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

Journal - Essay Example This people could fill in any labor shortage in the future thus defeating the hypothesis the text of the book that in the future, our workforce may be composed of old people. There are just a lot of people who do not have a job that it will no longer be necessary to employ the aged in the future. Journal entry 2: Chapter 5 - Big Five profile To put my reaction in perspective, I need to mention my scores when I took the Big Five Assessment. The result was quite accurate. I score a nine in Extraversion which meant that I am basically a sociable person. I also scored an eight in Emotional Stability which suggests that I am emotionally competent to get a job done. I also scored a nine in Agreeableness which meant that I can work well with others and lastly, I scored well in Openness with a nine to cap the assessment. I only scored an eight in Conscientiousness. The Big Five profile assessment is simple and straightforward and somehow gives us a ballpark of our personality. My initial rea ction after taking the assessment was curiosity and was quite glad with the result because it somehow matches what I think my personality is. But when I took a hard look at the method of assessment, I also became cautious because I just find it too simple to be able to determine my personality traits are. I am not dismissing it but I just find it too simplistic. I thought that this could be more â€Å"convincing† if the Big Five profiling could be complemented by other psychometric tests to validate and cross-check its result. Still, the assessment provided me an immediate insight of what my personality could be. Journal entry 3: Chapter 6 In this exercise, I scored 32 which hovered in the category of Moderate engagement. Again, I find the questions were too generalized and do not really tell my real level of engagement in my studies. For example, what does moderate engagement exactly mean? That I am partially interested and partially not? Or only give my half-best in my stud ies? The assessment is asking the wrong questions about what my exact feelings and thoughts about studies. It is because there are subjects that I am really interested in that I enjoy studying them even if I am not in class. These subjects seems effortless to me and thus, â€Å"time flies when I am studying†. But there are also subjects that I am not interested in. These subjects are quite a drag and effort for me to study and it takes tremendous amount of effort for me just to study. And even when I study them, it is just for compliance and to pass the subject. The factors that makes a subject engaging or not were also not factored in. That could include a myriad of factors such as how they are taught, aptitude of the student, tools using in teaching them etch that could really tell the student’s engagement in his or her studies. Also, I find the questions in the assessment repetitive. They are basically asking the same questions ony that they are rephrased to confirm answers. Journal entry 4: Chapter 7 In the exercise of Measuring Perceived Fair Interpersonal Treatment, I scored 36 which suggest that I was in hovered in as a moderately fair organization. It was an internship job so I cannot complain and I had a pretty good experience working in that organization. And perhaps this perception is influenced by my expectation of the organization that I will have a good experience w

Human Resources Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resources Decision Making - Essay Example And the best collective decisions emanates from the best individual judgement. Decision-making is both a science and art and depend so much on the learning and experiences of the one tasked to do it. The capacity to decide is bound into the person's independence whether physical or emotional. Freedom and rights to make your own decisions will destroy a person unless it is recognized that these ideals are privileges and not necessities and therefore they are accompanied by responsibilities (Arsham, 1994). As a person becomes part of a community or an organisation his decision making capabilities becomes limited and is governed by acceptable norms, roles, policies, and other guiding principles. As social arrangements become complex making decisions will also be complex that guidelines are necessary whether individual or a group must decide for any particular situations. In the process the capability of the individual to decide is hampered by systems imposed and adopted in groups. Relevant studies have shown that the capability of a person to decide is enhanced when he is to do it alone. Since systems are used in group techniques, the flexibility of the individual is limited and he is bound to follow the roles even if it contradicts to his norms, behaviours, and beliefs. There are opposing claims that individual techniques or group techniques are better than the other. In reality both can be effective, but each has its own domains, which they can be most effective, and they have limitations. Let us revisit what the experts and literatures told us about their differences. Individual decision-making is a better way of arriving at an answer if it requires personal decisions. In the other hand group decisions are needed if it requires collective actions. But in most organizations you cannot separate the two since for every corporate decision a point exist along the line that requires both individual and group decisions. To illustrate the point, a manager would decide for himself to select the best applicant from among the three finalist collectively endorsed by a promotion and selection board. In rating those applicants, every member of the board decides singly on rating the candidate. Individualism or collectivism approaches in arriving at a consensus also varies with the size and complexity and of the type, whether public or government organizations. Government offices mostly use group decision making in planning and identifying programs. Sample (1984) considered group techniques are common in extension programs where clients are involved in making solutions to problems. The small enterprises, in the other hand, rely on individual approaches as compared to large corporations, which are governed by a body that approves policies and other decision-making jobs. Managers who are to select between individual or group decision must be guided by the following ideas: In establishing objectives, a group is better than individuals because of the greater amount of knowledge available among members of the groups. In identifying alternatives, the individual efforts of group members encourage a broad search in various functional areas of the organization. In evaluating alternatives, the collective judgment of the group is again superior due to wide scope of knowledge. In implementing a decision, whether or not a group made it, individual managers is more

