hard to follow all these recommendations, but every person have to choose between healthy life style and numerous illnesses. – good and healthy sleep: Sleep is one of the main factors that influences our health. Every person needs to sleep about 8 hours to stay active during weekdays. Bad sleep can decrease your mental and physical abilities, and become a reason for illnesses and stress. At the end I’d like to conclude that without health our life is miserable. People should be more careful of their health and organisms. If you have great health you will easily achieve everything you want. Health is very important in life of every person. It depends on our lifestyle, products we eat and habits we have. Health is much more precious than money, gold or some other stuff. So what things allow us to preserve a high level of health?! In the next 10 years, our organization will create more than 1000 free sports complexes in which all work will be carried out by volunteers. Our workers will create the mini brochure in which all reasons will be specified, why it is necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle.

An Autocratic Leadership Style Essay

1. Introduction 1.1 OBJECTIVE:- Autocratic leadership, also known as authoritarian leadership, is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers. Autocratic leadership involves absolute, authoritarian control over a group. The objective of doing this project is to understand Autocratic Leadership Style in detail. 1.2 TITLE OF THE PROJECT:- The title of the project is Autocratic Leadership Style Autocratic describes a way of ruling, but not in a nice way. An autocratic leader is one who rules with an iron fist; in other words — someone with the behaviour of a dictator. In an autocratic leadership style, the person in charge has total authority and control over decision making. By virtue of their position and job responsibilities, they not only control the efforts of the team, but monitor them for completion –often under close scrutiny This style is reminiscent of the earliest tribes and empires. Obviously, our historical movement toward democracy brings a negative connotation to autocracy, but in some situations, it is the most appropriate type of leadership. That, of course, doesn’t mean a blank check to ignore the wellbeing of his subordinate. In an autocratic leadership style, the person in charge has total authority and control over decision making. By virtue of their position and job responsibilities, they not only control the efforts of the team, but monitor them for completion –often under close scrutiny This style is reminiscent of the earliest tribes and empires. Obviously, our historical movement toward democracy brings a negative connotation to autocracy, but in some situations, it is the most appropriate type of leadership. That, of course, doesn’t mean a blank check to ignore the wellbeing of his subordinate. 1.2 LAYOUT OF THE PROJECT:- a. Introduction b. Types of Leadership Styles c. Autocratic Leadership Style d. Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership Style e. When to use Autocratic Leadership Style f. Prone and corns of Autocratic Leadership Style g. Case Study h. Recommendation i. Conclusion j. Bibliography 1.4 LITERATURE:- For my project I have referred:- http://www.leadership-toolbox.com/autocratic-leadership.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarian_leadership_style http://www.action-wheel.com/autocratic-leadership-style.html http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/f/autocratic-leadership.htm http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/autocratic http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/authoritarian-leadership-the-secret-behind-steve-jobs-success/33963/ 1.5 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION:- There are basically 2 methods of research DESCRIPTIVE METHOD AND SCIENTIFIC METHOD. In my Project I will be using DESCRIPTIVE method. Secondary data method will be used for doing this project. Secondary data would the information collecting from the articles, internet, and books. After collecting that I have recommended interpretation of cause and effect. 2. Types of Leadership Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction,  implementing plans, and motivating people. As seen by the employees, it includes the total pattern of explicit and implicit actions performed by their leader (Newstrom, Davis, 1993). The first major study of leadership styles was performed in 1939 by Kurt Lewin who led a group of researchers to identify different styles of leadership (Lewin, Lippit, White, 1939). This early study has remained quite influential as it established the three major leadership styles: (U.S. Army, 1973): authoritarian or autocratic – the leader tells his or her employees what to do and how to do it, without getting their advice participative or democratic – the leader includes one or more employees in the decision making process, but the leader normally maintains the final decision making authority Delegative or laissez-fair – the leader allows the employees to make the decisions, however, the leader is still respons ible for the decisions that are made Although good leaders use all three styles, with one of them normally dominant, bad leaders tend to stick with the one style, normally autocratic. AUTHORITARIAN OR AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP I want both of you to. . This style is used when leaders tell their employees what they want done and how they want it accomplished, without getting the advice of their followers. Some of the appropriate conditions to use this style is when you have all the information to solve the problem, you are short on time, and/or your employees are well motivated. Some people tend to think of this style as a vehicle for yelling, using demeaning language, and leading by threats. This is not the authoritarian style, rather it is an abusive, unprofessional style called â€Å"bossing people around.† It has absolutely no place in a leader’s repertoire. The authoritarian style should normally only be used on rare occasions. If you have the time and want to gain more commitment and motivation from your employees, then you should use the participative style. Participative or Democratic Leadership Let’s work together to solve this. . . This style involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process (determining what to do and how to do it). However, the leader maintains the final decision making authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness, rather it is a sign of strength that your employees will respect. This is normally used when you have part of the information, and your employees have other parts. A leader is not expected to know everything—this is why you employ knowledgeable and skilled people. Using this style is of mutual benefit as it allows them to become part of the team and allows you to make better decisions. Delegative or Laissez-faire Leadership You two take care of the problem while I go. . . In this style, the leader allows the employees to make the decisions. However, the leader is still responsible for the decisions that are made. This is used when employees are able to analyse the situation and determine what needs to be done and how to do it. You cannot do everything! You must set priorities and delegate certain tasks. This is not a style to use so that you can blame others when things go wrong, rather this is a style to be used when you fully trust and have confidence in the people below you. Do not be afraid to use it, however, use it wisely! NOTE: Laissez-faire (or lais ·ser faire) is the non-interference in the affairs of others. [French : laissez, second person pl. imperative of laisser, to let, allow + faire, to do.] Transactional Leadership Style The transactional style of leadership was first described by Max Weber in 1947 and then later described by Bernard Bass in 1981. Mainly used by management, transactional leaders focus their leadership on motivating followers through a system of rewards and punishments. There are two factors which form the basis for this system, Contingent Reward and management-by-exception. Contingent Reward Provides rewards, materialistic or psychological, for effort and recognizes good performance. Management-by-Exception allows the leader to maintain the status quo. The  leader intervenes when subordinates do not meet acceptable performance levels and initiates corrective action to improve performance. Management by exception helps reduce the workload of managers being that they are only called-in when workers deviate from course. This type of leader identifies the needs of their followers and gives rewards to satisfy those needs in exchange of certain level of performance. Transactional leaders focus on increasing the efficiency of established routines and procedures. They are more concerned with following existing rules than with making changes to the organization. A transactional leader establishes and standardizes practices that will help the organization reach: Maturity Goal-setting Efficiency of operation Increasing productivity. Effect on work teams  survey done by Jun Liu, Xiaoyu Liu and Xianju Zeng on the correlation of transactional leadership and how innovations can be affected by team emotions. The research was composed of 90 work teams, with a total of 460 members and 90 team leaders. The study found that there is a relationship between emotions, labor behavior and transactional leadership that affect for the team. Depending on the level of emotions of the team; this can affect the transactional leader in a positive or negative way. Transactional leaders work better in teams where there is a lower level of emotions going into the project. This is because individuals are able to Think freely when setting their emotions aside from their work. Have all of their focus on the given task. A transactional leader is: Negatively affected when the emotional level is high. Positively affected when the emotional level is low. Transactional leadership presents a form of strategic leadership that is important for the organizations development. Transactional leadership is essential for team innovativeness. Transformational Leadership Style A transformational leader is a type of person in which the leader is not limited by his or her followers’ perception. The main objective is to work to change or transform his or her followers’ needs and redirect their thinking. Leaders that follow the transformation style of leading, challenge and inspire their followers with a sense of purpose and excitement.[10] They also create a vision of what they aspire to be, and communicate this idea to others (their followers). According to Schultz and Schultz, there are three identified characteristics of a transformational leader: Charismatic leadership has a broad knowledge of field, has a self-promoting personality, high/great energy level, and willing to take risk and use irregular strategies in order to stimulate their followers to think independently Individualized consideration Intellectual stimulation 3. Autocratic Leadership Style 2.1 BACKGROUND Authoritarian leaders are commonly referred to as autocratic leaders. They provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done. There is also a clear divide between the leader and the followers. Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently with little or no input from the rest of the group. Authoritarian leaders uphold stringent control over their followers by directly regulating rules, methodologies, and actions. Authoritarian leaders construct gaps and build distance between themselves and their followers with the intention of stressing role distinctions. This type of leadership dates back to the earliest tribes and empires. It is often used in present day when there is little room for error, such as construction jobs or manufacturing jobs. Authoritarian leadership typically fosters little creativity in decision-making. Lewin also found that it is more difficult to  move from an authoritarian style to a democratic style than from a democratic form to an authoritarian form of leadership. Abuse of this style is usually viewed as controlling, bossy and dictatorial. Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group discussion. 3.2 Views of Autocratic Leaders A common belief of many authoritarian leaders is that followers require direct supervision at all times or else they would not operate effectively. This belief is in accordance with one of Douglas McGregor’s philosophical views of humankind, Theory X. This theory proposes that it is a leader’s role to coerce and control followers, because people have an inherent aversion for work and will abstain from it whenever possible. Theory X also postulates that people must be compelled through force, intimidation or authority, and controlled, directed, or threatened with punishment in order to get them to accomplish the organizational needs. In the minds of authoritarian leaders, people who are left to work autonomously will ultimately be unproductive. â€Å"Examples of authoritarian communicative behaviour include a police officer directing traffic, a teacher ordering a student to do his or her assignment, and a supervisor instructing a subordinate to clean a workstation.