Transformational Leadership free essay sample

Although what type of leadership is the perfect one is still arguable, a great amount of research evidence has indicated that a type of leadership known as transformational leadership is the one that will improve organizational behaviors and therefore enhance the overall performance of an organization. In this paper, we will first discuss what transformational leadership is and elaborate on how transformational leadership is related to organizational citizenship behavior, creativity and turnover. Then, we will show the extent to which transformational leadership is applied within a certain organization in China and offer our suggestions on how to improve transformational leadership in that organization. To begin with, we are about to explain the definition of transformational leadership and present the empirical evidence on the positive correlation of transformational leadership to organizational citizenship behavior and creativity and the negative correlation relation to turnover. Transformational Leadership Transformational leadership is one of the most important leadership patterns, and has been widely researched throughout the years since 1978, when James MacGregor Burns first introduced the concept of transforming leadership in his descriptive research on political leaders. We will write a custom essay sample on Transformational Leadership or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"For Burns, leadership is a process of evolving interrelationships in which leaders are constantly influencing and modifying employees’ behavior until organizational goals and the vision of the leader are met. It is a process in which leader and followers proactively raise each other to higher levels of morality and motivation† (Goho, 2006). Johns and Saks (2011) mention that there are four dimensions in transformational leadership: (1) idealized influence, (2) inspirational motivation, (3) individualized consideration, and (4) intellectual stimulation. Idealized influence can simply refer to as â€Å"Charisma†, the extent to which the leader can develop personal appeal to employees and influence them to work actively. Inspirational motivation is the component characterized by the leader’s ability to depict a clear vision and successfully motivate employees to work towards that vision. Individualized consideration refers to the trait that a leader can work as a mentor or coach who pays individualized attention to employees’ needs and concerns. Intellectual leadership examines the leader’s ability to fully excavate employees’ innovation and creativity. These four dimensions generate an effective pattern of leadership that is widely used in the workplace around the world. According to Warrick (2011), transformational leadership generates payoffs and benefits towards individuals, teams and organizations as a whole. It increases their performance, commitment, innovation, cohesiveness and outcomes, shapes and reinforces a new culture, builds trust among leaders and employees, decreases employee stress and burn out. One main reason that makes transformational leadership significant is that it is closely related to other organizational behaviors like organizational citizenship behavior, creativity and turnover, which are all important to an organization’s wellbeing and development. In the following sections, these relationships, or more precisely, correlations, will be discussed in details. Organizational Citizenship Behavior In terms of organizational citizenship behavior, the most significant theory is put forward by Dennis W. Organ who defines OCB as â€Å"an individual behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization. By discretionary, we mean that the behavior is not an enforceable requirement of the role or the job description, that is, the clearly specifiable terms of the person’s employment contract with the organization; the behavior is rather a matter of personal choice, such that its omission is not generally understood as punishable† (Organ, 1988). We can infer from the definition that a company does not recognize it as a formal standard of behavior despite of its positive effects, so whoever is high on OCB may probably not be equally rewarded as the one who makes other obvious contributions to the company. Moreover, it is just an initiative action, and to which degree an employee lacks OCB will not be necessarily related to the punishments. According to Podaskoff et al. (2000), there is a seven-dimensional taxonomy of organizational citizen behaviors: helping, sportsmanship, organizational loyalty, organizational compliance, individual initiative, civic virtues and self-development. The most important part is the helping behavior, an action that includes being willing to help the co-workers (George and Brief, 1992), interpersonal helping (Graham, 1991), and altruism (Organ, 1988). Organizational citizenship behaviors have many forms. Some of them are directed at individuals and others at organizational performance. Examples on OCB directed at individuals are people’s showing concern and courtesy toward colleagues, and going out of the way to make newer employees feel welcome in the working environment. Similarly, examples on OCB directed at the organizations are people’s identifying themselves as part of the organization, and defending the organization when other employees show dissatisfaction or even hostility towards the organization. Transformational Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior We have discussed earlier that there are four dimensions of transformational leadership: idealized influence (charisma), inspirational motivation, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation (Johns amp; Saks, 2011). From the existing research, we find that transformational leadership yields higher employee OCB. (Organ, 1988). And the transformational leadership can also influence OCB in terms of idealized influence (charisma), individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation (no specific study on inspirational motivation). Idealized influence (attributed charisma and idealized behaviors) may result in higher commitment and job satisfaction, and may also increase a firm’s profitability, sales and revenues (Bass, 1985a,1990b; Podaskoff amp; Mackenzie, 1994; Waldman, Ramirez, House, amp; Puranam, 2001). Intellectual stimulation may enhance employees’ problem-solving skills, ability to deal with changes and to create innovative ideas. From the perspective of organizations, intellectual stimulation will help improve the innovation, production as well as unit performances in the organizations (Bass, 1985a, 1990b; Bass amp; Avolio, 1993; Anthony, 1998; Howell amp; Avolio, 1993; Hsu, 2002; Seltzer amp; Bass, 1990; Tichy amp; Devana, 1986). At last, with individualized consideration, employees will have higher commitments, extra efforts, increased performance and better use of team work. Therefore, based on the empirical studies, the following hypothesis is formulated: Hypothesis 1: Transformational leadership is positively correlated with organizational citizen behavior. Creativity In a highly competitive world, creativity has become increasingly important to the development of an organization. Creativity greatly influences innovation performance that helps an organization gain competitive edge within the industry. Creativity is defined as â€Å"the production of novel and useful ideas concerning products, services, processes, and procedures in organizations† (Amabile, 1988). Besides, creativity is also â€Å"a process in which employees develop novel and useful solution to meet challenges and solve work-related problems in the course of goal-directed behavior† (Amabile, 1998;Yong, 1994). Transformational Leadership and Creativity Research evidence shows that leadership, especially transformational leadership which exerts close relationship with individual creativity, has a great influence on creativity (Scott amp; Bruce, 1994; Tierney et al. , 1999). Moreover, according to Bass’s (1985) transformational leadership theory, transformational leadership is posited to be composed of four dimensions, namely charismatic influence, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, and intellectual stimulation. Based on the empirical research and theories, we assume that all these four dimensions of transformational leadership are positively related to followers’ creativity. Charisma, or idealized influence, refers to the extent to which the leader acts venerably and is emotionally appealing to followers (Bass, 1985). In such a situation, followers are enthusiastic to accomplish beyond expectations and they are more likely to achieve higher work objectives (Amabile et al. , 1996; Amabile et all. , 2004). Thus, a good leader with transformational leadership can inspire followers’ creativity by making the employees feel challenged and encourage them to explore novel approaches in innovative advocating environment. Individualized consideration refers to the extent to which the leader is sensitive to each subordinate’s needs and concerns (Judge amp; Piccolo, 2004). Given that the transformational eaders satisfy subordinates’ developmental needs, subordinates in turn are more likely to devote more time and hardworking to requite their leaders’ expectation. The followers are thus stimulated to achieve high level of creativity. Inspirational motivation describes the degree to which the leader enunciates a vision that fascinates and inspires followers. By applying symbols and e motional encouraging behavior, transformational leaders appeal to discover their followers’ potential and encourage them to achieve what is beyond their self-interests for the good of the organization (Bass amp; Avolio, 1995). As a result, increased number of novel ideas will be generated under a free expression environment, which eventually may contribute to the organization’s gaining of competitive edge. According to Hater and Bass (1988), transformational leaders also exert intellectual stimulation to arouse followers to think in creative ways and analyze issues using problem solving skills before they take the action. In addition, followers are strongly supported to challenge the status quo, to question old assumptions, and to satisfy their curiosity with unlimited imagination (Bass, 1985). Consequently, followers may tend to figure out unconventional approaches and thoughts to address problems, which is beneficial to sustainable development of the organization. Therefore, based on the empirical studies, the following hypothesis is formulated: Hypothesis 2: Transformational leadership is positively related to employee creativity. Turnover Turnover is always an important issue for organizations to deal with because of its incredibly high cost. A fast food restaurant may have to spend hundreds of dollars on hiring and training a new counter attendant. For a large corporation looking for a new CEO, that cost can rise up to millions of dollars because the number of qualified candidates is usually very limited in the job market. In fact, the actual cost of turnover is usually well beyond what can be measured by money. An employee who resigns may also take away the special experience and skills developed over time on that job and sometimes may even transfer the confidential business know-how to another company. Therefore, the importance of retaining staff cannot be ignored. High staff turnover is one of the organizational problems that managers need to put an end to before it gets out of control because it has a negative impact on the bottom line of service organizations (Amarjit, Neil and et al. , 2011). In the past decades, the relationships have been found between job attitudes and turnover. Research indicates that the less satisfied the employees are with the job and less committed they are to the organization, the more likely they are to quit. But research also discovers some exceptions when situational factors intervene to influence an employee’s decision (Johns amp; Saks, 2011). For example, an unsatisfied employee may have to stay if the job alternatives are quite limited. Or in another situation, a satisfied employee may have to leave if emergencies like the death of a family member or the birth of a child happen. In general, turnover intentions can be reduced and ultimate turnover can be prevented if approaches are taken to improve the employees’ satisfaction and commitment to the organization. Transformational Leadership and Turnover The number of studies on the relationship between turnover and transformational leadership is relatively small. Research evidence has found a significant negative relationship between transformational leadership and employee intention to quit and indicated that higher transformational leadership lowers the employee turnover intention (as cited in Gill, Mathur, Suraj amp; Bhutani, 2011). Though the direct evidence that supports the negative relationship between turnover and transformational leadership seems not very strong, some studies show that transformational leadership are positively correlated with job satisfaction and commitment (Medley amp; Larochelle, 1995; Charles amp; Katherine, 2007; ). As we have discussed that job satisfaction will help reduce turnover and transformational leadership will help improve job satisfaction and commitment, we can probably assume a negative relationship between transformational leadership and turnover by using the job satisfaction and commitment to organization as a medium. Therefore, based on the empirical studies, the following hypothesis is formulated: Hypothesis 3: Transformational leadership is negatively correlated with turnover. Method In the preceding section, we have presented the theoretical framework of transformational leadership. From this section on, we begin to discuss the application of transformational leadership in the real business environment. The organization we investigated is Shaanxi Weihe Electrical Power Co. Ltd. , located in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province in China. It is a major electrical power supplier in that area with more than 2000 employees. We surveyed 17 people, including 7 males and 10 females. These participants are from the Human Resources Department and Accounting Department of that company, with an average tenure of 15 years. We designed a questionnaire and translated it into Chinese. Then we sent the translated version of the questionnaires by email to our contact person in the company, the Director of the Human Resource Department and received questionnaires by email from our contact person when all participants finished their questionnaires. Our questionnaire consists of 12 questions, with each 3 questions investigating one perspective of transformational leadership. Specifically, Question 1-3 investigates intellectual stimulation. Question 4-6 investigates individualized consideration. Question 7-9 investigates inspirational motivation. And Question 10-12 investigates idealized influence. For each question, we asked the participant to use number 1-5 to indicate the extent to which they agree that their immediate supervisor exhibit a certain behavior. Both the original English questionnaire and the translated Chinese one are in the appendices of this paper. Results Table 1: The results of our survey indicate that in general the employees in the Human Resources Department and Accounting Department neither disagree nor agree that their immediate supervisors, namely the Director of Human Resources and the Director of Accounting exhibit transformational leadership in their daily work. In this section, we will discuss the results respectively from the perspectives of intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation and idealized influence. Question 1-3 investigates the extent to which supervisors intellectually stimulate employees. The average result of Question 1-3 is 3. 