Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Mana Stratquiz Note

Question 1. Which of the following is an advantage of a divisional type of organizational structure? AnswerA. Efficient use of managerial and technical talent.B. An enhanced ability to respond quickly to changes in the external environment.C. High degree of emphasis on long term performance.D. Uniformity in image and quality across divisions.Question 2. A strategy of related diversification requires most firms to organize around geographical areas or product lines. This type of organizational growth leads to a(n) AnswerA. divisional structure.B. functional structure.C. matrix structure.D. international structure.Question 3. What is the name of the practice that many modular organizations use to grow? AnswerA. operational effectivenessB. outsourcingC. strategic leveragingD. strategic enablingQuestion 4. Nike is a company that makes use of the concept of â€Å"product expatriates. † Product expatriates are AnswerA. managers from the home country sent abroad to oversee the marketing of a company's products.B. managers from suppliers who come to work at a company's headquarters.C. managers of the company sent abroad to work at the plants of its suppliers.D. local nationals hired by the company in the countries from which it sources products.Question 5. All of the following are disadvantages of a divisional type of organizational structure except AnswerA. it can be very expensive compared to a functional organizational structure.B. there is a strong tendency for divisions to focus on short-term performance.C. there can be dysfunctional competition among divisions.D. there is separation of strategic and operating control.Question 6. Lockheed Martin uses a coalition of three entities–its own company, academia, and government–to achieve its goals. This is an example of a AnswerA. matrix organization.B. modular organization.C. virtual organization.D. divisional structure.Question 7. Strategic business unit (SBU) and holding company structures result from extensiveAnswerA. diversification.B. vertical integration.C. international expansion.D. organizational flattening.Question 8. Which of the following is an advantage of a functional type of organizational structure?Answer A. Decentralized decision-making enhances an organization-wide perspective across functions.B. It facilitates the development of general management talent.C. Pooling of specialists enhances coordination and control.D. It is easy to establish uniform performance standards.Question 9. The relationship between strategy and structure can be best described asAnswer A. strategy determines structure but structure does not determine strategy.B. structure determines strategy but strategy does not determine structure.C. strategy and structure influence each other.D. a third force determines bot h strategy and structure.Question 10. A matrix organizational structure is characterized byAnswer A. dual reporting relationships.B. a combination of functional and divisional organization structures.C. efficient use of resources and expertise.D. all of the above.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Phd Comprehensive Exam. in Leadership

