Exemplary Leader Philosophy Paper Essay

I never aspired to be an ethical leader before this class. It is not that I acted unethically, but that I never understood the importance of being an ethical leader. As a child, I was constantly changing my mind about what I was going to be when I grew up, but never once did â€Å"ethical† cross my mind. It seems as though this is a common theme among human beings, that we see success through the masculine lens of materialism and consumerism. Being able to acquire the newest, biggest, most innovative thing is what motivates us from a very young age. This is not something to be necessarily ashamed about, because at one point or another, everyone acts out of self-interest and solely for self-advancement. The thing that has to change, however, is the amount of fully-grown adults who still act out of self interest, and more specifically, adults in leadership roles, managing corporations, institutions, cities, states, and countries, that pull their team in the right direction for themselves, and not necessarily for the organization. This class has taught me who I am, both as an individual and as a part of a cohesive team, who I can be, thanks to the concepts and thought-provoking readings and lectures, and how I can get there by utilizing these concepts and strategies. Throughout the course of this semester, I have been able to continue producing the same amount of success as I have in the past, but I have been able to do it the â€Å"right† way. By identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to those opportunities of my personality and character, I have been able to identify my true self. This identification process is the first step toward becoming an ethical and moral example for peers, subordinates, and even superiors, both in a professional sense and in a personal sense. â€Å"History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.† – B. R. Ambedkar This quote, spoken by Indian scholar B. R. Ambedkar, shows the belief in the common phrase, â€Å"business ethics is an oxymoron.† It is this mentality that began the self-fulfilling prophecy that business leaders use as an excuse for unethical behavior. The â€Å"slippery slope† of ethical breakdowns, as Badaracco calls it, begins with a mentality that justifies the diversion of ethics and economics. Throughout the rest of this exploration of the current self, the prospective self, and the presentation of a development plan, I will disprove this mentality. Current Self In order to effectively assess one’s ethical and moral fortitude, one must objectively identify his strengths and weaknesses relative to being an exemplary ethical leader. Furthermore, one must then address each individual aspect of his personality, including character traits, values, and integrity through relative ethical concepts and principles. By executing this process, one can truly learn about oneself and identify the necessary steps to becoming the possible self, or leader he wants to become. The process of identifying your own strengths and weaknesses can be difficult, especially in terms of being completely unbiased and objective. The key to successfully doing this is in relying on factual evidence that supports each strength and weakness. To be considered either, however, there must be a certain consistency in terms of actions as well as intent, which proves the validity of each strength or weakness. During my self-exploration, I thought back to some of my first memories in order to serve as a foundation for my moral potency and character, and to see how my experiences have shaped my personality, both positively and negatively. This process has given me perspective and helped me attain the knowledge necessary to complete an objective report of my own personality, values, skills, characteristics, and motivations. Without this process, I would have been subject to a common decision making fallacy that was taught in my organizational behavior class, known as the tendency to use information at hand, which describes a person’s inclination to make a decision based on readily-available information, rather than fact-based evidence. In this case, the â€Å"readily-available information† would be anecdotes and experiences that â€Å"stick out† in my memory. These examples are not necessarily wrong to use, but basing my process on them wholly would provide data inconsistent with my true personality. Since I can remember, I have always been a fierce competitor. This is shown through my spirited drive to achieve that has permeated my entire life, from academics, to extracurricular activities, to athletics. This competitiveness has both positive and negative effects on my leadership abilities, because I am driven and motivated to achieve goals, but can prove dangerous in team situations where group consensus is necessary. The competitive nature that is ingrained in my personality can lead to a concept called â€Å"me-ism†, described by Badaracco in chapter 4, which explains the phenomenon of being so goal-oriented that you lose sight of the effects that your actions have on other people. This concept can also relate to Badaracco’s inattentional blindness and motivated blindness, which describe occurrences in which one’s personal goals or lack of careful observation override that person’s ability to sense an ethical dilemma. My competitive nature has led to many successes in my life, including winning the New York under-18 state hockey championship, becoming the first non-senior to be an alternate captain on the Wake Forest club ice hockey team, and of course being accepted into this business school. These examples are all evidence of my competitive nature, and describe my desire to lead and win simultaneously. The concept of the future is tremendously fascinating to me. In another BEM class that I took this semester, we did a personality assessment that included over one hundred twenty questions and returned your five biggest personality strengths, and â€Å"futurism† was one of mine. I truly enjoy thinking about the future because of its uncertainty. I feel so much potential and possibility for myself, which is strengthened by my competitiveness. My ability to constantly think about the future while still keeping my â€Å"feet on the ground† and completing my assignments in the present is one of my most powerful strengths. My futurism keeps me on track toward achieving my personal and organizational goals. Becoming a transformational leader begins with the futurist outlook combined with a strong moral potency, which is the combination of three moral factors: moral ownership, moral courage, and moral efficacy. Moral potency, when combined with futurism, provides a leader with a strong moral and ethical foundation on which to base decisions, as well as the ability to envision the potential of a given organization. By acting in this way, a leader can start a chain reaction called the contagion effect, which is the phenomenon that occurs by promoting a transparent, ethical, and fair environment, starting from the C-level executives and â€Å"infecting† every employee underneath. The aforementioned strengths of mine, a strong competitive nature and a futuristic outlook provide me with an ethically-ambiguous foundation, meaning that both highly ethical and highly unethical leaders sport these qualities, and the actions that I make within the next few years will decide on which end of the spectrum I fall. In order for me to ensure that I do not start down the slippery slope of unethical decisions, I must be conscious of the fact that each decision I make has ethical implications, and I also must be weary of my weaknesses that could lead me down the wrong path. Acknowledging one’s weaknesses is critical to the process of defining your current self. As the saying goes, â€Å"nobody’s perfect,† and the only way to minimize the mistakes you make throughout your life is to accept the fact that you do have weaknesses, and to analyze what they are, why you have them, how you act on them, and how to correct them. My competitive drive has led me to have a strong desire to please authority figures, which is a major weakness of my personality, not in the sense that it is bad to desire recognition and achievement, but it frequently leads to Machiavellian, â€Å"ends justify the means† justifications of morally questionable actions. One of Badaracco’s ethical breakdowns, which he discusses in chapter five, the overvaluation of outcomes, directly relates to this personality trait. Two years ago I interned for a brokerage firm on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and my boss was a task-oriented, results-driven leader, a common type in the financial sector. He demanded that the team of four interns provide a daily projection of trade volume based on an algorithm and spreadsheets dating back to the early 1990’s. After being reprimanded by our boss for presenting him with unfavorable figures, we began to slightly alter the bottom line to get his approval. In this situation, we made a major ethical mistake by overvaluing the results. With the knowledge I have gained from this class, I would have analyzed the decision to alter the numbers using the categorical imperative, and in this situation, especially in the financial sector, it would be a very bad thing if my actions became universal norms. Fortunately, the trade projections were strictly internal, and I found out later in the internship that my boss would assign this project to new interns as a way of â€Å"breaking them in† and showing them the harshness of the business world. This desire to please has affected my leadership skills mostly within the context of leading peers, because, when combined with my competitive nature, I realize that there are few things that I will not consider doing to get ahead, which will ostracize me from my peers and create a divide within the group, decreasing my ability to influence others around me. Another weakness of mine is my tendency to overuse legitimate power when it is given to me. Legitimate power, which is defined as power bestowed upon someone over others, can come as a promotion, as it did in my case, when I was voted captain of my varsity hockey team in high school. This promotion gave me nominal power over my teammates off of the rink, but it was enough to leverage and coerce them to follow my orders. Trevino and Nelson outline the psychology I used to justify this behavior in chapter five, in their discussion of informal organizational cultural systems. The norms usually override formal rules, according to Trevino and Nelson. â€Å"†¦Despite formal rules, regulations, codes, and credos, informal norms are frequently the most influential behavior guides and clues to the culture†. The rationalization that â€Å"it’s the way we do things around here† was understood by my teammates, because the captain before me was the same way. It is this lack of moral potency to realize the unethical behavior and act on my personal values that makes this a weakness of mine. In the heat of the moment, it is hard to stop yourself and think about ethical philosophy, but necessary to promote the organizational culture that is conducive and necessary to running a hockey team. This self-exploration has provided me with a sound basis to analyze myself and prepare to make the jump into the business world with a strong moral compass and the ability to create a working plan to become the exemplary leader that I wish to be. However, first I must decide and articulate exactly what kind of leader that is. Possible Self The second step in becoming an exemplary ethical leader is to identify your possible self, that is, the leader that you wish to become at some point in the future. This can be done in a multi-step process, first by identifying exemplary leaders that serve as role models or mentors to you, and then by analyzing their leadership qualities and determining which of those you wish to attain. It is undeniable that every ethical leader chooses to lead with character and integrity, two of the most important characteristics necessary to manage an organization, but just how do you define character? According to Professor Sean Hannah, character is defined by three aspects: moral discipline, moral attachment or attainment, and moral autonomy. The combination of these facets provides a solid basis for the quantification of leadership characteristics. Moral discipline outlines the ability to act in alignment with your personal values, while moral attachment or attainment refers to one’s ability to hold true to your values over time, and moral autonomy is the ability to formulate moral decisions based on your values and decision-making skills, without the influence of outside factors. Both character and integrity play instrumental roles in the development of ethical leaders, as well as in their ability to become role models for lower-level employees. My most recent role model for ethical leadership is Dean Reinemund, because he has been extremely successful as a leader in two vastly different industries, which shows that he has the skills necessary to lead, regardless of the situational context. During his guest lecture in our class, Dean Reinemund spoke about his â€Å"Four C’s of Leadership.