My Leadership Style Essay Example for Free

My Leadership Style Essay According to the leadership assessment, I am more of task-oriented leader than a people-oriented leader, though I scored high in both areas, therefore I have a healthy balance of both which is important for a leader in any company. My leadership style allows me to get my work completed in an organized fashion, while being open to other ideas; I can focus on the small projects while continuing to see the big picture or vision. Because I score higher on the task-oriented side, I can be more autocratic in my thinking. This will limit my ability to show my apathy for my staff and employees Furthermore, I am also a transformational and charismatic leader. I am most effective in smaller organizations that have direct interactions with my staff. According to Robbins, this helps to make me effective as a leader, which will give a company â€Å"low turnover, higher productivity, lower employee stress, and burnout, and higher employee satisfaction.† Furthermore, Robbins shared that this leadership style is not effective with those who are â€Å"highly individualistic and do not readily cede decision-making authority.† Since I am able to communicate with my staff the expectations, visions ad engage my staff, I also have a Charismatic leadership style. I continuously focus on the end goal, big picture and tie that big picture to the work of my staff, making it attainable to my staff. One of the major downsides to charismatic leadership is that it can be situational, according to Robbins. Role in Company The role I would like to pursue within the company is that of a managerial supervisor. According to Robbins, organizations need strong leadership and  strong management for optimal effectiveness. I feel that because I have leadership and managerial traits and characteristics, I would be a great candidate for that particular role. In a managerial supervisory role, I am a direct leader. I work directly with my staff on a one-on-one basis and in a team format; I will have more influence directly on my staff. As the managerial supervisor, I am able to support, recognize, develop, plan, and coach/mentor my staff while monitoring, setting goals, and overseeing day to day operations. This is evident because of my healthy balance of task and people orientation. Leadership theories applicable to my leadership approach The Big Five Trait Leadership Theory is applicable to my leadership approach because research has shown that the big five personality factors are strong indicators for job success and performance. I scored high in the areas of extroversion and conscientiousness. The positive factors about scoring high on conscientiousness’s is that overall, those with high marks in this area have better job performance and those are more reliable, thorough, organized, angle to plan, and persistent according to the assessment. These traits are consisted with those of task-oriented leaders. However, the Leadership Substitute Theory would be counter indicated for the areas of subordinate, task, and group/organizational characteristics. This is because my staff could need little direction from me as their supervisor if they have extensive experience. Also, when staff repeats their task over and over, they become proficient and don’t need feedback, but are building their own motivation. As a task-oriented, transformational, and charismatic leader, I would struggle more with staff who are more independent or did not work well in the group. I like to give freedom to my staff, but my style makes it necessary to know what is going on in the jobs at all times. Conclusion My leadership style is transformational, charismatic with my main focus on task-oriented management. I work hard to inspire my staff, while also meeting deadlines. I focus better when I’m working with a team rather than individuals who do their own thing. Research has shown that my leadership style is an asset to many companies if utilized in the right way. This is why I would like a position that allows me to shine, take the lead of a team, while focusing on the companies â€Å"big picture.† References Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Yuki, G. (2010). Leadership in organizations (7th Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

College Education Essay Example for Free

College Education Essay In his essay entitled â€Å"How to Get a College Education†, Jeffrey Hart described the negative effect of Allan Bloom’s book The Closing of the American Mind on his Dartmouth freshman composition course students. These students, Ivy-leaguers and top test scorers, disliked the book’s criticism of their mentality but at the behest of Hart’s impromptu oral quizzing, could not adequately discuss historical figures and events. Although Hart’s freshman class realized the gaps in their education, Hart asks what a real college education is, deplores the advent of specialization, and discusses what does or does not constitute real education. Hart’s concern with education lies with the end result: to produce a citizen. But while Hart gives excellent examples for what subjects he thinks constitute a real education in light of telos, a goal, he implies, rather than specifies, that such an education must cater to proactive, independent thought over ideologically based curriculum and courses. It is through well-rounded, balanced independent thought, Hart argues, that a citizen who can â€Å"recreate his civilization† be made. In the first example, Hart names a curriculum engaged in â€Å"so-called post modernist thought† as something to avoid. It is one of the three â€Å"intellectual fads†, in which the use of the word â€Å"fad† describes a fashionable conduct as enthusiastically followed by a group. This way, Hart indirectly refers to post modernist thought as ideological and lacking in independent thought. The second â€Å"fad† refers to Affirmative Action, which Hart describes as an â€Å"ethos† or â€Å"mentality†. â€Å"Ethos† describes the disposition of a culture or a group, and â€Å"mentality† refers to the set of a person or a group’s mind; and both words conjure a certain blindness