Comprehensive Examination Written Responses Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by George E. Anderson III Leadership School of Business and Technology Capella University QUESTION 1 The mixed method has recently become a popular method of research. Analyze and compare the mixed method, qualitative and quantitative research methods. Evaluate the effectiveness of each as a valid method of research on models of military leadership. IntroductionThe sociological effects discussed by Kuhn (1996) as to the institutionalization of knowledge paradigms, may account for the fact there is a great deal of concurrence as to the nature of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. There seems to be almost universal agreement as to the epistemological and theoretical roots of each methodology. There is however, substantial disagreement as to the appropriateness of one methodology over the other. â€Å"The researcher’s view of reali ty is the cornerstone to all other assumptions, that is, what is assumed here predicates the researcher’s other assumptions† (Holden & Lynch, 2004).Both quantitative and qualitative methodological purists â€Å"view their paradigms as the ideal for research† (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). While making the case for their chosen style of research, many quantitative and qualitative researchers both implicitly and explicitly argue the inadequacy of research paradigms other than their own. Quantitative research methodology starts with an objectivist epistemological assumption and logically moves through the theoretical perspective of positivism. A ositivistic quantitative researcher believes that in the universe â€Å"things exist as meaningful entities independently of consciousness and experience† (Crotty, 1998, p. 5). The world view of an objectivist â€Å"revolves around the ontological assumption that the social world external, to individual cognition is a real world made up of hard, tangible and relatively immutable structures. In other words, the social world exists independently of an individual’s appreciation of it†(Burrell and Morgan, 1979).In contrast, the qualitative research methodology flows from the epistemologies of constructionism and subjectivism, and the interpretive or transformative theoretical perspectives. For the epistemology of subjectivity â€Å"the social world external to individual cognition is made up of nothing more than names, concepts and labels which are used as artificial creations, whose utility is based upon their convenience as tools for describing, making sense of, and negotiating the external world†(Burrell and Morgan, 1979).For a qualitative researcher â€Å"human behavior depends on how individuals interpret the conditions in which they find themselves† and â€Å"social reality is regarded as the product of processes by which social actors negotiate the meanings for ac tions and situations† (Blaikie, 1991). â€Å"Meaning is not discovered, but constructed†¦. different people may construct meaning in different ways† (Crotty, 1998). The differences in â€Å"the underlying assumptions of the quantitative and qualitative paradigms result in differences which extend beyond philosophical and methodological debates† (Sale, Lohfeld, & Brazil, 2002). Quantitative ResearchQuantitative Research: Defined Initially, quantitative sociological research methodology was developed as an extension of existing scientific research into the nature of the universe. â€Å"The purpose of research is to discover answers to question through the application of scientific procedures† (Baker, 2001). Chemistry, astronomy, mathematics and geology are all objective, quantitative sciences which are governed by the rules of inquiry known as the scientific method. Likewise for the social objectivists researcher, â€Å"human activity is understood as observable behavior taking place in observable, material circumstances† (Blaikie, 1991).Social objectivists draw their research techniques from the â€Å"hard† sciences and attempt to follow a comparable scientific methodology . â€Å"The major goal of objectivists is aligned with that of the natural scientists – they identify causal explanations and fundamental laws that explain regularities in human social behavior† (Holden & Lynch, 2004). â€Å"Logical positivism uses quantitative and experimental methods to test hypothetical deductive generalizations† (Karami, Rowley, & Analoui, 2006). Social â€Å"science is characterized by empirical research; all phenomena can be reduced to empirical indicators which represent the truth† (Sale et al. 2002). â€Å"positivistic research assumes†¦ social reality is a complex of causal relations between objects and causes of human behavior which are external to the individual† (Schulenberg, 200 7). Einstein discovered the laws of the universe. The attempt by objectivists to discover the laws human social interactions logically follows. Quantitative Research Techniques â€Å"Research methodology is influenced by the logic of experimental designs derived largely from biological science† (Lee, 1992).For a researcher in the hard sciences to validly study any phenomenon, the researcher must be detached and separate from the phenomenon being studied. Hard scientists believe that if the researcher interferes with the phenomenon in any way the value of the study is reduced or negated. Social â€Å"objectivists perceive that their studies can be (and of necessity need be) done independently of what is being observed and that their interests, values, beliefs, etc. will have no influence on what they study or what methods they use† (Holden & Lynch, 2004).It is the belief of the positivist school that for a quantitative social researcher to validly study any phenomenon, the researcher must likewise be emotionally and intellectually detached from the objects of their study and the methods of their study. Their conclusions must not be influenced by interference or prejudice. The view that â€Å"quantitative research is usually confined to filling in questionnaires, paper & pencil-style or administered on line† (Koller, 2008) is not entirely correct. Quantitative researchers utilize three basic designs; observation, experimentation and survey. Baker, 2001) Observation is usually the first step in the scientific method. It is not simple viewing rather â€Å"observation consists of the systematic gathering, recording and analysis of data† (Baker, 2001). Experimental research design is â€Å"usually undertaken to determine if there is a causal relationship between the variables under investigation† (Baker, 2001). However, in social research there are serious questions as to any experimental construct. Has the experiment, by its very structure, destroyed the objectivity so prized by quantitative researchers and introduced statistical bias which would limit its value?Is the experimental design within an ethical and moral frame which has been approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). Survey research is perhaps the most common quantitative research method. The overall technique is divided into three subsets; factual, opinion and interpretive. Factual surveys are concerned with securing hard, quantitative data. For example, determining the median age of a population might be achieved through a simple survey asking individuals their date of birth.Opinion surveys are to acquire hard data on respondents’ views upon the topic at hand, for example asking members of the sample if they approve or disapprove of a proposed bill before congress. â€Å"Interpretive surveys are used in circumstances where the respondent is asked to explain why they hold particular beliefs or behave in a particular way† (Bak er, 2001). The principal advantage of the survey method is its ability to sample a population and from that sample to be able to draw statistically viable inferences for the entire population from the results. (Dale, 2006) Many surveys use techniques to reduce data collection costs.Such techniques run the risk of introducing statistical errors resulting in erroneous conclusions. â€Å"If sampling errors are not corrected, results may appear to reach statistical significance level when in fact they do not† (Dale, 2006). Further, a survey instrument is constructed by people and â€Å"because of the subjectivity built into its development, any interpretations of the scores yielded cannot be 100% objective† (A. Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005). The introduction of bias can be unconscious or deliberate. Examples of deliberately engineered survey results can often be found within political opinion research.Questions such as; â€Å"Do you agree with the President’s irrespon sible and highly risky course of action or would you support our safe and reasonable approach to the question? † will almost always result in a predictable but inappropriate response. Finally, although the positivist quantitative researcher applies the best techniques of the â€Å"hard† science community, they are still dealing with people and not inanimate objects. It is â€Å"difficult, if not impossible, for the social scientist to predict outcomes with the same accuracy and reliability as the pure scientist† (Baker, 2001).The results achieved by quantitative social scientists will not be totally consistent, because people are not totally consistent. Qualitative Research: Defined The qualitative research method is used by social researchers which view reality not in the hard terms of the physical sciences, but rather as subjective intellectual constructs perceived by individuals. The battle flag carried by the armies of the Confederate States of America is fam iliar to many people; however the symbolic meaning of the flag is intuited entirely differently depending upon the perspective of the individual viewing it.For one individual it represents repression and misery, for another individual the same cloth represents nobility and courage. Qualitative research develops a rich, deep holistic understanding of the event studied. It is particularly useful in sorting and screening ideas, investigating complex behavior, developing explanatory models, and defining unfilled needs. (Baker, 2001) â€Å"The purposes of qualitative research are broad in scope and centered around promoting a deep and holistic or complex understanding of a particular phenomenon, such as an environment, a process or a belief† (Gay, Mills, & Airasian, 2006, p. 99) For the qualitative researcher, reality is subjective. â€Å"Subjectivists.. argue that researchers cannot distance themselves from: (1) what is being observed, (2) the study’s subject matter, or ( 3) the methods of study† (Holden & Lynch, 2004). â€Å"research is based on the fundamental assumption that there is more than one reality due to a process of interpretation whereby the social actors negotiate meaning and understanding† (Schulenberg, 2007). In contrast to the positivist perception of reality, for the qualitative researcher, each individual perceives their environment differently and each perception is equally valid.To discover facts about any social interaction, the qualitative researcher must â€Å"share† the experience being studied. They must not be aloof, but rather they must inject themselves into the research so they can fully understand the experiences of the subjects. The â€Å"phenomenological approach uses qualitative and naturalistic approaches to inductively and holistically understand human experience† (Karami et al. , 2006). â€Å"the qualitative paradigm is based on interpretivism and constructivism†¦ there are multipl e realities or multiple truths based on one’s construction of reality† (Sale et al. , 2002).It is â€Å"extremely useful for obtaining insights into regular or problematic experiences and the meaning attached to these experiences of selected individuals† (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007). Qualitative Research: Methodologies Qualitative research can be done in a variety of ways, including participation in the setting, direct observation, focus groups, in depth interviews and analysis of existing documents and materials. What is key is that for the qualitative researcher, â€Å"The process of data collection involves a dynamic interaction between the researcher and the participant in context under investigation† (Gerdes & Conn, 2001). The analytical process involves an interactive, creative and intuitive examination of the data, all in the search for patterns, themes, or emerging insights, each unfurling form the research process and grounded in the data† (G erdes & Conn, 2001). However, by whatever the means a qualitative research study is conducted, the â€Å"findings, interpretations, and conclusions should be assessed for truth value, applicability, consistency, neutrality, dependability, credibility, confirmability, transferability, generalizability or the like† (A.J. Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007). The collected qualitative data are â€Å"disassembled, then reassembled to find uniqueness’s in pattern or principle of process or behavior† (Gerdes & Conn, 2001). Although, the importance of validity is principal among quantitative researchers, â€Å"this concept has been an issue of contention among qualitative researchers† (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007). Many qualitative researchers see validity not as a statistical test but as being inherent in individual perception.Especially for researchers who move from a transformative philosophy, the importance of qualitative methods is that they â€Å"can serve as an impe tus for cultural change as the method explores dynamic systems and processes often unrevealed through traditional studies† (Gerdes & Conn, 2001). A prime example of such a study was the memoir Black Like Me by journalist John Howard Griffin first published in 1961. It recounted the trials of an African American male during the late 1950s in the American South. The work contributed significantly to increased ocial awareness and was a prime literary work supporting the American Civil Rights Movement. Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies Contrasted Quantitative and qualitative methodologies spring from very different roots and they have very different qualities. â€Å"each type of research operates with a different conception of reality† (Schulenberg, 2007). However, â€Å"many of the differences that are perceived to prevail between quantitative and qualitative research stem from the misconceptions and miss-claims of proponents of both camps† (A. Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005).Accusations by qualitative researchers that quantitative research cannot attach meaning to social reality often are met by accusations from quantitative researchers that qualitative research dismisses the concept that social reality might be within an immutable reality. Quantitative researchers maintain that there are real causes of social outcomes that through scientific investigation can be discovered with statistical certainty. Qualitative researchers believe that it is only through human perception and interactions that one can achieve a full understanding of any phenomenon being investigated.A qualitative researcher â€Å"challenges the objectivist view on the fundamental issue of whether or not human being can ever achieve any form of knowledge that is independent of their own subjective construction† (Lee, 1992). For example, a quantitative researcher may ask a survey participant who had not eaten for several days the question â€Å"On a scale of one to five with one being the lowest and five being the highest, how hungry are you now? † Such inquiry, when applied to a statistically significant sample will lead to a statistically valid number.But perhaps not a real understanding of what that number actually means. The qualitative researcher would not necessarily ask an individual who had not eaten for several days, â€Å"How hungry are you? † rather the qualitative, experiential researcher might stop eating for an equivalent period of time and then record feelings not just of hunger but also of weakness and mental depression. In our example, the purist quantitative researcher would point out; the work done by the qualitative researcher was totally subjective and lacked any statistical validity.The purist qualitative researcher would point out; the cold statistics of the quantitative research results might be statistically valid, but they are meaningless to individual humans. Ultimately, â€Å"any research method chose n will have inherent flaws, and the choice of that method will limit the conclusion that can be drawn† (Scandura & Williams, 2000). A quantitative researcher would challenge the experiential standard of many qualitative researchers and their claim of reality being created from individual perceptions.If you stand in the path of a flying bullet, it does not matter what your perception of that bullet maybe, are about to be hurt. The experience of being shot is not required. Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies Compared There are substantial differences between the quantitative and qualitative approaches to methodology; however there are also significant similarities. Each style attempts to further understanding of the human experience and this search for understanding leads to the examination of a wide range of phenomena; including experiences, attitudes and culture. The paradigms are essentially epistemic, and thus focus on matters that do not impinge on the collection and analysis of data† (Scott, 2007). â€Å"Both quantitative and qualitative procedures involve the use of observations to address research questions† (A. Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005). Both approaches use empirical observations. They â€Å"describe their data, construct explanatory arguments from their data, and speculate about why the outcomes they observed happened as they did† Sechrest and Sidani (1995). They are bound by their Institutional Review Boards (IRB).Their obligation to first and foremost â€Å"do no harm† drives them equally to incorporate safeguards for their subjects. Finally, legitimate researchers from both schools attempt to build in procedural safeguards to minimize bias and other influences which denigrate the validity of their study. â€Å"both quantitative and qualitative investigators utilize techniques to verify their data† (A. Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005). Ultimately, within both approaches to research â€Å"meaning results from the interpretation of data, whether represented by numbers or by words† (A. Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005).That interpretation in itself is universal and a major limiting factor. Mixed Methodology – Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies Synthesized The debate between quantitative and qualitative is divisive and counterproductive. â€Å"The quantitative versus qualitative contest has often been so divisive that many social and behavioral science students†¦are left with the impression that they have to pledge allegiance to one research school of thought or the other† (A. Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005). A myopic devotion to a particular school of research has limited the advancement of the social and behavioral sciences.The proponents of mixed methodology point out that while both quantitative research and qualitative research share similarities, at the same time they both have significant limitations and conflicts in their assumptions. Such considerations gave r ise to the pragmatist school of research. â€Å"Pragmatists embrace both approaches and reject the assumptions contained in the post-positivism and constructivism dichotomy† (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). A quantitative approach might be more appropriate when used to address one issue and a qualitative approach might be more appropriate when addressing an alternative issue.Pragmatists believed in â€Å"the existence of both subjective and objective points of view. Asserting that research is influenced by theory/hypothesis and by observations, facts and evidence, pragmatists utilized both inductive and deductive logic, choosing explanations that best produced desired outcomes† (A. J. Onwuegbuzie, 2000). â€Å"If all that matter is that scientists go about their business†¦using methods appropriate to the problems they have to deal with, then philosophical worries about ontology and epistemology are an irrelevance† (Hughes & Sharrock,1997).Naval navigators, or naval pilots, for centuries had difficulty determining their exact location on the water. The identification of a landmark on the shore provided a point of reference was usually sufficient but of limited value in the shifting vastness of the ocean. When it became important to precisely locate a ships position, a single point of reference was simply inadequate and sightings of multiple reference points on the shore were added to the calculation so the position of the ship could be triangulated.The more points of reference a naval pilot used to confirm their position, the more confident they could be of having a precise reading. The concept of triangulation in research was taken from those piloting procedures. In physical research variables can be controlled with some accuracy and replication of a quantitative research can yield a high level of validity as to the results. Two parts oxygen added to one part hydrogen has always made water and one can reasonably expect that formula to co ntinue working.In social science simply replicating an experiment using the same methodology is inadequate to provide a high level of confidence in the findings. There are simply too many uncontrollable variables in social science. Americans perception of Arab terrorists was different on the tenth of September 2001 than it was on the twelfth of September 2001. Mixed methodology first appeared within the concept of research triangulation, or the utilization of separate methodologies within the same study to increase or confirm the understanding of the question being investigated. Increased triangulation should improve the ability of researchers to draw conclusions from their studies† (Scandura & Williams, 2000). â€Å"Mixed Methodology strategies are really refined forms of triangulating strategies with one or more added assumptions† (S. Miller & Gatta, 2006). â€Å"The underlying logic of mixed methodology appears to be the belief that systematic multiple ways of looki ng at a phenomenon can yield deeper insights than if the phenomenon were looked at using what is referred to as a monostrand (single) approach† (S.Miller & Gatta, 2006). Any researcher is looking to understand the subject matter at hand and if â€Å"truth is a normative concept, like good. Truth is what works† (Sale et al. , 2002). Then instead of arguing the virtues of one methodology over another, the logical next step would be to take the best from each style, forming mixed methodology, which â€Å"combine(s) qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study is (now) widely practiced and accepted in many areas† (Sale et al. , 2002).Medical researchers have provide two reasons for combining qualitative and quantitative approaches; â€Å"The first is to achieve cross-validation or triangulation-combining two or more theories or sources of data to study the same phenomenon in order to gain a more complete understanding of it. The second is to achieve comple mentary results by using the strengths of one method to enhance the other† (Sale et al. , 2002). Psychology â€Å"researchers were approximately twice as likely to use mixed-methods sampling designs that were sequential than concurrent† (Collins, Onwuegbuzie, & Jiao, 2006). Methodologies of Military Leadership ResearchThe study of military leadership represents a unique set of challenges when compared to studying corporate or educational leadership. Because of the truly deadly nature of their business, the autocratic hierarchical organizational nature, and the contractual nature of the employment sociological studies of military leadership pose special challenges. Driven by the fundamental deadly nature of the military enterprise military leadership is autocratic and hierarchical. In any army, one’s immediate supervisor has almost total control and the failure to obey direction can result in severe consequences included imprisonment.Employment within the military is highly contractual. There is little or no freedom of employment. Once a contract is in place, the individual will serve out their time obligation or face serious consequences. Because of these factors, the requirements placed on civilian leaders are significantly different than those placed upon military officers. Only in first line positions does the term â€Å"leader† apply to military officers. A lieutenant maybe a platoon leader but higher ranking officers are commanders. Overall, military officers tend to consider themselves to be much more managers than they consider themselves to be leaders.That said, the study of leadership within the military has taken many forms. Depending upon the inclinations of the researcher and the specific question at hand, quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies have all been used at various times. Military Leadership Research: A Sampling A common form of military leadership research is through the qualitative analyses of histor ic data in histories or biographies. (Simonton, 2003) By comparing various leadership techniques used by a variety of successful military commanders qualitative conclusions may be drawn.Such studies avoid the potential embarrassment of having the researcher draw the â€Å"wrong† conclusions about current military leadership. Luke McCormick and David Mellor in their study â€Å"The role of personality in leadership: An application of the five-factor model in the Australian military†(2002) utilized a mixed methodology by cross referencing a quantitative personality inventory taken by ninety-nine junior Australian commissioned officers with the qualitative efficiency assessment reports given by their superiors. The goal was to develop a personality profile optimizing pre-assessment of a successful military career. The relationship between gender role stereotypes and requisite military leadership characteristics† by Lisa A. Boyce and Ann M. Herd (2003) is a highly ex periential and interpreted qualitative work. Moving from what appears to be a transformative philosophical position, the authors provided a group of volunteers from the US Air Force Academy opinion surveys the researchers analyzed. The sample was â€Å"balanced† and the study’s conclusions were tragically predictable. (I suspect as an old soldier, my conclusions on this work were also tragically predictable. ) Paul Bartone et. l. (2002) conducted a quantitative longitudinal study on a large body of students over a four year period with multiple regression procedures to identify which aspects of a student’s personality could be used to successfully predict a particular students success within the Corps of Cadets at West Point. Over 1000 cadets were studied over a four year period of time. The study revealed a gender affect with females scoring higher than males. Motivation to Lead: Research on the motives for undertaking leadership roles in the Israel Defense For ces (IDF) by Amit, et. l. (2007) was a mixed methodology study cross referencing the author’s quantitative â€Å"Motivation to Lead† (MTL) instrument with the qualitative leadership assessment of 420 Israeli soldiers. The MTL instrument was administered to 420 soldiers upon completion of basic training and compared to their individual assessments from that period. The study of military leadership can take many forms; quantitative, qualitative or mixed methodology. The form of the research is determined by the researcher’s epistemological and theoretical perspectives.Each study has the opportunity of providing significant contributions. At the same time, each study contends with the limitations imposed by its particular approach. Is there then the ability to select a specific style of research which might be most applicable to the study of military leadership? This student would have to conclude that there is not. Taken from a simply pragmatist point of view, mil itaries are highly complex social structures and to be effective a wise researcher selects an appropriate methodology to most effectively investigate the issue at hand.QUESTION_2: Charan, Drotter, and Noel (2001) posit â€Å"there is a particular gestalt to leadership. † Leadership style is an element of this gestalt. Transformational and transactional leadership styles have been portrayed in the literature as both oppositional and complimentary leadership styles (Bass, 1985). Identify the distinctions between transformational and transactional leadership styles. Analyze the relevant scholarly literature and cite examples illustrating the influence of these leadership styles. Transactional and Transformational Leadership DefinedThe study of transformational and transactional leadership styles has dominated the last quarter of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. Dr. J. M. Burns (1978) was the first to conceptualize transformational leadership. However, shor tly thereafter through numerous books and articles, Dr. Bernard Bass became recognized as the major proponent of the transformational leadership concept. Transactional leadership is the older of the two conceptualizations and stems from the early work on Scientific Management (Taylor, 1911). Transformational Leadership Bass’s (1985) conceptualization of leadership initially included seven leadership factors, which he initially labeled charisma, inspirational, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, contingent reward, management by exception and laissez-faire leadership† (Avolio & Bass, 1999). Bass later exchanged the term â€Å"charisma† for the term â€Å"idealized influence† for semantic reasons. When compared to traditional leadership theories, which emphasized rational processes; the study of transformational leadership emphasizes emotions and values. Yukl, 1999) Of the seven total leadership factors Bass conceptualized, there were four which applied specifically to transformational leadership. Those four leadership components were idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. Idealized influence (originally charisma) implies that followers respect, admire and trust the leader, emulate their behavior, assume their values, are committed to achieving the leaders vision and make personal sacrifices towards that goal.This dedication stems from three major sources; the leader being moral and ethical, the leader’s dedication to the organization and the people within the organization, and the leader’s confidence in the competence of the people within the organization to successfully accomplish the organizational vision. It is the emotional connection between the leader and the followers of the organization. Perceptions of the transformational leader are at least as important as the actual actions of the transformational leader.The power of a transforma tional leader â€Å"is, at least in part, an attribution based on the perceptions of a leader’s behaviors† (Feinberg, Ostroff, & Burke, 2005). â€Å"Based on the leader’s behaviors, followers will form some consensual attribution about the leader† (Feinberg et al. , 2005). It is in such a way that transformational leaders can enhance collective efficacy by providing â€Å"emotional and ideological explanations that link followers’ individual identities to the collective identity of their organization† (Walumbwa, Peng, Lawler, & Kan, 2004).A transformative leader has a gift for seeing what is emotionally important to their followers. â€Å"Transformational leaders rely on empathy to understand followers’ thoughts, feelings, and points of view† (Barbuto & Burbach, 2006). The leader communicates on an emotional level, as well as an intellectual level, exuding confidence and stimulating similar feelings in their followers. Through this emotional connection the transformational leader gains their followers commitment to a shared organizational vision. A transformational leader’s moral and ethical behavior is a major key to their connection with their followers.It is about doing the right thing not simply avoiding doing the wrong thing. Of all the attributes of a transformative leader, perceived integrity is perhaps the single most important element of their success. â€Å"Leader integrity correlated most strongly with rater satisfaction and rater perceptions of leadership effectiveness† (Parry & Proctor-Thomson, 2002). The importance of leadership integrity can perhaps be illustrated by the rapid decline of the Rev. James Baker and his wife Tammy Fay Baker. At one point, the Rev. Baker was the head of a highly successful television evangelical Christian Ministry.The ministry had a huge following and significant fund raising capability. Upon the announcement that the Rev. Baker was being charged w ith the embezzlement of millions of dollars, the news quickly spread and the ministry quickly folded. His image of moral integrity had disappeared. Inspirational motivation refers to the leader’s enthusiasm and optimism in creating a vision of the future. A transformative leader uses the emotional connection they have developed with their followers to transmit excitement and confidence. For the followers, the vision is clear, exciting and achievable.At the beginning of the Second World War, the British Cabinet debated surrender to Germany. The only man who voted to continue fighting was Winston Churchill. He offered the British people nothing but â€Å"Blood, sweat, toil and tears†. He promised that if the British Empire lasted another thousand years, this would be Brittan’s â€Å"Finest Hour†. He instilled a clear, exciting and achievable vision of the future. A transformative leader attempts to intellectually stimulate each follower. The leader encourag es followers to think in new ways and emphasizes problem solving.They allow latitude in action and encourage the use of reasoning before taking action. â€Å"Leaders create situational contexts and conditions in which followers engage in creative efforts to accomplish their goals† (D. I. Jung, 2000). They understand that to optimize organizational health and growth, the talents of each member must be optimized. Overly formalized organizational structures which place the emphasis upon member seniority over member talent are at risk of atrophy. In a free market society, such organizations soon fail.The transformative leader provides individualized consideration to all members of the organization. They delegate projects so as to create individual learning experiences for their followers. Then they provide coaching and developmental counseling with the ultimate goal of personnel development. They treat each follower as an individual and attempt to be responsive to their individua l goals and aspirations. â€Å"Leaders pay attention to each individual’s need for achievement and growth by acting as a coach or mentor† (Boerner, Eisenbeiss, & Griesser, 2007). The transforming leader looks for potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower. The result of transforming leadership is the relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents† (Burns, 1978). The effective transactional leader is described as a leader who can identify the expectations of his or her followers and can respond to them fully so as to satisfy them by establishing a close link between effort and reward (D. I.Jung, 2000). The result of the emotional, intellectual and caring approach exhibited by the transformational leader is that they connect with their followers. â€Å"Interpersonal skill was positively correlated with most factors of tra nsformational leadership, suggesting that interpersonal skill was an influential component in the development of transformational leadership style† (Hayashi & Ewert, 2006). It is that connection which gives them the power to motivate. The transformative leader â€Å"motivates followers to do more than originally expected† (B. M. Bass, 1985).No matter what way the transformational leader chooses to implement their leadership, the â€Å"followers of transformational leaders demonstrate high levels of job satisfaction and commitment, and less withdrawal intentions† (Walumbwa et al. , 2004). â€Å"Transformational leaders are able to influence their followers by connecting followers’ self-concept to the mission of the group† (Walumbwa et al. , 2004). Transformative leaders are pro-actively engaged within their organization. They feel empowered; because they believe that they can influence their environment. (Barbuto & Burbach, 2006).Transformative leade rs believe they can make a difference and they can. Transformational leadership is a predictor of collective efficacy and plays an important role in the achievement of organizational goals. â€Å"Studies have consistently revealed that transformational leadership is positively related to work outcomes† (Walumbwa et al. , 2004). Statistically, people simply work better when they believe in what they are working for. Studies â€Å"have consistently shown stronger relationships to effectiveness outcomes for transformational as compared to transactional leadership† (Seltzer & Bass, 1990).Transactional Leadership In contrast to transformational leaders who attempt to connect with their followers on an emotional level and inspire them with a vision of the future, â€Å"transactional leaders cater to their followers’ immediate self-interests† (B. M. Bass, 1999b). Transactional leadership at the core involves a simple social exchange process where the leader clar ifies what the followers need to do as their part of a transaction and then compensates them for their effort. Transactional leadership tends to be based on an exchange process whereby followers are rewarded for accomplishing specific goals† (D. I. Jung, 2000). Attempts by subordinates to go beyond their assigned task are generally not welcome. Followers are not expected or motivated to create new solutions for the benefit of the organization or with the goal of changing their personal status within the organization. Transactional leadership was widely adopted as the preferred management style enshrined in Frederick Taylors concept of scientific management (1911).All employees were to be treated in the same fashion. Uniformity was fairness. â€Å"Transactional leadership is explicitly designed to clearly define and reward in-role performance† (Boerner et al. , 2007). The employee does what is required; then they receive a reward for their service. Transactional leadersh ip, within scientific management, is implicitly designed to insure compliance with simple pre-designated functions. It should be noted that unlike transformational leadership, philosophically there is not a moral component to transactional leadership.The only moral obligation of the leader is to fulfill the implicit and explicit terms of their agreement with the followers. It may be argued that the lack of a moral basis within transactional leadership and scientific management was the logical underpinning which supported the labor abuses during the early industrial revolution. The principal approaches to transactional leadership as defined by Bass (1985) include; contingent reward, management by exception (both active and passive) and laissez-faire leadership.Within contingent reward approach, the transactional leader provides rewards if follower performs in accordance with the employment contract or if the follower expends the required effort for the achievement of a designated tas k. The employee participation does not extend beyond the designated task. Henry Ford and the early Ford Motor Corporation are great examples of transactional leadership and contingent reward system. Henry became financially successful and legendary by the perfection of the assembly line in automotive production.The employees of Ford Motor were expected to perform specific functions in a highly regulated environment. For their participation, Ford Motor employees were comparatively well rewarded with a high hourly rate and benefits, but it was clear the company was transactional in nature and not interested in potential contributions they might make outside what had been hired for. Ford paid well but was simply buying their time. Management by exception is the concept where a leader generally avoids giving direction if the existing processes are operating at expected levels. Followers operate independently so long as performance goals are met.Leadership personnel are separate from the followers and active engagement with them is the exception rather than rule. There are active and passive approaches to management by exception. Within active management by exception, the leader only intervenes if there is a deviation from expected organizational performance but is proactive in the measurement