39, which indicates that supervisors sometimes encourage employees to innovate but sometimes do not. Actually, the mode of results of Questions 1 and 2 is 2, reflecting the fact that most mployees do not agree that their supervisors encourage them to solve problems from different ways or solicit their ideas when solving problems. Question 4-6 investigates the extent to which supervisors consider the individualized needs and concerns of employees. The average result of Question 4-6 is 4. 08, the highest among all four perspectives and the mode of the results of each question is 4, which altogether indicate most of employees agree that their supervisors can treat them as an individual rather than an ordinary member of the department. Therefore, the supervisors perform well in showing individualized consideration to their employees. Question 7-9 investigates the extent to which supervisors motivate employees to complete a certain task by explaining the importance of the task and communicating optimism to employees. The average result of Question 7-9 is 3. 33 and the mode of the results of each question is 3. We can reasonably interpret the data as a moderate performance of supervisors in terms of inspirational motivation. Question 10-12 investigates the extent to which supervisors display idealized influence, which is also known as charisma. The average result of Question 10-12 is only 2. 86, the lowest among all four perspectives. The mode of results of Question 12 is 2, which reflects a fact that most employees think their supervisors fail to win their respect. To summarize, supervisors in the two departments are successful in showing individualized consideration but are unsuccessful in showing idealized influence. In terms of the other two perspectives of transformational leadership, supervisors in the two departments deliver a moderate performance. Discussion As discussed in the preceding section, transformational leadership is important for the development of an organization because it is positively correlated with organizational citizenship behavior and creativity and negatively correlated with turnover. However, the investigation on the application of transformational leadership in Shaanxi Weihe Electrical Power Co. Ltd. shows a moderate level of transformational leadership in daily work. Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to provide our recommendations will help improve the transformational leadership in the company. Since we have discussed the result from four perspectives of transformational leadership, our recommendation are presented in the similar pattern. Intellectual Stimulation The results of Question 1-3 reflect a moderate transformational leadership in terms of intellectual stimulation. According to empirical studies, the following approaches can be adopted to improve intellectual stimulation. â€Å"Intellectual stimulation is defined as having a leader who encourages innovation and creativity, as well as critical thinking and problem-solving. Intellectual stimulation involves arousing followers thoughts and imagination, as well as stimulating their ability to identify and solve problems creatively† (Bass, 1985). Leaders play a crucial role in stimulating intelligence among subordinates. Those who possess transformational leadership will help arouse employees’ new ideas, stimulate them to view the world from new perspectives and boost creativity. According to HEXACO personality model (Ashton et. al, 2004), a good leader should have the personalities of honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. A leader high on openness is more likely to inspire the adaptive performance of employees and enable them to deal with uncertain work situations more effectively and solve problems more creatively. To improve the performance of employees, leaders also need to be educated and trained to be transformational. Only with better knowledge and skills on transformational leadership, can leaders be able to exert positive influence among their followers. Individualized Consideration According to the survey, the leaders perform well in terms of individualized consideration because the average results of Question 4-6 is 4. 8, the highest average among all four dimensions. However, there is still room for leaders to further develop this aspect of transformational leadership by conducting â€Å"career counseling with the followers, careful observation of followers and recording their progress and encouraging followers to attend technical courses† (Alannah amp; Mark, 2006). Through career co unseling, leaders will learn what their followers are interest in or what they are concerned about, and thus take appropriate actions that may motivate followers to achieve their individual goals. Besides, by carefully observing followers and recording their progress, leaders can develop familiarity with their followers, get a feedback of their leadership performance and learn what kind of leadership behaviors tend to be the most effective one. Sometimes, transformational leaders also encourage followers to attend job relevant courses, sending a message to the followers that they are expected to deliver better job performance. In this way, followers will not only enhance their professional skills but raise their self-efficacy as well. Through conducting these activities, individualized attention allows leaders to become familiar with followers, enhances communication and improves information exchange† (Alannah amp; Mark, 2006). In addition, followers are likely to perceive that they supported by their leaders, and they are therefore more likely to convey their thoughts to the leaders when they are stressed or concerned. Inspirational Motivation The average result of Ques tion 7-9 is 3. 3, which indicates the leaders in the company need to improve their inspirational motivation during the daily work. Therefore, three recommendations are discussed as follows. First, an inspirational leader should give employees the task that is within their capabilities. According to Vroom’s Expectancy Theory (1964), one’s belief that he or she has the ability to do the task successfully is called self-efficacy. Research evidence has showed a positive correlation between self-efficacy and task performance. The higher the self-efficacy a employee has, the better the task performance he or she will deliver. Second, an inspirational leader should also understand what their employees need. Although research shows that financial incentives seem to work better than other incentives. Leaders cannot always provide a salary increase as a motivator. According to JCM (Hackman amp; Oldham, 1974), a good job that an inspirational leader can create should contain five core job characteristics known as variety, identity, significance, autonomy and feedback that affect employees’ motivation particularly. As a consequence of the implement JCM, the employees will have high internal motivation, high job performance, high satisfaction and low absenteeism and low turnover. Third, the inspirational leader should communicate the vision and mission of the company to employee in an enthusiastic way. Leaders could talk to employees about their ideas, plans or goals. Employees may think that if they have no chance to construct or change the organization they are working in, they may not devote themselves to the organization. Therefore, leaders should describe a vision that inspires followers and even make them to sacrifice the self-interests for the good of the company (Burns, 1978; Bass, 1985). Idealized Influence The survey shows that idealized influence, also known as charisma, ranks the lowest among the four dimensions of transformational leadership with an average of 2. 86. The lack of confidence and respect from employees has become a main weak point of the leaders. â€Å"The emergence of charisma is a complex function of traits, behaviors, and the being in the right place at the right time† (House, 1977). And â€Å"the prominent traits include self-confidence, dominance, and a strong conviction in one’s beliefs† (John amp; Saks, 2011). Therefore, the following suggestions are provided for the leaders to enhance their idealized influence. To begin with, leaders should continue to elevate their comprehensive abilities and qualities. As long as they truly master the knowledge and management skills related to the job, they can accomplish tasks easily. In this way, it is less likely that leaders fear and avoid the difficulties so followers will trust their supervisors and work with them with more confident. In addition, it is advisable for the company to train the supervisors periodically to make them realize the significance of collectivism. Those leaders who are instructed to be loyal to the organization would direct their subordinates in a positive and effective way, which, gradually distinguish themselves from ordinary leaders. At last, leaders cannot win the respect from their subordinates if they frequently show their superiority as a supervisor. Leaders should treat every staff fairly and equally. This with no doubt will increase employees’ job satisfaction and positive attitudes towards their leaders. Setting good examples for workers is also essential. In most cases, leaders lose their respect from employees for the reason of being rude to the subordinates. Therefore, it would be better if directors of these two departments stand on employees’ sides and take their feelings into consideration. Limitations Although the results of the research reach our expectations, limitations of the research method cannot be neglected. Constrained by the limited time and human resource allocated to this project, we fail to further expand the recipient base of the survey. We believe that if more people had been investigated, the result of the survey would have been a better reflection of the real situation. Besides, the recipients of questionnaires are from only two department of the company. We fail to include more employees from other departments, especially the employees from the frontline workshop who make up the majority of the employee population in the company. At last, we use mathematical average to analyze the data collected from the questionnaire. We believe that there should be statistically better method for analyzing the data because we have realized that the highest and lowest score will offset each other when we calculate the mathematical average. References Alannah, E. R. , amp; Mark, A. G. (2006). Refining individualized consideration: Distinguishing developmental leadership and supportive leadership. Transformational leadership free essay sample Biography Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary , or better known as Syed Mokhtar was born in1951 at Jalan Day, Alor Setar. Syed Mokhtar was raised from a poor family consisted of 5 members. His father was an immigrant from Afghania. Syed Mokhtar inherits his business skill from his father who buys and sells cow. Syed Mokhtar was not very good in academic, but he is excellent in figures and account. Syed Mokhtar manages to start his very own business in 1966 when he follows his father to Kuala Lumpur to buy and sell cows. The first company that Syed Mokhtar builds is Syarikat Kenderaan Sentosa (SKS) which registered in 1972. Syed Mokhtar involve in rice business in 1990. Now Syed Mokhtar has built his own business empire through his effort and world class leadership practice. Yayasan AL Bukhary is one of his prove that he has not forgotten where he come s from, a poor family in Kedah. We will write a custom essay sample on Transformational leadership or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He has a net value of US$2 billion and considered as 8th Malaysia’s richest man according to Forbes. Syed Mokhtar keeps building his business empire and mange to take over some of the prestigious company such as MMC, DRB-HICOM, PERNAS and Pelabuhan Johor. Syed Mokhtar also involve in a global business venture in other country such as China, Iran, Libya and others. He create new friend and at the same time not forgotten an old friend. People around him always feel comfortable with his kindness and humble. Syed