that Affirmative Action is supposed to fight. Again, Hart reflects on the dearth of nuance and consideration in such courses. Thirdly, Hart directly mentions ideology when he writes about Marxism, victimology, and identity politics, in which â€Å"scholarly pursuit† is put aside in deference to â€Å"’Studies’ programs†. Hart calls many of these courses â€Å"nonsense† and â€Å"distraction†, but fails to directly write that the single underlying theme of such courses is that because they operate under an ideology, they do not foster free thinking and independent rationality. Hart underlines his position for independent rationality by going on to discuss courses and curricula that he thinks support the end goal of citizenship. Rationality is implied when Hart takes on the subject of requiring a student to know and understanding themes in civilization, a task that maneuvers beyond mere adherence to ideological standards. The student must know his civilization: â€Å".. its important areas of thought, its philosophical and religious controversies, the outline of its history and its major works. The citizen need not know quantum physics, but he should know that it is there and what it means. Once the citizen knows the shape, the narrative, of his civilization, he is able to locate new things — and other civilizations — in relation to it. † By referring to controversies, major works, and narrative, Hart’s stance on education is of well-roundedness, independent thought, and being comfortable on differing sides of issues—a stance not suitable to the ideologically minded. Hart makes connections to Athens and Jerusalem in order to outline how a student may develop her college education. Both Athens and Jerusalem were and are centers of independent thought. Athens refers to the ancient Greek capital in which rational thought, philosophy, and democracy were birthed; it was the birthplace of philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle: Of things useful and necessary only those that are free should be taught, and the young should partake in nothing of a vulgar, mechanical sort or that will render body, soul, or thought unfit for virtue. (Philips 154). Jerusalem, since the reign of Solomon, has been the spiritual capital of three major religions in the world today. Independent thought emerges out of Jerusalem in the guise of Abraham who sought argument with God, and Jesus, who argued and fought with the spiritual leaders priests and scribes, or Pharisees and Sadducees—of his day (Columbia). A student, dynamically engaged with both scientifically rational and enlighteningly spiritual sides, can succeed in mastering themes of his or her civilization with independence of thought rather than subsisting on an ideological track. Such a student would be able to carve for him or herself a true education with a goal of not being simply educated, but a goal of becoming an involved, active citizen of society, and of a civilization. Hart discusses China as a final example to his essay. Hart reminds us that one could consider China, who has lacked the dynamic interaction between science and spirituality, and who is world renowned for its collectivist culture, one in which independent thought is frowned upon. Again, Hart does not directly mention this, but references it with mentioning China with its â€Å"symbols†: Great Wall and Forbidden City. REFERENCES Jerusalem. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2007. Philips, Peter L. The Politics of Aristotle. University of North Carolina Press, 1997

Characteristics of HRM Approaches

Characteristics of HRM Approaches HRM is the organisational function that emphasises on the intake, management and directing the people who work for the organisation. Main issues dealt with in the HRM include, but are not limited to, intake, monetary and non-monetary benefits, motivation, training, personnel development, communication, wellness and performance management. Characteristics of HRM approach The main characteristic of the HRM approach is to discover, polish and improvise the potential and talent that people working in the organisation have in them but are unaware of that, thus improving the quality, efficiency, productivity and satisfaction. HRM also aims to resolve any problems and conflicts that employees are facing. Moreover, maintenance of discipline is also characterised by HRM. Models of HRM: Following are some renowned models of HRM: Contingency model: advocates of this model believe that there is no ONE best way of leading an organisation. A style that is effective in one situation may not be of use in another and the best style to be applied depends on the situation being faced and that in turn depends on the internal and external constraints. The best practice model: suggests to identify best practice, give HR a high profile, get commitment from top management level, implement the best practice and then make that best practice a bench mark for rewarding employees. Harvard Framework: this model provides that HR policies are affected by situational factors and stakeholder interests. It also states that managers can affect numerous factors by the policies they choose which includes the four Cs i.e. competence, congruence, commitment and cost-effectiveness. Guests Model: discusses six factors which are HRM strategy, HRM practices, HRM outcome, behavioural outcomes, performance outcomes and financial outcomes. HRM Activities: Activities of HRM include the following: Staffing Planning (pipeline development) Benefits Planning Retirement Planning Compliance Performance Enhancement Consulting Employee Relation Labour Negotiations Executive Compensation Employee Development Management Development Recruitment Interviewing Payroll Benefits Administration Retirement Administration Employee Records Relocation Administration Recruitment Information Processing, and Employee Assistance Programs. Personnel and HR management: The difference in personnel and HR management is merely philosophical. Administrative nature to a far greater extent of personnel management than HR management makes it different from HR management. Personnel management mainly