Strengths and weaknesses of situational leadership model

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

Global Warming Essay -- Environmental Climate Change, Greenhouse Gase

Global Warming Global warming is the progressive gradual rise of the earth's surface temperature thought to be caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect and responsible for changes in global climate patterns. The greenhouse effect is a term used to describe the roles of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other trace gases in keeping the Earth's surface warmer than it would be otherwise. These "radiatively active" gases are relatively transparent to incoming shortwave radiation, but are relatively opaque to outgoing longwave radiation. The latter radiation, which would otherwise escape to space, is trapped by these gases within the lower levels of the atmosphere. The subsequent reradiation of some of the energy back to the surface maintains surface temperatures higher than they would be if the gases were absent. There is concern that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, (the carbon dioxide emissions are primarily caused by the use of fossil fuels for energy) methane, and manmade chlorofluorocarbons, may enhance the greenhouse effect (this is called the enhanced greenhouse effect) and cause global warming. There are several important factors that have caused the increase in greenhouse gases over the past 200 years. Fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas - contain carbon. When they are burnt as a source of energy, they release carb on dioxide. The global demand for energy, primarily from fossil fuels, has grown to an average annual rate of approximately two per cent for almost two centuries - although the demand for energy varies considerably over time and among different regions. The burning of fossil fuels on a global scale produces around 20 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. About half of these emissions are absorbed by oceans and plants. The rest stays in the atmosphere. Deforestation also contributes to increases in carbon dioxide, although on a much smaller scale, through the burning and decaying of vegetation. The reduction in vegetation also means that there are fewer plants to absorb the gas. Methane has various sources including herbivorous animals such as sheep and cattle that release it as a byproduct of digestion, rice paddies, land fills and forest fires. It can also enter the atmosphere from natural gas fields and coal mines. There are various sources of nitrous oxide including the use of fertili... ...   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We as a world community need to seriously do something drastic to slow down the process of global warming, otherwise we may find ourselves in a situation where we can't turn back the hands of time and we're suffering because of Global warming. We need to make sure that future generations can live a happy and uncomplicated life; they shouldn't have to suffer from the impacts of Global warming that we (the current generation) have mostly caused. BIBLIOGRAPHY: - Macmillan Senior Geography 1 textbook. â€Å"Bush Administration Launches Historic Federal Climate Change Initiatives†. US Climate Change Science Program. (Accessed 23 Nov 2006) . â€Å"Executive Summary – Climate Change†. The White House. (Accessed 23 Nov 2006) http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/climatechange.html>. â€Å"The Kyoto Protocol†. Matthews, J. EGEE 101 Lesson 10 Online Course Content. (Accessed 23 Nov 2006). . â€Å"Overview: The Need for the Best Available Science to Address Global Climate Change Issues†. 24 July 2003. http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/stratplan2003/vision/overview.htm>.