† I believe that these four characteristics are immensely important to become a transformational leader with a vision that inspires employees to work at the highest level possible. The first â€Å"C† is character, which Mr. Reinemund describes as having your internal compass point to â€Å"true north†. Having the character to act in correlation with personal and organizational values in the face of adversity is an extremely admirable quality, and is something that I wish to have in my possible self. Mr. Reinemund’s third â€Å"C† is the one that resonated with me the most, particularly because it is the only aspect of his leadership philosophy that cannot be readily learned. Commitment, Reinemund says, is the passionate, internal drive to succeed, and it is something that is ingrained in your personality. Although you can motivate yourself through other, extrinsic means, the â€Å"warrior’s ambition† that Mr. Reinemund describes is a burning internal passion for the work that is being done. This is another facet of an exemplary leader that cannot be left out. Badaracco writes about Aristotle’s â€Å"Golden Mean† in terms of leadership by describing the balance between having a high concern for oneself and having a high concern for others. By attaining this equilibrium, leaders can act ethically and morally to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This philosophy also relates to Badaracco’s four spheres of commitments that leaders have to navigate during each and every decision they make. Managing the four spheres is an integral part of being an exemplary leader and must be included in my definition of an exemplary leader. The last piece of leadership that I would like to emulate as an exemplary leader is the characteristics of a quiet leader. Modesty, self-restraint, patience, and careful, incremental moves can right, or even prevent, moral wrongdoings without blowing the issue out of proportion. The public displays of heroism, as coined by Badaracco, depicted in movies and television are usually extremely unnecessary and their emotionalism and lack of careful planning undercuts their credibility, while simultaneously decreasing the amount of empathy received from the listener. Being a quiet leader means doing the right thing, especially when nobody is looking, and that is why I admire such a quality and desire to be the quiet leader who allows his exemplary actions speak for him. Action Plan The third and final step to becoming an exemplary ethical leader is to formulate and execute an actionable leadership development plan, which outlines the steps necessary to transform the current self into the desired possible self. By identifying my strengths and weaknesses, and then identifying the ideal leader that I want to become, I can precisely calculate the discrepancy between the two, and what specific steps I need to take in order to become the exemplary leader I want to be. By using course concepts and relating them to my current self, I have come up with the following steps for my action plan: 1. Do not underestimate the weight of any one decision, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may be 2. Follow Badaracco’s steps to becoming a quiet leader 3. Apply Trevino & Nelson’s 8 steps to recognized ethical dilemmas 4. Read and reflect on the characteristics of an Authentic Leader every day 5. Establish a strong support group to help assist my decision making and provide comprehensive unbiased feedback These five steps, if followed correctly, will create the optimal environment to foster my development as an exemplary leader. My action plan is conducive to the type of leader that I want to be, because it focuses on further improving my strengths, and transforming my weaknesses into strengths by utilizing concepts and strategies learned in class. The first step is the most important one, because due to my competitive nature, I have a tendency to rush decisions in order to complete tasks more efficiently, but in the long run, especially in the professional world, I must be able to recognize the ethicality of each decision I make. By analyzing every decision I make from now on, whether it is my choice of shampoo or a multi-million dollar contract, I will be able to acknowledge the ethical repercussions of each alternative. My second step is to follow Badaracco’s steps to becoming a quiet leader, particularly the second rule, which says to â€Å"pick your battles†, and outlines the concept of political capital. Leadership is not defined by how many times you â€Å"blow the whistle†, but how much of an impact you had when you did decide to take a stand. Consequentially, I must make ethical decisions like Machiavelli’s fox rather than the lion. By building political capital and using it wisely, the respect that colleagues, superiors, and employees show you will increase, and therefore your ability to influence them will also increase, which will allow you to lead with confidence. Trevino & Nelson’s 8-Steps to ethical decision making are extremely important, because they provide a framework for which to analyze and come to a conclusion about any decision. The â€Å"action† piece of this step is simple: I have handwritten the steps on a small piece of paper and put it in my wallet, so that I can refer to it in any situation. By slowing down and analyzing each choice I make in terms of these 8 steps, I’ll be able to consistently make the best decision possible, which will instill confidence in my peers as well as show potential to my superiors. On the reverse side of my wallet-sized 8 steps, I have written the characteristics of an Authentic Leader, because I believe that simply being a quiet leader is not sufficient. Being a quiet leader is a great way to get things done, but in the long term may result with my leadership becoming â€Å"silent† leadership, wherein my peers and employees cannot easily see how I analyze ethical dilemmas and may start to infer that I rely on bottom-line statistics only. This is where the slippery slope begins, and my fourth step will counteract the possibility of being perceived as ethically neutral. My final step is to create a support group of people from different parts of my life, including peers such as friends and classmates, superiors (teachers and coaches), and subordinates such as the younger players on my hockey team. By establishing this group, I will be able to ask them to give me feedback on my projected personality. The first four steps of my action plan are important to my development as a leader, however they will be meaningless if what people perceive about me is different than what I want. Moreover, a support group will help me integrate my different lives, as Dean Reinemund spoke about in his lecture, by teaching me that in order to be perceived as an exemplary leader, I must have complete alignment between my espoused personal values and my in-use values in every aspect of my life. Solely having an action plan, however, will not give me the results I desire, which is why I must set both short and long term goals for myself in my journey to becoming an ethical leader. Short-term goals are imperative to maintaining my improvement in leadership skills, because without consistent feedback, it is impossible to gauge one’s progress. The support group I establish will provide me with that feedback. Specifically, I will create a point-based survey and ask each person in my support group to complete it. By doing this, I will have quantitative results at the end of each month to see which areas of my personality need improvement. By setting short-term goals, my competitive nature will enhance my desire to improve, until I reach my long-term goals. Perhaps the most challenging task of this assignment was to envision the evolution of my personality from a college student to a business leader, because I did not know exactly how to set long-term goals. After thinking it through, I believe that the most pertinent long-term goal that I can set is to reflect on my life as a leader, and have no decisions that I regret making. This seems vague, but it must be in order to work. By achieving short-term monthly goals, I will achieve my long-term goal as a result, which is the express purpose of short-term goals. If I can look back on my life as a leader when I retire, and I can honestly say that there is not a single decision that I made or failed to make that resulted in an unethical consequence, I will consider myself a success. Conclusion Throughout the course of this assignment, as well as the class as a whole, I have been exposed to completely new ways of analyzing situations and have been able to integrate those concepts and strategies into my daily life. By creating this action plan for the development of my character and leadership skills; I have begun the preparation necessary to successfully lead in the business world, which is an incredibly valuable head start on students in other business schools around the country. B. R. Ambedkar’s pessimistic quote regarding the ethics versus economics dynamic that I used earlier in the paper was a perfect way for me to gauge the effectiveness of my action plan. I believe that through the analysis of my current self, the reflection and projection of my possible self, and the creation of my leadership development plan, I have been able to disprove the mentality that â€Å"business ethics is an oxymoron† and begin to strengthen the mentality that â€Å"ethics is good business, and good business is ethical.† References 1. Sean Hannah, class lectures and PowerPoint presentations, 8/29/2012-12/4/2012 2. Hannah & Avolio, Moral Potency: Building the Capacity for Character-Based Leadership 3. Trevino & Nelson, Managing Business Ethics 4. Badaracco, Defining Moments 5. George, Sims, McLean, & Mayer, Discovering Your Authentic Leadership 6. Badaracco, We Don’t Need Another Hero 7. Reinemund, class lecture 10/4/2012 View as multi-pages