of that performance. The leader looks for mistakes, irregularities, exceptions and failures and then takes corrective action whenever they are identified. Within the passive approach to leadership by exception, the leader is reactive.The leader waits to be informed about errors and deviances before taking action. If the leader is in an adversarial situation with their workers, the first the time a reactive leader may hear of a problem is when it has evidenced itself outside his organization. When your company is making its first delivery to a new customer, is not the time any leader wants to hear of a problem with their product. Management by laissez-faire is often defined as the hands off style of management. A laissez-faire manager provides little or no direction to the followers and provides them as much freedom as practical.While, laissez-faire maybe conceptualized by some as liberating, it is often very difficult for followers which receive little or no direction. Laissez-faire often indicates significant emotional limitations of the leader. â€Å"laissez-faire leadership style was negatively correlated with all the constructs of emotional intelligence† (Hayashi & Ewert, 2006). Transactional leadership may be closer to the concept of management than it is to the concept of an inspirational transformative leader. A manager is simply concerned with insuring the processes they are supervising continue to operate within acceptable performance levels.They are not concerned with the establishment of an emotional connection with, or the development of their subordinates. A transactional leader could be directive or participative (B. M. Bass, 1998) but because at the core, transactional leadership is the exchange of employer money for employees time there cannot be pseudo-transactional leadership. Failure to fulfill the explicit or implied terms of an employment contract is emotional, legal and moral fraud. It is quickly discovered and the relationship terminated. The employer who fails to meet payroll on a Friday, will find few employees on the job comeMonday morning. The employee who fails to perform within the standards expected will soon find themselves without work. Transactional and Transformational Leadership Synthesized Since Bass (1985) introduced the concept of transformational leadership many have viewed transactional and transformational leadership as diametric ends of a leadership continuum, each style exclusive of the other. Others have seen transformative and transactional leadership styles as simply complementary. However, neither such conceptualization is adequate. The interrelationship of the two leadership s tyles is much more complex.For purposes of this paper, I will use the term â€Å"organizational context† to refer to the entirety of an organizations external environment. I am using the term â€Å"organizational environment† to refer to an organizations internal and cultural environment. Organizational context and organizational environment are interrelated and dictate the predominant leadership style appropriate for the situation. Organizational Context It has been argued that organizations succeed when they are well connected to external environment. Those connections range across a wide spectrum of issues and players including customers, suppliers, regulators, etc.The life of the organization depends upon its connectivity and responsiveness to the entirety of its external context. That connectivity is considered in two of the four factors of the strategic planning acronym SWOT. (Pickton & Wright, 1998) Both opportunities and threats are to be found in the external organizational context. Some contexts require organizational participants to have large investments in hard capital, such as assembly lines or blast furnaces. Other contexts require organizational participants to have large investments in soft capital such as the software industry with its requirement for a highly educated work force.To a very large degree, the industry context will dictate the organizational environment required for long term success. Organizational Environment Organizational environment â€Å"has a powerful effect on the performance and long-term effectiveness of organizations† (Masood, Dani, Burns, & Backhouse, 2006). There is a large body of evidence that â€Å"transformational leadership has been positively correlated with how effective the leader is perceived by subordinates†¦ how satisfied the subordinates are with the leader and how well subordinates perform as rated by the leader† (Hater & Bass, 1988).The followers of a transformational l eader â€Å"produce high levels of subordinate effort and performance that went beyond what would occur with a transactional approach† (Seltzer & Bass, 1990). As importantly, the increased effort and performance was accompanied by â€Å"higher levels of creativity measured by divergent thinking among group members† (D. I. Jung, 2000). To do this the transformative leader has to â€Å"establish an organizational environment in which subordinates feel safe in trying out innovative approaches without the fear of punishment for failure† (D.I. Jung, 2000). Such transformative â€Å"followership† is vital within an appropriate context. Most of an organizations context is outside managements control, therefore the internal organizational environment must be constructed in such a way as to optimize external connectivity. There are some organizational contexts in which individual initiative and creativity are largely undesirable, for example, within a basic servic es organization, an engineering organization or within a government agency. Basic services tend to be highly repetitive.The development of a transformative organizational vision in an industry which removes trash or delivers mail tends to meaningless for those who are doing the actual function. As illustrative, I once had an acquaintance who was a postman by profession. I indicated my belief that it was the postman who made commerce happen and brought messages with life and emotional connections from one person to the next. He informed me that his job was simply â€Å"to put paper into the right slots†. It is hard to be inspired through the daily routine.The relationship government agencies have with their employees is highly transactional. They are â€Å"generally dominated by a hierarchy culture, as evidenced by large numbers of standardized procedures, multiple hierarchical levels, and an emphasis on rule reinforcement† (Masood et al. , 2006). Within all transaction al governmental organizations, militaries tend to be the most hierarchical and transactional. The context of military operations changes comparatively slowly. Because of the life and death nature of any military endeavor the inclination towards scientific management is compounded.Military organizations are â€Å"dominated by the hierarchy culture, the leadership style shown is that of organizing, controlling, monitoring, administering, coordinating, and maintaining efficiency† (Masood et al. , 2006). Operationally, military’s tend to be very scientific in their nature and highly transactional in their leadership style. The military organizational environment prizes compliance over creativity. To be successful within an army any individual needs to be first and foremost a transactional leader.This has historically led to organizational atrophy and the cliche that the army is always getting ready to fight the last war. The bayonet charge was one of the principal techniqu es used by the French Army under Napoleon Bonaparte. It became a deeply ingrained part of the French Army’s organizational environment. It was only after the deaths of a million French soldiers and a mutiny by the army that the French Higher Command concluded bayonet charges against machine guns were not wise. The First World War taught the French Army the best way to fight was from well fortified fixed positions.During the 1920s and the 1930s, at great expense, the French Army built the â€Å"impregnable† Maginot Line. The line was circumvented in 1940 and the French Army fell in less than a month to the new German Blitzkrieg. At the other end of the spectrum is the industry context of a high tech Silicon Valley development firm. It is an industry context which is rapidly developing with new and dramatic innovations every year. It is a market which is so dynamic that a company with last year’s technology is soon â€Å"last year’s company†.Of neces sity the organizational environment needs to be characterized by a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and creative workplaces. Unlike the very tall and hierarchical military organizations, high tech organizations tend to be entrepreneurial and flat with divisions operating semi autonomously. If an organization is to succeed in such a context, people need to stick their necks out and take risks. It is â€Å"essential that individual creative ideas and divergent perspectives be pronounced and shared with co-workers† (Boerner et al. 2007). Effective organizational leadership needs to be â€Å"visionary, innovative and risk oriented† (Masood et al. , 2006). Because of the context in which they function a high tech organization requires an environment which prizes creativity over compliance. Organizational Leadership Comparative long term organizational success is based upon the ability of the organization to align and interconnect with its external context. To achieve such alignmen t an internal environment must be created to match that external context.The appropriate internal environment is best created by senior management with an aligned leadership style; the transformative leader for an open free exchange environment and the transactional leader for highly structured military environment. It takes a transformative tech geek to create and operate the internal environment of a high tech company in a fast pace industry. It takes a transactional general to manage an army in a scientific and orderly fashion. Hopefully without the atrophy which was evidenced by the French Army twice in the twentieth century. Leadership is not in itself sufficient.It is the role of any senior leader to insure the organizational environment is aligned with the organizational context. This includes, â€Å"structural changes, job redesign and revised human resource practices are needed to add weight to culture change efforts† (Masi, 2000). The expectation of transformative b ehavior within a hierarchical autocratic organizational structure is unrealistic. An expectation of organizational success by a transactional leader in a high tech environment may be unwarranted. Participative and Authoritarian Leadership Unfortunately, â€Å"many people equate being transformational with being participative† (B.M. Bass, 1999a). In contrasting transformative and transactional leadership, it is important not to confuse transformative leadership with a participative leadership style or transactional leadership with authoritarian leadership style. â€Å"Transformational leaders can be directive or participative, authoritarian or democratic† (B. M. Bass, 1999b). Winston Churchill is an example of a great transformative leader however he was not a particularly participative leader. Churchill would listen in cabinet meetings, and then he would make a decision. Once made, he was immoveable.Likewise, Adolph Hitler was certainly a transformative leader, inspiri ng millions to die for his vision of a future Germany, but Hitler was also clearly authoritarian in his approach to government and military operations. Transformational â€Å"leaders can be directive or participative† (B. M. Bass, 1998, p. 12). Transformative Leadership and Transactional Leadership Synthesized Such a characterization of the context and environment of necessity aligning with transactional and transformative leadership styles is obviously much too simplistic. A synthesis of the two styles requires much more.History is full of examples of dynamic, inspirational and transactional military leaders acting in a transformational way. Likewise American industrial history is full of highly successful transformational leaders acting in a transactional fashion. All organizations require both transactional and transformational leadership. It is a matter of position and degree. The intertwining of transformational and transactional leadership styles depends as much upon th e position of an individual leader within the organization as the organizational environment within the industrial context.An army is a large organization managed on scientific, transactional principles but an army also needs transformative leadership. A general leading his army needs to be transformational when providing a vision as to why the army was going to fight. Upon assuming command of the Third Army in Europe, Gen. George Patton gave a stirring transformational speech to his soldiers as to why they were fighting Germany and as to why they were destined to succeed. The speech was purely transformational. However Gen. Patton was as clearly transactional when giving orders to his army.Later research documented this effect â€Å"as was expected from military leaders, senior staff officers scored the highest on transformational leadership† (Eid et al. , 2004). Can an army platoon leader be transformative in their leadership style? Certainly, but much more often they are c alled to be transactional in the accomplishment of the generals transformative vision. In contrast, the head of a high tech company must be substantially more transformational than military leaders. In a military organization, people are secondary to the mission and if necessary their lives are expendable.Within a high tech organization, the employees are often the greatest asset of the company. To lose the developers and engineers of a high tech company through the actions of a transactional authoritarian leader would signal financial disaster. Any high tech company needs their employees to be diligent, brilliant and loyal. The leader must be transformative to create the environment which will limit employee turnover; however that same leader must be transactional when addressing housekeeping issues. If you want someone to clean a toilet, it is very difficult to inspire them with visions of the future.It is much easier and much more practical to inspire them in a transactional way with an extra dollar an hour. Layering If we are attempting to synthesize the concepts of transactional and transformational leadership we must consider a strong element of layering. Conceptually based upon Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, (Maslow, Stacey, & DeMartino, 1958) if any leader cannot provide basic transactional benefits, such as food, then it is very hard for them to provide transformational leadership. Grand vision often fades when an individual’s stomach is empty. There are certainly dramatic historic examples of this layering effect.During the Revolution the American Army encamped at Valley Forge Pennsylvania. Gen. George Washington had been able to inspire his army with the transformative vision of a new independent nation. However, hundreds of soldiers weekly were deserting and few were reenlisting. The army simply had no food with which to feed them. It was the leadership of Gen. Wayne and Gen. Lee who were able to provide provisions during the Valley For ge encampment which overcame the basic transactional needs of the American Patriots. In the modern business world, the same transactional / transformational layering effect is clear to see.A software engineer may work for a reduced salary in anticipation of their corporate stock options being highly valuable some day. However, the first time a pay check does not arrive, they are rightfully looking for a new employer. The Transactional-Transformational Gestalt to Leadership Early research into leadership focused upon the personality traits which a successful leader exhibited. (Lowin, Hrapchak, & Kavanagh, 1969) There was debate as to whether appropriate leadership traits could be taught or if they were somehow genetically inherent within unique individuals.But it was accepted that a person’s personality traits are what made one individual a leader and one individual a follower. The difficulty is the concept of leadership by its very nature is developmental. Senior organization al leaders were once first line supervisors. In their book, The Leadership Pipeline (2001) Ram Charan et. al. wrote of the â€Å"gestalt to leadership†. Leadership development â€Å" takes the form of six career passages†¦ involve a major change in job requirements, demanding new skills, time applications and work values† (Charan et al. , 2001, p. 6).If leadership was fixed in an individual’s personality then a shift in the leadership balance between transactional and transformational as an individual traversed those career passages, could not be accomplished. But a myriad of such changes in the approach to leadership go on every day â€Å"maybe that transformational and transactional leadership behaviors are more malleable, more transient and less trait like than one might otherwise believe† (Bono & Judge, 2004). There is a strong element of sequencing when we think in terms of transactional and transformative leadership.As an individual moves throu gh the various stages of leadership, their approach to leadership needs to change. A first line supervisor is responsible for a few individuals in a single department. It is the supervisor’s role to insure each individual completes their assigned organizational tasks. The leadership a first line supervisor provides is mainly transactional in nature. By the time a leader has reached senior management that individual needs to have shifted from fundamentally transactional leadership form to fundamentally transformational leadership form.They spend much less of their time supervising and much more of their time setting forth organizational vision. To be successful any organization needs to assist developing leaders to successfully traverse through all the stages from first line transactional supervisors to transformational upper management. QUESTION_3: According to Conger, â€Å"Two fundamental processes often lead to leadership derailment – the leader's own potential for narcissism and control, and the dynamics of dependence cultivated among followers† (Conger, 2002).The framework for evaluating leadership provides an accurate assessment of strengths and weaknesses based on what it takes to become a leader in our society, with specific behavioral goals, and developmental activities. Compare and contrast the leadership styles between a great leader and a dark leader. Analyze and evaluate the impact of cultural values on how dark leaders and great leaders are defined and accepted. Reference: Conger, Jay A. , Danger of Delusion. The qualities that make Leaders Great, Financial Times; London (UK); November 29, 2002 Leadership DefinedBy definition leadership is the ability for one person to influence and coordinate the actions of a group of people towards a common goal. Leadership can be exercised in such small contexts as a single individual influencing his or her friends to go out to a movie or as grandiose as a politician rising to be the leade r of a country. Leadership can be gained and lost; it is always ephemeral. Leadership counts. â€Å"We maintain that individuals, in high-power positions can and do make a difference in the way organizations behave in their environments† (Flynn & Staw, 2004).Organizations with transformative leaderships are more likely to smoothly operate towards their organizational goals. Companies with dynamic transformational leaders are better at attracting shareholders, as evidenced by increased stock prices. (Flynn & Staw, 2004) Leaders serve â€Å"as a role model for the team members and increased cooperation among the members† (Tucker & Russell, 2004). They reach their highest level of influence and power when they have been able to establish a personal, emotional connection with their followers.The concept of follower identification is defined as the condition when members of a group come to personally identify themselves as followers of a particular leader. (Gardner & Avolio , 1998) They are no longer individuals but conceptualize themselves as disciples of a particular leader. By closely indentifying the leader, followers draw their personal image and sense of self from their association with that leader. (Sinha & Jackson, 2006) The concept of leadership is inherently amoral. Leadership ca