† Communication Patterns of Authoritarian Leadership: Downward, one-way communication (i.e. leaders to followers, or supervisors to subordinates) Controls discussion with followers Dominates interaction Independently/unilaterally sets policy and procedures Individually directs the completion of tasks Does not offer constant feedback Rewards acquiescent obedient behavior and punishes erroneous actions Poor listener Uses conflict for individual gain Ways to Properly Incorporate Authoritarian Leadership: Always explain rules- it allows your subordinates to complete the task you  want done efficiently Be consistent- if you are to enforce rules and regulations, make sure to do so regularly so your subordinates take you seriously. This will form a stronger level of trust. Respect your subordinates – always recognized your subordinates efforts and achievements Educate your subordinates before enforcing rules – do not present them with any surprises. This can lead to problems in the future due to false communications. Listen to suggestions from your subordinates even if you do not incorporate them Effects of Authoritarian Leadership Communication Styles: Increase in productivity when leader is present Produces more accurate solutions when leaser is knowledgeable Is more positively accepted in larger groups Enhances performance on simple tasks and decreases performance on complex tasks Increases aggression levels among followers Increases turnover rates Successful when there is a time urgency for completion of projects Improves the future work of those subordinates whose skills are not very applicable or helpful without the demands of another Example:- Adolf Hitler was extremely authoritarian. He required the population of the Third Reich to accept everything that he said as absolute law, and was able to impose a death sentence on anyone who failed to do so. Hitler was obsessed with being in control, and with being the alpha male in a rigid male dominance hierarchy. Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership The major autocratic leadership style characteristics include: 1. The autocratic leader retains all power, authority, and control, and reserves the right to make all decisions. 2. Autocratic leaders distrust their subordinate’s ability, and closely supervise and control people under them. 3. Autocratic leaders involve themselves in detailed day-to-day activities, and rarely delegate or empower subordinates. 4. The autocratic leader adopts one-way communication. They do not consult with subordinates or give them a chance to provide their opinions, no matter the potential benefit of such  inputs. 5. Autocratic leadership assumes that employee motivation comes not through empowerment, but by creating a structured set of rewards and punishments. 6. Autocratic leaders get work done by issuing threats and punishments and evoking fear. 7. The primary concern of autocratic leaders remains dealing with the work at hand and not on developmental activities. 8. Autocratic leaders assume full responsibility and take full credit for the work. Advantages of Autocratic Leadership Style the autocratic style is one of the most recognized forms of directive leadership. At first, the style seems to contradict many modern work environments that emphasize teamwork, group input and shared decision-making. However, certain conditions and specific industries, such as the military, manufacturing and construction, thrive when a leader takes tight control and makes most of the decisions, according to Leadership-Toolbox. Even so, the most effective autocratic leaders remember to communicate task expectations and to respect their followers. Easy to Learn The autocratic, or â€Å"do this or else,† type of leadership is intuitive, easy to learn and does not require specialized training or knowledge of leadership theory, according to Leadership-Toolbox. Autocratic leaders do not have to worry about recognizing and responding to followers’ emotions or try to meet different motivational needs of group members. Control Dangerous work environments or situations requiring complicated tasks with no room for error, such as safety inspections, prosper under autocratic leadership since each depends on control. In addition, companies may turn to autocratic leadership for urgent short-term results, according to Money-Zine. For example, employees working through a company crisis may need one authoritative leader to call the shots and ensure tasks are completed correctly. Good for Inexperienced or Unmotivated Workers Depending on the industry, new employees may need specific instructions and close follow-up until they learn the job, according to Leadership-Toolbox. The autocratic leadership style is also good for low-skilled tasks, such as  directing employees to make copies or file papers. In addition, according to LeadershipExpert, bosses may need to use the â€Å"do it or else† type of autocratic leadership to ensure that unmotivated employees complete their assigned tasks. Autocratic leadership creates a centralized chain of command with heavy involvement of the leader in all gamuts of operations. This leads to the formation of a hub and spoken type of organizational structure that helps in many ways, such as: Getting things done quickly Improving communication and logistics. Better response to changes in the external environment Putting forth a more coordinated approach toward fulfilling organizational goals Anticipating problems in advance, and better realization of consequences of an action by one section on other sections Proponents of the autocratic leadership style advocate it as an ideal method to extract high performance from employees without putting them under stress. They insist the close supervision and monitoring leads to a faster pace of work with less slack, where the leader assumes full responsibility for the decisions and actions, ultimately creating reduced stress for subordinates. Drawbacks of the Autocratic Leadership Style Increased Work Burden Since they take full responsibility for team decisions and review of a team’s work, autocratic leaders are extremely busy, which can lead to high stress and even health problems, according to LeadershipExpert. Other leadership styles, such as participative or democratic, distribute some of the decision-making to certain group members. Bad for Highly Skilled and Motivated Workers Few people like to be told what to do, especially those who are already intrinsically motivated and understand the task at hand, according to Leadership Expert. An autocratic leader facing this type of group will dampen morale and will reduce his team’s creativity and productivity. Autocratic leaders in this situation may not make the best decisions since they lack the group input from team members who have experience and skills. In addition, members of Generation Y, workers born in the mid-1970s to 1990s, usually do not respond well to autocratic leadership, according to Leadership Expert. Leader Dependence The autocratic style is most effective when the leader is present, according to Leadership Expert. Unlike the transformational style of leadership where followers become self-motivated to complete tasks, once the autocratic leader is gone, there is no guarantee that team members will keep working. The advantages of autocratic leadership notwithstanding, this leadership style has born the brunt of heavy criticism in the last three decades, where the move toward systems thinking and empowering people have led to the perception of â€Å"autocratic† and â€Å"centralized command† as negative and undesirable traits. Theory Y, the antithesis of Theory X assumes that ambitious and self-motivated employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. Such employees possess the ability for creative problem solving, but most organizations under-utilize their talents. Theory Y holds that employees seek and accept responsibility and exercise self-control and self-direction in accomplishing objectives, provided the conditions remain congenial for such an approach. The autocratic leadership style remains wholly unsuited for such Theory Y oriented workforces and does not rank among the modern leadership styles in a changing world. Criticisms Levied Against Autocratic Leadership The major criticisms levied against autocratic leadership include the following: 1. Contrary to claims of close supervision with detailed instructions to reduce stress and improve productivity, research suggests that such actions actually unmotivate employees, and cause them to becoming tense, fearful, or resentful. 2. Lack of involvement from the employee in the decision making process leads to employees not assuming ownership of their work, contributing to low morale, lack of commitment, and manifesting in high turnover, absenteeism, and work stoppage. 3. The heavily centralized command of autocratic leadership style ensures that the system depends  entirely on the leader. If the leader is strong, capable, competent, and just, the organization functions smoothly, and if the leader is weak, incompetent, or has low ethical and moral standards, the entire organization suffers for the sake of a single leader. 4. All power vested with the leader leads to risk of leaders with low moral fiber exploiting employees, indulging in favoritism and discrimination, and the like. 5. Weak autocratic leaders tend to take decisions based on ego rather than sound management principles, and punish employees who dare to disagree with such decisions. 6. The leader reserving the right to make all decisions leads to subordinates becoming heavily dependent on the leader. The team thereby becomes useless in running operations if they lose contact with their leader, and absence of the leader leads to total collapse and shutdown of operations. 7. The one sided communication flow in an autocratic leadership style restricts the creative and leadership skills of the employees and prevents their development. This harms the organization as well, for the employees remain incapable of assuming greater responsibilities, or to perform anything outside the routine. 8. The autocratic leader, by taking all responsibility and involved heavily in day to day operations, remains forced to work at full capacity, leading to stress and other health problems. 9. Autocratic leaders usually re main unpopular and damage working relationships with colleagues. This leadership style is unsuited to build trusting relationships. Application of Autocratic Leadership Style A critique of autocratic leadership style reveals that it remains best suited in certain situations such as: 1. Occasions when the situation requires a strong centralized control with detailed orders and instructions, such as in the military or during surgery. 2. When leading an extremely large group, such as in assembly line factories, where the wide span of control not only makes it impossible but also counterproductive to elicit the views of all employees. 3. When followers are new or inexperienced, or lack the qualifications, skills, or talent to respond to any participative leadership styles, or remain unmotivated, and non committed workers. 4. During occasions of contingencies, emergencies and other situations warranting on the spot decisions. 5. When dealing or negotiating with external agencies or departments. The autocratic leadership style on the whole remains a  short-term or quick fix approach to management. The ability to make decisions faster, while helping the organization in the short term, actually unskills the workforce leading to poor decision-making capability and productivity in the long run. This leadership style survives by default because it comes naturally to most leaders, especially in times of low morale or insubordination. Case Study Business Leadership – A Study on Steve Jobs Executive Summary This assignment attempts to study the leadership of Steve Jobs. A visionary innovator, a marketing guru and an autocratic leader admired by many. The first part of the assignment will study and analyse how Jobs leadership is similar to the traits and models found in textbooks. Jobs is analysed by using McGregor’s theory X & Y. Jobs leadership traits and skills are compared with Stogdill’s theory while also looking at how Jobs applied contingency theory. The reports studies how Jobs changed Apple’s direction from an ailing company to a consumer giant. When Jobs speaks, everybody stops and listens to him, be it a meeting or a Worldwide Developer Conference. Jobs just had the charisma to capture people’s attention. Jobs autocratic leadership style was accepted by his employees, some may not have liked it but they stood with him and the company and never regretted their decision. The study also found Jobs to be a meticulous perfectionist. Jobs never approves a product without fully testing them, him being a beta tester for all of Apple’s product had made sure Apple delivered what the market wanted. The second part of this study is set to look at the differences and compare the leadership skills of Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Bill Gates. Jobs’ leadership skills were different from both Dell and Gates. Jobs lead Apple to its height with his own flair. His leadership style and character was unique and at times seems inappropriate but it has brought only positive growth to Apple and its employees. All three of them are iconic leaders, brought advancement to the organization they founded and strive for nothing lesser than the best. Finally, the study suggests and recommends what Jobs could have adopted to be a better leader. Background of Apple Inc The corporate history of Apple Inc is considered as a history of passion. It was begun by a pair of Stevens, i.e. Steven Wozniak and Steven Jobs together with Ronald Wayne, who combined their professional skills to create Apple Computer on 1st April 1976 with the release of the Apple I, the first Apple computer, in the same year. Since the establishment, Apple has been focusing on the consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers and the best-known products include Iphone, Ipad, Mac line of computers and other hardware and software products. And according one of the most recent brand study carried out by the global brands agency Millward Brown, Apple has overtaken Google as the world’s most valuable brand (Bbc.co.uk 2011). Introduction to Steve Jobs A revolutionary leader, an innovator of technology and a charismatic master showman, is the words that can be used to describe Steve Paul Jobs. Jobs has portrayed fine examples of leadership throughout his career. Being a young boy, he was attracted