Mokhtar was an excellent example of how a businessman leader should be. Never forget to help others when we have been successful. Transformational Leader When Syed Mokhtar started his business, he already places a big dream. He makes a clear vision in each of every new thing he invested. He is able to see opportunities whereas the others failed. When he started his logistic  business, SKS, he knows that this business already monopoly by the Chinese. Typical Malays would like not to involve in this business as it is difficult to penetrate Chinese blockage. Syed Mokhtar doesn’t see this as a barrier but use this stepping stone for him to succeed. He chooses to make these Chinese as his friend rather than being their competitors. As Kedah was known as rice producer, most of his earlier cargo is rice. The rice distributors were dominated by the Chinese, so Syed Mokhtar manages to approach reliable Chines to work with him at the earlier stage. He offer higher pay for the Chinese, and also promise an extra profit sharing if the company make profit. Syed Mokhtar very determines to break the Chinese wall. He put a clear vision, to penetrate Chinese monopoly. He uses a Chinese to do that. He involve on the business himself. It is said, that Syed Mokhtar always comes home late to wait his lorry come and go without any problems. Within 3 months, his company already makes profit and keeps expanding. Syed Mokhtar than move to rice industries, which is more difficult market to penetrated yet he manage to use the same approach as his earlier involvement in logistic business. He makes partnership with Chines to started Shah Enterprise Sdn Bhd. He needs his Chinese fellow market influence and the Chinese need his advantages as a Bumiputra. Syed Mokhtar stated his clear vision to his shareholders that he just not want to be a Bumiputra representor in order to get contract from the Government, but he want to control the company. He contributed 42% of his company equity and later on become majority shareholder. Slowly, Syed Mokhtar manages to build his empire, venturing in new business activity. In a way to become a success business man, he also faced difficulty. When he ventures in property developers, it is a purely new thing to him. As the economic downturn in 1985, Syed Mokhtar failed to maintain in property development industry. A lesson he learned, never involve in anything that you are not ready with. Behaviors, Traits and Skills Behaviors refer to a response of an individual or group to an action, environment, person or stimulus. Traits refer to a distinguishing feature, as of a person’s character. Skills refer as the effectiveness of a leader. As Syed Mokhtar becomes a corporate man, he shows a world class  characteristic of a World class leadership. Syed Mokhtar has his own clear vision on how he would be in the future. As a proof, when government introduces New Economic Policy, Syed Mokhtar takes a full advantage of government effort to help the Bumiputra businessman. Syed Mokhtar penetrates a Chinese monopoly market. He has a clear vision to do business that can confirm profit. For others, it is a suicide action when trying to compete with the Chinese businessman as they already create a great wall within them. If Syed Mokhtar doesn’t ambitious enough, he would not dare to compete with the Chinese. After setting up his vision, he manages to plan on how to make sure he will succeed. Yes, h e choose to friend with the Chinese instead of confront them. He uses Chinese to break the Chinese barrier. A very good business strategy perhaps. When we talk about personal integrity, no doubt about Syed Mokhtar’s personal integrity. At his earlier stage in logistic activities, he have an opportunities to do easy profit by letting go two out of transporting permits to the Chinese. A lot of Bumiputra sell their transportation permits to the Chinese businessman to get easy money. If Syed Mokhtar doesn’t have personal integrity, he might do so. Another ways to show Syed Mokhtar integrity is on how he is still keeping his share which he bought by using the Bumiputra quota regulated by the Government under New Economic Policy. He may sell the market share if he wants to earn easy money yet he did not do that. He believes that the market share where he bought using Bumiputra quota is his responsibility to keep. Syed Mokhtar always have close relationship with his employee. It always think how to meka sure that his company can survive so that no body have to quick. This show how high the EQ he have. When the economic down turn, he manage to keep the staff and without fail to pay the salary on time. He feel that, it is the duty of him to make sure the company survive so that a lot of people can continue their living. He always keeps his current friend in contac t and at the same time makes new friends. It is believe that he made more than 100 calls a day just to make ask his friend condition. Yayasan Al Bukhary is one of the examples to show how his believe to help the society. He contributes his company profit to Yayasan Al Bukhary so that poor people can get a chance to higher education. Even though he is not good in academic, he is still believe that knowledge is very important. His best quoted, â€Å"â€Å"I think it has to do with realization of where you come from, and where you are  going.† He always remembered how he came from a poor family and then become a successful business tycoon. When we talk about how he plan in doing business, he adopt the 4 main skills which world class leader hold. When he wants to do business, he always plans from the beginning. When he want to venture in cocoa supplier with China, he plan on how he should attend the Cantoon Trade Fair and then how to make sure he manage to get the supplier of the cocoa. He plans to buy a land so that he can plant cocoa. He plans how to make sure that he won’t have any shortage of cocoa . When he get government contract for supplying goods, he manage to get supplier from international market. In order to make sure he can manage to secure the supplier, he choose to venture in production business to make sure he can secure price and maintain the supplier. This is how he thinks and plan when doing business. When Syed Mokhtar wants to take over MMC, he asks his accountant to do the calculation. He empowers his staff to do the calculation for him. Even though the final decision was made by him, but he managed to organize the workload within his workers. As soon as he completes the transaction of buying MMC, the first thing he do is organize his profitable source to support the MMC. As a result, he manages to recover MMC in profitable position. This is how he organizes as to make sure he can fulfill his vision. Syed Mokhtar also shows a good leading skill to his employee. One of his trait is he will do thing seriously. Dr. Mahathir, former prime minister also quoted that Syed Mokhtar is an example of a strong Bumiputra and will work hard to achieve what he want. Syed Mokhtar always wants to know what happened in the business he ventures. When his early involvement in property development, every day he will go to the site to ensure that the development progress is on schedule. As a result, he manages to complete his very first residential project, Taman Mawar at Kedah. Syed Mokhtar will conduct a meeting with his anchor man in the late evening till morning. This is how he gets to know what is going on in his company. The meeting conducts in a casual way and not in formal manner. This will create a close relationship between him and his employee. These are some example on how Syed Mokhtar do a controlling on his business empire. Effective Leader World class leader surely show an effective leadership style which can be measure by his company sales, net profits, profit margin, market share etc. Syed Mokhtar shows how effective he becomes a leader based on his behaviors, traits and skills explained above. He manage to turn around a problematic company into a profitable company such as MMC, PERNAS and DRB-HICOM. If Syed Mokhtar not effective, he might have failed to overcome the situation face by the said companies. Another measurement for an effective leadership is the follower’s attitudes. Syed Mokhtar shows a good example to his staff on how to do work in a proper manner. That is why, when the accountant being asked to come up with a proposal on whether to invest in problematic company, the staff gives a fair report. If the staff doesn’t follow Syed Mokhtar attitude as being honest, definitely, the accountant will only show good report to earn an easy commission. However, Syed Mokhtar has shown a good example to his employee as to be high integrity in doing their work. Syed Mokhtar always feels that he is responsible for the survival of his company as there a re too many people depending on it. These is why, the staff have a very close relationship with Syed Mokhtar, even the ex-staff who already retire still contacting Syed Mokhtar as friend. Syed Mokhtar have proven his ability to manage a company, and as a result, Government always granted a big project to him. If the Government doesn’t feel confident with Syed Mokhtar effectiveness, he might not able to take over MMC, DRB-HICOM and Tanjung Pelepas Port. These are also an example of how Syed Mokhtar proves his effectiveness. Syed Mokhtar is a good example on how NEP can help Bumiputra become major role in Malaysia economic. It is just a matter of whether we are brave enough to get involve. To be a good leader, we must maintain four elements of skill which is plan, organize, lead and control. Good leader always practice good traits and behavior. Lead change in the organization Syed Mokhtar also practices changes in his leadership as it is crucial to survive in business environment if he did not change. When Syed Mokhtar starts to invest in Middle East, Syed Mokhtar already makes a change in the way he conduct his business. He has to think global and not just concentrate on local. These are some prove to show that Syed Mokhtar also practice  changes in his leadership. In order to become major player in the global market, Syed Mokhtar has to change to adopt with the global market and global requirement. He always respects other people values even though they come from different raise or religion. By practicing change on his attitude, Syed Mokhtar always able to adopt with the difference with others. When Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed position as Mlaysia’s number one leader, Syed Mokhtar also have to make change in order to maintain his role as business player. He observes the policy maker and adopt with the situation. Syed Mokhtar always aware with the government policy and take advantage from the policy introduces. He always manage to seek opportunity to expand his business. These need change in his leadership style or he may not succeed. Derailment Every leader has the strength and weakness. Nobody is perfect. However, derailment can be cover up by leader action on the issues. Syed Mokhtar also has a derailment. One of the examples is, he did not value precisely his ability to involve in property development before h enters the industry. As a result he did not survive when world was hit with economy down turn. He learned a good lesson from it. Syed Mokhtar should good consider a lot of factors before joining property development industry and yes he did that when he reenter the industry. This time he is well prepared. Another thing that shows his derailment is when he wants to purchase MMC with a premium price. His valuator has advise him not to proceed with the purchase MMC with the higher price as they already calculated the impact on his business empire. However, Syed Mokhtar did not listen to them and proceed with the purchase. Even though Syed Mokhtar knows that buying MMC only will reduce the revenue of his business empire, but Syed Mokhtar still feel his duty to help the government. MMC is like a Malaysian pride. Syed Mokhtar should listen to his expert as he already empowers them to make a study. But in this case, Syed Mokhtar uses his intuition. Syed Mokhtar also misuses his power on the company he holds. This can be one of his derailments. Minority shareholders of his company lodge a complaint in the general meeting asking explanation when Syed Mokhtar takes 20 million of his company profit and contributed to his own foundation, Yayasan Al Bukhary. The minority feel  that Syed Mohtar should have not do that as it is the company hard earn money. However, Syed Mokhtar always feels that some of his income is other peoples share and he share with the poor and needed people through his Yayasan Al Bukhari. Even though, there are minority shareholders, Syed Mokhtar should get their concerned when make decision on company money. Syed Mokhtar should use a persuasive approach to get the minority approval on the issue. A clear information should be given to the minority shareholders on how Yayasan Al Bukhari run and how the fund being distributed. Conclusion Imagine how a poor village boy can become a business tycoon and consider 8th Malaysia’s richest person. He builds his empire from the very bottom and throughout his hard effort. If Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar doesn’t have a world class leadership in his, it is difficult for him to become as at now. He may not get a perfect formal education, but he learns through experience. Syed Mokhtar always willing to learn a new think and he evolve accordingly. He builds his own success and at the same not forgets where he comes from. He holds a positive value in himself and that make him as a respectful leader. Syed Mokhtar has a strong heart and determination. He proves that he also can compete with superior competitor. The most important thing he did not forget from where he begins his empire. He always holds in Islamic value in doing his business. Syed Mokhar always believes that everyone can achieve something if given fair chances. That is why establish Yayasan Al Bukhary, to help the poor and needed people. References