Monday, July 29, 2019

Disparities in Pain Management in the Emergency Department Research Paper

Disparities in Pain Management in the Emergency Department - Research Paper Example The authors provide an overview from ancient civilizations to the modern theories. The modern theories include Melzack and Wall's Gate Control Theory of Pain. The knowledge in the article Theories of pain: From specificity to the gate, control can be used to understand the character of pain as well as its symptoms that reflect the significant aspects of the entire bodily suffering of the human body. The article provides more information on the manner in which pain functions including its structure and pathways. Acute Pain Management by Warfield CA and Kahn CH The stated research problem of article Acute Pain Management is that there is lack of professional and public awareness of pain management strategies. In addition, Warfield & Khan state that the significance of the problem is that medical professionals, as well as the public, should acquire knowledge on pain management in order to reduce the extent of postoperative pain. The purpose of the study is to investigate the situation o f acute pain management in the United States hospital. Additionally, the article was aimed at assessing the attitudes of adults in America in relation to postoperative pain control. A certain patient that had undergone through surgery believed that he was supposed to feel pain. This perception was contributed to by lack of adequate information on postoperative pain management. If the patient were aware that there are methods that can be used to reduce pain after surgery, he would have agreed to feel the pain.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Service marketing assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Service marketing - Assignment Example Lower expectation can however make for the greatest satisfaction and with it word of mouth is an important and vital in the journey towards the purchase of the service. It is important to determine the target market and set an objective which would help the firm to determine the area which is of interest to the marketer (Greechie, 2008). The marketing objectives for a brand in the hospitality industry often includes customer satisfaction and gaining the trust of the customer which would increase the customer loyalty towards the brand and make the customers come back to the same brand again and again. The service sector chosen is hotel industry, hospitality services as it has been defined to be the friendliest sector and it is important to take care of the needs of the customers. The service providers in the hospitality sector need to set an optimum level of services for the customers as a high level of expectation might result in negative outflow. As per Bitner and Tetrealt (1990) cu stomer tends to look at the basic needs such as in a hotel customer would look for clean room, a secure room and treat the customers as guest (Kumar, 2010). Hospitality Industry The hotel to be dealt in with is a unique kind of hotel which aims to provide customer satisfaction to the highest level. ... According to Brown (2002) hotels should develop strong brand in order to create loyal customers because it is the brand that wins are preferred by the customers. Unique concepts of hotel which are very much famous and attractive to the customers are the themed hotels, design hotels, boutique hotels lifestyle hotels, co-branded hotels and service quality hotels. Thus the type of unique hotel taken into account is lifestyle hotels. As per the Overlook Hospitality Management (2002) lifestyle hotels are mainly designed to fill the emotional needs of guests. To take an example, the largest hotel in the globe with about 3500 hotels, the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) which launched a new brand named Hotel Indigo a lifestyle brand, lodging alternatives for travelers who are seeking a hotel and not just merely a room. According to PWC, (2003) lifestyle hotel is small yet fashionable and stylish and at the same time offers excellent value for money. Porter argues that for organization to produce better result it is important to adapt the differentiation strategies. The company can differentiate through charging a high price, a premium price and also to chose attributes which are different from the competitors. Therefore the unique hotels tend to differentiate themselves from the normal or the traditional hotels as they pose few unique features. The hospitality industry is a competitive industry and thus it is essential to differentiate the products. As per Kotler (1997) new products can easily convert undifferentiated products and offerings. The hotels with unique concepts can position itself through differentiation. The unique concept hotels offers almost the same kind of product which a

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Proposed European Union Financial Transaction Tax Essay

