Call of the Wild Theme Project

October 1st Period E1 Call of the Wild Theme Project â€Å"†¦he may be seen running at the head of the pack through the pale moonlight or glimmering borealis, leaping gigantic above his fellows, his great throat a-bellow as he sings a song of the younger world, which is the song of the pack. † How did Buck, an ordinary domestic dog living in the sun-kissed Santa Clara valley in California, go from being the favored of a wealthy judge, to the head of the wolf pack in eastern Alaska? Buck makes many enemies along the way, but he also makes friend that will always have an impact on him.Learns lessons he would need to know to survive this treacherous land. Even finds out what it’s like to live in the foot-steps of his ancestors, and Buck loves every minute of it. He loves the feel of being an un-domestic wolf in the wild. All he has to do; is heed the Call of the Wild. Buck matures greatly in chapter one. He learned that humans were to be trusted, but also respected. T hat is the law of club that the man in the red sweater taught Buck before selling him to Perrault and Francois. It’s a very important lesson in this chapter.Buck’s life changes gradually here; Manuel, the gambling grounds keeper, sells Buck to men who are traveling up North for the Arctic gold rush, Buck is starved for days before meeting the man in the red sweater, who beats Buck with a club to show that man must be obeyed and respected, then gives Buck food and water to show him that man can also be trusted. This is the law of club that Buck will live by during his life in Alaska. Chapter two, The Law of Club and Fang, is precisely what the name states.Buck learns about the law of club and fang. But he also learns of his bitter hatred towards fellow sled dog, Spitz, when he laughs at the death of another dog, Curly, who was maimed by other huskies. Life is fairly tough in the Northland for Buck. He is expected to learn the rules of sledding fast, and he takes up to t hat is record time. Once a mistake is made, he knows how to keep it from happening again. All the laws of the North are hurling themselves at Buck, expecting nothing less than excellence. The law of club nd fang has deeply embedded itself into Bucks brain, taunting him with nightmares of experience; â€Å"If you fall, you die. † It has taken these words and paired them with Curly’s death as a reminder to Buck of what must be done. What must be done to survive. In this chapter it becomes apparent that Spitz shares in his hatred towards Buck, so, after a good while of trying to avoid it, Buck gives Spitz just what he wants; a fight. Bucks personality is gradually changing, also. He is growing out of the domestic dog that he once was and has become more like the wolf.During this chapter, Buck’s character change is apparent when he starts challenging Spitz’s authority, and gets the other sled dogs to do so as well. Soon, a ruckus arises over the camp when Buc k and Spitz have at each other. Just when Buck looks to be defeated, he cunningly tricks Spitz and takes his position as dominant primordial beast. Here, is where a lot of the lessons pile on Buck. While being lead dog, Buck learns how to gain everyone’s respect as the head dog. Then, when he is again sold to another owner, he gains the exact same respect from the fifty other dogs there.He matures greatly as leader and enjoys what he does, but he can’t help but want something more. Something else. While working as a mail dog, Dave, one of the dogs from Bucks previous job whom is very proud of his work, gets internal injuries and can no longer pull a sled. He is devastated when they try to cut him out of the traces so they let him work for as long as he can bear it. Then they let him go, putting an end to his misery. From Dave, Buck learns that everything, everyone, has a limit, that nothing can ever really last forever.In this chapter, Buck is introduced to yet another set of owners. Charles, Hal, and Mercedes aren’t what would cut for working people. Actually, they would be the complete opposite. They are foolish, daft, lazy, and a very important part of Bucks growth in this book. From them Buck learns that discipline was never given upon him in the past because of cruelty, it was because past owners never would have tolerated such disorder as these three. They were cruel to the dogs to allow little rest and hoarding their food.The group comes up to the camp of John Thornton soon and they are but a memory to Buck; after the abuse that Hal commits to Buck when he refuses to move from his resting place. Thornton steps in and saves Buck from Hal’s cruel whip and club. Hal stubbornly pulls his sister and brother-in-law along the path, against Thornton’s advice. They disappear under the ice as soon as they set foot on the frozen river, leaving Buck in the care of John Thornton. This chapter is incredibly important to Bucks maturi ty. This chapter is where Buck expresses his love for John is many ways.Buck realizes, what with all the different owners he has had, he has never felt love to anyone. None until John Thornton. When Buck loves John, he means to even jump off a cliff for him, his love is so strong. His trust in the man so sure. In fact, Buck saved John from a raging river at the risk of his own life. His love for John goes completely the length of his heart, is the only way to describe it. In this chapter, Buck is compelled more than ever to answer to the call of the wild, but does not want to break ties to the owner whom he loves so dearly.He cannot leave John, even if he wanted to. His love is to deeply embedded into the both of them. That is until, while Buck is stalking a moose, John and his team of few dogs and comrades are killed by the Yee-hats, a native to Alaska. Buck continues to hunt, unknowing of what awaits him at camp. When he does make it back to camp, he finds the remains of the Yee-h ats good work done. He also finds lingering members of the tribes and manages to kill score of them. After that, Buck can’t help to feel pride in the mixture of devastation over loosing John.He had killed man! The top hunter, the ultimate prey! This brings Buck to stand where he belongs; at the top of the pack. The lead in the group of wolves. The legend carried from generation to generation. The wolf that never forgot where it belongs, or who got him there. The story of Buck never fails to warm the heart and entice you with life lessons told in a way you’d never forget. Buck learns that you need to do what you really want to do in life, to follow your instincts, and to be the best you can be.He knows how to life his life; the way he wants to live it. He learned that if you fall, you can just pick yourself right back up again. He learned that love is both valuable and dangerous. That is must not be misused because of consequences. But most of all; he learned to never g ive up. That if there is something out there that you want to do, don’t let anything get in the way of it. He followed his dream of being a wolf as soon as John died because there was nothing holding him back anymore. He knew that it was time for him to become what he was meant to be.