Ethical dilemmas in the workplace Essay

Abstract Business managers must practice ethics in the workplace. Managers are faced with a variety of situations and decisions in which they need to objectively resolve. They must work with individuals from diverse background and differing values and principles. Consider some of the following workplace dilemmas. Explore the online library for scholarly articles on ethical dilemmas in the workplace. Using Microsoft Word, prepare a document that includes the following: Discuss some of the common ethical dilemmas managers face in the workplace. Compare and contrast the ethical dilemmas that managers face to ethical dilemmas employees face in the workplace. Why is it important for managers to build trust, commitment, and effort among stakeholders associated with the firm? What value does it provide to the organization? How does it impact employees? Discuss your thoughts on employee e-mail monitoring in the workplace. Is it ethical? Is it justified? Does whistle-blowing violate company loyalty? S hould an employee blow the whistle if they are aware of wrongdoing? Introduction I think we all have heard about workplace ethics. I think what most people fail to realize is that ethics are ethics. To think that there is a separate definition for workplace ethics is just untrue. Ethics are when we  are faced with the right or wrong choice. A good ethical decision is when we make the right choice even when it may be the harder of the two decisions. There are some golden rules or popular phrases that we may recite just to keep one another on track. Phrases such as treat others as you want to be treated or don’t hurt, steal or lie or my favorite practice what you preach (Curry, 2012). Some of the common Ethical dilemmas in the workplace are: Conducting personal business on company time. I think this occurs because most of our weekday time is spent working. The temptations are too use the time to try and take care of stuff that even a lunch break won’t allow you to accomplish. Some of the that personal business may include doctor’s appointments, reservations, surfing the web or even running a side business for your personal gain. Another area where we may cross the line of ethics in the workplace is taking credit for someone else’s work. If we are tasked as a team but not assigned individual tasks to come up with some result then it may be easy for someone to sit back and take some of the credit. That’s why it’s important to delegate work so that when it comes together as one all can benefit. Another area that we can find ourselves involved in some negative ethical workplace behaviors is when we are harassed or see harassing behav iors in the workplace. Employees often don’t know what to do if they see one of their co-workers harassing another employee, either mentally, sexually or physically. Employees may worry for their jobs if they attempt to report a superior for harassment (Rafner, 2010). By comparison Ethics are the same no matter who you are or what position you hold within a company. The difference is employees shouldn’t have to worry when reporting unethical behaviors and Managers should act on them quickly as well as being professional when they are conducting investigations etc. As a whole Companies are generally expected to provide fair working conditions for their employees in the business environment. Having an employee handbook that outlines both management as well as employees acceptable behaviors in my opinion will leave no doubts of what is acceptable in the workplace (Rafner, 2010). It is important for managers to build trust and commitment amongst its stakeholders because without them there is no business. Management cannot be everywhere so in their absence managers need to be sure the company can and will be ran just as if they were standing next to that employee. What that does is create a sense of self worth and is a motivating factor and a good thing to have. Employees/stakeholders/customers do not like shady practices and often it is a sign of a poorly run business. When issues arise it is important to know that management is committed to a result that is not only is good for business but makes the customer (who is just as much a stakeholder) feel good! To take it one step further it seems in my experience companies that have open door policies seem to be the most caring. Employees really appreciate the chance to be able to voice concerns and not feel like a number. I believe this shows that mangers are committed to the overall well being of not only the s take holders but the image of the company. However, those reviews are mixed when it comes to what powers managers actually have especially when it comes to employee monitoring. An old 2001 CNN poll suggests from a study of human-resources professionals at 722 companies, found 74 percent saying they monitor workers’ Internet use at work; 72 percent said they check on employees’ e-mail; 51 percent said they review phone calls. The workplace privacy survey was conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), with West Group (CNN, 2001). Surely those numbers have risen or at a minimum went unchanged especially since technology as advanced greatly in the last ten years no doubt. I don’t think there is any question that it is perfectly legal for employers to read employee mail especially on employers provided e-mail accounts. Courts in my opinion seem like it would uphold just about any company’s right to monitor an employee’s e-mail especially when there is reason to believe the employee is doing something wrong on company property. At every place I have recently worked there has been a form to sign acknowledging that email isn’t private. Employers also may have â€Å"key logger† software in place that investigates certain buzzwords not only for the protection of the business but its employees and customers as well. To be honest unless its company related this should be a dead issue. You don’t have anything to worry about if you’re not doing anything wrong. It’s just that simple! There are so many  things these days that get judged or talked about at the workplace it’s hard not to wonder or worry. This paper talked about some of the Ethical Dilemma’s in the workplace but what about whistle blowing? What should an employee do? I don’t know if whistle blowing violates company loyalty but it sure would make it an uncomfortable place to be if it occurred often. I would have to think that morale would suffer and the chance of derogatory behaviors would increase. Too much of it you may even see a threat of workplace violence. I don’t think an employee has an obligation of loyalty to a company, even a prima facie one, because companies are not the kind of things that are properly objects of loyalty. I do however feel that loyalty is a real bond between people and should be something that for the sake of the entire group should always be intact. I think that employees are there to work and they shouldn’t have to play police officer however if something someone does would have a negative impact or result in some adverse reaction then I think reporting it would only benefit the group. Not everyone is going to get along and there will always be differences but to report each person every time th ey blink wrong is a vendetta that companies hate to see. I think the Utilitarian approach of greatest good for the greatest numbers has to come to play when blowing the whistle unless of course it’s an ethics violation outlined by the employee handbook or against the everyday code of ethics. Bibliography Larue Tone Hosmer, 2011 The Ethics of Management, A Multidisciplinary Approach Myron Curry, 2012 Ethics in the workplace, retrieved December 21st, 2012 from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Ethics-In-The-Workplace&id=12475 Don Rafner, 2010 Common Ethical Workplace Dilemmas retrieved December 20th , 2012 from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/common-ethical-workplace-dilemmas-748.html CNN , 2001 Monitoring employees: Eyes in the workplace retrieved December 21st, 2012 from: http://articles.cnn.com/2001-01-02/business/surveillence_1_lewis-maltby-national-workrights-institute-monitoring-employees?_s=PM:CAREER