Proposed European Union Financial Transaction Tax - Essay Example The general population and normal business ventures were to remain unaffected (Vella, Fuest and Tim, 2011). The proposed tax was to be separate from normal bank charge that some regional administrations are in the process of levying on monetary institutions to help in shielding them from the fees of any potential bailouts. Research has revealed that the tax has the potential of gathering about 58 billion Euros per year. However, the member states of the European Union are still undecided on whether to agree to the proposal (Beck, 2011:73). Great Britain is one of the states that are vehemently opposing the discharge of the FTT. The England admin has highlighted numerous reasons sustaining their negative stand on the concern. This figure represented about 37% of the total overseas exchange appeal in the world. In London, the dollar trade is two times as big as in America. In addition, the Euro trade in the city is over twice the amount traded in the whole EU region (Benton 2003:54). T he United Kingdom’s fiscal services sector is the leading industry in England, having overtaken the production sector in the 1990s. Evidence of this presents itself in the fact that, in the 2009/2010 financial year, the British government raked in 53.4 billion pounds in tax proceeds from the industry. This amount amounted to 11% of the total collection in the country. This amount is significantly larger than the sum of the country’s annual military budget, and is nearly equivalent to the country’s education budget allocation (Stevis, 2012). The county’s monetary services sector represents about 28% of the country’s entire sum of service-related exports, with the banks leading the charge. Due to its status as the biggest financial force, in consideration with all other European Union members, the country stands to be the biggest loser from the introduction of the FTT tax law (Bijlisma, 2011:485). According to the United Kingdom administration, the i mposing of the FTT tax law will greatly affect the overall country’s interest, including destabilizing the economy, and influencing the growth of volatility rates in its markets. In addition, the tax will not bring in any substantial returns. The country has presented to the European Union filed reports detailing the numerous potential damages and adverse effects that the law, if made operational, would inflict on it (The Telegraph, 2012). The government is afraid that the law will discourage derivative trade, increase trading-center volatility, and drastically lessen its markets’ liquidity ratios. In addition, they argue that the tax will lead to higher rates of unemployment, increase the tendency to evade tax among citizens, and greatly deplete the current amount of available tax proceeds (House of Lords.). Research on the potential impacts of the proposed tax has shown that the tax will affect the long-term growth in the EU by 1.75 %. This percentage, when broken do wn, implies to a cost of about 25.55 billion pounds to the UK economy (Boyle, 2009:342). However, the figure is just an average, and analysts forecast that the total sum could be far much larger, considering the country’s uncommonly outsized fiscal sector. In addition, research on the matter reveals that the tax would influence a fall of derivative transactions amounting to about 90%. The country’

Friday, July 26, 2019

Difference between B2B and B2C Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Difference between B2B and B2C Marketing - Essay Example The relationship shared by a company with external clients, whether general consumers or other businesses, is a vital aspect and requires careful strategic planning. B2B marketing and B2C marketing have therefore evolved into important areas of study in marketing. The current paper aims at understanding the differences existing between the two marketing models. The research has been carried out in respect of the B2B and B2C marketing strategies existing in the airline industry in reference to Qantas airlines (Basole and Rouse, 2008). While marketing products to other businesses, preference is given to the logic of the product. Time and cost saving are the most important features which are highlighted. B2B marketing involves careful strategic analysis of the different organizational processes. The need for seeking an in-depth knowledge regarding a firm’s operations, supply chain, value chain and overall resource management process is higher in the B2B marketing process (Vargo a nd Lusch, 2008). Relations with suppliers are also seen to hold an important place in such a marketing approach. In contrast to such marketing strategies, B2C marketing strategies center upon attracting consumers by highlighting the benefits and the uses of the product. Consumers are seen to remain more focused on the features and uses of a product (Vargo and Lusch, 2008). Price and quality are also important factors which should be considered while marketing products to the consumers. There are also fundamental differences in the manner in which the products and services are presented in B2B and B2C marketing. In B2B marketing, products are presented using consultative sales techniques.

Spss Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Spss - Essay Example The coefficient of correlation r is 0.004877, which shows a weak positive correlation between the total revenue and C.E.O’s annual salary. If total revenue increases the annual salary of the C.E.O’s also increases slightly. The U.S. Senate passed S. 1023, the "Travel Promotion Act of 2009" (TPA) in September, 2009. TPA calls for the establishment of the Corporation for Travel Promotion as an independent nonprofit corporation to promote leisure, business and scholarly visits to the U.S. In October, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Travel Promotion Act (H.R. 1035), sending this bill back to the Senate for one last vote. The U.S. Senate finally passed this Bill (78 to 10) on February 25, 2010 and President Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 into law on March 4, 2010. This Act calls for the creation of the Corporation for Travel Promotion (now Brand USA) which will allocate financial resources to promote the U.S. as an international destination. The promotion is funded through a matching program featuring up to $100 million in private sector contributions and a $10 fee on foreign travelers who do not pay $131 for a visa to enter the United States. The fee will be collected once every two years in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization. No money is provided by U.S. taxpayers.  It is estimated that international promotion will generate 1.6 million addition international visitors to the U.S. and create $1.6 billion in visitor spending annually. Japan is targeted as one of the major countries for aggressive promotion by the Tourism Industries Office in the Department of Commerce and Brand USA (the newly created public and private partnership responsible for marketing USA implemented by the Travel Promotion Act). As a tourism market analyst specialized in Japan inbound travel to the U.S., you

Thursday, July 25, 2019

The Book of Kells and its influence on the State of Arizona Research Paper

The Book of Kells and its influence on the State of Arizona - Research Paper Example It contains full pages of extraneous decoration for the canon tables; symbols and text of the evangelists Matthew (the Man), Mark (the Lion), Luke (the Calf) and John (the Eagle); the opening words of the Gospels; the Virgin and Child; a portrait of Christ, and complex narrative scenes such as the earliest to survive in gospel manuscripts which corresponds the arrest of Christ and his temptation by the Devil. The word Christ has been abbreviated with letters Chi Rho in medieval manuscripts and Chi Rho page is the most famous page in medieval art which introduces Matthew’s account of the nascence. However, the book is not a full copy of the Vulgate and contains a number of variations from the Vulgate and also some uncorrected errors. It is assumed that around 30 folios of the text had been lost in the medieval and early modern periods and some pages are deteriorated.3 According to experts, the handwriting differs throughout the text therefore the artwork seemed to have produced by at least three different artists.4 Today the manuscript contains 340 folios with 330 by 250mm dimensions, and scriptures are written with a range of pigments including yellow, red, green, purple and black. The manuscript is believed to have created by Celtic monks in year 800, but the date and origin of the book has been a controversial issue. The widely accepted belief is that the text creation might have started at Iona from where it was brought to Abbey of Kells, when Vikings invaded the island of Iona, where the artwork might have been continued to be undertaken. The text was revered at Kells as a souvenir of Saint Columba throughout the medieval periods. The Book of Kells is the considered to be one of the finest manuscripts and described as â€Å"the chief treasure of the Western world†. The Annals of Ulster record stealth of the book in year 1006 and that it discovered again after many years, stripped off its ornate gold. Around 1653, the Book of Kells was sent to Dublin, Ireland for safety concerns and after few years it was brought to Trinity College, Dublin where it has been on display in library over there. The text has been bound in four volumes, since 1953, of which two volumes can commonly be seen in library, one opened to display a major decorated page, and the other to show two pages of script.5 A quote of Sir Edward Sullivan demonstrates the concept of how mind-bending the artwork of The Book of Kells: "The finest draftsmen of the entire world have tried to recreate the Chi-Rho page, and have failed." Anyone in today's modern world could not recreate it as it takes an ineffable artist working in the Middle Ages to create something.6 However, in 1951, the first facsimile of the Book of Kells was produced by a Swiss publisher, Urs Graf Verlag Bern, in black-and-white photographs and color reproductions as well. Second facsimile in full color was produced in 1974 by photographers Thames and Hudson in Dublin, and included all the full-p age detailed illustrations and also an ornamentation representative section in the manuscript. In the 1980s, Faksimile-Verlag Luzern produced with permission from Trinity College,

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Hello platform Report advice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hello platform Report advice - Essay Example uiry from Booz Allen Hamitlon company that wants to know whether to continue with internal or in-house software development or acquire their social software from another company. Like many other companies, Booz Allen Hamitlon Company has to make sure all its stakeholders understand what system development means and what purposes it is meant to serve. This information should be known by both insiders and outsiders in order to make the evaluation of their decision easy to implement. This is so because effective partnership is significant in creating a close and mutual and respectful working relationship between developers and users of any software project (Maier 1998). To take the best step, there are issues that Booz Allen Hamitlon must sort out. First, the company must identify a large IT problem that needs to be solved. Jessup and Valacich (2003) advise that the problem should then be broken down into several smaller and manageable pieces that can be translated into computer programs. The social software should join each program into an overall comprehensive system that caters for the whole problem as illustrated in the below diagram by Jessup and Valacich (2003). At this point, any company can discover the complexity of the program needed and weigh options with regard to the expertise it has at hand. Where the company realizes that its personnel are not competent enough to develop such software, it should consider other alternatives (FCA 2007). Incase the company realizes that their problem needs software that their personnel can develop, then it should consider developing it in-house if the time consumed and resources needed are less than the cost of purchasing or securing the development otherwise. As Booz Allen Hamitlon Company considers the off-the-shelf software development, the evaluation process will be vital. This should be done by evaluating and analyzing the features, functions, benefits and costs of the viable options so as to develop the best

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Cultural Immersion Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Cultural Immersion Experience - Essay Example Initially, prior to the event, one delved into a preliminary research on the religious beliefs and practices of Filipinos, particularly those who migrated in the United States. The first part of the discourse would therefore provide a brief overview of the culture of the Filipinos, specifically focusing on attending religious services. Subsequently, one would present the personal reflection of the cultural immersion experience by addressing specifically identified concerns. According to the study written and conducted by Smith, Denton, Faris & Regnerus (2002) entitled â€Å"Mapping American Adolescent Religious Participation†, the authors revealed that â€Å"the race of American adolescents influences their religious location and levels of religious participation† (p. 608). Measured in terms of percentage of racial groups attending religious affiliations, the report revealed that: â€Å"47.7 percent of African-American youth are Baptist; 55.7 percent of Hispanic youth are Catholic; 35.5 percent of Asian youth are Catholic, while 11 percent are Budhist† (Smith, Denton, Faris, & Regnerus, 2002, p. 607). In another study written by Melendy (2000), it was disclosed that â€Å"the vast majority of Filipino Americans are Roman Catholic, although about five percent are Muslim†¦Because the majority of early Filipino immigrants to the United States were single males, few Catholics attended church with any regularity. Once families began settling in the United States, however, religion became a central component of family and community life† (Melendy: Religion, 2000, par. 1). (1) Description of the setting and presenting what was observed: The setting was at the Sacred Heart Parish which was located at E. Twiggs Street at North Florida Avenue, Tampa, Florida. I observed that during the mass, the celebrant of the mass, called the priest presided the whole ceremony; but there were some lectors and commentators who read gospel verses and lead

Monday, July 22, 2019

Freas and Geeks Media techniques Essay Example for Free

Freas and Geeks Media techniques Essay How Media Techniques Create Stereotypes in Freaks and Geeks Take a look again at high school stereotypes through the short lived television series from the late 90’s, Freaks and Geeks. Based on the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks, media techniques are used effectively to depict the different stereotypes in high school. The camera shots movements are used adequately to show the power of the bullies and the weakness of the victims. For example, when Sam Weir is approached by Alan (the bully), at lunch, the camera is pointed upwards towards Alan’s face to make him seem bigger and scarier while the camera would be pointed down on Sam’s face making him seem smaller and inferior to Alan (Kasdan 1999). This example shows effective use of media techniques by using camera shots because the audience can easily depict the two different stereotypes, the bully and the geek. Another way that media techniques are used effectively is through the use of setting. For instance, the â€Å"freaks† of the show are shown hanging around the patio which is a dirty and worn down area separated from the field and other students (Kasdan 1999). This is a clear way for the audience to see the difference from the regular students and the â€Å"freaks† therefore making this media technique effective. These two techniques show how Freaks and Geeks uses media techniques effectively to illustrate the stereotypes one might see in high school. Using media techniques such as camera shots and setting effectively is a task that Freaks and Geeks has accomplished to portray different high school stereotypes. Works Cited â€Å"Pilot.† Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series. Writ. Paul Feig. Dir. Jake Kasdan. DreamWorks, 1999. DVD.