to electronic gadgets. Jobs has always been exploring way to improve technology. His ideas was said to be impossible and impractical has proven many critics and even his employees wsrong (Elliot, 2011a). Throughout his career he has influenced many leaders to join his team of innovative work force, namely John Scully, Jay Elliot, Andy Hertzfeld, Larry Tessler and Bob Belleville (Elliot, 2011b). During his teenage life, the love for technology brought him and Steve Wozniak together. The duo later went on to start Apple (Isaacson, 2011a). Jobs has then lead Apple, Next and Pixar to their peak bringing futuristic inventions. Jobs was a great marketer, captivating millions of audience each time he is delivering a speech. Barrack Obama describes Jobs as a visionary, and amongst the greatest innovators of America (Whitehouse.gov, 2011). Steve Jobs’ leadership styles do match the theories from the text books and documented papers. Most of his qualities and traits if not all are linked to the theories from the text books. There are a small number of traits and qualities found in his leadership that opposes to the theories of text books but Jobs has managed to use his charisma and leadership skills to lead his followers and make them successful. McGregor and Gershenfeld (2006) have explained Theory X and Y Managers. Appendix 2 shows the difference between  Theory X and Theory Y individuals. Jobs is a Theory X manager, being self centred, emphasizing total control and inducing fear (Stewart, 2010). Jobs believes the expenditure of physical and mental effort is as natural as play or rest, this is seen his act of forming a team of talented and dedicated. William, Mchugh & Mchugh, (2006) states that autocratic leaderships mean making managerial decisions without consulting others. Jobs held on to his authorities, makes decision and expects his employees to follow them without being questioned. Jobs also monitors that his instruction are followed by his employees. The autocratic leadership style has helped Apple to make quick decision and have an organized flow of activities. Job autocratic style is well balanced by his charismatic leadership, on a rare sight Jobs was also seen giving pep talk to an underperforming staff and subsequently inspiring him. Jobs was always trying to do his best for the betterment of the product and company and that went on to make Apple the company with the lowest staff turnover rates among technology firms. Jobs have portrayed self-directions to achieve committed objectives to his employees and he demanded the same from them. Elliot (2011d) states that Jobs has demanded 16 hours work shift Monday to Sunday from his core team of developers and engineers, Jobs also would tell them not to bother coming to work on Monday if they did not turn up on weekends. Since young, Jobs was known by his parents and acquaintance for his creativity, high level ingenuity and imagination, even his pranks as a growing teenager. Jobs was also persuasive, during his comeback to Apple in 1997, he did several review sessions with the product team and key stakeholders. And upon completing them he has ordered all other products to be cancelled and to focus on his suggestion of new products consisting 4 quadrants labelled as consumer, pro, desktop and portable (HBR, 2012). Jobs’ power of influence was enormous, not only to the consumer but also his impact to other CEO’s. His influential power and leadership skills can be clearly seen when he advised Larry Page to only focus on five products at a time and discard the re st. Larry Page took his advice and told his employees to focus on Google+ and Android (HBR, 2012). This had proven favourable to Google. As of 1st quarter of 2012, 59% of smart phones shipped are Google’s’ Android powered operating system (Forbes, 2012a), Appendix 4 shows the market share of mobile phone by  operating system. There is nothing that is less important for Jobs. The design of a product and its functionality is as important as the way a worker at an Apple store treats its customers. Jobs demonstrates this by going to one particular store in Pasadena to inspect the new tiling work, being a perfectionist, Jobs wasn’t pleased with the tiles and also the workmanship. He ordered the work crew to tear up the flooring and demanded a complete redo (Elliot, 2011f). Jobs perfectionist attitude was also seen during his takeover of Pixar. During the production of Toy Story, Jobs felt that the storyline was not great enough and stopped the production for 5 months. While Jobs and his core team reworked the story line, Job paid the rest of the crew to do nothin g for 5 month (Jobs, 2008). Jobs portrays the traits of a traditional transactional leader, Jobs uses his authority and power of his leadership to use followers to complete his task (Burns, 1978). This is seen when Jobs took over the Macintosh development team after being kicked off Lisa. Jobs took over the team with no notice, he added new people to the group, called meeting and setting new directions. Despite the usage of keyboard to command the machine, Jobs wanted a control device to move the cursor, to click, drag and display a list of options, the team was not told how, but they knew only what Jobs wanted Jobs is full of ambition and achievement, when Jobs was sacked from his own company by John Scully, a leader that Jobs handpicked, Jobs started Pixar, with his leadership and marketing skills, Jobs later sold Pixar to Disney for USD 7.5 billion in 2006 (Anon, 2008). Jobs was also responsible for his action, when the Mac was almost completed for launch, Jobs told his engineers to remove the fan from the m achine because it was too noisy and asked it to be improvised. The engineers went on to ship the Mac without cooling fan and upon launching the Mac had overheating problems. Jobs took responsibility and went on to improvise the design and successfully made a quiet operating machine Managing change is often an unpleasant situation to be in for any human being. Returning to Apple after a decade, Jobs turned an ailing company to a company with stock valuation of USD 600 billion (CNN Money, 2012). Rogers, (1986) suggest individual generally can be divided into 5 categories consisting innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. Jobs was only interested in the innovators and early adopter to a certain extent. Jobs achieved this by selecting and motivating his own  management team, some of his management team members are his followers from previous company. Jobs told them to create innovative products and to think out of the box. He wanted the products to stand out from the current market offerings (CNN Money, 2008). Every situation is subjective and needs a personal influence of the leader. Jobs practised empowerment in his leadership, Jobs coaches his core team, counselled them, motivated them and at the same time was strict to them. Jobs has powerful people skills. Elliot, (2011j) justified this by saying Apple has the lowest staff turnover rate in the industry. Leadership behaviours of Steve Jobs In the early time before Steve Jobs left Apple, he led the company using a laissez-faire leadership style that was believed to contribute the creation of the technology-based products and many of which proved to be quite successful because of the environment brought by the laissez-faire leadership style and such environment did encourage the creativity of the employees (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor 2011, p.170). But there are also constrains of using laissez-faire leadership such as that it is confirmed as being connected with the reason for low productivity (Bass, B. M., Bass, R. & Bass, R. R. 2008, p.451). As for Apple, the laissez-faire leadership style of Steve Jobs become to some extent ineffective and had made the company in disadvantage when competing with IBM after IBM’s entry into the PC market. And this was one of the key reasons why Jobs was replaced by the tough John Scully who was known as a top-down decision maker (Clemens & Meyer 1987). And after his return to Apple in 1996 when Apple announced that it would buy NeXT, Steve Jobs’ new company for $429 million, Steve Jobs came with the leadership with some differences. He still requested for perfection and he was manipulative and demanding which his employees described as â€Å"autocratic† but such autocratic leadership was focusing on the key project as himself was quoted saying that â€Å"My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better. My job is to pull things together from different parts of the company and clear the ways and get the resources for the key projects† (Kramer 2010). Though laissez-faire leadership style and autocratic leadership behavior seems to be contradicting, they do co-exist in Steve Jobs’s management practices as the CEO of Apple which people explained as  Steve Job is having a personalized leadership which means that his leadership behaviors serves primarily his own interests and obviously money is not the most important thing that he cares about resulting in his only focusing on the key projects in his vision leaving his other leadership roles untouched. Recommendations for Steve Jobs Jobs was a visionary, an example of great leader. Below are suggestion and recommendations how Jobs could have been a better leader. Jobs dedicated his life to work and his duty as a CEO. He lacked emotional intelligence, he does not care how others feel and does not want to listen to them talking anything else besides work. He only listened to their ideas and how it can help Apple grow (Kahney, 2008b). Davenport, (2008) described Jobs as corporate dictator who makes every decision, up to the extent of the food being served in cafeteria. Jobs should have opened himself to suggestion and improvement plans by his employees, this will not only help faster solve environment but also produce a better environment for the employees. Jobs classifies everyone into only two categories, it’s either a 3 digit IQ person or someone who does not measure up. Jobs should not stereotype people neither judge them without giving them a chance. Jobs was a feared in Apple, employees would stammer while speaking to him, this does not means they aren’t smart or they are unproductive but this is due to the image Jobs has created for himself. However, this has also created a cult like devotion of Apple employees towards Jobs. Jobs could have been a more honest man, as this also reflects to his leadership, and as a leader it is never a good publicity to be caught lying or cheating as this reflects for a long time, in Jobs scenario, two significant examples which is still being discussed is when Jobs denied paternity, claiming he was sterile and infertile, this has made Lisa, the women he impregnate to live out of welfare (CNN Money, 2008) and another one is when Jobs lied to his partner, Wozniak when they successfully created a game call Breakout for Atari, Jobs was given a bonus of $5000 but Jobs only told Wozniak they received $750 (Businessweek, 2006). Jobs is also known for being short tempered and using abusive language to his employees, he often scolds them and uses foul languages, (CNN Money, 2011). This does not promote a conducive environment to work in as Jobs scolds his employees in public and in front of their subordinates. This also  will lead to low morale in individual and possible scenario of resignation. Jobs also should portray good qualities not only as a business leader but also as a good human being. Not giving back to the society is something of Jobs’s perception and decision. Kahney, (2008c) has mentioned that Jobs likes to park at handicapped spot and at times even taking up to 2 spots. Kahney even had a few photographs of Jobs’s parking etiquette. Leaders are meant to be followed, but by portraying bad examples and contrary moral practices defeats the purpose of a leader. Conclusion Jobs was a transformational leader, he brought change to Apple, challenged the stakeholders and demanded his employee’s to achieve impossible goals (Bryant, 2003). His autocratic leadership style was different from the other leaders. He was a demanding perfectionist and never took no for an answer. Steve grew up in an average family environment but he achieved what very few can come close to. His perseverance and never say no attitude has brought him and Apple to an unimaginable height. His leadership was deemed unhealthy by some critics but Jobs did not take the critics instead went to prove them wrong. This study has analysed the traits and leadership quality of Jobs, compared him with leaders in Information Technology field and to critically analyse them. Jobs has dedicated his entire life to technological improvement, his research and development in Apple is never ending vouching for improvement and delivering the best experience for both commercial and corporate users. His diverse journey in different fields proves that Jobs is not a quitter and will not failure affect him one bit. Jobs would come back from a fall stronger than ever. This study also has proven that Jobs is not only a genius creator, but a visionary leader and a marketing guru. His advertising and promotional campaigns have never failed to create another benchmark. His presentation and speeches has gathered another humongous group of followers mesmerized by his session. Marketing and public relation organizations have started to develop training courses to dub and emulate Jobs’s presentation method. Jobs a true genius, made his mark and conquered the world of mobility. He will be greatly missed, looked up as an idol and forever be the  father of Apple. Conclusion Autocratic management is one of the types of management which is used in businesses and organizations all over the world. Autocratic management isn’t considered as a favourable approach in modern day leadership, but it can still be seen in practice and is a widely discussed leadership model, it is also one of the accepted types of management.