includes dealing in payroll, ensuring compliance to employment laws and other administrative tasks. However, in contrast to this, HR management considers the employees one of the most important organisational resource and deals with improvising it. HR Consultancy: HR consultancy aims to abridge the gap between the HR competence of the organisation and the complex HR needs. HR consultants main function is to provide the organisation with the adequate staff it requires. It is a kind of outsourcing. Role of HR practitioner: The role of HR practitioner is to develop a skilled work force that contribute to the organisational success, resolve the issues within the human resource and the between human resource and the organisation, to reconcile and align the individual and the organisational goals, to motivate employees and keep their morale at an acceptable level. Models of HRM roles: Legges Model: Legge has divided the models into four main types including normative, descriptive functional, descriptive behavioural and critical evaluative. Tyson and Fell: defined organisational role as a collection of activities representing a mode of functioning by managers and professionals in HR organisations. HR activities: HR activities include the following: Internal communication, Recruitment, Development of work force, Resolution of issues of work force, Alignment of personal and organisational goals, Training, Integration of organisational objectives, etc. Functions and roles of HR planning: Strategic Planning The rational process, frequently advocated in strategic planning texts and apparently by many practitioners, emphasizes purposeful activity through a logical formulation of goals, examination of alternatives, and delineation of plans prior to action. It tends to have long-term orientation and focuses on measureable forces affecting the firm, as well as quantitative activities and procedures. The process of the comprehensive strategic planning is topically composed of the following steps: Development of organizational philosophy and mission statement Environmental scanning Analysis of SWOT Formulation of strategic objectives Generation of alternative strategies for achieving objectives Evaluation and selection of the strategy Strategic Planning at Corporate Level Competitive strategies at business level are very relevant to human resources and the development of human resource strategies. Porters five forces provides good basis for understanding competitive strategies at business level. Porter has argued that there are five forces that can affect the potential profitability of an industry. The five forces are: The ease with which he new competitor can enter an industry Bargaining power of the customers Bargaining power of the suppliers Rivalry among the competitors Availability of substitutes for the industrys product and services In addition to these forces we also have the strategies that allow the firm to compete in the industry by applying one or mix of the following strategies. Low-cost leadership Strategy Differentiation Strategy Niche or Focus Strategies Planning in Strategic Business Unit Human Resource management can play an important role in strategic planning at the level of the strategic business unit and, as noted, is one of the in value chain analysis. The role may examine the context of human resource input in the development of strategic alternatives. It also called the planning at the different functional units of the organization like, Marketing, Finance, RD, etc. Recruitment methods: Recruitment methods involve setting of requirements for the individual to be hired, primarily. Such an individual may be present in the organisation, in such a case internal recruitment will be done. Thereafter these requirements are advertised. Advertisement: advertisement can be done in different modes that include giving advertisements in newspapers, journals, web sites. Application can also be made to the recruitment agencies of HR firms. Selection: once the advertisement has been made, selection is the next phase. Selection can be based on interviews, written tests, presentations, role playing, group discussions, report writing, etc. Human Resource Development Definition: Human Resource Development (HRD) is a framework to help employees develop personal and organizational skills, knowledge and abilities. Human Resource Development includes such opportunities as employee training, employee career development, performance management and development, coaching, mentoring, succession planning, key employee identification, tuition assistance, and organization development. Organisational learning and learning organisation: It is the study of ways in which the organisation learns and adapts. Whereas learning organisation means an organisation that encourages its employees to learn (be innovative and dynamic) and transforms itself to changing requirements. Learning theories: Learning cycle: the learning cycle model is based on five Es, including engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration and evaluation. Transfer of learning: it means that the skill and knowledge obtained during the training or the learning phase is implemented when performing job. Training methods: Effective training methods include the following: On the job training, Training courses, Seminars, Workshops, Job rotation, Secondments, Demonstration, Lectures, Conference, Role play, Simulations, Case studies, Projects, and Mentoring. Performance monitoring methods: Once the selection has been done and the candidates have been taken in as employees they are assigned specific tasks after initial training / orientation. Once an employee starts off with his routine work his performance needs to be monitored in order to ensure that he is delivering what in fact is expected out of him and to reward him as well. Performance can be measured in a number of ways out of which performance appraisal is the most commonly used method. In appraising performance of an employee people who interact with him are asked to comment on the benchmark criteria, generally set in advance. After the appraisal is done the appraised is