Human Resource Trend Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Resource Trend - Essay Example Technology has phenomenally changed the way the businesses operate around the globe and bringing them closer in the process. Globalization is one of the major products of rapid onset of technology due to which the world is changed into a global village. Now one organization can share important information and details with its other teams scattered around the world in a few seconds. Now automating many HR processes through the use of technology is also becoming a frequent practice which is basically to leave abundant time for HR professionals to â€Å"concentrate on defining processes, creating measurements, and affecting the bottom line† (Little, cited in Guadagno, 2012). Now, identifying trends in technology can form a task of critical importance for the HR department in any organization. Some of such technologies are continuing to prove how beneficial they can be for an organization in terms of reducing costs, saving money, and making optimum hiring choices through accuratel y measuring the hours worked and ensuring multiple online mediums for collaboration with other teams located far away. Technology has enabled many organizations to gain huge advantages which is why it is considered to be such a huge HR trend. According to Martin (cited in Gray, 2012) who works as a consultant in a New York-based consultancy firm, technology has proved to a potential enabler of significant efficiency gains like monitoring employee information, curbing costs, and enhanced collaboration. Consultants like Martin say that their customers are intent on buying new HR information systems which have proper and useful controls incorporated in them. Organizations everywhere are intent on maximizing the benefits obtained from technology in such a way that constructive HR processes and workforce could be generated consequently which could together help them in obtaining diverse business goals and improve market reputation. Businesses are largely focused on technological perspect ive of HR processes as the employers want different business objectives to be obtained in time without encountering any hassle irrespective of whether a business is growing internationally or recovering from an economic breakdown. It is claimed regarding how technology relates to HR processes that â€Å"it helps firms improve their HR tech strategies and those without an existing framework construct strategies from scratch† (Martin, cited in Gray, 2012). To maximize benefits from technology, organizations everywhere should focus on portal integration when working on any problematic project to ensure a safe working environment and ease for the employees. Also they should focus on using technology in such a way that attendance, leaves, absence, promotions, payments, and meetings all are recorded. HR should make sure how all of the services are shared and convey information regarding how they should be governed by the employees. Committees should be formed charged with the respo nsibility of monitoring technology and determining in what way they should be used. Without efficient HR information systems, organizations have to design HR tech strategies from scratch which results in a wastage of a lot of valuable time. Transforming HR through technology can influence businesses profoundly and others also who work across the world. HR professionals can assist and monitor processes of the organizations growing internat

Strategies for Building Effective Relationships Paper Essay

Strategies for Building Effective Relationships Paper - Essay Example These strategies are developed to increase motivation and work performance of the employees. Strong relationship of company with its organizational members is build by putting many efforts. Good relationship helps to satisfy all the staffs of the company. It facilitates the firm to retain its employees. Strategies in this case are designed by considering employees needs and requirements. In this case study, as a new product development manager I have to implement strategies for improving the condition of my uncle’s business. In my uncle’s business employees play an important role in organizational growth and success. Therefore maintaining a good relationship with them is an important responsibility of the company. Strategies of the company need to be decided according to that. As a product development project leader I have joined my uncle’s business. The company is into mid size manufacturing business. Presently the business condition is very bad. Employees and other organizational members are not satisfying with business functions. I mainly handle operational activities of the company. I have analyzed the company’s situation and have come to the conclusion that revenue of the organization has significantly dropped in past few years. The organizational members of this business did not implement any new ideas in business operation and development process. There is no such project manager present to manage and look after the works of various projects. As a result business functions are not executed properly. Project leaders were there but they left the company because of serious conflict with their supervisors and managers. For all of these reason employees are getting de-motivated in this company and this leads to deterioration of the company . My uncle’s business needs to be organized in an effective way so that the company develops a strong relationship with its

Stay Regionalized of West Morris Regional School District in NJ Research Paper

Stay Regionalized of West Morris Regional School District in NJ - Research Paper Example Representative James Button is one of the most outspoken shareholders on the West Morris Regional High School District Board of Education. He is pushing for the school district to build two new high schools and re-appropriating the students from all five counties into the two new high schools. In re-appropriating, the students from all five counties into four high schools would help improve the district's scores on state tests. Kristen Forrester is the president of the West Morris Regional High School District Board of Education. Forrester is from Washington Township. James Button claims that students from Washington Township receive $10,000 per student in state funds, Phil Garber (1). The students from the other counties in the district received $22,000 per student in state funds, Phil Garber (1). The Education Commissioner Brett Schundler and New Jersey State Governor Chris Christie support a change in the district; because it could save the towns the cost of a study, Phil Garber (1). The biggest consequence of building a high school for all the towns in the West Morris Regional High School District would be that the taxes in all the towns would increase. If all of the taxes in the towns increase it would be; because the cost to the state to build two new high schools would be astronomical. Another main concern of building a high school for all of the towns is, the cost per student would begin to decrease. The taxes would increase in all of the towns, but this would be to augment the cost of building the two new high schools. If taxes increase in the towns only to augment the cost of building the two new high schools, there would be no money left over to appropriate to the students.  

Current issues in dissability studies activity 5 Essay

Current issues in dissability studies activity 5 - Essay Example This approach may not be appropriate in as much as it could not reveal my neighbour’s son’s true feelings. The correct procedures that should be applied in gathering information about a disabled person include but not limited (i) monitoring the emotional changes of the boy; (ii) paying more attention to the boy’s actions, as a whole; (iii) identifying instances where the boy’s behaviour is different from that of the non-disabled boy; (iv) estimate the level of empowerment possessed by the child; (v) constantly investigating the child’s self-enhancement; (vi) paying close attention to everything about the child’s life (Brown and Brown, 2003). Question 2: After reading the Asch (2001) article, make some comments about the issues that this raises for you. What are your views on both the extreme bioethical position as expressed by Peter Singer, and the Social Justice/Social Models of Disability? Post your comments on FLO. Answer 2: Peter Singer’s extreme view about bioethics in relation to disability is inappropriate, in the sense that it neglects social justice or acceptable social model of dealing with disabled people. It is morally (and religiously) improper to carry out prenatal testing and selective abortion on any human soul; I think it is unethical for doctors or any member of medical team to make life-or-death decision for anyone; one can never deny the stupidity of robbing disabled people of their quality of life, even though they seem unresponsive to the cares and solutions devoted on them. Everyone with moral aptitude will totally disavow Singer’s suicidal tendencies, which belittle the sacredness of human soul—whether possessed in a sound physical body or not (Asch, 2001). The proponents of bioethical solutions have forgot that circumstances have helped some people who were previously disabled to regain some form of normal behaviour over a long period of time. Question 3: After reading the Beck (2002)

Case Study 02242 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Case Study 02242 - Essay Example The project with the highest cumulative of cash flows should be chosen. In this case, Alpha is this project. The accounting rate of return also tells us the project that will have more or less profits at the end of the period. The project that has less ARR will have less profits while the project with more ARR will have more profits. From the calculations, Alpha has the highest ARR, therefore, it will yield the highest profits. It should therefore be preferred. Lastly, by looking at the payback period, we need to choose the project with the shortest period. Payback period indicates the time that the project will take before it repays its initial cost of initiation. The project that meets this condition earlier is more preferred as it enables the owners to begin enjoying the profits earlier. Alpha has the shortest period, hence it should be chosen. It is a method of evaluating investment by taking the average accounting operating profit that the investment can possibly make and dividing with the average investment made over the life of the project. It expresses this as a percentage. This method has a weakness of not being keen on time observation as it does not consider when revenue or losses are made (Elmmendor, 1993). It also does pay much attention to accounting profit instead of the absolute profit realized from a particular project. The bigger the value or ARR, the better the choice for any competing projects subject to these projects not exceeding the projected time, hence ignoring time value of money The method is easy to manipulate but it ignores uncertainty of accounting profits. However, it does have the advantage of relating profit to the amount of investment made as well as giving its answers in terms of percentages which is a preference of some managers. Some of the advantages for using this method is the fact tha t it is easy to use when carrying out comparison on projects. It also has a

Leadership Styles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Leadership Styles - Research Paper Example 2003). The leader uses his/her abilities to socially influence others to perform particular tasks for the common good. The person needs to possess particular competences that enable him/her to effectively persuade people to follow certain guidelines that he/she thinks need to be used for success to be accomplished. Beattie (2002) observes that leadership involves steering others to do something that is desirable or to develop something that is useful. In organizations, competent leadership is one of the aspects that are important in enhancing the accomplishment of organizational goals. Competent leaders can propel an organization ahead through effective management of resources and maintenance of a favorable working environment. Finding solutions for workplace conflicts that may hamper the accomplishment of organizational goals is usually the responsibility of the leader (Kotter, 2001). All professions require strong leadership for goals to be accomplished. The success of organization s relies on the leadership to a large extent. It needs to be differentiated from management roles that are mainly focused on maintaining high profits with minimal use of resources. Leadership is about providing direction through socially influencing the followers and ensuring that they understand that the leader’s role is not focused on supervisory activities only. Rather, leadership needs to be seen as an important aspect of the organization that promotes harmonious working relations in the workplace (Barrett, 2006). Managers can possess the qualities of strong leaders, but it is not obvious that all managers are effective leaders. When people note that their personal needs are disregarded by their leaders, they are likely to develop a negative attitude towards their tasks, which may lead to failure in accomplishing organizational goals (Kesler 2002). Strong communication skills are significant for effective leadership. The leader should be in a capacity to effectively commu nicate ideas to the subordinates. Effective organizational relationships are based on good communication. The leader should also be honest with the management team as well as with the subordinates. He/she needs to possess unquestionable integrity to maintain confidence among the subordinates. The leader should be a visionary person who can see ahead of the others. This enables him/her to help others to understand the destiny of the organization. The leader should be in a position to select a strong team that has the capacity to act as an enhancement of his/her skills (Avolio & Bass, 2002). 2.0 Problem Statement Failure by leaders to apply tactical leadership in organizations is a major impediment to success. Strong leadership skills can be accomplished through understanding the appropriate leadership style for teams and organizations. This paper seeks to address this issue by highlighting various leadership styles and their impacts on