buy custom Alzheimer essay

buy custom Alzheimer essay Introduction Alzheimers disease is usually associated with old age. Dr. Alois Alzheimer from Germany found out about the disease after the death of his patient of an unknown mental illness while undergoing treatment. He later examined her brain and made a discovery that there were some abnormalities in the functioning of the brain cells. While performing a brain autopsy to the patient, he observed twisted bands of fiber inside the nerve cell and noted deposits surrounding them. The name Alzheimer came from the doctors name since the two observations he made are the main characteristics of this disease. To make a conclusion on the presence of the disease, one also considers the loss of connections between the nerve cells. This disease is the most common form of dementia among elderly people. Dementia is a condition where there is a decline in one's mental functioning, loss of memory,and reduction in the thinking capacity and reasoning. People with dementia find it difficult to engage in activities that they have previously engaged in with ease. There are two forms of dementia: Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. When arteries in the brain harden, it results in blockage of blood flow, commonly known as vascular dementia. Both Alzheimer's and vascular dementia have irreversible symptoms; however, for Alzheimer's disease the symptoms progressively worsen. Occurrence of Alzheimer Occurrence of this disease cannot be linked to a particular factor because its causes differ from patient to patient. It has not yet been discovered what actually causes Alzheimer's, but since it mainly occurs among older adults, scientists have found out that changes occurring in the brain could be the principal cause. Shrinking of certain parts of the brain, production of free radicals, break down in energy production, and inflammation are the changes associated with Alzheimer's disease. These changes occur as a result of complex biological processes that take place inside the brain over many years. These changes harm the neurons in the brain resulting to Alzheimer's disease. The human brain has millions of cells known as neurons that generate and transmit electric signals. The signals transmitted allow us to think, feel and remember. For a person with Alzheimer's disease these neurons get destroyed hence signals are not well transmitted; this results in a decline in brain functioning. The thinking capacity of such individual lowers and its ability to recall existing memories declines. With time, more neurons get destroyed, and brain functioning totally get damaged, At this point, when neurons get damaged, the individual is unable to do anything. They lose their ability to think, understand, recall, communicate, and unable to accomplish a task, no matter how unpretentious it may be. Scientists have not yet found why these neurons die. These neurons die predominantly in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, causing them to shrink. Abnormal structural changes in the brain, tangles and plagues also lead to death of the neurons; thus, neurotransmitters between neurons reduce. Reduction in acetylcholine, one of the neurotransmitters results in loss of memory and inability to learn. There are various factors that contribute to the development of the disease. These factors revolve around the genetic make up of an individual, his/her life style, and environmental factors. This disease differs from one person to another since peoples lifestyle and genetic make up are different. These risk factors include age, genetics, cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes, inflammation, oxidative damage, obesity, hypertension, female gender, head injury, and low immune system. People at the age of sixty and above have higher chances of getting the disease than younger people. It is more prevalent to people aged between sixty and seventy five. Half of people aged eighty five and above have Alzheimer's disease. More women than men have Alzheimer's because women generally live longer than men (Rolfes, Pinna, Whitney, 2009). Genetics play a large role in determining one's risk of having the disease. If it has previously affected somebody in your family, you are more likely to get the disease, than those without such a family history. The risk is elevated in case if people who have the disease are your immediate relatives like your siblings and your parents. When more than one of these people have it, the risk increases. Apolipoprotein E (APOe), a gene associated with Alzheimer's disease, which we all inherit from our parents in three different forms APOE2, APOE3 and APOE4. Inheritance of ApoE2 fully protects against Alzheimer's disease, whereas ApoE3 plays a neutral role, and ApoE4 increases the risk of Alzheimer's. APOE4 is found in more people than APOE2; therefore, more people are at a risk of suffering from the disease. If one inherits APOE4 from one of his/her parents, he/sheis at a high risk of contracting the disease; the risk is higher if one gets the gene from both parents. APOE4 also makes Alzheimer's symptoms to appear at an early age. There are other genes known as deterministic genes; when one happens to inherit them, it guarantees him/her that he/she are going to suffer from the disease. Some of these genes associated with Alzheimers disease include amyloid precursor protein (APP) presenilin-1 (PS-1), and presenilin-2 (PS-2). When these deterministic variations cause Alzheimers disease, one suffers from autosomal dominant Alzheimers disease. This one occurs before the age of sixty; symptoms show up at thirty or forty years. If these genes are present in a family, multiple family members get affected. There are remarkably few cases of autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease, also known as familial Alzheimer's disease. Risk Factors Discovery of genes that cause Alzheimers occurred at different times. Amyloid precursor protein, which was discovered in 1987, causes an inherited form of Alzheimer. It was the first gene with mutations to cause this. Presenilin-1 (PS-1), discovered in 1922, is the second gene with mutations found to cause early-onset of Alzheimer's. Its variations are the most common cause of early onset of Alzheimer's. Presenilin-2 (PS-2), discovered in1993, is the third gene with mutations found to cause early-onset Alzheimer's disease (Rolfes, Pinna, Whitney, 2009). APOE4, identified in 1993, is the first gene with variations that found to increase the risk. Having this muttion does not guarantee one that he/she will suffer from the disease. However, this gene has the greatest known impact. Cardiovascular diseases also increase the chance of getting Alzheimer's disease. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, heart disease, and stroke. High blood pressure may result in the damaging of the blood vessels, which leads to a disruption of regions necessary for decision-making, memory, and verbal skills, which could make the disease worsen. On the other hand, high cholesterol levels inhibit the ability of blood to clear protein from the brain. Head trauma also increases chances of Alzheimer's. Previous head injuries that could have led to unconsciousness expose the individual to future risks of contracting Alzheimers disease. When insulin does not work properly to convert blood sugar into energy, one suffers from type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes results in production of higher levels of blood sugar and insulin, which end up harming the brain and possibility of leading to progression of Alzheimer's. Mild cognitive impairment also increases the chances of getting Alzheimer's. People with this condition have memory problems or other symptoms of cognitive decline, but less severe than those of dementia. The Alzheimer's diseases may increase their risks due to those disorders. Inflammation occurs when immune cells get rid of dead cells and other waste products. Inflammation increases the risk of contracting Alzheimer's. Oxidative damage occurs when free radicals try to seek stability by attacking other molecules. This harms cells and tissues and may also lead to the neuronal brain cell damage caused by Alzheimer's (Zeisel, 2011). Other factors that expose people to contracting the disease depend on one's lifestyle. A person who smokes has a higher chance of suffering from a cardiovascular disease than one who doesn't smoke. This, in turn, increases their chance of getting Alzheimer's disease. Exposure to environmental toxins such as aluminum, may make a person more susceptible to Alzheimer's. Unhealthy eating habits, which may lead to an increase in cholesterol, expose the individual to a higher risk of contracting the disease. Poorly controlled diabetes also increases chances of suffering from Alzheimer's. Poor level of education can also be associated with the increased chances of developing Alzheimer's disease. Signs and Symptoms Alzheimer's disease has various signs and symptoms. The early symptoms include increasing forgetfulness and mild confusion. Memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease is more severe than the memory loss that we experience in our daily lives. People with Alzheimer's keep repeating things, forget pivotal events and conversations without remember them later, forget names of family members and everyday objects, and often misplace possessions and try to retrieve them in illogical positions (Zeisel, 2011). These people are unable to tell what day it is, the time of the year, their place of living, or even what they are going through. They also have difficulty in understanding their surrounding, as Alzheimer's disrupts their brain's ability to interpret what they see. Alzheimer's