provided feedback in both monetary and non-monetary terms. Most commonly used performance appraisal methods include the following: Management by objective, Graphic rating scales, Essay evaluation method, Paired comparison analysis, 360 degree performance appraisal, Performance ranking method, Behaviourally anchored rating scales, Behavioural observation scales. Reward management: The main aim of reward management is to establish a relation between pay and performance. Moreover, reward management defines the philosophy / rationale behind the remuneration or the benefits and employee is entitled to reap from the organisation after his performance has been measured. Factors determining pay: Following factors determine the pay: Productivity of employee, Comparative wages, Bargaining power, Demand and supply of employees, Condition of product market, and Business brought in by the employee. Job satisfaction and motivation towards working hard does not solely depend on the monetary benefits (hygiene factors) an employee is entitled to, personal growth, self actualisation, work environment and freedom has main contribution towards employees motivation and job satisfaction. If it is noted that the morale of the work team is not at the desired level then strategies should be put in place to ensure that dissatisfaction is removed which may include stringent discipline and grievance procedures after fully taking the employees in confidence. Frameworks like ACAS can be followed to remove grievances between employees and employers. Staff satisfaction can be measured from the behaviour they exhibit unintentionally that includes absenteeism, poor work quality and high turnover rate. The dissatisfaction can be eliminated in a number of ways that include improving the work atmosphere, increasing monetary rewards, counselling, giving reasonable autonomy to the employee, etc. For the purpose of this assignment, I selected the Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) for the practical application of the theory. Investigation as to how HRM contributes to the achievement of organisational goals: Three main activities performed by SCBs HR department related to HRM were: Job analysis: Job analysis provides the foundation for good selection and identifying the knowledge skills abilities and other requirements that need to be performed on the job. Interviews: Interviews are the universal feature of selecting feature of selection system. Research has shown that interview can have substantial validity, particularly when they have shown more structure and are conducted appropriately, and, Redevelopment and retraining: With the increased rate of technological change and potential for skill obsolescence, retraining may become more important. As a result many companies provide retraining for manager those skills have become obsolete. A critical determinant in the success of such program is managers self-efficacy beliefs, or that they will be successful in mastering the new skills. Meeting Organisational Objectives: By careful job analysis it was observed that the people selected for the relevant posts possessed adequate level of skill and competence that is needed to fulfil the tasks of the job. Smart interviewing panel of the SCB ensured that only those people are selected for the jobs that are capable of performing the relevant tasks as required by their jobs. Systems and procedures are changing in with the development of technology and introduction of new and stringent risk management procedures. In SCB it was noticed that to equip the personnel with the latest job knowledge effective retraining procedures were in place that led to the employees continual professional development, thus generating a better level of service and performing in an up-to-date manner. Reference to HRM Models: Contingency model (that suggests there is no one way of leadership and management, a situational model) The best practice model (suggests to identify best practice, give HR a high profile, get commitment from top management level, implement the best practice and then make that best practice a bench mark for rewarding employees). Examination of HR planning and development methods: Human Resource Planning is the process of assuring that right type of people with right capabilities are available when required. HRD of SCB has to take care of all the important activities. It is engaged in the process of hiring, firing, training, development and all other related activities. HRD is also engaged in process of designing and evaluating the jobs and determining a pay structure for the jobs. During planning company analyze its goals, its current strategies, its external environment, and its strengths and weaknesses, in terms of whether or not they can be achieved with the current Banks human resources. Then Bank begins to look at what skills, knowledge and abilities are available internally and where shortage of terms of people skills or equipment may exist. This analyzes leads to the new planning phase and as a result Bank recruit people with specific skills Bank required to organizational development. Its HR department duty to create a link between the organizational goals and ensuring that the company can meet the objectives with which structure in determining skills, knowledge and abilities of jobholder. The employees at SCB are self-motivated and the reason for their kind of motivation is the working environment which has to be conductive for efficiency. The morale of workers in SCB is very high and this high morale is as a result of keen interest and careful supervision of the top management. It is all because of the healthy environment provided at all branches of the Bank and very kind and neat relationship among the employees, and very satisfactory compensation and benefit system. HR department of the company determine what jobs need to be done and how many and what types of workers will be required. At SCB several approaches are available for the development of workforce skills that are needed: Training Program SCB relates training with the productivity. Training solves the many efficiency related programs in the