Racism in America Today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Racism in America Today - Essay Example Americans still  display  racism, which indicates how deep racism  still  is in the American society. Indeed, Americans have a  big  move  to  make  before they can eliminate this problem from their social  fabric. Racism, as a societal vice within the fabric of the American society, can be traced to the humble beginnings of the United States, when the people organized a  perpetual  hierarchy of  oppressive  efforts. These oppressive constructions  were meant  to  keep  each American – both first comers and new comers like the slaves – subservient to the authority of another above them. This  oppressive  hierarchy can be traced to the demands of the King of England for  goods  from the Jamestown elite, who  entirely  manipulated the  white  frontiersman. ... ps, the ruling class resolved to end the alliance.  This was the case, as they felt that it would eventually  grow  strong  to  the level  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ that it would be able to  overthrow  the  rule  of the King and the elite group. As a  move  to  break  the alliance, the ruling class moved to  separate  the whites from everyone else – which they did – through giving more opportunities in the form of better treatment and land resources to the white servants.  The move worked; therefore,  the working whites abandoned the  rebellious  movements for the favorable treatment.  As a result, the two groupings have had problems working together up to date (Zinn  37). Coming to the incidence of Racism in the American  society  in modern times, it should be noted that Racist moves and behaviors are still as prevalent as they were ages ago, but are more subtle.  At present, people are clearly – more aware and less  apt  to be overtly racist, when there are laws against such acts.  For instance, hate crimes  are considered  as inhumane and punishable by the law, as other racist conducts. Instead, racists have become more organized. For example, in the year 2011, there was a  tremendous  increase  in new memberships to white supremacist associations. This is according to the ‘Southern Poverty law Center,’ which assumes the role of tracking the operations of supremacist organizations in the U.S. They have documented that the number of members by up to 48% since the year 2000. Further, the  principal  white supremacist group operating in America, by name,  Stormfront, runs a racist forum. Through the forum, white supremacists  post  systematic  attacks on the whites of Jewish origin. In such forums, they use the name  Ã¢â‚¬ËœJew’ as a term of race. For example, on a discussion

'Can managers influence the culture of their organizations Discuss Essay

'Can managers influence the culture of their organizations Discuss with reference to at least one example.' - Essay Example Organisational culture can be a source of competitive advantage for a company. Leadership style is one the determinants of organisational culture and it can influence various dimensions of organisational culture. Managers, executives, board of directors and the people who can lead the organisations to achieve the set directions are the leaders and they have potential to influence the culture of organisations. The aim of this essay is to determine whether managers influence the culture of organisations or not, if yes, then how? Early researchers have always been interested to determine the role of managers in organisations. Most of them have studied the impact of organisational culture on effectiveness of managers. Ghiat and Willey conducted a study in which they explored the ineffectiveness of organisations in Algeria as a result of influence of personalities and styles of managers. Their findings depict that effectiveness of managers is determined by the local culture in which organ isation is set (Davies, 1989, pp.26). The competition among the businesses and organisations is increasing and today leaders appear to the major assets for organisations which have the potential to influence the organisations. ... managers) are responsible to shape the culture (Ambler, 2009). It is the influence of the managers on the organisational culture, which makes them the change agents in organisations. Managers face the challenge to determine the most effective culture for organisations and how to effectively change the culture (Baker, 2002). Baker argues that it is the responsibility of managers to ensure the existing culture of organisation relevant to present and future while ensuring some continuity with the past. The example of WMATA shows the importance of a manager in an organisation and what problems an organisation can face when a manager fails to support the organisational culture. Governor of WMATA Board, O’Malley has announced that WMATA is planning to keep Richard Sarles as an interim General Manager/Chief Executive Officer of company rather than permanent GM (Alpert, 2011). Actually the company has been facing cultural issues such as administrative structure of organisation has bec ome very strict, departments do not communicate with each other, skilled change agents are lacking the ability to achieve important tasks and employee turnover has increased. Sarles is the General Manager of company and he has been more involved in making relations with local officials and bodies and he has also launched a track progress report system however, he has been unable to solve the issues which company is facing. Moreover, the culture of company has been transformed into a secretive culture with poor relationships with press. Therefore, company is considering Sarles as an interim manager for a few years because he is already at retirements and company

Rob Parsons Promotion Essay Example for Free

Rob Parsons Promotion Essay The problem with Rob’s promotion is a recurring one, especially in professional services firms and it refers to performance evaluation and more broadly to talent management. Should a person that substantially exceeds expectations in certain skills but significantly lacks other skills, be promoted by virtue of the fact that the first can somehow off-set the latter? There is no doubt that Rob is a star in his position at Morgan Stanley. Businesswise, he has a proven track record and great support from his colleagues and clients. However, at the beginning of his career with the company, he needed to improve is skills in the firm’s management area. I agree with the position taken by Paul Nasr, not to promote him to managing director after his first year with the firm. I believe Rob’s self-evaluation was the best summary of the problems he was facing: on one side, he recognized his need to develop some soft skills but on the other side, his long-term career goal was not in line with the set of management and leading skills required by the table of professional positions. In light of the evaluations received at the end of his second year, I think that Stuart should sponsor Rob to be promoted as managing director. Rob has shown that he had understood the problems and that he trusted the firm’s evaluation and coaching system. He took the message to heart in a lot of different ways. He made tremendous efforts to improve his management skills and Rob’s evaluations all noted an extraordinary amount of progress on the team player front, even if some evaluators continued to express reservations about his style. I believe the key improvement for Rob is that he understood the culture, set of values and core competencies on which the company is based. I think that one of the strengths of organizations based on partnerships is the leverage on the diversity of the partners and the various contributions they can bring to the firm. Rob is a star in his commercial orientation and he can successfully lead and develop the business of Morgan Stanley and he can be backed up by other managing directors in areas where he is weaker but in which they excel.