Police Culture and Its Influence to Their Behavior Essay

Introduction In today’s American society in policing are a set of fundamentals that helps set the law and keep everything in order or at least try too. We will be discussing the police culture and the significance stress in policing. In addition, we will also analyze the culture for women and the ethnic minorities. Also, on how they can achieve equality in law enforcement for women. Moreover, we will be going more in depth with internal and external mechanism that control police discretion. Analyze Police Culture, including the Significance of Stress in Policing There are many factors that contribute to the stress of a police officer. Some of these factors are as follows: dangers of the job itself, the probability of advancement or a lack of advancement opportunities, family, and any vice that he or she may be influenced by. Along with any other responsibilities that he or she may have. The culture to deal with these stresses is to speak to another police officer. At times this is encouraged because the other officer is your partner and probably the only one who will be able to relate to what the officer is going through. Police officers are always under stress because of the nature of their profession. In any case, they will need to make a split second decision that will be evaluated again and again by people in a controlled environment with none of the dangers or necessary immediate response that the officer was subjected to. This results in intense scrutiny by superiors, peers and the public. The result of this stress manifest itself though health related issues such as chronic illnesses, poor performance at work, failure to be a productive member of the family and unfortunately suicide. The police departments have made great strides in being able to detect an officer who is in need of help  and have conducted studies into how stress affects police officers. During their studies they have discovered that Officers who reported high levels of stress had a link to heart disease, depression, anxiety, somatization and posttraumatic stress disorder. They also discovered a strong relationship between work related stress and alcohol abuse (Gershon et al.2009). Police departments can help by having an engaged leadership in which they know their officers and know to look for the signs that someone needs help. Police department can also mitigate these issues by taking preventive measures by educating the officers to develop coping mechanisms to help alleviate the daily stress that builds up in some people. Woman and Minorities in policing today Employment discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sex is illegal in the United States this is due to the passing of title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Acts. In 1n 1972 the Equal Employment Opportunity Act extended the coverage of the 1964 law to state, local, and government which included the police and sheriff’s departments (Walker, S., katz, C.M. , 2011). The employment of minorities and woman officers have increased significantly over the last forty years. A useful tool in measuring the ratio of minority groups in a law enforcement agency is the (CALEA) which means Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. The recommendations of CALEA is that law enforcement agencies have a ratio of minorities employed in approximate proportion to the diversity of the agency. Another useful tool that is useful to measure employment in law enforcement is the Equal Employment Opportunity Index. This measurement tool is used to compute the relationship between the racial diversity in the community and how this reflects the racial diversity in police departments that serve that particular area (Walker, S., katz, C.M. , 2011). For example, a police department in southern parts of the United States may hire more African American officers because of the racial makeup of a particular city being serviced at that time. There is still however, an underrepresentation of African American police officers in some states. According to (AolJobs.com) there was a serious problem with the Boston Police Department in 2010. According to the article there was discriminatory hiring practices being used to eliminate out minorities applicants. â€Å"The city is about 24 percent  black according to the 2010 census but of the 51 Lieutenants on the force just two are black men and of the 23 Captains The only black man retired yesterday† (Gorden, 2012). The Article shows that even today discr imination is still alive and well and is still existing in some police departments across America today. Because of the rapidly changing population in some parts of the United States employment of Hispanic and Latino officers have increased. Being able to speak with the public when dispatched to a call is very important. Being able to speak Spanish or know a foreign language can be a very important asset to a police department. Because a police officer of a different racial ethnicity can respond to citizens who may not speak English and may be able to effectively communicate within their own racial group this is a very important asset to most police departments. Because of that fact most Hispanic and Latino officers are highly recruited by some police departments. Because of the changing face of law enforcement in the last 40 years woman are becoming police officers in higher rates today. Old policies that discriminated woman officers have been changing over the last 40 years. For example, rules on hairstyles and officers who become pregnant while actively being a police officer has changed. The federal Discrimination Act prohibited Employment discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or any other pregnancy-related medical conditions (Walker, S., katz, C.M. , 2011). There still