work place it may also involves the analytical and the thinking skills trainings that help to resolve the problems. These programs are for the middle level manager and the lower level manager. Training Methods The Bank continues to follow its strategy of hiring batches of young and energetic Management Trainees who are sent to Training and Development Center for training in all areas of banking. At the same time, short courses are continually conducted to not only enhance their skill level but also increase their performance potential. Training covers broad areas of human resource activities. Following are few very popular and common training methods: Orientation Coaching Mentoring Computer based training or instructional training Computer assisted instructions: Job Rotation: After planned intervals of time employees are transferred. To other locations according to the policy. On the Job training: Three types of employees are subjected to on the job training. Although other type of training programs are conducted for their grooming but the emphasis is gives for on the job training for them. The bank has the latest state of the training facilities and it has its own Training and development Centre. (TDC). Supervisors identify the individuals in the department whether the employee needs training in a particular field or for a particular job. Three types of employees are subjected to on the job training. Although other type of training programs are conducted for their grooming but the emphasis is gives for on the job training for them. Apprentices b) internees Off-The Job Training: The newly inducted officers are being trained to help perform their duties in full competence to avoid any error in bank transaction, and boost their efficiency. Evaluation of the planning and development methods: Proper HR planning has helped the bank to ensure that right people are on the right desks doing the work in the right manner. It has also helped the bank to identify the service gaps and hire people where shortages are evidenced. By planning the HR department has created a link between banks goals and the right people to pursue that. The development of HR has ensured that the staff is adequate and technically well equipped to serve that banks goals. Adequate training ensures that employees are up-to-date and possess necessary skill level to complete the assigned tasks. Analysis of ways in which performance of HR may be enhanced: Review of how HR performance is monitored and indicated: The only basic performance measurement tool SCB has is the performance appraisal system and they are continually making improvements in it to eliminate the bias. Performance appraisal is directly related to the performance description and the work standards. The process of reviewing the individual performance. First of all, bank sets some standards for different level of employees and direct to their employees to do work according to these standards and evaluating their performance. In SCB Performance appraisals are usually prepared every six months. Every employee is to be received and on the basis of this performance compensation and benefits are determined. SCB offers very competitive salaries and benefits to both fresh recruits and experienced bankers. Once part of the SCB family you can expect both monetary and non monetary rewards based on performance, some of our benefits are: Compensating and rewarding employees is very important to motivate the employees and to attain the consistent performance. Reward system provides the ability to reinforce desired behaviours and serve the traditional functions of attracting and maintain a qualified workforce. SCB compensation system is the combination of different practices which are discussed below; Traditional compensation system Traditional compensation system used by SCB is the combination of the factor comparison system and point system which uses the job evaluation manual to assign points to each job. SCB has the traditional compensation system as the basic salary which is fixed for every employee beside other compensations. Skill-based remuneration This is basically for the middle level management for learning and implementing new things which can be offered by the bank or chooses by the individual themselves. Employees know that it increases. The chances of the promotion and the increase in the compensation will increase as well as bank SCB have bonus for learning new skills and doing new management courses. Due to the rapid change in the todays business environment organization need to make-up the employee for the potential jobs and assignments to be competitive in the market. Broadbanding This approach contains some of the factors of the traditional pay based system but like skills based pay it is directed towards obtaining greater flexibility. With broad banding SCB increases the pay of the employee but dont promote them this is usually done for the more experienced employees to with low education they often are not promoted but they pay is increased. Team Based Pay Compensation system is needed to reward team members for behaviors that facilitate strategy implementation. SCB usually forms teams for some projects only. Compensation given to those teams is based on the compensation of the achievement of the objectives of the team. The compensation includes bonuses, stocks, holidays and promotions. In the project management teams employees are also cross trained. Executive Compensation Executive compensation system like other employees have the basic salary but that includes no of benefits besides that, which includes the wide range of conveyance allowance. But same like in many other organizations this is not well-defined in SCB. Ways to improve: The appraisals should be 360 degrees in order to ensure that what all different stake-holders feel about a particular employee. Appraisals should be carried every quarter so that improvements may be made on a timelier basis. The operations staff should not be appraised on the basis of how much business it has generated. Appraisals should also take into account the level of innovation an employee has brought in.