also decreases one's reasoning and thinking ability, especially about concepts like numbers. This makes it difficult for the affected to manage their finances, balance their check books, and make payments on time. With time, these difficulties may progress to inability to recognize and deal with numbers. It also becomes increasingly challenging for them to do their daily chores such as cooking and driving. Those with Alzheimer's have difficulty in finding words to identify objects, with their ability to read and write decreases. Behavioral Changes Associated With Alzheimer People with Alzheimer's disease experience changes in their behavior and personality. They may experience social withdrawal, depression, anxiety, distrust in others, irritability and aggressiveness, increased stubbornness, mood swings, wandering, and changes in sleeping habits. As Alzheimer's disease progresses, the symptoms worsen. Affected people tend to become more upset, agitated and rest less, and their ability to perform basic life functions such as breathing and swallowing become utterly impaired. There are three stages of Alzheimers; these include the early stage, moderate stage, and the severe stage. The early stage is characterized by frequent memory loss, mainly on recent conversations and events. They also ask repeated questions; problems in expressing and understanding language.They experience mild coordination problems; writing and using objects becomes difficult. Depression can occur, accompanied by mood swings. They need to be reminded about their daily activities, and may have difficulty driving. The middle or moderate stage is characterized by frequent memory loss, forgetfulness about ones history, and difficulty in recognizing friends and family. They also have difficulty in speech, unusual reasoning, and confusion about current events such as time and place.They begin to get lost in places that they have been to before, have sleepless nights, and changes in mood and behavior, which can be increased by stress and change. Slowness, rigidity, and tremors dictate movement and coordination. Just like in the first stage, they also need to be reminded what they cannot recall, and be assisted in the daily activities. The severe or late stage is characterized by increased confusion about the past and present. Increased loss of ability to remember, communicate, or process information, severe or total loss of verbal skills, and inability to take care of themselves. They often fall down, and it becomes challenging for them to move from one area to another.They have problems with swallowing, illness, and extreme problems with mood, behavior, and hallucinations. In this stage, the person will need continuous intensive support and care. Alzheimers is a disease of the brain, before one experiences symptoms of Alzheimer's, the brain already has some of its structures doted with plagues and tangles that characterize the illness. Comparison between a brain of a healthy person and that of a person with Alzheimer's disease revealed that the hippocampus' volume lowers by about 4 percent in two years for a healthy person, but the volume of the hippocampus of people witth Alzheimer's decreases by 10 percent within the same period. Brain shape changes in healthy people tend to be within a small part of the structure. In people with Alzheimers disease, shape changes incorporate larger parts of the hippocampus, including the area where plaques and tangles appear. Both brains that of a healthy person and that of somebody suffering from Alzheimer's experience changes, but the changes in people with Alzheimer's disease were more pronounced. In Alzheimers disease, brain structures have their normal shape at the beginning; changes begin to occur as the disease progresses (Whitney Rolfes, 2011). Early damages to some parts of the brain have occurred by the time changes in hippocampal shape occur. Those changes in shape happen at the same time when patients start showing symptoms of Alzheimers disease. This provides strong evidence that the shape changes in the hippocampus cause at least some of the symptoms of Alzheimers disease. Alzheimer's disease also causes changes in volume of the brain. However, it is difficult to tell since brain sizes are dependent on the size of a person. Hippocampus tends to be smaller in people with Alzheimer's than in ordinary people. The cerebral cortex of a person with Alzheimer's disease shrinks; hence, it becomes different from that of a healthy person. Cerebral cortex, outer surface of the brain controls all the intellectual functioning of the brain. Other changes that occur in the brain include a decrease in the amount unwanted substance in the brain folds, and grossly enlarged spaces known as the sulci. There is also presence of amyloid plagues outside the neurons and neurofibrillary plaques inside the neurons, where the neurons are the nerve cells within the brain. People without Alzheimer's also have plagues and tangles, but the increased amount of plagues and tangles signifies the presence of Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid plague, made up of B-amyloid protein, which is part of the much larger protein, amyloid precursor protein, which are amino acids. Amyloid precursor protein made in the cell has two key pathways involved in their break down. One pathway causes no problem since its normal. The second has resulted in changes seen in Alzheimer's and other dementias. In the second pathway, enzyme, Y-secretase and B-secretase, splits the amyloid precursor protein. The fragments that result from the divide join together and make a short chain - an oligomer. Oligomers, also known as amyloid-beta derived diffusible ligands (Whitney Rolfes, 2011). Presence of amyloid beta 42 in the brain causes communication problems between neurons. This oligomer produces small fibers, which when stack together form the amyloid plaque. When some of these plaques get into the membrane of the neurone cell, they cause substances outside the cell to leak into it hence further damage. This damage causes death of neurons due to the buildup of Amyloid beta 42 peptide, leading to neurone death. Neurofibrially tangles lead to the death of the brain cells. Behavioral changes associated with Alzheimer's disease include how a person thinks and feels. These result in the person being extremely irritable; hence, taking care of a such person will need a lot of patience and understanding. These changes come about because Alzheimer's disease affects the brain. The individuals behavior alters some of the brain's functions. Behavior problems such as aggression, wandering, suspicion, agitation, confusion, hallucinations, and repetition come because of brain damage. Treatment Treatment of Alzheimer's disease involves encouraging people to adapt a healthy lifestyle; hence, reducing the chances of increased cholesterol levels and acquiring some of the lifestyle associated with the illness. Drugs are administered to those who already have the disease. Drugs used to treat Alzheimer's disease include galantamine, rivastigimine, and donezepil. These drugs improve memory. They also improve alertness and motivation. Moreover, it makes some people to feel brighter in their mood and enable them to perform tasks that they could not perform (Whitney Rolfes, 2011). Still, these drugs have side effects, which include feeling sick, loss of appetite, tiredness, diarrhea, muscle cramps, and poor sleep. These may be reduced by taking the drug in small amounts, or taking the drug after meals. The side-effects disappear as days go by and will go away if the medication stops. These drugs have acetylcholine, which is responsible for passage of messages between brain cells involved in memory. The death of brain cells in Alzheimer's disease leads to a reduction in acetylcholine. Administration of Cholinesterase Inhibitors controls the breakdown of acetylcholine hence increasing its levels in the brain. With this, a reduction in the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease occurs. These drugs start from a low dose which increases over time. Other treatment methods include taking of ginkgo biloba, a naturally occurring substance extracted from Maidenhair tree which enhances memory. Taking foods rich in vitamin E reduces the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Some of the vital vitamin E sources include soya beans, whole grain foods, fish liver oils, nuts, cotton and sunflower seeds, and corn. Other drugs that can be taken include Rember, which reduces tau protein responsible for tangles found in the brain cells of people with Alzheimer's. This treatment slows progression of the disease. Immunization of people against the amyloid hence reduction of plagues found in people with Alzheimer's disease. Dimebon, previously used to treat hay fever, can be used to protect nerve cells. Eternacept blocks the chemical, which causes inflammation and death of the cells. Conclusion Alzheimers disease should not be allowed to continue affecting a larger number of people. Those in a position where they can see to it that spread of the disease has reduced, should do so. Studies show that some years to come more individuals will be suffering from the disease, but we should not allow this to happen. Let us embrace healthy lifestyles, which will alienate us from the risk of contracting Alzheimer's disease. If one has the risk of getting the disease due to inheritance, they should seek medical advice the moment they get to know that they are more susceptible to acquiring the disease. Those who already have Alzheimers disease should continue with the prescribed treatment and do not expose themselves to other risk factors that may result in severe conditions. Buy custom Alzheimer essay