Research proposal on prospective memory Coursework

Research proposal on prospective memory - Coursework Example Since by definition, prospective memory basically pertains to remembering to do something at a particular moment (or time period) in the future, one must recall a remembrance of the intention (the prospective component) yet to be performed, as well as the contents of such intention (Mc Daniel and Einstein, 2007). There could be several untapped avenues where growth to resolving issues with prospective memory may be perceived originating. This is due to the fact/natural consequence that there is no need to execute the intended action right away with respect to time and thought of prospecting to be reminded of the intention, otherwise immediate execution would seem trivial being not in coincidence with the prospect, a projection letting further recollection to happen whether event-based or time-based (Mc Daniel and Einstein, 2007). Remembering to meet a colleague, attend an important conference at a particular time, or placing a book under a pillow to remind a person to do review on constantly feeling the book’s hardness while napping all begin with intention and would take some time prior to the moment of operation. Cue identification is crucial in the process of evaluating whether a prospective memory task has been adequately brought about. With this ground, attentional monitoring must be realized by checking for signals from the environment that would call intention to mind so that one may prepare to act accordingly. If, on the other hand, a firm resolve is made prior, one may retain focus unconsciously and have spontaneous retrieval work to draw on intention instead (Mc Daniel and Einstein, 2007). The approach to research may be initiated using concepts of cognitive resources and of accessibility in order to either evaluate the influence of a person and situation or influences prior to the moment of remembering the behavior, respectively, so that such primary study may constitute proper categorical placement of individuals with prospective

Faith and Diplomacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Faith and Diplomacy - Essay Example From this study it is clear that  Albright and Huntington are saying the same thing; that is religions playing an important role in global politics and many of the conflicts happening in this world are based on cultural differences rather than political or ideological differences. If the root causes of the problems in this world are religions, then there is no point in isolating religion from politics or it is impossible to solve current problems without seeking the intervention of the religions. Many people do believe that America can control Israel more effectively if they show some sincerity in their foreign policies.  This paper highlights that  faith inflicted diplomacy may not work well in some cases in which the religions may have entirely different beliefs and customs. It should be noted that Christians and Muslims are believing in single God theory and many of the teachings of Bible and Quran are similar in nature. On the other hand, Muslims and Hindus or Christians an d Hindus have entirely different belief structure. Hindus have many Gods whereas Christians and Muslims have only one God. In other words, Christians and Muslims have more differences with Hindu belief than similarities. So. Albright’s theory may not be applicable in cases where extremely different religions engaged in clashes. For example, India is a Hindu dominated country whereas   Pakistan is a Muslim dominated country.... The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future (Huntington, p.22) Both Albright and Huntington are saying the same thing; that is religions playing an important role in global politics and many of the conflicts happening in this world are based on cultural differences rather than political or ideological differences. If the root causes of the problems in this world are religions, then there is no point in isolating religion from politics or it is impossible to solve current problems without seeking the intervention of the religions. Many people do believe that America can control Israel more effectively if they show some sincerity in their foreign policies. In fact Israel is accused of engaged in many aggressive behaviors because of the strong support it enjoys from America. It should be noted that Christianity and Judaism are Abrahamic religions along with Islam. In other words, all these three m ajor religions in this world have a common father and therefore their religious faith may have some common elements. Exploitation of that common element is important in settling global issues related to religion and politics. In short, faith inflicted diplomacy may be useful in solving some of the major conflicts in this world such as Arab-Israel, America-Iran, America-Iraq etc. Faith inflicted diplomacy may not work well in some cases in which the religions may have entirely different beliefs and customs. It should be noted that Christians and Muslims are believing in single God theory and many of the teachings of Bible and Quran are similar in nature. On the other hand, Muslims and Hindus or Christians and Hindus have entirely different belief structure. Hindus have many