Effect of TV Personalities to the Mass of People Essay Example for Free

Effect of TV Personalities to the Mass of People Essay This is considered to provide learners or readers with mass media information needed to help them become knowledgeable individuals in the use of mass media. Every idea is presented as simple as possible suited for each other for better understanding of concepts and guidelines. 1Media is the various means of mass communications considered as a whole, including television, radio, magazine, and newspaper, together with the people involved in their mass of people. Artists or celebrities have a big portion in media, they are the one who have the connection to the mass of people, the television industry has been considered as a very strong influence on society. The largest television stations here in the Philippines are the ABS-CBN and GMA. They provide different formats of viewing such as music, news, animation, children programs, educational, soap operas or telenovelas, fantaseryes, game shows or reality shows and many more; that might help or worsen once lifestyles. 2These programs are monitored by MTRCB (Movie Television Review Classification Board). By rating it through G, PG and SPG. Rated G (General Patronage) is for all age and viewers. In Rated PG (Parental Guidance) monitored programs, children need a parents supervision. While in Rated SPG (Strict Parental Guidance) supervised shows, children or minor should be guided strictly since it might contain theme, language, harassment, sexual, horror, or drugs that are not appropriate to their stage of development. The generation nowadays have a lots of TV personalities that known for their extraordinary talents, appeals, and by attainting the peoples expectation in their shows. The most influential personalities in today’s generation are Vice Ganda, Daniel John Padilla, Kathyrn Bernardo, Anne Curtis, Julia Montes, Pokwang, Charice Pempengco, Raymond Gutierrez, Barbie Forteza and Jake Vargas. They are involved in different project and altered act of role, some might act as kontrabida or villain and basagulero or trouble maker that in the eyes of broods they thought that it is accurate nevertheless it is incorrect. Different person has different perspective in what they see and hear. It is their choice to follow it or not, through the custody of their parents I know everyone might choose the right path. 4Since celebrities are regularly seen on television, heard over the radio, and read about in the newspapers, it is not questionable that all their moves are followed by the general public. Being aware of the great regard that people give them, celebrities do their best in order to share a positive influence to the community. There are a lot of celebrities today that share their advocacies openly for the public to follow. For instance, there are plenty of TV stars who put up their own foundations in order to fund pressing problems in the country. In addition to that, there are also a lot of personalities who willingly participate in rescue operations in times of disasters like typhoons, floods, and earthquakes. By being good example to the community, celebrities today are definitely able to show that they help in making the Philippines a better place to live in. Each artist influence or affects the lifestyles of their viewers or fans in different and little ways. Their fans might affect the way they dress, the way they speak, the way they act, or might affect one’s life. Artist could influence in positively or negatively and these are the things that this thesis will going to provide you, piece by piece. This book allows you to experience the boundless power and importance of the fields of artist and its effect to the mass of people. Come then, and let us take a trip to the world of stars, together, let us make ourselves better individualities.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Concepts of Organisational Culture