Cherish the Childrens Thinking Essay Example for Free

Cherish the Childrens Thinking Essay Do you think teachers should cherish the children’ s thinking? Most people think the teachers should treasure the children’s thinking and give the children a space to think freely. It is important for children to cherish their chance to think freely, because they may lose the imagination when they grow up. If all people in the world do not have imagination, this world would not have some new technology products and this society won’t progress. This world needs to keep the pace of progress because no progress is backwards, for example the gasoline is less and less in the world, if scientists can’t create a new energy, then gasoline will disappear. So, this world need to progress by imagination and creativity. The teachers should train and treasure the children’s imagination in order to develop this world and keep progressing. Nowadays, most people have lost the ability of imagining because they had seen too many real things, for example they can’t believe there are some aliens in this world. However, the children believe that the aliens are real in the world because the children are naà ¯ve and willing to trust anything. Thus, teachers should cherish the children’s freedom to think and make their thinking positive in order to develop their own better, earn more academic knowledge and change their lives in the future. Firstly, in order to get a better development of children, the teacher should make children’s thinking more positive. Ho (2007) argues that the American education is not advanced, but it is better in other ways than other countries from the article called â€Å"We Should Cherish Our Children’s Freedom to Think†. (page112) He compares the education of him and his son and discovers they are very different. He had to memorize something about academic knowledge, for example the main cities in the world, lines for Hamlet and a number of math formulas. In contrast, his son studied everything by some experiences, for example he drew a map from his home to school and label every street and building he passed when he was six years old. (Ho, 2007, page112) He agrees this learning method because this kind of education can help the children develop their ideas and creativity. The children are the hope of world, so the teacher must use current and suitable methods to educate the children in order that children develop better. Secondly, if the teachers make students study in the process of playing games and answer the questions actively, the children will earn more academic knowledge. If the children’s ideas are accepted by their teachers and their teacher praise them, the children will keep their thinking and want to get more praise. In this case, the teachers should praise the positive ideas of the children and veto the negative thinking. Ho’s teachers answered the question and gave them a correct answer only when they asked, and he didn’t have a chance to make a decision in many cases. However, his son got a good laugh and an A grade from his teacher when he asked his teacher question and told his teacher his ideas. (Ho) And Ho’s son learned the knowledge of history through play the role. (Ho) Those are good ways to educate, b ecause this way can make the student more confidence, more interested in study and study more industriously. Thus, they will get more academic knowledge. Finally, the people will be able to change their life through some original ideas if they keep their imagination and creativity. Nowadays, this world needs more new products that can attract your eyeballs. If you have the abilities of imagination and creativity, you can change the world. For example Steve Jobs, who is a legend in the world, changed the whole world. Because of his ideas, he created many technology products called iPhone, iPod, iMac and so on. Those products all changed the habits of people, for example many people always put the iPhone in the hand and watch it. Thereforeï ¼Å'the people of the whole world are fond of his product designed by him. Then he had become a rich and excellent man. Thus, we should treasure the thinking of childrenï ¼Å'either kill the imagination in order that they can get a better life in t he future and change this world. In conclusion, American education can make children think freely. For example Ho’s son drew a map when he was six years ago. Special method that is to praise children and play the role can make children earn more knowledge. Keeping the children’s thinking may make them get better life and become a person who can change the world such as Jobs. I think most countries can change their system of education and the teacher should use other ways to educate children. They should respect the children’s ideas and do not kill their imagination and creativity in order that children develop better, earn more knowledge and change their lives and world.

Concepts of Space in Art

Concepts of Space in Art In his book Space, Time and Architecture, Sigfried Giedion noted that through developments made during the Renaissance, the conception of space comes to fruition. This conception of space in art was expressed with the discovery of perspective. Through the use of perspective he says every element is related to the unique point of view of the individual. In linear perspective -etymologically clear seeing- objects are depicted upon a plane surface in conformity with the way they are seen, without reference to their absolute shapes and relations. The whole picture or design is calculated to be valid for one station and observation point only. To the fifteenth century the principle of perspective came as a complete revolution, involving an extreme and violent break with the medieval conception of space, and with the flat, floating arrangements, as its artistic expression. Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, Harvard University Press, Cambridge,  1967, first published 1941, pp. 30-31 During the Renaissance, fields of study particularly in the arts were closely intertwined with traditional models. In architecture, buildings were designed with reference to past examples. At around about the early nineteenth century, there came a shift in the conception of space that broke free of the rigidity associated with antiquity. Relativity in our conception of space came about through the development of cubism. Cubism introduced a new dynamic to visual representation. The framed view is coupled with different points of view of the same object, his brings in a factor of time. Joan Ockman professor and the director of the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the  Study of American Architecture at Columbia University. Here will be cited her essay The  Way Beyond Art published in Autonomy and Ideology, ed.Somol, R.E., the Monacelli Press,  New York, 1997, pp.83-120 matter ceased to be understood as opaque mass. The viewer now envisaged different aspects of space simultaneously, inside and outside, convex and concave at once. Matter was decomposed into simple surfaces and lines (as in Mondrian) or became transparent and interpenetrating (as in Lissitsky). With these developments, space came to be understood as a crossing of movements and energies. The change in the conception of space is said to be the demolition of pictorial space by Cubist techniques and substitution of a relative point of view for an absolute one Along with Ockman, Sigfried also wrote about a new conception of space from the traditional. He claims that classical conception of space is related to the notion of perspective and this notion was the primary element in painting since the Renaissance up until the 20th Century. For Giedion, the new method of visual representation after the formation of cubist techniques coincides with a shift in the conception of space and develops form giving principles of the new space conception After Cubism, space conception changes from the static perception of the Renaissance. Giedion claims that the classic conceptions of space and volumes are limited and one sided. For Giedion, the possibilities of this new space conception is like Cubism with its many perspectives that extract the essence of the subject, give it an infinite potential for relations within it. Giedion claims that the dawn of cubism is an anonymous principle just like the discovery of perspective. That cubism is the expression of a collective and almost unconscious attitude and for him, this expression is also closely related to scientific advancements of that period. As Giedion says. Cubism breaks with Renaissance perspective. It views objects relatively: that is, from several points of view, no one of which has exclusive authority. And in so dissecting objects it sees them simultaneously from all sides from above and below, from inside and outside. It goes around and into its objects. Thus to the three dimensions of the Renaissance which have held good as constituent facts throughout so many centuries, there is added a fourth one time: In stage design, the stage itself can become a medium for the exploration and the experimentation of different concepts in vision and space conception. The stage is the manifestation of the relationship between performers and audience. In her book, Theatres, Gaelle Breton makes reference to ancient theatres. She says that the Greek theatres of antiquity sought to create a unity between the stage and audience areas and combined them under an open air space. This principle she states becomes the model for Elizabethan theatres which she identifies with the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. Breton states that during the Renaissance, theatre design undergoes an increasing separation from the outside world, and within creates an ever increasing divide between stage and spectator who sit in a fix position for an optimum static perspective. This resembles the painting of the time. The way theatres were designed during the Renaissance was challenged by Richard Wagner. Together with architect Otto Brukwald, they collaborated to design theatre which sought a reversal in the separation of and stage. The theatre of the Renaissance was concerned with the audience with the perspective of the audience. No balconies and a darkened auditorium focused the audiences attention to the stage. Theatre no longer sought to create the illusion of reality but sought to express the essence of a play. Breton also claims that the necessity for creating the illusion of reality became less relevant with the advent of cinema and the innovation of cubism which shattered the traditional perception space and style of spatial representation Antonin Artaud (1862-1928) was a famous stage director and the author of Theatre and its Double. He describes the architectural space that he seeks for his productions as a single, universal locale without any partitions of any kind His proposal was to abandon the architecture of his time and set about producing production that could be held in a barn or a hanger for performance. The notion of flexible space such as this can also be seen in the architecture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe around this time. The concept is for a performance space as a total space which can be redesigned and reorganized for different productions. The sculptor and painter Oscar Schlemmer, conducts experiments for stage space at the Bauhaus. Roselee Goldberg state that the work at the Bauhaus was to achieve a synthesis of art and technology in pure form The studies conducted included the problems of performance space such as the opposition of visual place and spatial depth Schlemmers experiments demonstrated a new conception of space on stage. In the 1920s, the discussion of space centred on the notion of felt volume Schlemmer explained that out of the plane geometry, out of the pursuit of the straight line, the diagonal, the circle and the curve, a stereometry of space evolves, by the moving vertical line of the dancing figure. The relationship of the geometry of the plane to the stereometry of the space could be felt if one were to imagine a space filled with a soft pliable substance in which the figures of the sequence of the dancers movements were to harden as a negative form Up until the twentieth century, the criteria for stage design was a framed view and theatres based on the relation of the proscenium. In the early twentieth century, revolutionary stage designers such as Edward Gordon Craig challenged this two dimensional approach to stage design with three dimensional concepts and experiments. For his first production, Craig had to design his own stage as the only available space was the Hampstead Conservatoire. This concert hall was 44ft wide with a series of stepped platforms at one end to house the orchestra. The comprises made by Craig became a characteristic of his work. The ceiling height was level throughout and Craig incorporated Herkomers technique of over head lighting and sky effects. A low proscenium was constructed to facilitate frames and a bridge above the stage for the lighting man. To facilitate a cast and chorus of 75, the full width of the stage was utilized. This created a strikingly panoramic effect. In later production in Coronet and Great Queen Street theatres, Craig lowered the proscenium by as much as 12ft to create the impression of great width. He also found that creating stepped platforms allowed for three dimensional groupings and movement. Craig wanted the spectators to have the same perspective of the plays so no side galleries, or boxes were used, instead a single level seating was used. Another characteristic of Craigs productions which challenged the viewers imagination were, although the sets were openly theatrical, with everything from imitation vine leaves to crude papier-mà ¢chà © boars head, on the other hand there was a deliberate avoidance of realistic detail and simple effects of colour were used, leaving the imagination free and achieving a suggestiveness that one viewer had commented reminded him of the delicate friezes of Pompeii. For these surfaces, Craig explains they stand on the stage just as they are, they do not imitate nature, nor are they painted with realistic or decorative designs Craig studied the theatrical work as it was in ancient Greece, Rome, from the Renaissance to the Elizabethan. He noted that Once upon a time, stage scenery was architecture. A little later it became imitation architecture, still later it became imitation artificial architecture. The two elements which became central to Craigs concept of a new theater were lighting and movement. The two elements which became central to Craigs concept of a new theater were lighting and movement. The great days of painted scenery belonged to the era of dim lighting from gas-few footlights or candles, which flattened the performer so that he an the picture became one. The day the first spotlight was on the side of the proscenium, everything changed. The actor now stood out, was substantial, and a contradiction suddenly appeared between roundness and the two dimensional trompe loeil behind his back. The great innovators in the art of scenic design, Adolphe Appia and Gordon Craig, knew this before the First World War. Peter Brook, Threads of Time, Methuen Publishing Limited, London, 1999, p.48 In 1923, Fredrick Kiesler presented his concept for the Endless Theatre. The theme of this space was the structure did not have any frame, but could still maintain its form. In the 1920s architecture had a strong tendency to interpret space from a functional point of view. Buildings where traditionally of a rectangular shape, however there were no corners in Kieslers endless concept. This implies a meaning of time and space simultaneously which one can interpret as without and en, or in another sense an eternity of time. While this theatre expressed Kieslers concept of space, it was in 1958 when he presented the Endless house that his concept had manifested itself into a space that responded to human sensibilities as well as a functional space acting as a home. An installation architecture piece by Bernard Tschumi called the Glass Video Gallery was constructed in the Netherlands. It is a glass structure which contains 6 banks of video monitors. The projects intention was to challenge our preconceived ideas on the act of viewing. The monitors act as an unstable faà §ade, unlimited space is suggested through mirror reflections. The reflective surfaces which can be interpreted as a modern day equivalent to Edward Gordon Craigs walls. The immateriality presents an ambiguous surface. The architect presented a challenge to the permanence of buildings. The multiplying layers act to dissolve the surface of the glass. Lighting at night acts to transform the space. For Tschumià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The endless reflections of the video screens over the vertical and horizontal glass surfaces reverse all expectations of what is architecture and what is event, of what is wall and what is electronic image, of what defines and what activates. Tschumi also claims that his glass box challenges the ideas of television viewing and about privacy. The transparency of the glass walls acts as an opposition to an enclosed private space it also acts as an extension to the street. Within the structure, a person watches and is watched at the same time.