Fund an exploration program for a Search for Life Term Paper

Fund an exploration program for a Search for Life - Term Paper Example ehab Inc., NASDAQ: ASTC) is an example of a small, publicly traded company involved in the business of space exploration, mission supplies, research and development of space exploration technologies. One of the greatest successes of supra-national cooperation in space exploration is the International Space Station (ISS), built and developed in coordination with advanced scientific teams from over 15 different nations. (NASA, 1998) In order to develop and plan for the search for life in our solar system, as well as to fund this search through private investment that is sustainable and profitable for shareholders over time, a private company should be formed that seeks to replicate the facilities, research, and success of the International Space Station in orbital locations across the solar system. The company should also engage in the production of â€Å"interplanetary gliders† powered by solar sails and ion drives that are able to travel through the low gravity environments be tween the planets. By establishing orbital communities around the other planets in our solar system, as well as the moons of these planets, the company can used already known and developed technologies to innovate and make the current plans more efficient, that human colonies can be established around the solar system to be dedicated to the search for life on other planets and moons. Due to the benefits of specialization and cooperation, the â€Å"heavy lifting† of escaping the Earth’s gravity system and transporting goods, people, and equipment into space via rocket or shuttle systems should be sub-contracted initially to other companies such as SpaceX, while the company under proposal, to be named initially the SpaceHub Investment Group (SIG), should specialize in building fully complete and replicable ISS-style space habitation units. In order to attain an advantage in research, intellectual property, press exposure, and experienced personnel for this venture, SIG should first attempt a

Civil Liberties Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Civil Liberties - Research Paper Example In addition, the amendment also protects citizens from the use of evidence against them, which may have been acquired through unlawful means. Since the enactment of the fourth amendment, the United States citizens cannot to be subjected to unlawful acts by the law enforcement officers (Woody, 2006). The Fifth Amendment states that only an indictment by the Grand Jury can detain people when found to have committed capital offences. The only exception to this rule comes in handy when there is a case of civil emergency or war. Under the Fifth Amendment also, an accused person cannot be forced to testify against himself in a court of law by the government. This amendment has a clause that also prohibits the government from engaging in confiscation of property belonging to citizens, facilitating the detention of people, or even facilitating their execution when the process is not followed. The impact of this amendment is that it has ensured that citizens can be prosecuted only by the cour ts. No other entity, except the court, has the ultimate right to prosecute a person without any adherence to the judicial process. As a result, offenders have been accorded their rights since there is no violation of the court procedure (Woody, 2006). According to the Sixth Amendment, accused persons have the right to be tried in a speedy manner, which will avoid delays in the trial process. In addition, the amendment stresses the need for having a jury that is not partial conducting the trial. Moreover, the accused has the right to know what has caused his or her accusation, as well as the nature of the accusation to which he is subjected by the jury. This amendment has had an impact on the trial process; as it has ensured that accused persons have the right to access the services of a Counsel during their defense. In addition, this amendment has ensured that trail takes place in a speedy manner and that accused persons can be tried publicly. The Sixth Amendment has also ensured th at the jury to try the accused is impartial and does not pass judgment that is biased; the accused can also know the charges, which are pending (Vile, 2010). Under the Eighth Amendment, the constitution of the US states that there should be no application of excessive bail and suspects should not be given punishments that can be regarded as unusual, and the fines imposed on the accused should not be excessive. The impact of this amendment is that it has ensured there is no severe punishment on the accused. This amendment has also limited amount of fines, which can be imposed on the accused persons (Vile, 2010). The 14th Amendment states that for a person to qualify as a United States Citizen, he or she should be born and naturalized in the America. In addition, such a person should be under the United States jurisdiction. The impact of this amendment is that it has protected the citizens from unlawful denial of their rights by their respective states (Lee, 2011). Due process refers to the reasons for enforcing laws, as well as the process followed when enforcing these laws. In the United States, due process tends to be applicable to corporations and United States citizens. There are several due process rights contained in the United States constitution. These rights include the right to personal privacy, right to life right to liberty, as well as right to own property. Procedural due process

Instructional Strategies Concept Research Paper

Instructional Strategies Concept - Research Paper Example He agreed to work with Dr. Cynthia for designing an instructional material with a list of suggestions and delivery method of the same. However, according to the study, Clifford, the experienced instruction designer found Dr. Cynthia to be his toughest client in his career. He faced a number of difficulties in designing the material and till date he has not been able to complete any normal ID task of his (Ertmer and Cennamo, n.d.). Challenges faced by the instructional designers Clifford lacked the essential data of learner’s characteristics, which is the most important information an instruction designer needs to develop the pattern of instruction (Ertmer and Cennamo, n.d.). Most designers put stress on learners and learning outcomes prior to the designing of instruction. The learning process complexities and several critical human dimensions are required to be understood by designers which come into play. Learners carry a wealth of experiences and traits with them to a training setting or education that play a significant part in measuring the success of the instruction. It also includes normal profile factors that tell about the learners’ background, capability and several attitudinal factors. Many of these factors have notable impacts on the learners’ motivation to learn. A basket of prerequisite skills and knowledge are also brought by the learners to the instructional setting. These entry skills are highly related to the content of a particular instructional experience (Richey, James, Klein, and Tracey, 2010. p.170). The second problem faced by Clifford was regarding contextual analysis. In spite of having four meetings with Oakes, Clifford could not gather the necessary important information that could help him during contextual analysis (Ertmer and Cennamo, n.d.). Contextual analysis plays a key role in designing and developing instructions for learning. Instructional context provides rich data about real world scenario and examples. There are few reasons that necessitate analysis of context. First, every aspect of the leaning experiences is influenced by context. Second, Context as a collection of factors can facilitate or inhibit instruction and learning. Third, multiple contexts can be required a by single classroom. For example, sixth grade students might need to do survey in neighboring historical buildings, do research in computer lab and in historic society and arrange a meeting in a hallway in a pro blem based learning approach. An instructional designer should analyze three types of contexts. They are orienting context where learner is focused primarily, instructional context that suggests about the scheduling and physical environment of the training and another is transfer context, which enables the opportunities for transferring the skills and knowledge to new situations (Morrison, Ross, Kalman, and Kemp, 2011, pp.65-66). Although Clifford did have his notes and resources from the four meetings with Oaks, but it just did seem remotely related to his assignment (Ertmer and Cennamo, n.d.). As a result, he could not create an objective domain. Objective domains are classifications or categories of objectives that helps instructional designers for determining several important elements of design. There are four domains of objective such as, cognitive, affective, psychomotor and interpersonal. These help designers to determine how to structure evaluations, objectives and delivery system. For an example, an instructional designer was working on training system for technicians for repairing a certain type of computer. It might require usage all the four domains. Such as,

Evaluate the relevance of cross-cultural theories in explaining how to Assignment

Evaluate the relevance of cross-cultural theories in explaining how to manage companies in different countries - Assignment Example This, in itself, puts the workforce and the management in a multicultural stance. Universalism as a general theory might help ‘blend the culture’ and improve performance, while on the other hand it does not take into account the essential differences in cultures and particularism has to be followed (Alexandria, VA, 2008). It is pertinent to understand that while setting up a global mind set is productive, not all human resource strategies will fit every culture and situation, hence the need for adaptability (HRMagazine, 2008). Sensitive factors like religion and gender often define whether the host culture is neutral or emotional. Recognizing this has significant advantage in terms of control over the business and workforce itself. For example, ignoring a religious taboo might result in a strong setback for the company if the relevance of cultural differences is ignored (Himmelberg, Michele, 1998). Language barrier, the most common issue, is crucial and requires new communication skills to be dealt with (Carter, L, 2005). When a lingua franca does not already exist, it might be useful to train the local workforce in an international language (Feingold, Jean, 2006) but training the management in the vernacular has its key advantages including elimination of redundancy, direct management and easy understanding of the culture (Carter, L, 2005). These key theories are relevant most of the time even in the internet age, but when companies approach different cultures not only to utilize the workforce but also for marketing, the cultural dimensions take a more significant role. Cultural dimensions such as perceptions of justice, power distance and individualism define the employee behavior resulting in direct influence on turnover and other outcomes directly affecting the company’s ability in the competitive market (Kim et al, 2007, p. 104, 83-95). According to opposing studies, the cultural