Internet Cookies :: Essays Papers

Internet Cookies Most Experienced Web visitors and even new ones know about cookies these days. Cookies are small data files that are being put on your hard drive by Web sites when you visit them. They do this for many different reasons. One of them is to identify you as a distinctive visitor by identifying your Web browser software. When your return to the Web site that has stored a cookie, it will search your computer for those cookies, and they will know what you were doing in the past. It may update your cookie. This way the site can customize its contents depending on previous activities. It will also allow the site to provide customized news, weather, sports information, and many other things based on stated interests. In theory, a cookie only transmits information back to the Web site that put it there and can’t be accessed by other parties. But some Internet advertising companies had crossed the limits of using their own cookies. These companies use cookies to create highly sophisticated profiles of online visitors, most of the time without visitors’ knowledge and usually without their consent DoubleClick Whenever I go to any site on the Web and I see an advertisement, I DoubleClick on it in order to view it. DoubleClick has taken the first step in building a profile on my surfing habits. From this point on, until I change browser, buy a new computer, or delete my cookie files, DoubleClick can track my browser’s activity across all sites. DoubleClick controls sixty percent of the banner ad market. This profiling powerhouse collects data about where I go and what I do on line. DoubleClick rents or sells this data to other companies, allowing them to broadcast advertising e-mails to recipients whoses urfing habits fit a desired profile. DoubleClick associates these files through cookies obtained on my hard drive. By sending out junk e-mail with graphics, advertisers can match e-mail addresses with previously issued cookies. Privacy advocates contend that DoubleClick’s use of cookies is an invasion of privacy and could lead to misuse of the information. Consumer Privacy and Cookies Under the â€Å"Options† or â€Å"Preferences â€Å" menus, most current Web browsers can be set to reject cookies or alert surfers when one is being sent, but this may prevent you from accessing some sites at all.

Gender-based Violence (GBV) Data Collection Essay example -- Violence

Violence against women, particularly intimate partner violence and sexual violence, is both a public health problem and a violation of women’s human rights. The issue of gender-based violence (GBV) has increasingly become an agenda item addressed by nations across the world. International organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations (UN) and humanitarian aid/relief agencies like the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and PLAN International have been collectively working to provide services to victims, advocating for increased gender equality and reducing rates of violence against women, etc. The evidence-base on the magnitude of this problem across various settings continues to grow; potentially providing governments, aid agencies and other partners with the strengthened capacity to design and implement prevention and response interventions. While the undertaking of prevalence studies in complex emergencies has the potential to influence GBV program ming and policy in emergency settings, challenges exist that thwart its effectiveness. Using some of the most cited papers in the emergency field as a framework, this paper seeks to explore the intricacies of GBV data collection in humanitarian settings. Drawing upon the critiques of these works, the use of strengthened and standardized methodology will be suggested as a means to improve GBV programming. Starting with the World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the same year, violence against women has been thrust into the light as a health and human rights concern. This recognition would be strengthened by agreements and declarations at international conferences includin... ...er 1995. New York, NY, United Nations, 1995 (document A/CONF.177/20). United Nations. 1993. â€Å" Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women.† United Nations General Assembly Resolution 48/104. NewYork: United Nations. United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW) (2005) ‘Violence against women: a statistical overview, challenges and gaps in data collection and methodology and approaches for overcoming them’, report of the Expert Group Meeting, Geneva, 11–14 April 2005 http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw-stat-2005/docs/final-report-vaw-stats.pdf Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. Adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 14–25 June 1993. New York, NY, United Nations, 1993 (document A/CONF.157/23). Jones 10 Watts & Zimmerman (2002). Violence Against Women: global scope and magnitude. The Lancet, (359), 1232-7

Thomas Edison Essay -- biographies bio biography

Term Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thomas Alva Edison is one of the most influential people of his time. This native born Ohioan is credited with many invention that we use today and that many of us take for granted. Countless hours of hard work went into everything he accomplished. That drive is what made him the man he was and defined him as an individual. Thomas Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Edison, Jr. and Nancy Elliot Edison. His parents had no special mechanical background. His mother was a former schoolteacher; his father was a jack-of-all-trades - from running a grocery store to real estate. When Thomas was seven years old, his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. He was a very curious child who asked a lot of questions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edison began school in Port Huron, Michigan when he was seven. His teacher, the Reverend G. B. Engle considered Thomas to be a dull student. Thomas especially did not like math. And he asked too many questions. The story goes that the teacher whipped students who asked questions. After three months of school, the teacher called Thomas, "addled," which means confused or mixed up. Thomas stormed home. The next day, Nancy Edison brought Thomas back to school to talk with Reverend Engle. The teacher told his mother that Thomas couldn't learn. Nancy also became angry at the teacher's strict ways. She took Thomas out of school and decided to home-school him. It appears he briefly attended two more schools. However, his school attendance was not very good. So nearly all his childhood learning took place at home.