Racial Struggle in America Essay -- Ethnicity Immigration Papers

Racial Struggle in America Yes East and West and North and South, the Palm and the pine, the pole and the equator, the crescent and the cross - how the great Alchemist melts and fuses them with his purging flame! Here shall they all unite to build the Republic of Man and the Kingdom of God. (Rereading America 535) The myth of the melting pot, similarly to The American Dream [i] , brings a lot of immigrants to America hoping to find equality, freedom and opportunity. The promise of a new race in which individuals of all nations are melted into one, and whose labors would change the world, eludes people all over the globe. The drama of becoming an American requires that immigrants take on a new identity, because they want to become equally members of the community with all the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities that their fellow citizens have. The myth then falls flat on its face, because it lies when it says that all Americans are "created equal." The melting pot ideal has often masked the reality of racial supremacy, constantly reminding us of race [ii] when we feel our differences becoming signs of inferiority, and as inferiors we are treated as subhuman. Thomas Jefferson as third president of the United States (1801-1809) recommended that all emancipated slaves should be sent out of the state to form separate colonies, and to prevent racial conflict as well as intermarriage with whites. While he believed in the "Group Separatism" relation, which in "Models of American Ethnic Relations: A Historical Perspective" George M. Fredrickson explained as a self-governing community, President Ronald Regan declared himself "color blind" in matters of race. Neither a "group separatism," nor a "color-blind" socie... ...eading America. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2001. 598-609. Cose, Ellis. "Can a New Race Surmount Old Prejudices?"Rereading America. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2001. 635-646. Lindholm, William C. "Origins of the Old Order Amish." http://holycrosslivonia.org/amish/origin.htm [i]American Dream: the notion that anyone can succeed in America only through hard work. [ii]Race: population distinguished by genetic traits [iii] politics of identification: Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s term to define our capacity to identify with others regardless of their differences. "A Liberalism of Heart and Spine" [iv] model minority: Asian Americans were used as model minorities to other minorities to claim that the American Dream is alive.

Engineering Technology: Revolutionized Essay -- Engineering

Advance, advance is the key word when describing the human race to prove that we are the superior race. Ever since the discovery of technology we have linked our minds together for the persistence of progress to modify the aspects all around us for the better. It’s amazing that a simple interest in the beginning will change everything down to a distinct thought. History has proven that the steps forward in technology within engineering have grown larger and are concluded at a more rapid rate and with in the last twenty years. Such a large amount has improved so rapid as cities grow and technology advances, engineering is moving along with the tide. Engineers that grow and see their world of work improve every day because of certain advances in technology all depending on their field. This how engineering features evolved into what they are today from with in the last two decades; and how the change will continue to advance as modern Technology embraces a post modern era. Engineering has existed since the earliest times of culture and perhaps is one of the older lines of labor on earth (the earliest invention of engineering goes back as early as the invention of the wheel). It’s extraordinary that we came so far since the discovery of the wheel, the technology that has been accomplished today just engulfs the minds of people. Everyday modern technology is taken over the minds of people and they continue to adapt to the modern changes with in the ever changing society. Through centuries there are trails left by ancient engineering and has differed from our technology today. Through the ancient era there has been astounding and un-answering feats of engineering. Like the great pyramids of Egypt and the great coliseums of Rome. The... ...his hands dirty and a female does not (a great example would be the nuclear 1950’s era of the stay at home mom and the 9-5 dad). A main point to why females are not the ones going out and doing the labor is the perception of being feminine. Here’s a quote that shows how much soul they take in their work. â€Å"Engineering is the professional art of applying science to the optimum conversion of natural resources to the benefit of man†. (smith) Works Cited †¢ Scott, Henry. "Engineering Quotes." BrainyQuotes. N.p., 01 Jan 2010. Web. 26 Mar 2010. . †¢ "engineering." 15. 4. Chicago: Britanica, 1986. Print †¢ "Engineering." encyclopedia Britanica. Britanica, 2010. Web. . †¢ "Engineering and Natural Science managers." Ocupational Outlook Handbook. Indianapolas: U.S. Department of Labor, 2005. Print.