Ethics of Compliance Southwest Essay Example for Free

Ethics of Compliance Southwest Essay The purpose of this paper is to present, discuss, and examine the topic of ethical and social responsibility. It will discuss Southwest Airlines failure to comply with the Federal Aviation Administrations rules on inspecting aircraft and what violations occurred. On March 6, 2008, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors submitted documents to the United States Congress, alleging that Southwest allowed 117 of its aircraft to fly carrying passengers despite the fact that the planes were not airworthy according to air safety investigators. In some cases, the planes were allowed to fly for up to 30 months after the inspection deadlines had passed, rendering them unfit to fly. Records indicate that thousands of passengers were flown on aircraft deemed unsafe by federal standards. Clearly, this is an issue tied to social responsibility and ethics at the highest level, ignoring the safety inspections put peoples lives in jeopardy. This situation actually began in 1988, when an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 suffered an accident that killed a flight attendant. The top of the planes fuselage tore off, opening up a large section of the planes roof, killing the flight attendant. The accident occurred because of cracks in the planes fuselage. Since then, the FAA has required regular inspections of 737 fuselages to ensure an accident like this does not occur again. In 2007, two FAA inspectors began to question documentation and inspections at Southwest Airlines. They had reason to be concerned, because they felt their concerns were being ignored, and their supervisor was not investigating their complaints. FAA inspectors Bobby Boutris and Douglas Peters testified before Congress about their experiences, and asked for whistleblower status, meaning they could not be fired from their jobs because of their testimony. Boutris was the first to question records kept by Southwest about airplane inspections. In 2003, he was in charge of inspecting engines for the 737, and he could validate the Southwests reports. He told an NPR Radio reporter, I had found a lot of inconsistencies with the records, Boutris says. They were different from aircraft to aircraft; it was very hard to determine compliance' (Goodwyn, 2008). He notes that he complained to his supervisor, Douglas Gawadzinski, but he ignored Boutris complaints. In 2006, Boutris took over safety responsibility for the entire 737-700 series aircraft, and when he reviewed Southwest, he found the same recordkeeping problems he had uncovered in 2003. He notified his supervisor and wanted to send a letter of investigation, again his supervisor G awadzinski refused to acknowledge his concerns. Boutris believes it is because Gawadzinski had a close friendship with Paul Comeau, a former FAA employee who went to work for Southwest as their manager for regulatory compliance. Anything to do with Southwest and the FAA went through these two men, and Boutris believes they routinely covered up inspection irregularities or lack of inspections. Boutris continued to complain, and Southwest asked for him to be removed from their inspections. Reporter Goodwyn continues, At first, Gawadzinski refused to remove Boutris. But it wasnt long before the supervisory maintenance inspector told Boutris he was out and that his career was in jeopardy because there had been undisclosed complaints from anonymous Southwest officials (Goodwyn, 2008). At this point, Douglas Peters, another FAA inspector, were brought in to review Boutris investigation into Southwests compliance. Goodwyn notes, The more he looked into the matter, the more he agreed with Boutris that the flying public was in danger. Peters says the situation defied logic. That something so critical would be not addressed I cant explain it. Its a mystery' (Goodwyn, 2008). People from Southwest began to contact Gawadzinski directly, instead of going through Peters. Another reporter states, The whistle-blowers complained repeatedly in memos written in 2007 that their concerns about Southwest were not being taken seriously. The underlying safety concern — the airline was unable to keep up with mandatory inspections — had been raised as early as 2003, one charged (Levin, 2008). Finally, in March 2007, Southwest admitted to flying 47 737s without completing the problem fuselage inspections, which triggered a Congressional investigation. Even more disturbing, the airline continued to fly the planes even after disclosing they had not been inspected – it took almost a week to ground the planes. The two men testified before Congress in April 2008, and the FAA fined Southwest $10. 2 million for the blunders. Reporter Levin continues, Last month, nearly a year after the initial problems were discovered, the FAA levied a $10. 2 million fine against Southwest. The vast majority of the fine was imposed because Southwest had certified that it stopped flying the planes as soon as it learned of the missed inspections, FAA officials said (Levin, 2008). These are the basic facts and timeline of the case. The major overriding issue in this case is that the FAA and Southwest conspired to cover up inspection information, and they did so at passengers and crewmembers expense. The inspections were mandated because the FAA knew this particular plane had critical safety issues. By not inspecting planes and allowing them to continue flying, they were putting everyone on those planes in jeopardy, and they knew it. That is perhaps the biggest ethical concern of this case, that the company knew they had not completed checks, but continued to fly the planes anyway. One of the whistleblowers was told they did not ground the planes because it would disrupt Southwests service and flight schedule (Goodwyn, 2008). Every airline has a social responsibility to keep their passengers and crews as safe as possible. Flying is a relatively safe form of travel, however accidents do occur. Maintaining high maintenance and safety standards is simply the right thing to do in the transportation industry; it is the ethical, moral, and socially responsible choice. For an airline to lower those standards, especially because of worries about disruption of service, is simply incomprehensible. For example, the entire airline would be in jeopardy if one of the planes had crashed, and it was found to have been because of a crack that was not detected because of a missed inspection. Indeed, inspections on the aircraft did turn up cracks in some of the planes in question, cracks that had to be repaired before the airplanes took flight again (Wilber, 2008). Thus, Southwest put people in danger, and that is a major ethical violation that has not thoroughly been addressed in the media or by the airline itself. In addition, the FAA was compliant in this ethical transgression, because they allowed it to happen, calling into question the integrity of the organization that is supposed to be primarily concerned with airline safety and maintenance. If the agency doing the oversight is questionable, it brings the entire system into question. This issue should be studied further because it raises so many moral and ethical questions, and it should be studied because it seems, since there seem to be no lasting ramifications for the FAA, that it could happen again, which is even more disturbing. The stakeholders in this case are the people who fly on Southwest Airlines. Southwest damaged their reputation by letting down their stakeholders, and that is extremely disturbing. They put passenger safety in jeopardy over worries about income and disrupted flights, when their first concern should have been safety and only safety. This calls into question the entire integrity of the company. This is more than just the classical interpretation of right and wrong, it is a moral dilemma that should have had an extremely simple solution. Ground the planes, inspect them as quickly as possible, and get them back in the air. The fact that there was any other solution seen to the problem indicates just how unethical and morally irresponsible Southwest was, and the stakeholders should demand compensation for the threat this decision made to their safety. Southwest simply got lucky that one of the affected planes did not develop more serious issues, and the $10. 2 million dollar fine seems quite low in retrospect, considering the damage that could have occurred to people and property had a plane crashed. The economic responsibility of this situation is clear; Southwest had to pay a large fine and ground the planes, losing revenue anyway. Their reputation suffered, although it did not seem to make a dent in their passenger. Most people did not even seem to care that Southwest had endangered them and only a few spoke out in blogs or in other areas when the news broke. Southwest has a serious responsibility to keep its passengers and crews safe, and they lost the trust of at least some people because of their callous disregard for safety. That is a huge moral responsibility, and Southwest has never really acknowledged their failure, which is an even larger ethical concern, it seems. In a statement before Congress, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said, Our compliance with certain specific Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness directives has been called into question. We have committed to a thorough review and to make any changes necessary to ensure that we are in full compliance with FAA airworthiness directives and our own maintenance programs, policies, and procedures (Kelly, 2008). However, in previous testimony before Congress, Kelly and Southwest Executive Chairman Herb Kelleher both maintained that Southwest did comply with all FAA requirements, and the safety of passengers was never in question (Kelly, 2008). Thus, Southwest maintains they complied with all FAA regulations and did inspect the aircraft, only under a different maintenance directive than the one the two whistleblowers charged had not been done. It seems like a technicality, and that Southwest is not taking true moral or ethical responsibility for the incidents. They also stated that they did not think they would be fined for the maintenance issues, and it seems as if in their testimony, they were attempting to lay groundwork to fight a fine. However, they did eventually back down and stop contesting the fine, probably because they felt they looked bad enough already. Some recommendations for this case have already been completed. The FAA inspector, Gawadzinski, was transferred to another division, without contact with Southwest. Southwest placed several maintenance and safety personnel on leave, and developed new maintenance and safety guidelines. The two top executives maintain they did not know about the 2007 maintenance charges until March 2008, and as soon as they learned of them, they implemented stronger maintenance and communication directives so they would be notified and aware of any problems. These would have been at least some of the recommendations made in this case. Another would be for Southwest to undergo a major campaign to gain back the publics trust, as many people would seem to have trust issues in flying on Southwest planes. This would include a media campaign that would address trust issues, and perhaps even a campaign including top executives flying on their own planes. This would not be too costly or difficult to administer, and it would let people know that the company is actually sorry about its actions and is going to be more responsible in the future. It also seems as if the company should apologize to their stakeholders and their crewmembers, not in front of Congress, but in front of them, and with humility. Frankly, their testimony and apology to Congress sounded defensive and insincere, and a true measure of humility might be to offer anyone who flew on those planes some type of compensation or personal apology to make the situation even a little bit more palatable. Of course, that would entail a large expense, but it would make their intentions a bit more acceptable. Finally, they have to be open and above board with their maintenance issues and they have to make quite certain there is nothing questionable about any of their practices. Their maintenance and safety department must be impeccable, and it must always be open to scrutiny not only by the FAA, but by the public, as well. They owe that, at the very least, to the people that choose to fly on Southwest Airlines. In conclusion, this case indicates how deeply ethical issues can affect a business. Allowing planes to fly uninspected is a terrible disservice to the passengers and crews of this airline. It indicates a deep-seated lack of respect for the public, the employees, and the agency created to maintain air travel safety. It also indicates an arrogance that the company can flaunt the system and win. Southwest Airlines has deeper issues than maintenance and safety. It has to take a strong look at its ethics and principles, and alter them to create a more socially responsible organization that respects and values the people it serves. Without a change, the organization will certainly suffer more ethical violations in the future.