Concepts of Organisational Culture What is organisational culture? Organisational culture is often referred to as something which tells us more about the organisation. This something may be the personality, philosophy, ideology or even the overall climate of the organisation. Organisational Culture is therefore an element which differentiates each organisation from the other and gives it a unique identity (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). The managerial writers vs. the academic social scientists The debate arises when theorists try to define culture. The management academics and consultants perceive this culture as a collection of values and beliefs, myths, symbols, heroes and symbols that possess a uniform meaning for all the employees. Whereas, the academic social scientists see it as a subjective reality of values and beliefs, artefacts, myths, symbols etc. They believe that organisational culture is formed through the social interactions of the organisations members and hence it is produced and reproduced continuously (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). This essay takes up both these contrasting perspectives separately in the light of various theoretical models and the examples of real life organisations. Organisational culture: following or adopting? The Managerial writers such as ouchi,1981; Deal and Kennedy,1982; Pascale and Athos,1982; Peters and Waterman,1982 and Schien,1985; believe that culture being an attribute of the organisation is given to its members who do not participate in its formation and accept or tolerate it as the organisation has it (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). Thus it is a collection of some basic assumptions that all organisational employees share and hence if these assumptions are changed, the culture will automatically be changed (Schien, 1985 Cited in Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). Schien (1983) in his three levels of culture points out one of the sources of organisational values as those values which were the idea of a single person (founder) and are later modified by the companys current senior management. In contrast, Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) argue that if such is the case then these values may not be adopted by employees but only followed by them. And if senior management are the source of creating organisational values then these value may cause chaos when mergers and acquisitions take place. Then it will be a question of which of the older companies value will be followed in the newly formed organisation. Organisational culture as a means of unification and control The managerial writers suggest that if the basic assumptions are integrated amongst members and the organisation has a unified culture, then employee control will be possible and this will lead to greater productivity and profitability (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). On the other hand, the academic social scientists argue that a unified culture is never possible as organisational culture is pluralistic in nature due to the different subcultures present in every organisation. (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). Where managerial writer talk about extending the same unified culture to all the employees Brown (1995) argues and states the following facts that influence culture: Even if the employees are enthusiastic and intrinsically motivated as suggested by McGregors theory Y, most of them only give a fraction of their time to the organisation. They are members of other variety of clubs, societies and unions and hence they may not accept the culture whole heartedly and without any question since their demands and constraints are also influenced by these other bodies Part time or temporary workers are less likely to adopt the culture and some of them are actually working part time to avoid cultural control systems. Large numbers of people perform relatively unrewarding and undemanding jobs just for the sake of the financial reward. These workers may be only loosely attached to the organisation and may even go against a dominant culture in the organisation Contractual workers who are hired by organisations are actually members of separate organisations and it will be extremely difficult to make them feel part of the organisation. Therefore, the changing patterns of employment and organisational forms are actually impacting many of the very strict and cohesive cultures. The managerial writers believe in symbolic management of employees i.e. the use of organisational culture and selectively applying rites, ceremonials, myths, stories and legends to direct the behaviour of employees. The academic social scientists argue that since people enter organisations with different expectations, experiences, values, beliefs and motivations hence these factors also influence their behaviour in different directions In the practical world, we see companies using both these ideas, some try to reconsider their values and beliefs; and under the banner of changing culture try to come up and introduce new values and beliefs. It is argued that such attempts at changing culture may change behaviour of employees but not their deep rooted value and beliefs which do eventually have an impact on some of their behaviours (Thompson and Findlay, 1999). A simple example would be of the recent importance to corporate social responsibility. In such a case an employee may differ on his value and belief for a certain ethical issue, say the employee may not believe in child labour but what will he/she do when the company may have to outsource its manufacturing to a third world country (where majority of children are used as cheap labour) in order to cut down cost. Here, the employee may be convinced to change his behaviour and he/she may do so to save their job but at the end of the day their value and believe rema ins unchanged. On the other hand, some companies increase their employee interactions in a way that changes employee behaviour automatically. An example would be of an organisation that increases employee interactions with the customers and through this the employees are better aware of what behaviours please the customers. The changing nature of culture Another argument against the managerial writers would be that since they see organisational culture as something that has been pre determined and cannot be changed, how would they take into account the several changing factors that influence culture generally. An organisations culture may be influenced by its history, primary function and technology, its customers, its goals and objectives, size, location, top executives, strategy, structure and its environment (Mullins, 2007). The argument therefore is what happens to the culture when either of these factors changes. What will happen if there is new top executive in the company who may modify the founders ideas as per his values and beliefs? What happens if the organisation steps into a dynamic industry and requires a new structure and strategy, will its culture not automatically change or will the whole process of laying down new basic assumptions (values, beliefs, myths, stories and artefacts) will have to be put into action to ma ke the culture change? What happens if an organisation makes an international move and faces a new national culture? How will it now rely on its old stories, myths, legends and artefacts to induce a change in this new national culture? This argument is supported by the academic social scientists who consider culture to be produced and reproduced through different interactions. A fairly new concept is the learning organisation which was conceived by Peter Senge as a place where people at all levels are in a continuous state of learning and individual learning results in organisational learning (Mullins, 2007). Although it may seem as a utopian concept but it strengthens the academic social scientists view of the is culture which is in a state of continuous re-production. Therefore one can agree that the culture of the learning organisation would be one which would continuously change with every new organisational learning. At the learning organisation the has culture would be seen as one which would bound learning and may not appeal to the intrinsic sense of the employees to challenge, learn and achieve. On the contrary critiques like Harrison argue that the sum of the learning of individuals does not necessarily equal organisational learning (Mullins, 2007) Pixar is one such organisation which believes in creativity and learning at not only the artistic level but the technical level as well. The underlying reason for such a belief is that a movie contains many ideas all of which do not necessarily come from the producer or the creative head, but these ideas come from people dealing with cameras, characters, lightening etc. Pixar follows a peer culture where they have open discussions and exchange of ideas over any piece of ongoing work. They also have peers who look at and analyse daily motion work, unlike Disney where only a small senior group has the responsibility to do so. Therefore, at Pixar learning occurs from all directions and all employees which is due to its belief that everyone should have the freedom to communicate with anyone and it must be safe for anyone and everyone to offer ideas. That is how they foster collective creativity and learning (HBR, 2008). Organisational culture and the psychological contract The psychological contract of employees is another component which may be viewed in the light of the two perspectives of organisational culture. If the has culture is considered the psychological contract may be seen as the same for all employees as all share the same basic assumptions and clear controls are in place and hence the employer and employees may be contracting with each other on the same set of expectations. On the other hand the is culture will produce many different psychological contracts of employees and it will become very hard for the organisation to manage them, as each individual on the basis of their different interactions and interpretations will have a different set of expectations. (Herriot and Pemberton, 1995). The dilemma in cultural practice A major problem for an organisation can be sticking to any one of these cultural ideologies. This is due to the fact that an organisation on one hand may have an espoused culture i.e. how its senior management describes it and on the other hand it may have its in-practice culture i.e. the culture as it is experienced and lived by its members. Therefore even if it claims to be following a certain ideology it will always have more than one culture running in the organisation. Organisations rarely possess just one unified culture. One culture that superimposes the organisation culture is the stitched together patch of sub cultures in an organisation which may be overlapping and conflicting as well. (Brown, 1995) We see this conflict in the organisational culture of Nokia where on one hand it claims to nourish new ideas and innovation amongst employees (http://www.nokia.com/careers/nokia-as-an-employer/nokia-way-and-values) where as on the other hand it seems to have lost a head start at touch screen technology. This was when its stifling bureaucratic culture killed the idea of a smart phone with internet and touch screen technology and the management reasoned it to be a development Nokia would not be interested in. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/hardware/Nokias-bureaucratic-culture-troubles-new-CEO/articleshow/6637291.cms).However, recently we see that Nokia is struggling to compete in the same market. If the management would have actually maintained the culture they claim, and would have fostered idea growth, they would probably have been ahead of apple today. The concept of Organisation Socialization The managerial writers believe that a process of organisation socialization has to be followed with new employees of the organisation in order to make them learn the culture so that they can follow it and survive in the organisation. (Edgar schien, 1979 Cited in Buchanan page 650). It must be remembered that these writers believe that culture must be tolerated as it is something an organisation has. But when organisations like Disneyland are considered, it may be argued that the organisation socialization process consists of two parts. One is the formal socialization where the new recruits attend the University of Disneyland on an apprenticeship programme. This is where they learn the history, philosophy, language and values of the company. The other is the informal socialization mechanisms which are also very well developed at Disney land. New recruits at some point learn through their peers that the job they are assigned, the costume they wear and the area of the park they are allotted are actually determinants of their social status at work. At the same time they also learn about Getting back at misbehaving guests by tightening seat belts, slamming breaks suddenly and drenching people standing at river banks (Brown, 1995). Now, this informal socialisation is actually another sub culture within the organisation which is limited to the employees. Hence, this reinforces the ideo logy that culture may not necessarily be taught but may be born through social interactions. Organisational Culture and Motivation When discussing motivation and culture, one may argue how a culture of motivation may be left to be developed by the social interaction of organisational members. In such an area, the organisation may have to provide a cohesive culture which can offer employees both extrinsic rewards and intrinsic rewards such as bonuses, promotions, and stories, rites and ceremonies which create feelings of belonging. An organisation may also have to employ threats of punishments such as unwanted transfers, demotions and salary decreases to deal with certain cases of lack of motivation (Brown, 1995). Here we see that the views of managerial writers are more practical of providing a certain has form of culture to keep motivation in place. Bringing about Cultural Change The managerialist writers believe that culture can only be changed by changing the basic assumptions by the senior management (Schein 1979) we see that these writers specifically Schein are also compelled to believe and have written that when an organisation is in the last stage of its development i.e. maturity where it may also see declining profitability and loss of key people and outsiders have to be brought in to manage the organisation, such an influx of outsiders may induce cultural change. (Brown, 1995). Although, Schein states that such a change occurs due to change in the stage of organisational development (from birth and early growth to organisational midlife to organisational maturity) but it may be argued on the basis of the academic social scientists that such a change was induced by the change in key people and new social interaction induced a change in culture. Change is therefore viewed as intentional, predictable, pre-determined and brought about after careful planning, thus it follows a rational step-by-step procedure to effectively manage change(e.g. Kotter, 1996). An argument for cultural change is that changing only one factor as suggested by managerial writers such as a basic assumption may not be enough to bring about a cultural change. Ram Charan gives the example of cultural change at Home Depot involves multi-directional changes in the ways people worked to support the business model. A change was made to four main dimensions: Behaviour expectations were clarified and identification and measurement methods were put across. Metric such as data quantifying customer perceptions of the home depot experience clarified the expectation of accountability. Processes of how work was done were changed to fit the new culture e.g. instead of the old memos a video cast went out to all stores which focused on the upcoming promotions, new product lines and sales targets and bonuses for the week ahead.of new product lines, the revenue needed in the last week. Specific Programmes were put into place to support the cultural change e.g. competitive simulation and role-playing exercises where employees had to act out situations which clarified to them why the huge changes were made. Changes in the organisational structure made it easier to follow the new culture e.g. changes were made in purchasing processes to lower costs. Cultural change management takes place in an open system where the organisation has to simultaneously react to external needs and demand. In the recent years, factors such as globalisation, diversity, equality, increasing number of immigrants and avoiding discrimination have had a vast impact on how organisations manage cultural change. Is cultural change manageable? Cultures are a complex social phenomenon produced as a result of interactions. Therefore they are a product of humans, created by humans, sustained by humans and therefore can also be changed by human intervention. Therefore even if it is not planned to be changed, it will change as the social interactions change (bate, 1994) page 137 The main question is whether cultural change is manageable? i.e. whether persons can change culture deliberately, intervene by will and change the path of development of culture. This is where cultural change programmes fail to succeed since they do not take into account studying in detail the culture that has to be changed. An in-depth knowledge of the current culture is the basis for managing cultural change. (bate, 1994) page 137-138 Organisational Culture, Structure and Strategy What we notice and experience as cultural change depends directly on how we conceptualize culture (Meyerson and Martin, 1987 cited in Bate, 1994) page 9 The supporters of the has culture see culture as a component of an organisation which is no different to the other components such as structure, strategy, staff and so on. (Bate, 1994) page 11 One such model which details this is the Mckinseys 7-S framework which puts culture i.e. shared values at the centre of all the other components (Structure, Strategy, Systems, Style, Skills and Staff) (Peters and Waterman 1982 cited in bate,1994)page 11 Hence culture in this framework is treated as a variable which influences and is influenced by all the other organisational components. Hence Culture has an influence over organisational effectiveness in two regards, firstly its strength and secondly how well it is aligned with the other components (e.g. the structure-culture fit).Therefore from this perspective, changing culture is equivalent to a mere tasking of removing a faulty component and inserting a new one. (Bate, 1994 page 11-12) On the contrary, the supporters of the is culture conceive culture as synonymous with organisation i.e. an organisation is culture. They see culture as a paradigm which is defined by interpersonal organisational life. Therefore they see cultural change to be the same as organisational change. Since there is no bifurcation between organisation and culture therefore change in one will automatically lead to change in another and thus no separate strategies are required for each. (Bate, 1994)page 14 Another argument against strong cultures is that they have a development strategy for culture but no change strategy and so they are more likely to get trapped in their own culture. An example of such is the Hewlett Packard case where its ideology of doing things the HP way offered some form of comforts to the employees which backfired and employees were so busy being nice to each other that they avoided making commercial decisions which went against any other employee (such as laying off or relocating people). HPs intense humanistic ways lead to the employees viewing their privileges as rights e.g. refusal to relocate to other divisions made some divisions less competitive (bate, 1994) page 127 -128 On the other hand the has perspective which reinforces the importance of a strong culture is attractive from the view point that organisations can easily audit their cultures and be proactive in changing or strengthening the shared basic assumption and they can even bring about intentional change through the process of reculturing (Stoll, 1999). The has culture takes culture as, a separate component in an organisation and hence deals with issues such as strategy culture fit and so on. Weick (1985) and Hennestad (1991) argue against such a perspective stating that culture and strategy are substitutable for one another and culture is a strategic phenomenon and strategy is a cultural phenomenon. This implies that from such a perspective formulating a strategy of any kind is actually a cultural activity which will bring about engagement in a cultural change (Bate, 1994). A real life example of such a scenario would be when a company changes its strategy from a production oriented strategy to a market led strategy, this actually brings about a cultural change where a culture encouraging market research and up-to-date market knowledge is born. Further, the perspective implies that cultural change is actually strategic change where moving from one culture to another actually moving from one strategy to another. (Bate, 1994). A real life example of this perspective would be when a company like Disneyland in its organisational socialization stage declares to its employees that customer is king , this is in itself a strategy of being customer oriented. Pg 17-23 Limitations of the two cultural perspectives The managerialist perspective of organisational culture has a number of limitations. However, arguably it limits a deeper understanding of organisational culture and analyses only surface cultural factors such as taken-for-granted values and basic assumptions held in unity by the organisational members as described by Schein (1985). Secondly, it does not take into account the impact of the external environment on organisations which may play a role in determining change processes. The social perspective on the other hand gives a detailed insight into organisational culture, it opens up to dynamic areas of culture. But it requires the collection of very rich qualitative date which may not necessarily provide a clear pathway for action and interpretation of the data becomes a tedious task (Prosser, 2007) The management of organisational change is therefore understood from an open systems perspective in the organisations reaction to external forces and its adaptation and responsiveness to external needs and demands. Conclusion There is a lack of a definite way to define, control and change organisational culture. This may be due to the fact that researchers who work on this topic themselves come from different cultures and consider different elements to be part of organisational culture. The early researchers took a more philosophical approach to the topic. A reason for this might have been the unproven influence of culture on management and organisational practices. Later the academic social scientist gave a more externally-oriented approach which may have been due to the evolution of organisational culture and its impact on organisations (Stefan and Liz, 2000). The essay, based on various theoretical arguments, suggest that there is a broad scope for debates relating to whether culture can be changed or influenced, depending on how culture is defined. Most of the authors unite on the notion that culture can be changed but they differ on how and to what extent this can be done. They also differ on the fact if culture is only followed on the surface or adopted whole-heartedly. Another area covered was the debate about unification of employees on the basis of a unified culture. Cross relations of organisational culture with other concepts such as strategy, structure, motivation, psychological contract and socialization have been discussed. The essay ends with mentioning the limitations of the two approaches to organisational culture which reveal that these concepts are also influenced by the open and closed systems that an organisation may operate in.