Individual Project 4 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Individual Project 4 - Research Paper Example In one particular case, a military service captain exploited his authority and position as a reservist to secure government contracts for some private sector companies, which he was affiliated to. Additionally, the captain – working as a government official – accepted kickbacks from one of the companies, as compensation for helping it to secure government work contract. Following the discovery of his ethical failure, the officer was required to retire, while still at the grade of a commander, despite the fact he had already been endorsed for promotion to the rank of an admiral. Apart from the withdrawal of the promotion, the officer was debarred for a period of one year. On the other hand, two of the companies that he had facilitated the reception of government contracts signed 3-year administrative agreements with the military services. The misconduct surrounding the unethical incidence evidenced through the case was that of abusing office and accepting bribes (Gray, Hellman & Ryterman, 2002). Thee misconducts are evidenced by the facts that the officer used his office as a reservist to solicit the contractual work assigned to the companies he was affiliated to. The behavior of acting on behalf of the companies – in a case where he should have been impartial and transparent – showed misconduct on his part. The second misconduct is evidenced by the act of receiving a bribe from one of the companies, as compensation for the role of facilitating the reception of the government contract awarded (Gray, Hellman & Ryterman, 2002). The standard policies and the code of ethics related to government contracting is adequate, and is sufficient for the management of the different areas covered by government contracting, including that the ethics philosophy is built around trustworthiness and honestly, which are mediated through successful personal and professional relationships. Further, the areas

The interrelationship between organisational strategy and employee Essay

The interrelationship between organisational strategy and employee involvement - Essay Example With this necessary incorporation in terms of organizational strategy, they have been able to look at the ethical side of things as well since the moral grounds have been set in a proper manner and there are as such no apprehensions to state the least in the present times (McKinley, 2003). A business can move from a position of stability to one of a complete unstable stance as it acquires different means of gathering the market and its driving factors that come along with it. The firm has to change its position with the changing times otherwise it will literally vanish away from its competitors and more so the customers, for which it actually exists. (Sims, 2002) It must bring about technological innovations so as to meet the ethical guidelines and best practices which are geared up to make it sound, look and eventually feel different from the rest of the lot and in the long run, have a selling proposition in it and in its products that help it in winning the customers time and time again. (Mills, 2003) 3. Employee Involvement The work culture within the employees can be developed in a manner which suits the interests of the organization in the best form possible. For this to happen, it is necessary to understand that resources department has got an immense role to play in the related equation. We must understand that we live in a global world where human resources has of late been instrumental at dramatically changing the way we perceive the way in which people think, act and feel on the job. (Bishop, 2003) The basic dogma on which the dot com companies work is to reach out to the greatest amount of people and make those people... The work culture within the employees can be developed in a manner which suits the interests of the organization in the best form possible. For this to happen, it is necessary to understand that resources department has got an immense role to play in the related equation. We must understand that we live in a global world where human resources has of late been instrumental at dramatically changing the way we perceive the way in which people think, act and feel on the job. (Bishop, 2003) The basic dogma on which the dot com companies work is to reach out to the greatest amount of people and make those people as their clients within a short duration of time. This would be on the expense of not being at concern related with the loss in the stock prices. The culture which was adopted by these companies was of get large or get lost in the whole frame of things. Only the technological basis makes the very same possible and a work culture of this regime is necessary to put things into perspe ctive. (Winter, 2001)4. Interrelationship between Organizational Strategy and Employee InvolvementAs far as the human resources function in the company’s cultural regimes is concerned, we see that in the present era the business world needs to have a lot of improvement within its ranks if it adopts the policy of working towards the establishment of a performance management system. This would guarantee them a lot of success as their employees and workers would dedicate their whole hearted efforts towards the well being of the company .

Principles of Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Principles of Economics - Essay Example Practically, it is very hard to model actions since there are so many distinct variables. The problem of alcohol abuse is not easily overcome because alcohol is highly addictive. In this case, if the alcohol abuser is an economist, he or she will consider many things that he or she would use to help him or her overcome the situation. They will look at the opportunity cost whereby they will consider buying those goods that are best for their health other than alcohol (Mantzavinos, 2001). Additionally, they will use cost benefit analysis by viewing the benefits accrued from stopping the habit of alcohol consumption which in this case out weight the disadvantages for example, wastage of money in purchasing alcohol (O'sullivan et al, 2011). More so, they will consider rational behavior by assuming which actions are necessary when they stop consuming alcohol. Lastly, an economist would look at the market forces of demand and supply of alcohol in that they will analyze the level at which a lcohol is supplied to the market and the price that alcohol come with. When the supply is not sufficient, they would prefer to stop drinking alcohol rather than continuing with the habit of looking for a commodity that is scarce and costly. More so, they will consider the level at which alcohol is demanded; therefore, they will analyze the possible outcomes of many people drinking alcohol. The possible way to help alcohol abuser is to assist them to realize that they have alcohol consumption problem. Friends and family members can help make the abuser realize that drinking is affecting them by being specific in their discussion. In this manner, the abuser may be willing to look for assistance when they are faced with the harm their alcohol consumption causes to others. With the help of friends and family members, the abuser is likely to overcome the problem of alcohol drinking. Other groups such as Alcoholic anonymous help the abusers by giving the patients the chance to assist each other to avoid alcohol consumption. 2. Analyze how prescription drugs affect the demand and supply of other products and services in this country. Prescription drugs have direct inclination to the trends of supply and demand of goods and services in a particular state (Porter, 1998). The sectors that are most likely to be affected include; the beneficiaries which in this case are the patients, private insurers and to the extreme public policies. These effects are generally predisposed and become inevitable because of the rise in costs of these prescription drugs. Rise in costs of prescribed drugs connotes that the beneficiaries have to go an extra mile to settle their health bills. This may include outsourcing finances that were initially allocated for a different purpose. Cutting down allocations from a different sector in order to fill the health gap translates to low purchasing power from the deprived sectors. 3. Formulate a reason why the elasticity of demand is an important co nsideration when analyzing the impact of a shift in supply and why the elasticity of supply is an important consideration when analyzing the impact of a shift in demand. Include at least one (1) example in each scenario. Price elasticity of demand attempts to measure how price change affects the quantity demanded by the prevailing market condition. The formulae for determining the price elasticity is as shown below. Price elasticity (PEoD) = (percentage change in Quantity demanded)/ (percentage chang