is a long way to go in the hiring of more woman police officers. Woman police officers are still underrepresented compared to men in police departments across the United States. Some of the reason diversity is so important in the police work force environment for minorities and woman is improvement of public service to different racial and gender groups, and also to improve the image of the police departments as a fair and equal employer. This will lead to better police –community relations and better work environment for police departments in general. Internal and External Mechanisms that Control Police Discretion Many writers have a tried to define â€Å"police discretion† but the most widely used definition is the following: A police officer or police agency may be said to exercise discretion whenever effective limits on his, or her, or its power leave the officer or agency free to make choices among possible courses of action or inaction. This very well written description of the said subject was written by Kenneth Culp  Davis in his book â€Å"Discretionary Justice† from (1969). What he meant by that is not very hard to comprehend . Mr. Davis believes that when an officer has a choice over how to respond to a specific problem or situation that police officer is said to have discretion or choice. The big word to remember is choice. Another definition used for â€Å"police discretion† states: Discretion is defined as an official action by a criminal justice official based on that individual’s judgment about the best course of action. So what do some police officers take into consideration when making the decision to arrest or not to arrest? Well, according to research the seriousness of the alleged offense is one of the most important factors that police officers take into consideration when deciding whether to arrest a suspect as one might expect. For example, an officer is most likely to arrest an individual for assault or robbery than a minor petty offense. Another reason an officer might lean more towards arresting an individual is safety. For example, if the officer believes that an individual might pose a threat to himself or to others then he or she might be inclined to deescalate the situation by removing or incapacitating the said suspect. Another factor that plays a part in whether or not an officer makes an arrest is the attitude of the suspect, believe it or not. For example if the suspect appears aggressive or disrespectful when stopped or being questioned. Other factors that influence discretionary decisions are the strength of the evidence, characteristics of the victim, relationship between victim and suspect but the most controversial factor, by far, is taking the minority status into account to the offence or â€Å"racial profiling†, as it is more generally called. Some factors that inhibit the officers’ discretionary ability are official department policies, the informal organizational cultures of the department, the local political culture. But at the end of the day, the decisions made by individual officers still determine who is arrested and who is not. Despite the dawn of mandatory arrest policies and other influences, the final decision is theirs and theirs alone. Conclusion In conclusion, we have discussed and analyzed police culture and the significance of stress while policing, women and minorities in policing today, and finally internal and external mechanisms that control public discretion. The Police profession as a whole is one that can go from one  extreme of emotion to another. Policing is often many hours of boredom to chaos in a moment’s notice, because of this a police officer’s career is marked frequently with encounters of danger and reckless abandon. The issues that society has directly affects the police officer negatively impacting his or her psyche. As the pressure of duty rises police officers often experience anger, depression, and or delusion. Because of this stress, over a period of time, can build up, and cause psychological indispositions that may strain an officer’s relationship with family or friends, or worse co-workers. These psychological indispositions can lead to an officer to quit, retire early, or e ven worse, become abusive or suicidal. The importance of women and minorities in policing today are vast. Because employment discrimination is against the law in the United States, the addition of women and minorities have improved the police force throughout the country. Although there are some discrepancies in hiring certain ethnicity’s, as a whole, the police forces of America are continuing in an upward climb. Because of changes in policy, women are able to not only become police officers but also maintain the status of being a mother. The importance of minorities within the policing community is important with the make up of America rapidly changing it allows police to communicate with the community effectively and efficiently. Police discretion although there is no clear definition of what it is, have internal and external mechanisms which control it. Policing officer’s always have a choice when it comes to making a decision (even split second). What the main control of police discretion is always relies upon the police officer to be calm clear minded and professional especially in this day and age where every move an officer makes is either filmed or recorded and scrutinized. References Grant, H. B., & Terry, K. J. (2012). Law enforcement in the 21st century (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/02/15/black-police-officers-sue-boston-for-discrimination Law Enforcement in the 21st Century, Third edition Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2011). The police in America: An introduction (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Informed Consent- Legal Aspects in Health Care Essay