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some of his inventions he deliberately tried to invent, like the light bulb and the movie projector. But some inventions he stumbled upon, like the phonograph. Of all his inventions, Edison was most proud of the phonograph. Edison invented and improved upon things that transformed our world. Some things he invented by himself. Some things he invented with other people. Just about all his inventions are things we still use in some form today. Throughout his life, Edison tried to invent things that everyone could use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edison created the world's first "invention factory". He and his partners invented, built and shipped the product - all in the same complex. This was a new way to do business. Today many businesses have copied Edison'... ...ing off ideas and doing experiments as fast as they came to mind. Once the invention had been started, he left the details to others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edison was known to be stubborn. When he was a senior citizen, he became protective of his inventions. One historian found an irate letter from Edison to his manufacturing department. Edison had learned that teenagers were turning up the speed of his cylinder phonograph to make the music faster. Edison complained, "I don't want it and won't have it. " To make sure this would not happen again, he ordered his workers to make a control for the record speed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thomas Alva Edison died when he was 84 years old, on Sunday, October 18, 1931. He was still experimenting up until the time he died. Three days later, on October 21, 1931, electric lights were dimmed for one minute throughout the United States. Edison and his wife, Mina, are buried on their home estate grounds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography Smith, John – â€Å"Don’t Follow This† American Publishing Company, Washington D.C., 1969 Dilion, Bob – â€Å"This is wrong† Forever Young Inc. Omaha, NB, 1988 Durst, Fred – â€Å"If you can read this you are too close† Nookie for Life  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Orlando, FL, 1999

Leadership Reflection Essay

1. Background Floods of memories flashed through my mind as I recall the problems I faced when I stepped up to lead the team during the second meeting. Problem 1 The objective of the meeting was to come up with the programme outline, so that we can draft the proposal and show our execution plans to our beneficiary. As the leader, I facilitated the discussion to allow my team mates to partake and contribute ideas, but most of them appeared reserved. Despite my utmost effort to encourage them to express their views, I found myself doing the talking most of the time. When I asked for their opinions on my suggestions, the common answers elicited from them were ‘All right’ or ‘Sounds good’. Upon dividing the programme into different sub-events (such as games station, ice-breakers, teaching of jingle, etc), I allocated a portion to each member, so that each of us can research on our individual activity and provide more in-depth details for the proposal. Besides that, I offered to collate everyone’s work and come up with the framework of the proposal. The stipulated deadline was the subsequent week (the third meeting). During the week, I sent out some emails that constituted some of my humble opinions and suggestions on the different sub-events in the light of cultivating a team environment whereby ideas are expressed and exchanged freely. However, most of my team mates did not reciprocate, notwithstanding my reminder to request them to read the emails. Problem 2 Furthermore, as I was collating everyone’s work, I realized that some of them submitted work that was slipshod in my perspective. Some work exhibited direct copying attempt from the internet without any paraphrasing or analysis, while others lacked structure, thoroughness and forethoughts. For instance, John prepared the ‘logistics’ document, but he merely listed the logistics in scatter of words with the absence of a table or structure and excluded many essential details like quantity and deadlines to purchase them. With all the aforementioned occurrences I faced, I bottled all my feelings and took everything in my stride. After assembling everyone’s work, I edited the proposal myself by injecting my ideas, rephrasing the words and researching on my other team mates’ parts. 2. Self-reflection I found myself thrown into a pool of mixed emotions – disappointment, anger, confusion and discontentment. To describe all these emotions in one word, it would be ‘disheartened’. Disappointment I believed that creativity is an imperative quality that is necessary in the making of an effective team, and to foster creativity, we should be straightforward with our ideas so that we can combine and refine them to create the best outcome. Thus, when I was the leader, I placed a significant proportion of emphasis on establishing a climate of discussions and interactions. I also hold the conviction that if I have any interesting insights or plausible ideas, even if the work is designated to my other team mate, I should still share with the rest instead of keeping them to myself. This is my understanding on the essence of ‘team work’. All the sub-parts tasked to the individual team member will ultimately be organised together and the final product will be submitted as a team effort. Hence, I was very disappointed by the low frequency of team mates voicing out their ideas to support one another. The lack of response painted an impression that everyone was focusing solely on their parts independently instead of considering the overall picture. Anger Secondly, I was furious when some of my team mates submitted work without meeting the basic requirements. In my point of view, it is the responsibility of every member that whenever tasks are allocated to them, they should demonstrate some professionalism in their work by