Research into Independent University Learning

Research into Independent University Learning Hazel Christie, Paul Barron and Norma D Annunzio-Green published an article Direct entrants in transition: becoming independent learners in Studies in Higher Education, 2013. It examines students who have come from College having undertaken one or two years of equivalent education, then transitioned directly into a second or third year of a degree in University. Information was taken from direct entry students in their first year of study at University identifying what factors helped them succeed in studies. It identified that students who adjust quickly to new education environments understand what independent learning entails. The challenge for direct entrant students is adjusting to the different learning environment at the university level, where students are required to function considerably more independently than they are used to at college.   A critical factor of success is the ability to be flexible in adapting to new learning environments and adopting the attributes of an independent learner.   Other characteristics of success are students concepts of assessment and time management. Not only understanding the contents and required format prove challenging for students, but also managing their time effectively to allow for sufficient preparation and timely submission of assessment items is vital for academic success. This study was undertaken by Edinburgh Napier University located in Scotland over the 2006-2007 years. The study was made up of sixteen women and four men of which, six entered the second year and fourteen entered third-year studies. Eleven took business studies with the rest undertaking other related courses. Twelve were mature aged, working part time and or raising families. Eight students pathway went through school, college then to university. Interviews were taped and then transcribed at the end of the first year, discussing previous learning environments and their perceptions and preparedness for studies. Information collected was on initial expectations of the new learning environment at the university, the extent to which their expectations were met, and issues around teaching and learning. The study found two key success factors in transitioning to university and becoming successful learners, coping and succeeding in module assessments, and good time management skills. Results identified three groups. Group one found transition reasonably smooth, the second found it hard to adjust, the third found it overwhelming and struggled to cope. The overall transition experience was challenging coming from structured and directed learning to independent learning. Group one were flexible and adapted quickly to the new learning style. They were confident and able to prioritise their time to separate study, work and family life. They believed this was imperative to their success. Students recognised the need to prepare for lectures and tutorials in advance, and the need for feedback on performance to critique themselves for self-improvement. The second group had high expectations but found difficulties in making the transition. They struggled with independent research, the conventions of essay writing, referencing and putting the material together. Students struggled to achieve a balance between their studies and other commitments. By putting things off they engaged in crisis management or adopted a do enough approach. Again, this group identified the need for independent learning and time management skills. They reflected on the need to improve on this if they wanted to be successful at university. The final group was struggling to understand independent learning and found it difficult to take ownership of their learning. They experienced crises which made some consider leaving. None were nervous about starting university, more so they struggled to adjust to university study. They had limited understanding of what independent learning demanded and struggled with time management, interlinking work, social and academic time. Expectations were, they would study the same way as in college, relying on lecturers to guide them and advise on reading material needed. Likewise, lecturers were not aware that they had direct entry students who were unaware what university required. Twenty students were interviewed about their experience of entering university directly from college into a second or third year of a university qualification. There was an assumption from the university that there would be a smooth transition, moving from one education framework to the next. Some students transitioned rapidly however others had difficulties with this transition. These students believed that support would continue, like what was provided at the college. Overall, students need to develop independent learning and time management skills to be successful in the transition to university. Universities need to identify and provide support to those students transitioning from college to university. Characteristics Time management Prior to commencing this course, I felt I was ready to study. I knew I would have trouble with chemistry and biology, but I believed I was ready. After the first week, I soon learnt I was wrong. I then drew up a study timetable and highlighted in different colours each course with lectures, tutorials and study. I utilised the semester planner and diary plotting my course timetable and assessment dates. On Sundays, I now print out the weeks PowerPoint presentations and go through these with study materials to support my learning prior to attending classes. With my prior work experience, I rapidly adapt to change. My family has started encroaching into my study schedule. I have since adjusted some of my study time to after the children are in bed.   I have found some lectures hard to follow, I now watch the recordings from Sippy Downs. I attend the recently introduced weekly consultation support for chemistry and biology to aid my learning. From discussions with co-students, I now utilise YouTube videos to assist my chemistry and biology learning. I have a weakness in writing, so I am using an online grammar spell checker Reverso. With these strategies in place, I have been successful in keeping a study family life balance. Preparedness for Classes The following information has supported my preparedness for classes. On my study wall, I have a timetable outlining lectures and tutorials. A weekly planner has been created setting out each course, highlighted in a different colour showing the day and times scheduled for lectures, tutorials and study. My weekly planner has been amended due to the need of additional time required for the study. This will be monitored and adjusted as changes are needed. A semester planner detailing due dates for each assessment and how they are to be submitted is also on the wall. I update my diary each week with each weeks classes and any additional information as it comes to hand. I attended the two-day skills workshop the week prior to studying studies and I have enrolled in upcoming skills workshops that are available throughout the semester. I have read the TPP101 Course Outline and I review it as we progress through the semester. I access Blackboard which has my e-lectures, quizzes, lecture recordings and PowerPoint presentations, assessment criteria and due dates. These materials are supporting my preparation for classes. The Task 2 Toolkit supports my preparation for not only each week leading up to the assessment submission date but also requirements for the upcoming assessment. The workbook is providing me with opportunities to practice and check on my understanding of key points. Going through these study materials has allowed me to prepare for the class as well as identify questions which can then be asked face to face at the lecture or tutorial.