Important attributes needed for a good leader

Important attributes needed for a good leader Leadership is an attribute, its hard to define and theres tons of different definition for just the word leadership. There arent clear definition about leadership but I will do give some definition of leadership and the attribute found in the leader in leading itself. Leadership does not equal to leader because there are also leader without of leadership but of course those leader are being categorize failure. Having a leadership does not mean youre being a good leader too you may have the basic attribute but it may not be good. Basically leadership is people who are able to influence other people o attain an aim to the goal. It may not be the one who set the pathway but being a leader with leadership will allow you to influence other to achieve the goal set fast and also effectively. The simples definition of explaining leadership is that leadership is the art of motivates a group of persons to act toward achieve a common goal. In more simply way to define, the leaders is the inspiration and also a director of the decision making. A leader weather he or she is the person in a group that making decision and combination of personalities and skills that makes others person to follow their direction. In business situation, leadership is also combining to performance. Effective leaders are those who increases their companys bottom lines. To further explain the issue, we tend to use the term leadership and management changeably, refers to a companys management structure as its leadership, or to individual who are actually manager as the leaders of different management teams, it is not say that this is not good, it just point out that leader has to involve more. To be an effective and a good leader, a leader sometimes has to manage the resources at his or her disposal. But leadership also involves in communicate with people, inspire their members and supervising their workers. Three more of the main skills as a leader have to have to become successful leader it is nature born or we have to make effort to be a leader? While there are some people who seem like naturally endowed with more leadership ability than other people, but I think that people can learn to become a good and efficient leaders by concentrate to improve in particular leadership skills. Few example of position that needs leadership are manager, chairperson, coach and so forth. However people in position that are labeled managerial or supervisor have more opportunities t exert leadership. Leadership behavior is expected more frequently from supervisors and manager than from other types of employees. Such expectations often profoundly affect the behavior of both those who hold leadership positions and those around them. People act as leaders for many reasons and their effort are not necessarily aimed solely at the attainment of a groups organizations goal. So leader motives can be directed as multiple objectives, including their own objectives, instead or the organizations. A simple explanation of what leader to us is as an influence that assists a group or an organization to meet them own goal, objective and perform success. This implies that effective leadership is enabling behavior that is to help other accomplish something more than they can and also aid them in t heir work be the sole motivation of the procedure. Leader will need to monitor their subordinates too such as making sure they are on the right path to finish their job or giving the motivation so they can move on fast and be more efficient. There are some attribute that leader should have and it will be a goal for them and that is trustworthy, encouraging, honest, decisive, communicative, and also dependent. The next attribute that manager should not have is non irritable, ruthless, egocentric and asocial. These are the examples of leader attributes view as positive or negative depending on culture are ambitious, individualistic, cautious, class conscious and evasive. But in different culture it may be different for example individualistic is good as in when youre working in United State of America but not when youre working in Japan. There are a few lists to roughly define as good leaders that are a leader plans, the main job of leadership is being prepare rather than waiting. Sometime leaders will make crises, but that does not mean leader will sit around and let the crises develop. A good Leader will involves through identify the problems and solve them before they reach the crisis proportion and leader should have t he ability to identify and reap potential windfall. So a good leader should analyzes and plan and adapt his plan to new circumstance and opportunity. Next a good and efficient leader should have his vision. A vision is essential to good leadership. A vision can provides direction for them to move on if without vision and direction, the business may dont know the way should move on. So if you dont have one vision for your business, take your first step towards leadership by creating a Vision Statement for your business. Because it embodies your dreams and passion, a vision statement will also serve as a leadership vision. Responsibilities are important tool for a business. A leader will take charge at this stage by using their leadership, and put the leadership vision and planning together to implementing a specific plan to help to improve the businesss bottom line or make responses to the crisis. As a leader is the person who makes the decision or see that the appropriate actions ar e carried out. A leader had needed to act and to be seen as taking effective action for the best of your business. Last explanation is the motivation and inspiration from leaders. This is because a leader inspires through example, if I asked you, you could easily name three people whose have the leadership qualities to inspire you. If I asked you why, youd tell me about the things these inspiring people did or are doing. Leadership is defined through action. Therefore, in developing your own leadership skills, you have to show in ways that are fit to your leadership, vision and yourself all the time. We can all name many actions of other people whom we have admire, but what that inspire us is the integrity that give these actions meaning. Becoming a leader is not easy because it takes a conscious commitment and consistent effort to develop ones leadership skills. But on the positive side, a person would like to become a good leader has to make effort to it and as a good leader is cr itical to business success, your efforts to improve your leadership skills will be amply rewarded. By working on these five keys of leadership, you can become a successful leader in your business needs and run it efficiently. With these attribute and example there are a few different type of leadership, first it will be the organizational leadership that means it is an interpersonal process that involves attempts to influence other person in an organization goals. Secondly, it will be the effective leadership who influence that assists a group or organization to perform successful and meet their goals and objectives. Thirdly its the rarest and most unique type of leadership whose born with and hardly can be found, that is charismatic leader it is a leadership by someone who has influence over others based on individual inspiration qualities rather than formal power. Fourthly there is transformational leadership, its a leadership that motivates follower to ignore self interests and work for the larger good of the organization to achieve significant accomplishments, emphasis is on articulating vision that will convince subordinates to make major changes. Next it will be transactional leadership, it is a typ e of leadership that focus on motivating followers self interests by exchanging rewards for their compliance. Emphasis is on having subordinates implement procedures correctly and make needed, but relatively routine, changes. Leadership comes in many forms from different perspective from different people who shares different thinking. But majority do still share the same concept. Leadership come in a form that is trainable, charismatic will be hard but nothing is impossible. It is always good for a leader who is trained from the scratch because it will make them more experience and durable in case there will be any harsh or tough battle they may face. Leader are the one who taking the lead and will be the one who will help its subordinate and managing their work inspire them and keep them motivated with their top form and not giving out easily. Leader play a great role in task managing, a great leader will have the job done fast and efficient producing great and awesome result. Where as bad leader will produce job thats in contrast from great leader causing it to be crappy and un reliable. Leadership come in a very great role is everything, for example a great teacher or lecturer will produce great studen t its alike to the job that is done by great leader. Which it will highly affect the outcome of everything. With a great leader the employee will also give them respect doing work with their heart rather than just gaining the pay check for every month. If a leader isnt respected the employee wouldnt abide their rule and would now fully taking the order. So I would like to conclude that leadership plays a big role in business and it will make a great difference.

Social Service Program :: essays research papers

OVERVIEW YPSS must develop a strategy to use the state-funded grant of $100,000. Three proposals for the use of these funds have been drafted. Each project is broken down by requirements, benefits, and costs. The information was gathered through research of community desires and evaluation of the feasibility of these desires. Programs of similar shelters were also examined to determine the approximate costs and benefits of each project. This report presents the details of the proposals along with looking at what the local community wishes to see implemented. The YPSS committee can use this report to determine which of these projects is in the best interests of YPSS and the youths that YPSS serves. CRISIS HOTLINE PROJECT YPSS has been considering this project for approximately 18 months. Until now, YPSS did not have the funding needed to implement such a project. The project costs a total of $78,000. Following is a breakdown of the total cost, along with the start-up costs ongoing funding will be required. Salaries  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $36,000  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Training/Recruitment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $ 8,000 Technical Services  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $14,000  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Miscellaneous  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $ 5,000 Promotional Campaign  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $15,000  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Total  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $78,000 The program involves the set-up of two toll-free telephone lines in a currently vacant backroom office in our main office. Training of three new part-time employees would be necessary. These new employees would be responsible for recruiting and training volunteers from the local community to operate the crisis lines. The hotline will be open 24 hours a day, and would be used primarily by teenagers across the state. Any person in any crisis (i.e. potential runaways, abuse victims, etc.) will have access to the hotline. Implementation of the project would take approximately 6 – 8 months. This time is what is needed for the project to get off the ground. This includes the hiring, training, recruitment of volunteers, etc. Any tangible results would most likely not be seen for 12 – 15 months, or longer. The project is a natural step beyond the two current runaway shelters and the addictions recovery program. These programs have been extremely successful thus far, and the hotline would add an additional side to YPSS that would benefit everyone. ADDITIONS TO RUNAWAY SHELTER #1 This is a project that has been proposed by the counseling staff at youth shelter #1 (called â€Å"Moore House†) within the last three months. The project costs about $95,000. Following is a breakdown of the total cost. In addition, the only continuing costs would be maintaining the salary of the full-time night counselor. Salaries/Training  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $24,000  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Miscellaneous  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $ 3,000

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The dominant thumb experiment is used to observe the correlation between handedness and thumb dominance and whether one inherited trait will always influences another correlated trait. Examples of this experiment of this can be traced back as far as 1908. In this experiment 50 people were asked to clasp their hands and the thumb dominance. Once the hands were clasped, one thumb would tutorial overlap the other and the handedness of each subject was noted.The hypothesis of the experiment is that when people clasp their hands, the thumb of the dominant hand may overlap the thumb of the non-dominant hand. In 1999, a scientist by the name of Regis completed 18 studies of parents and their children to find that 55% of the population are left-hand-clappers (therefore right-handed), 44% are right-hand-clappers (left-handed), and the remaining 1% report that they have no reference or are indifferent (ambidextrous).It also states, familial data suggest that hand-clasping may be under genetic control†. Purpose The purpose of this experiment was to study the correlation between thumb dominance and handedness. Hypothesis If an individual is right-handed the right thumb will be dominant when the hands are clasped. If the individual is left handed then the left thumb will be dominant the hands are clasped together. Procedures Equipment Used 50 Volunteers Pen