The Nirvitarka Concentration as Represented In Narayans Mr Sampath Ess

The novels of R.K. Narayan reflect that Indian sensibility which has been acquired through the ages from the wisdom of Indian philosophical thought that has been continually enriched since the ancient times but which had receded since colonization. Narayan adopts this 'theoretical base of the Indian philosophical tradition to retrieve and reconstitute a sense of Indianness. Perhaps, this is why he has proved to be "the most lasting, highly rated and widely accessible, while his writing is the most consciously rooted in local circumstances, traditions and values" as claimed by Dennis Walde(694). Meenakshi Mukherjee had earlier recognized Gandhi as having reached the state of Jeevan Mukta as depicted in Waiting for the Mahatma (Mukherjee 99-100). Even V.P. Rao observed that "Krishnan practices some sort of yoga. He goes through the... The last three stages of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi."(Rao 32)Taking this a priory. I attempt to evaluate Srinivas of Mr Sampath on the scale of Patanjal i's Nirvitarka concentration as mentioned in his Yogasutra. Before embarking on the venture of interpreting Srinivas's experience of undergoing Nirvitarka concentration during an exorcist's ritual, it is imperative to have an overview of Patanjali's Yoga philosophy, of course, in a nutshell. Throughout this paper I have referred to P.N.Mukerji's translation of Patanjali's Yoga-sutra as well as of the commentary on Yoga philosophy by Swami Hariharananda Aranya. In his Yoga-sutra Patanjali expounds the theory of controlling the mind in order to know the Self. As he says, ;ksxfpÙko`fÙkfujks/k% (Aranya 7) Yoga is the discipline of restraining the fluctuation or modification caused due to the occupation of the mind. The occupation of the mind is to create t... ...his family, at the crucial moments of their life by acquiescing to take care of his father in the absence of Ravi and his mother when she takes Ravi to the tantric's village Works Cited Aranya,Swami Hariharananda.Yoqa Philosophy of Patanjali Trans.P, N.Mukerji.Calcutta: University Press, 1963. Bowling,L.E. "What is the Stream of Conscious Technique." Critical Approaches To Fiction. Ed.Shiv K.Kumar and Keith Mckean. New Delhi: Atlantic, 2003.331-345. Mukherjee,Meenakshi. The Twice Born Fiction. New Delhi: Heinemann, 1974. Narayan,R.K. "Mr. Sampath." The World of Malqudi. Ed.S.Krishnan. New Delhi: Viking, 2000. Rao,V.P. "The Art of R.K.Narayan." The Journal of Commonwealth Literature. 5(1968) 32-35 Warder, Dennis. Post-Colonial Literatures in English: History, Language, Theory. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.Ind.Rpt.2002.

Planning in Early Childhood Essay

The observation of children is performed by teachers and educators, to help understand each child, and their characteristics. Along with assessment and evaluation, educators are able to understand each child’s development, and make decisions about appropriate activities and experience to offer each child, to help foster their individual development. (Veale, A. and Piscitelli, B. 1988) This essay will discuss the Value of the Observation Process in Planning for early childhood settings, and the role of each teacher in facilitating children’s individual learning and development. Observation is a very valuable and important part of the planning process as each child is different. Observation and Record Keeping in Early Childhood Programs (Veale, A. and Piscitelli, B. 1988,) Suggests that in order for educators to provide proper learning experience for children, they must know each child’s strengths, weaknesses, interests, fears, joys, ideas and individual interests to plan stimulating and appropriate learning experiences. Through observation, Educators can gather this information on what each child is capable of, how each child behaves under a range of different circumstances and how the child interacts with other children, and adults. The information collected from observation helps educators to develop objectives and plans to â€Å"enhance children’s learning and development† (Planning and Learning, NZTC pg. 5). Effective Planning and developing of learning outcomes for children is a collaborated effort between colleagues, children, Parents/Whanau and the community. DOP 6 outlines that importance of collaboration between colleagues when it comes to forming an effective plan in the early childhood environment. Open relationships and free discussions amongst each other empowers educators to become reflective practitioners and to understand different perspectives (MoE, 1998) By collaborating with parents/ Whanau educators can increase their understanding of the child’s â€Å"thinking and learning, parents and carers become wiser about the child† (Stonehouse, cited in Hanna, 2006, p.73) and planning becomes more effective and purposeful for the child. Te Whariki states under the principle of Family and Community, â€Å"The wellbeing of children is interdependent with the well-being and culture of local communities and neighborhoods. Children’s learning and development are fostered it the well-being of their family and community is supported. †(MoE, 1996, p. 42) Society is constantly changing, and children grow and change with the community, so educators need to plan for the growth and change. And most importantly the children need to be considered while planning. Children are individuals and their voice needs to be heard. Educators need to be aware of the child’s capabilities, interests and learning needs to provide efficient learning activities that will be effective and enjoyable for the child. â€Å"The purpose of assessment is to give useful information about children’s learning and development to the adults providing the program and to children and their families. † (MoE, 1996 pg.29) Assessment of the effectiveness of the program and keeping track of the child’s development helps educators to make decisions so effective changes can be made as needed to help the child’s personal progress and learning objectives. Likewise with planning, assessment needs to consider the changes in the community, consider the needs of the child and the parents/whanau to be the most effective for the child’s learning. Evaluation is the final step in the on-going planning of children’s learning. â€Å"The purpose of evaluation is to make informed judgments about the quality and effectiveness of the program. † (MoE, 1996 Pg. 29) Evaluation is a crucial part of the planning process as it gives educators a chance to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of their program planning and to be better informed for future planning. Educators need to use a range of methods to evaluate the program. This can be done by reflections, regularly updating what works well and monitoring effectiveness, consulting with patents/whanau, and most importantly making appropriate changes. Educators hold the important role of supporting and facilitating each child’s development, one method of facilitating for the child is by recognizing and providing an optimal learning environment. An optimal learning environment is a safe environment specifically designed to facilitate a child’s learning and developmental needs. Educators need to provide time and opportunity for children to respond and experience the world creatively, it also needs to offer exposure to a variety of experience, to be secure and offer stimulating experiences so children can take risks and investigate the world around them safely. Olds (2001) suggests that children need to feel comfortable in their environment for them to explore. Educators need to be vigilant in making sure that each individuals needs are met so the child feels safe and comfortable in the learning environment. Creating an optimal learning environment means educators need to consider the aspects that create this environment. Harris Helm suggests that the overall effectiveness of an early childhood program is dependant on quality of staff, suitable environment, consistent schedules and parent involvement. Another aspect educators need to consider while facilitating learning is the importance of the interpersonal environment. â€Å"Interpersonal environment refers to the relationships established in the environment. † (Planning and Learning, NZTC, 2009, pg 49. ) Educators need to provide an environment that will allow children to learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people (MoE, 1996). Children must feel comfortable safe and secure in order to engage in efficient and meaningful learning. Fu (2004) believes that establishing supportive, responsive relationships with children and parents/whanau helps with the development of knowledge, social skills and attitudes and reinforces learning. Building a relationship with the child and their family will help educators to have a clear understanding of the child’s development and the holistic needs of the child. Educators need to engage in constant interactions with parents to gain proper insight into the child’s individual beliefs, rituals, preference and values, so to build a personal and meaningful relationship with the child. Relationships are the heart of learning. By Building a close relationship with the child allows educators to respond sensitively to each child’s needs. By building this Positive and sensitive relationships, research has shown that it enhance a child’s development and is the base of early childhood education. Vygotsky social constructive theory of the Zone of Proximal Development can effectively help educators with providing the best support and to develop strategies to assist the learning and development of the children. The Zone of Proximal Development is described by Vygotsky as â€Å"the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peer† (L. S. Vygotsky, p. 86) Vygotsky observed that when an individual was tested on tasks alone, they rarely did as well as when they were working in collaboration with an adult. The process of involvement by the adult enabled them to refine their thinking or their performance to make it more effective. (James Atherton, 2009) by observing a child, educators can observe what a child needs individually, find out what is changeling for the child and work collaboratively alongside with the child and develop strategies to help further the child’s learning. From this theory the teaching strategy of Co-construction was developed. Con-construction is described as a â€Å"collaborative process from which new understanding and concepts emerge. (Planning and Learning NZTC, 2009, Pg. 39)By collaborating together to find new understanding and concepts between the child, peers, and adults can develop strategies to offer new ideas and concepts to activities. Educators have the important role of providing a co-constructive environment by listening to the child, playing with the child, and have an active participation in their learning, to help develop a child’s interests in learning further. Educators also need to encourage children â€Å"to share what they think and know† (Planning and Learning, NZTC, 2009, pg. 39) . â€Å"Planning the curriculum should be a continuing process, involving careful observation, identification of needs and capabilities, provision of resources, assessment and evaluation† (MoE, 1996, p.28). Observation, planning, assessment, and evaluation is an ongoing process that must be part of a daily routine. Every educator will be different in how they plan, but thru collaboration with colleagues, parents/whanau, the child, and consideration of the community will help educators to plan as effectively as they can for each individual and help them to grow and improve, and learn how to provide children with the best possible environment to learn and develop in.

Forensic Analysis Of Soils Environmental Sciences Essay

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