Informed Consent- Legal Aspects in Health Care - Essay Example In some cases, some patients may require to remove some of their body parts in order to save their life. For example, cancer patients often forced to remove their body parts like leg, hand etc in order to prevent the spreading of cancer across the body and to save their life. In such cases, the patient can decide whether to undergo such treatment or not as some people may not like to sustain their life without some of their body parts. Before removing any body parts, the doctors should take consent from the patient which is known as informed consent. This paper analyses the legal aspects involved in informed consent by analyzing the given case study of Mrs. Sparza, a 70 year old grandmother with little English skills, who is scheduled for surgery of her right eye.   According to the existing American laws with respect to informed consent, patients who are competent enough to take medical decisions have the legal and moral right to refuse or accept any or all treatment even if the decision might result in serious disability or even death (WebMD, 2010). In Mrs. Sparza’s case, upon the entry to the hospital, she and her son review the general admission documents and Mrs. Sparza signs them all. Moreover, she also completed and executed a durable power of attorney for health care and her daughter and son as her agents for decision making in the event that she became incapacitated. She also specified that she did not wish any heroic measures and that in the event she went into a coma she wanted the life support terminated.  In short, she was competent enough to take decisions about her future when she was admitted in the hospital. Mrs. Sparza visited the hospital with the intention of undergoing surgery only on her right eye. But after exami nation, the doctors informed her that she needs surgery on both the eyes. Realizing her poor knowledge in English, the doctor explained her, the necessity of

Critique a legal article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critique a legal article - Essay Example There have been many interesting controversies about the nursing practice in United States since it was formally introduced and recognized as a profession in the late nineteenth century. Majority of the issues were humanistic in approach tackling about the actual institution of medical ethics. However, there have been a growing number of legal concerns that were entertained too. In fact, the Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession has published a recent legal matter involving a patient who died due to the negligence of the stationed nurse. The autopsy conducted showed â€Å"aspiration of food as the cause of the cardiopulmonary arrest that killed the patient† (Snyder, 2010). Tracing back the facts of the case, the patient was actually suffering from a swallowing disorder termed as dysphagia. At a particular time, a nursing aide came to his room and left a sandwich on his tray table and then went away. The patient ate the sandwich without supervision which was ci ted as the main reason of his choking resulting to his death. The heirs of the deceased sued the hospital who gained a favorable decision from the Appellate Court of Illinois in November of 2009. The said honorable court declared the stationed nurse negligent and required the hospital to pay the family of the deceased in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars. In addition, the appellate court affirmed that â€Å"before a nurse may delegate any care task to an aide, it is the nurse’s responsibility to determine that the task is appropriate for performance by an aide and by the particular aide selected to perform it† (as cited in Snyder, 2010). Hence, â€Å"violation of the standard of care for a care-giving task by a non-licensed aide is also a violation of the standard of care by the professional nurse responsible for supervising the aide† (Snyder, 2010). In this regard, it can be stated that nurses just like the other professionals in the society are obliged to serve