Week FIve Essay

Week FIve Essay Week FIve Essay Hastings Entertainment ACC 205 Principles of Accounting I Instructor: Theresa Murray June 14, 2014 Hastings Entertainment Hastings is a multi-media entertainment retailer. They sale, books dvd’s, cd’s, and accessories as well as rent dvd and blue ray discs. Hastings is primarily located in the western and mid-west portions of the United States having one hundred twenty six stores. In addition the company operates other concept stores. The company’s main competitors would be Wal-Mart, Blockbuster and Barnes and Noble according to Hoover’s A D & B Company. (Hoover's Inc., 2014) Although the fore mentioned companies have all taken a hit due to digital media i-tunes, amazon and Netflix. With the closing of two Hasting stores one in Missouri and one in Kansas with in the last year a financial analysis will be done of Hastings Entertainment to try and determine the profitability of the corporation to discover the reasoning behind store closings. Hastings Entertainment Income Statement (Numbers are in Millions) 2011 2012 2013 Cash and Equivalents 6.1 4.2 3.7 TOTAL CASH AND SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS 6.1 4.2 3.7 Inventory 146.6 151.4 145.3 Prepaid Expenses 11.7 15.2 9.1 Deferred Tax Assets, Current 6 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 170.5 170.8 158.2 Gross Property Plant and Equipment 279.3 288.6 289.7 Accumulated Depreciation -224.5 -236.5 -246.3 NET PROPERTY PLANT AND EQUIPMENT 54.7 52.1 43.5 Deferred Tax Assets, Long Term 1.7 Other Intangibles 0.4 0.2 0.2 Other Long-Term Assets 2.4 2.4 2.8 TOTAL ASSETS 229.7 225.5 204.6 Total Assets Accounts Payable 60.6 51.3 53.6 Accrued Expenses 13.80 12.10 12.5 Current Income Taxes Payable 0.40 0.70 0.8 Other Current Liabilities, Total 0.80 2.50 2.6 Unearned Revenue, Current 11.1 10.9 11.6 TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 86.7 77.4 81 Long-Term Debt 31.8 53.3 41.8 Deferred Tax Liability Non-Current 0 0.1 Other Non-Current Liabilities 6.5 8.7 7.8 TOTAL LIABILITIES 125 139.4 130.7 Common Stock 0.1 0.1 0.1 Additional Paid in Capital 36.7 36.2 36.4 Retained Earnings 88.6 71 58.6 Treasury Stock -20.8 -21.4 -21.4 Comprehensive Income and Other 0.1 0.1 0.2 TOTAL COMMON EQUITY 104.7 86.1 74 TOTAL EQUITY 104.7 86.1 74 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY 229.7 225.5 204.6 The horizontal analysis is used to compare the company information for more than one year at a time. The horizontal analysis can be used to research changes and trends within the company over periods of time whereas the vertical analysis converts the numbers to percentages and is from the balance sheet making it more complex to analyze. Hastings revenue dropped $24.7 million dollars from 2011 to 2012 and dropped $229,585 from 2012 to 2013. With such a decrease in revenue the company would need to find ways to decrease expenses to maintain profitability. This did not happen for Hastings cost of goods sold did decrease but operating expenses increased in 2012 and in 2013 it looks as if the company is recouping from 2012 but they are not making a lot of headway. Judging from the horizontal balance sheet long term debt increase in both 2012 and 2013 and retained earnings has drastically reduced 2011 to 2013. This could be read as stockholders are cashing out and reinvesting in different companies. 2012 2013 Current Ratio 161.76% 156.54% Quick Ratio 25.60% 15.93% Cash to Current liabilities ratio 0.54% 0.46% The current ratio is used to indicate Hastings ability to pay its debt with in the next year. This shows the liquidity of the company the higher the ratio the more liquidity the company has, in this

Anti-Federalism essays

Anti-Federalism essays The adoption of the U.S. Constitution created a centralized authority giving a great amount of power to the federal government. I think that the governments powers should be reduced and more equally divided among its branches. With such things we could have specific limitations on the government's taxation and commerce powers as well as many other things that would make our society better for the people. I feel that the Articles of Confederation work, they just need amending. This new found liberty is something that shouldn't be given up on so easily. At the Constitutional convention in which George Washington was elected President many key people were absent from the meeting; Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were away on foreign affairs and Patrick Henry refused to attend the meeting because he "smelt a rat". Patrick Henry's suspections were correct being that James Madison who had been behind the formation of the meeting had in mind the creation of a powerful central government and the subversion of the authority of the state legislatures. With the meeting being held without the presents of some of the country's major political leaders, decisions were not made to their greatest potential. In their absence some ideas were proposed such as Madison's idea that called for the near annihilation of the State legislatures and the creation of an implied empire. Other ideas came about like Alexander Hamilton's statement that the British government was above all others and had a plan to appoint lifetime executive officials - a Monarchy. The reason most Anti-Federalists oppose to the Constitution is that the republic must remain in the states, it must be geographically small in order to meet the needs of the people. With such a large demographic, the interest of the people would be too diverse and should be kept divided for individual control. SUch large districs ...

Visual Arts - Cultural Artifact Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Visual Arts - Cultural Artifact - Assignment Example This paper reviews one of the most famous speeches in history by Abraham Lincoln – the ‘Gettysburg Address’ which can definitely be considered to be a cultural artifact. It indicates the past history and the trying times which the United States was going through at that time. It also set a historical precedence be the abolition of slavery and its ultimate success of having a colored person as its president, Barack Obama. In the process, the speech will also be analyzed using the parameters set forth in Geert Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy. The Gettysburg Address as a cultural artifact: It could be said that each and every American has read or at least heard about this famous speech. It provides the reader a succinct picture about one of the most important periods in American history. This is because of two reasons. One is that it brought about total abolition of slavery. The second was that it had been achieved at great cost namely the Civil War. Historically , this period and the artifact that reflects it are extremely significant. The following excerpt from the speech has been immortalized and will be loved by every freedom loving person on this planet. â€Å"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth† (Lincoln). There are several factors that the reader gets to know from the speech as well as the above line which is in fact the last sentence. The first is the feeling of pride that it communicates. It gives the reader the confidence that America will remain united and that it will continue to be a great nation in the future also. I n other words, the speech has the power to unite all Americans even today. The third is the language and the marvel in the sense that such a short speech can be so powerful. The one factor (to a person uninitiated with US history) is that there is no direct reference to slavery and its abolition. What it does indicate to such a person is that a civil war is going on and that people who believe in freedom should continue what has been started. A lot of people have given up their lives for this cause. It talks about freedom in general and also that the United States is a democratic country run by its people. The historical origin of this artifact is well-known and is a result of the South opposition abolition. Specifically, the speech was delivered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of November 1863 after one of the bloodiest battles of the War. Lincoln prepared the speech only the previous which was to commemorate the soldiers of both sides who had lost their lives in this part icular battle. It was held in the newly constructed cemetery that was to become the final resting place of Union soldiers (Beardsley). As mentioned earlier this literary artifact was created by Abraham Lincoln. It could be said that it was prepared and read by the President himself. It has not been and will never be modified or changed as it is a historical document of a real life event. The

Green Computing Research Project Part 5 Assignment

Green Computing Research Project Part 5 - Assignment Example The approach of developing the diagram compels the project manager and team to brainstorm with the use of concept mapping facilitates to recognize and graphically represent, in growth factors, all of the possible reasons pertaining to a problem or condition that lead to discovering the core causes. Usually, the quality issues are not straightforward. These issues typically entail the multifaceted combination and relations of multiple causes. I chose the cause and effect diagram keeping in view the research-oriented objective of the project that is improving the environment and revenues with reduced costs. Therefore, it is necessary before recommending any solution to the ‘We are Big, Inc’ to identify the root causes that impact badly on the environment and uncontrolled costs. The root cause analysis would help the project manager by becoming a road map for collecting data to concisely move ahead to achieve the objectives of the project by researching on avoiding/removing the root causes and recommending suitable software applications/solutions for the company. And finally, it is recommended that the cause and effect diagram should become part of the major research report. The second reason for selection of cause and effect quality tool that it would facilitate the project manager to easily identify the mainstream of the problems that would be faced during execution of the Green Computing project. In order to relate the quality tool with the project, the first problem that the project manager would face is the communication between the team with a webcam, as the team of the project is scattered and located at different geographical locations. The cause and effect diagram facilitates the project manager to write down the communication problem and the causes that generate the problem. In this way, the project manager would realize the root causes and develop a plan to remove/avoid the root causes so that the communication problem would not rise again. Furthermore, it is worthwhile to write down the stakeholders that are involved or affected by the problem, when and where the problem usually arises.