My Husband’s Lover

My Husband's Lover is a Filipino drama television series created and developed by Suzette Doctolero and produced by GMA Network. It premiered on June 10, 2013 on the network's coveted Primetime block. The series stars Carla Abellana, Tom Rodriguez and Dennis Trillo as the main characters. Carolyn Galve serves as the executive producer of show and Dominic Zapata directed the series. It is credited as the very first gay-themed series in Philippine television due to the series' central subject of homosexual relationships and infidelity. The show has multiple continuing story lines that tackle sensitive yet relevant social issues like homosexual and bisexual relationships, homophobia and the society's discrimination against homosexuals, infidelity, pre-marital sex and the consequences of early or unplanned marriages. It also tackles the importance of family, friendship, integrity and love. Vincent Soriano (Tom Rodriguez) got his girlfriend Lally Agatep (Carla Abellana) pregnant while they were still in college. So they decided to get married even if the two of them were not ready for the responsibility and Vincent's mother Elaine was very much against it. Thus Lally's married life was never smooth-sailing because of Elaine. But for the love for her husband, Lally endures the hardships in dealing with her mother-in-law. However, when Lally got pregnant on their second child, Vincent suddenly became distant and cold towards her. Lally felt that Vincent was being unfair to her so she decided to leave together with their children. Vincent loves his kids so much, so he tried to win back his wife by proposing and this time getting married again with a blessing from the church. Unknown to Lally, Vincent is keeping a secret from her; it is also a secret he has kept from everyone else ever since he was young. Vincent was a closeted homosexual man who never planned to come out because he was afraid that it'll destroy his family. However, everything changed when he crosses paths with Eric del Mundo (Dennis Trillo) again – his greatest love. Unlike Vincent, Eric is openly gay. But, just like Vincent, he still is in love with him. Eventually, the two men start an affair and Vincent tries to hide the affair from Lally by showering her with gifts and attention. However, Lally's intuition tells her that something is wrong even though everything in her married life seems fine. That's when she starts to investigate and she eventually learns of Vincent's darkest secret. II. Audience Reception My reception Well, at first I didn’t like the idea of My Husband’s Lover because I’m not a homosexual, and I don’t like homosexuals too, so I didn’t watch the Pilot Episodes of My Husband’s Lover. But then, my Mom used to watched television after work, it just so happens that she turned the channel to channel 7 (GMA) and the show was My Husband’s Lover, she watched for a few minutes, after the show she got attracted by the story. She goes by everyday watching the show. I have no choice but to watch too, since we only have one television and I have nothing to do. The show’s story is good as it is. I just don’t like the theme of the show which is about homosexuals. But by watching it every day, I came to like the show. I even got excited when Lally is about to discover her husband’s secret. I think I liked the show because of the professionalism of the actors, and the moral lesson given to us by the story itself. There are many moral lessons in this story; you just need to dig deep into the words spoken by the actors. B. Others reception Interviewee: Maria Aileen Icay She said, â€Å"For the past few days, this drama has been consistently topping the trends and even the ratings despite its unusual story concept. This drama has taken our country by storm. We define it along with the veterans in the Philippine entertainment industry as â€Å"Phenomenal†. This drama that I’m so proud of for is the most talked-about†My Husband’s Lover†. Primarily it’s because this drama is a gem! For a drama fan like me, this drama has set the bar higher for upcoming Philippine dramas and is a history in itself. This is the first drama that tackles same-sex relationship in a very realistic manner. Aside from that, the family issues this drama portrays are something that most of us can empathize with or can even relate to. It’s just sad that some people refrain from watching this masterpiece just because they are a fan of the rival network or they’re a Roman Catholic or they are against same-sex relationships. † Interviewee: Gia Francia Leron She said, â€Å"I just love this drama because everything is very well executed. The story, script, acting and cinematography. No drama is perfect but this is by far the best Filipino drama I’ve ever seen in my watching experience† Interviewee: John Kenneth Sarampote He said, â€Å"What makes My Husband’s Lover such an extraordinary and groundbreaking drama is the fact that it defies standards. We see Vincent and Eric, all masculine and manly, identify themselves as gay men. We see that their relationship is rooted on love and not on monetary co-dependence. We see that there are many layers of characters that define a gay man. We see two gay men struggle prejudice that pushes them to loathe themselves and hide who they really are. We see that all people, no matter what gender, struggle in their own way. † Interviewee: John Paul Luis He said, â€Å"I’ve never been a Kapuso viewer actually. I liked the show even before it aired on television because of the theme, the theme song, the story. Everything. I also liked the show because I can relate to Vincent (Tom Rodriguez) especially on his life, the part wherein he hides his real identity just because his father is a retired general. I envy Eric (Dennis Trillo) because of the acceptance of his mom that he is Gay and her mom is just okay with it. I pity Lally (Carla Abellana) because right from the start, Vincent had been lying to her. What I can only say is that this show made me cry. All of the emotions are already here. Interviewee: Maurice Kim Lim He said, â€Å"What makes My Husband’s Lover unique is its central struggle — that of a wife witnessing the disintegration of her marriage with her closeted gay husband, whose failure to come to terms with his homosexuality gives Filipinos a venue to discuss pressing LGBT issues. â€Å"