Integrated Children and Youth Social Services

Integrated Children and Youth Social Services Integrated Children and Youth Social Services Introduction The development of integrated services in Hong Kong aims to reduce the fragmentation and duplication of services, fill service gaps, make manpower deployment and resources allocation become more flexible, and concern community needs (Angie; Hong Kong Government, 1991). According to Social Welfare Department, integrated children and youth service centre (ICYSC) integrates children and youth centre-based team, school social work team and outreach team to better serve the multiple needs of children and youth aged from 6 to 24 using the â€Å"total person approach†. There are four main objectives as shown below: Facilitating the personal development of children and youth to develop their life skills, potential and problem-solving ability. Enhancing the social development of children and youth in building up positive social values and attitudes, enhancing interpersonal and family relationships as well as contributing to the well being of the community. Adopting a community-based planning strategy to address to local youth needs and to arouse the community’s concerns on youth issues so that young people could grow up in a more concerned and supportive environment. Providing guidance and support to children and youth in disadvantaged circumstances such as disadvantaged family environment, deprived living environment and unfavourable social environment etc. and to direct them to more positive lifestyle. ICYSC mainly provides four kinds of core programs, including social responsibility and competence enhancement programmes, supportive services, socialization programmes, and guidance and counseling services. Social responsibility and competence enhancement programmes can enhance civic mindfulness and involvement of children and youth in community issues. Supportive services for disadvantaged children and youth aim at facilitating mutual support and enhancing their personal as well as social functioning. Socialization programmes aim at helping children and youth enhance the interpersonal and family relationships and development of life skills. Guidance and counseling services aim at providing opportunities for children and youth to deal with their difficulties and stress. Apart from the core programmes, ICYSC also focused on how can the centre attract more children and youth, how to enable them to utilize their leisure time constructively, how to build rapport with members and their families, and how to build up community links. Among the work of ICYSC, community needs should be given the highest priority and the centre should collaborate with other significant persons or systems which affect the welfare of the children and youth. There is no regulation or guidelines about what integrated model should be adopted by ICYSC. The integrated model really depends on the agency and the community served so that clients and residents are best benefited. Strengths and Limitations of ICYSC The areas of strengths and weaknesses of ICYSC can be interpreted in different kinds of integration as different agencies may apply different integration models or concepts. Service Integration For service users, service integration allows earlier intervention, the service gap is narrowed and the stigmatization of clients are lessened. However, this may weaken services for groups with special needs, such as marginal youth. For workers, higher degree of coordination can be developed with insights from colleagues but it takes much time to communicate and both workload and pressure are increased. For agency, there can be higher flexibility in deploying manpower and resources, preventing the overlapping of services. Nevertheless, it increases the time needed and the difficulty in management and coordination. The quality of supervision may be lowered. There may also be insufficient space in peak periods, including after school hours and weekends. These may affect the quality of service to children and youth. Profession-oriented Integration Different professionals gather and work together. For example, policemen work with social workers in Police Superintendent Discretion Scheme. Teachers cooperate with social workers to hold school events for students. With different professional skills and knowledge, the quality of service can be increased. Multi-level and multi-disciplinary interventions are also available. However, as every profession may have its own values and preferences, it requires much time for discussion, collaboration and implementation of services. In case of conflicts among professionals, conflict-resolution is required. In this way, the quantity of time providing direct services to children and youth may become limited. Method-oriented Integration Different intervention methods like casework, group work, community work, asset-based community development model can be merged together to form a multi-level intervention. This makes it more flexible to fulfill clients with different needs. This kind of integration trains workers’ skills and build up their knowledge so the services provide to children and youth can meeting the changing societal needs. Since workers have to step into and consider many intervention methods together, the workload and pressure of workers are highly increased. If they are burnt out, the efforts paid in working will be decreased. Agency-oriented Integration Different agencies can collaborate together and increase their resource pool by sharing. Resources can be manpower, financial support professional service or specific knowledge and skills. A typical example would be volunteer group where children and youth centre works with elderly centre or rehabilitation centre. These kinds of cooperation can best utilized resources from and strengths of different agencies, avoiding the overlapping of services. As this kind of integration requires the collaboration of different agencies and the efforts to match clients’ needs with resources, it is relatively time-consuming. Locality-oriented Integration Similar to agency-oriented integration, locality-oriented integration makes use of the resource pool but it is particularly from community and aims at serving community needs. The sharing of resources strengthens the interflow and referral system with agencies in the same locality, reducing the administration process and enhancing the cohesion in the community. Social capital built and convenience are beneficial to service users. Again, it is sometimes time-consuming as consensus and negotiation are not easy to achieve. Client-oriented Integration Different services under one roof can be served to different clients’ profiles or needs. The services are more person-centered so as to promote holistic development of clients, serving multiple and developmental needs throughout their life-spans by single point of entry. To fully adopt this integration, high level of coordination among teams as well as case management are crucial. Outreach work has to be carried out in order to better understand clients’ needs. Hence, workers may have higher workload and pressure. There may also be conflicts between different types of clients. There are also some general limitations of ICYSC model. Models are not regularly and comprehensively evaluated. The government didn’t provide clear operational guidelines to NGO on the way of implementation of integration. Owing to the governmental subvention (i.e. lump sum grant), service providers have to fulfill requirement of funding service agreement so they focus more on quantitative output than qualitative outcome. With fixed amount of subvention, agencies compete with each other to apply for resources and funding. When services are directed by funding, it may not fit the community needs well. The lump sum grant also hinder long-term planning of services and sustainable service development as no one can guarantee there will be enough resources for the events in the coming years. Improvement on Implementation of ICYSC There are some suggestions on how to improve the implementation of ICYSC model. And they are categorized into worker, agency and policy levels. 1) Worker Level The government may support mandatory training to social workers and other relevant professions to let them master and update their knowledge and skills to meet the changing integration environment. Workers may also make use of their free time and working hours to better equipped themselves to comply with agency’s integration model. 2) Agency Level The agency can review community needs regularly and frequently. It can also develop a web-based electronic database for more effective case-management and share among multi-disciplinary teams confidentially so as to provide more integrated and real-time client-based information. The pool of resources should be strengthened by developing self-sustaining services and reducing the limitation from government funding. 3) Policy Level The government should introduce emergency funding to meet new or sudden community needs and provide financial security to facilitate long-term planning in NGO. FSA should be evaluated and restructured based on quality and fulfillment of community needs. ICYSC models should be regularly evaluated to see if amendment is needed with the invitation of suggestions from agencies and citizens. Although different districts may have different needs, there should be some common needs for children and youth in Hong Kong. It is good to synchronize services for these common needs among service providers in Hong Kong. Last but not least, tripartite collaboration among the public, the private sector and the government should be enhanced so resource pool will be magnified and self-sustainability can be promoted. Conclusion It is hoped that by adopting the more appropriate integration model, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the adopted integrated model with continual evaluation and improvement, children and youth can satisfy their diverse needs in a holistic manner. Children and youth can enjoy one-stop and user-friendly services. Hence, the future generation can be nurtured well and contribute to society when time comes. (1497 words) References Angie, Y. The purpose and future development of social services integration. Hong Kong Government (1991). White paper on social welfare into the 1990s and beyond. Retrieved 9 May, 2014, from http://ebook.lib.hku.hk/CADAL/B38633498.pdf Social Welfare Department. Funding and service agreement (lump sum grant) integrated children and youth service centres (ICYSC). Retrieved 9 May, 2014, from http://www.swd.gov.hk/doc/fsa_sd/ICYSC.pdf Social Welfare Department. Integrated children and youth service centres. Retrieved 9 May, 2014, from http://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_young/sub_centreserv/ id_integrated4/

Jean-Pierre Jeunets Film Amelie Essay -- Imagination Film Movie Ameli

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Film Amelie Imagination is an intrinsic part of the human experience. It has the power to mold reality by defining the limits of possibility and affecting perception. Both Alan White and Irving Singer examine aspects of this power in their respective works The Language of Imagination and Feeling and Imagination. White delineates how imagination is a necessary precursor to possibility (White 179) while Singer primarily illustrates imagination's effect on human relationships, such as love (Singer 29-48). Despite their different focuses, White and Singer demonstrate the impact that imagination has on human perceptions of reality. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Amelie explores this facet of imagination: the film provides a poignant depiction of imagination's influence as the title character Amelie exacts changes in her life and in the lives of others with her boundless imagination. In the chapter entitled "The Imaginable and the Possible," Alan White argues that imagination is the key factor in testing the "acceptability of something as possible" (White 183). In seeking to answer the questions whether what is possible is imaginable and whether what is imaginable is possible, White examines a variety of seemingly impossible ideas, such as the three-dimensional triangle. From these examples, he concludes that the possible must be conceivable by the imagination but that the imagination's capacity to visualize extends beyond the mere possible (White 179-183). Amelie addresses this dichotomy between the limitations of the possible and the unfettered possibilities of the imagination in a less didactic manner. Instead of intangible ideas, the film illustrates the link between imagination and possibility throu... ...ng their imagination to bestow value to each other, much in the manner Singer describes. In terms of inherent worth, neither the relationship between Georgette and Joseph or Amelie and Nino seem to have any tangible basis. However, when revisiting these interactions with the idea of bestowal in mind, it is understandable why the characters are willing to "appraise" each other so highly. Thus, through the interaction of the characters, the film Amelie demonstrates how the imagination governs the daily existence of human beings with the power to either help or hinder an individual by defining the realm of possibility. Works Cited Singer, Irving. Feeling and Imagination: The Vibrant Flux of Our Existence. Lanham: Rowman and Littlerfield Publishers, Inc., 2001. 21-48. White, Alan R. The Language of Imagination. Cambridge: Basil Blackwell Inc. 1990. 173-183.

The Stranger Essay -- Literary Analysis, Albert Camus

Albert Camus creates a series of characters in The Stranger whose personality traits and motivations mirror those that are overlooked by the average man. Camus develops various characters and scenarios that are considered rude and unpleasant, but because it has become common, society accepts it as norms. Camus incorporates atrocious personality traits of the characters, variety, consistency, and everyone’s fate through the creation of the characters. Camus demonstrates the disregarded reason behind the origins of relationships between people to characterize people as selfish. The relationship between Salamano and his dog displays how Salamano as self-centered. When Meursault mentions, â€Å"He hadn’t been happy with his wife, but he’d pretty much gotten used to her. When she died he had been very lonely. So he asked a shop buddy for a dog and he’d gotten this one very young† (Camus, 44), the inconsideration is displayed. This evidence proves the wife’s lack of importance towards Salamano, but along with time, he adapted to her, just like he did with the dog. After her death, he became lonely which supports the reason for him getting the dog. Not to love the dog, but instead to put an end to his loneliness. Another source of selfishness is shown through the relationship between Marie and Meursault. Meursault’s lack of communication and the excess amount of physical contact desired and rec eived is displayed by Meursault in the reference, â€Å"I kissed her. We didn’t say anything more from that point on. I held her to me † (35). The textual support confirms that Meursault’s purpose with Marie, for her physical appearance and not her personality. The relationship between Meursault and Raymond displays another representation of a person being... ...ity. He agrees and accepts the fact that no matter how we live our lives, we are all destined to die one day. Our actions can only speed up death or slow death down, but nothing can ever stop death from reaching you. Meursault, â€Å"the stranger† for his uniqueness, also believes that one receives privilege to die and that occurs when one becomes free. In Meursault’s perspective, dying represents a positive action rather than a negative one. The characters in The Stranger contain a self-definition which can reflect to the traits of common people. In everyday life, there are always people who are selfish, those who include change and variety in their lives, those that stay consistent to their morals, and those who are certain of reality; however, since a profuse amount of people encompass those qualities, civilization judges those qualities as standard and typical.