performing extensive research or analysis to achieve its basic objectives. When a member performs the task poorly, it impedes the team’s efficacy, especially if it inconveniences another member to stand in and complete the remaining work. In the midst of experiencing such array of emotions, I kept my cool and tried my best not to show it, because my nature is not prone to expressing feelings. To be frank, I was also afraid of igniting unnecessary conflicts or shaking the team spirit. Hence, I did not raise these issues with my team mates. Confusion and Discontentment Coupled with exhaustion and stress, I became increasingly baffled and displeased with myself. As a leader, I felt that I am not doing enough to understand and solve the problem. If I tolerated everything, pretended that the team was progressing smoothly and not ameliorate the obstacles, how can I call myself a responsible leader? Being responsible does not only entail the fulfillment of obligations. There are two parts to this empowering word. The first half is ‘respons’ which means ‘response’. The second half, ‘ibility’, is a variant of the word â€Å"ability†. Therefore, ‘responsibility’ broken down to its roots literally means respond with ability. It means accepting the situation for what it is and choosing to respond rather than react to it. To me, the members in a team are paralleled to different instruments in a symphony. Each instrument produces a different sound and plays a different melody line. A symphony always sets out to provide a flawless work of art, displaying the harmony achieved by its many intricate melodies from different instruments. For my team to be that ‘symphony’ I envisioned, I told myself that I need to be responsible by responding to the situation. ‘How can I inspire them to join in the bandwagon towards achieving a cohesive and efficient team?’ With this question, I was determined to find the root of the problems and remedy them. 3. Application of leadership concepts Identifying the problems Through the leadership concepts learnt during lesson, I identified that the main problem of my team was called ‘groupthink’. Most of the team members were reluctant to express their opinions to question the viewpoint made by others. Dissenting views were often suppressed or absent in favour of consensus. Understanding the causes was next in line after identifying the problem. I realized that there were 2 main reasons that led to the ‘groupthink’ problem in my team. Causes of the problems Firstly, according to the Big 5 model personality test that we did in class, the trait of ‘agreeableness’ appeared predominantly under the top 2 traits that my team mates possess, including myself. Perhaps we concentrate so much on our relations and that deterred most of us from expressing opposing views, leading to us accommodating to each other’s decisions and conform to unanimity instead of objectivity. This stifles creativity as a team. Secondly, from the Ten characteristics of Effective Teams, I reckoned that my team lacked the ‘vision’. Aligning to a team vision means all members having a clear comprehension of achieving the shared goals through individual commitment and common standards. The existence of ‘groupthink’ could possibly be due to some members’ lack of regard for the importance of the project, giving less attention to the contribution of ideas or smaller priority in achieving quality work. The lack of understanding on the team’s common expectations also gave rise to differences in perspectives on the standards of work values and attitude. The last problem lies in me. From the Leadership Grid of ‘Concern for Production’ against ‘Concern for People’ covered under the Contingency Theories In Leadership, I rated myself as a low structure high consideration country club leader. It explains the suppression of my emotions to maintain an easy-going image and my lack of courage to pin-point the issues I faced as a leader. I needed to work on building my ‘authority- compliance’ aspect and not let my concern for people override my concern for productivity. Solving the problem After recognizing the causes of the problem, I picked up my courage. With sensitivity and tact, I told my team the predicament I faced as the leader, and how we could address the problems by applying the leadership concepts we have learnt. To build an open communication, I infused more humour in discussions and constantly make positive affirmations to other members, allowing meetings to be conducted in a friendlier and less-solemn setting. I also attempted to elaborate on a participant’s contribution with examples and suggest new angles to view problems. These helped to prompt them to speak up more frequently. Next, every team member took turns to articulate the objectives we wished to achieve individually and as a team. After understanding each other’s’ needs and establishing a common vision which everyone could connect with, we took some time to come up with a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in the Team Charter, whereby we determined the criterion on acceptable standards and behaviour. At this time, I took the opportunity to let my team understand my stance regarding individual commitment and quality of work. I was pleased to see all of them acknowledge where I was coming from and promised to strive for better performance. Furthermore, I initiated a fortnight peer evaluation (see appendix 3.1) to recognize the terrific efforts from my team mates, and learn to work on our weaknesses. This will also help the team to keep our efficiency balance in check. After all the efforts into effecting changes in my team, I am delighted to see everyone making consistent progress. The ‘groupthink’ problem is resolved and views are exchanged more openly and regularly. With the strengthening of team’s camaraderie and competency, conflicts are minimized and communication is much more open than before. As for myself, I feel that I became more vocal and candid with my views too. Whenever I foresee or identified any problem, I will discuss the solutions with my team mates instead of avoiding them. In conclusion, there is definitely room for improvement for myself and the team. However, I am gratified that I have discovered more about myself and be part of the experience grown from a group of once-seemed ‘independent individuals’ to a unified team of comrades.