Zeus Research Paper

rZeus Beginning around 700 B. C. , stories by Homer and other Greek poets told of the lives of powerful gods who involved themselves in human affairs. Supreme among these gods was Zeus, but to the Romans he was known as Jupiter. Zeus was the supreme god and ruler of Olympus. He was known by many titles: Lord of the Sky, the Cloud- gatherer, the Rain-god, and Zeus the Thunderer. All of which are the most popular names dating back to ancient Greek history and mythology. Zeus was the child of the Titans, Cronus and Rhea, and was the youngest of all his siblings.Cronus , Zeus’ father, had been warned that one of his children would overthrow him. Cronus knew the consequences, for he had overthrown his father, Uranus. To prevent this from happening Cronus swallowed his newborn children Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon, but according to legend his wife Rhea and her mother Gaia, wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes in the place of the infant Zeus. Cronus thinking it was the n ewborn baby swallowed the stone. Meanwhile Rhea and her baby were taken to Crete, and there, in a cave on Mount Dicte, the divine goat Amaltheia suckled and raised the infant Zeus.When Zeus had grown into a young man he left the cave and returned to his fathers domain, and with the help of Gaia, tricked Cronus to vomit the five children he had previously swallowed. However, this led to war and Zeus led the revolt against his father and the dynasty of the Titans. In the end theTitans were defeated and banished to â€Å"Tartarus†, which was a region lower than the underworld. Once Zeus had control, he and his brothers divided the universe amongst themselves: Zeus gaining the heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld.Being the supreme ruler he upheld law, justice, and morals, and this made him the spiritual leader of both gods and men. Zeus has always been associated as being a weather god, as his main attribute is the thunderbolt for which he used to rule Olympus. Her a was Zeus’ wife and was very jealous of her husband's many affairs. His wife Hera, bore him Ares, Hebe, Hephaestus, and Eileithyia, however Zeus had numerous other children with both goddesses and mortals. His affair with a woman named Leto led to the birth of the twins Apollo and Artemis.Hera being the jealous wife she was, forced Leto to roam the earth in search of a place to give birth, for Hera had stopped her from gaining shelter on land or at sea. The only place she could go was to the isle of Delos in the middle of the Aegean Sea, for Delos was a floating island. This would be one of many of Hera’s revenges on her husband’s affairs. Zeus used many different disguises to seduce women. When he seduced the Spartan queen Leda, he transformed himself into a beautiful swan, and from the egg which Leda produced, two sets of twins were born.They were Polydeuces and Castor and Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy. He also visited princess Danae as a shower of gold, and from this, the hero Perseus was born. He kidnapped the Phoenician princess Europa, disguised as a bull, then carried her on his back to the island of Crete where she had three sons. They were Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. These were just some of his many children. Zeus had many Temples and festivals in his honor, the most famous was Olympia, the magnificent â€Å"Temple of Zeus†, which held the gold and ivory statue of the enthroned Zeus, which was sculpted by Phidias.It was later to become one of the â€Å"Seven Wonders of the Ancient World†. Also the Olympic Games and many other numerous festivals throughout Greece were held in his honor. In art, which was a big part of Greek culture, Zeus is usually shown as bearded, middle aged, but with a youthful figure. He seems very poweful and imposing. Artists always try to show the power of Zeus in their art, usually by giving him a pose as he is about to throw his bolt of lightening. To this day Zeus is still consider ed to be one of the most interesting parts of Greek mythology.

Rising Through Lifes Destruction essays

Rising Through Life's Destruction essays In this world many things that used to be knew and wonderful lose their beauty and rot into old pieces of garbage. In the poem Miss Rosie by Lucille Clifton the woman once was beautiful and knew but as time progressed she turned into a body of useless woman. All people in life have problems with finding the person that they want to become. Miss Rosie is not only useless but she is "surrounded by the smell/ of too old potato peels." The potato peels in her life represent the fact that her life has become nothing and she has just sat there and done nothing to try and help it. By the potato peels surrounding her she is unable to escape the scent of what her life has become because the garbage is so powerful it overcomes Miss Rosie. She is wrapped up like garbage and has a lot to offer the world but instead of showing people the good side to the rose she is still and does nothing about it and only shows people the outer part of herself. Although Miss Rosie's life is mainly surrounded by trash she does find the inner strength to show herself that she needs to fix what her life has become or she will end up being surrounded by bad things the rest of her life. Miss Rosie's father is also a useless man and Miss Rosie realizes that if she doesn't do something about herself soon that she is going to turn into her father. She is the little toe that is cut out of her father's shoe but she still has hope that she can overcome the spot that she is in her life. As Miss Rosie sits she learns that in life you have to do things for yourself and can't wait around for someone to do them for her. All Miss Rosie's life someone has done everything for her and she has been able to go through life without really thinking. As she waits for next week's grocery's it dons upon her that her life has become next week's grocery's. Her life is replaceable and that whatever it was that was getting her through lif ...