Blueprint for the Services at Brithinee Electronics Essay

Blueprint for the Services at Brithinee Electronics - Essay Example started Brithinee Electronics in 1963 after two previous ventures did not work out. The earlier ventures proved to be a springboard for getting into the business of repairing industrial motors. Wallace's young sons, Wally and Don Brithinee worked alongside their father in starting and developing the fledgling company, gradually learning the rewinding business. In 1970 when the Lincoln Electric, a large manufacturer of electric motors, came out with an appealing low priced motor, the Brithinee made a strategic decision to be distributors for Lincoln's new product line. Taking on the Lincoln line allowed Brithinee Electric to offer its customers the choice of repairing or replacing a malfunctioning motor. By 1972 Brithinee Electric had seven employees and enough business to feel optimistic about the future, so it built a 10000 square foot facility to house the business. The company's facilities were expanded to 16.750 square feet seven years later. By 1980 Brithinee Electric had 23 employees. In 1982 Wally and Don Brithinee took over the management of the business when Wallace Sr. decided to retire. In 1987. Brithinee has about $4.5 million in revenue, about 75% of which came from sellings its Toshiba and Baldor lines of electric motors and about 25% came from motor repair work. Building customized electric control panels was of which came from motor repair work. Building customized electric control panels was a new venture with one full time employee, but control panel sales were not yet large enough to be listed as a separate revenue category in the company's financial statements. Brithinee's main emphasis was in motors for water pumping and treatment areas, rock crushing, cement facilities, and the food industry, including wineries and breweries. 1.0 Blueprint Design Blueprint is the term the service experts' use for the structure of the company services Lovelock (2003). It is also known as structural process design and was created by Shostack in 1987. Blueprinting not only highlights the importance of the service design but also concentrates more on flowcharts or processes modeling. It also shows a clearer picture of the process in service mapping. From the perspective of the Brithinee Electric's customer (first stage of process is bringing the motor to the workshop or asking Brithinee to get it picked from the customer's site). When a customer would come with the problem being faced in his motor, the Brithinee staff would firstly take its photos and test it. After the testing the customer would be told of the problems that exists and how would it be cured. If the customer allows, the second stage of repairing starts off. 2.0 Flow Chart of Brithinee's Electric The process consists of 11 steps: 1. Customer brings in his motor 2. The problem existing in the motor is discussed with the staff and the staff is told after the review if they want

HRM Innovation and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

HRM Innovation and Change - Essay Example ctive team work combined with strategic performance metrics like using internal and external benchmarking are important tools to evaluate performance outcome. The continuous learning environment provides the workers with a wider scope for professional growth in the area of core competencies and making them responsible for advocating and nurturing a high standard of ethics and quality work. The measurement of change vis-Ã  -vis performance, innovation and customer satisfaction are few of the critical success factors that have significant impact on the market positioning of the organization. The empowered workforce that thrives on shared learning and collective goals greatly facilitates improved performance. TQM and benchmarking promote quality assurance at various levels of business processes through measures that drastically reduce the percentage of error within the production and become cost effective. Thus, organizations continuously make effort to identify factors and issues that would help meet the challenges with efficiency and unmatched proficiency. The organizational change can broadly be defined as the ability of management to identify and incorporate the factors that increase output and improve the performance outcome of the organization. Through focused approach, the companies develop dynamic business strategies to identify the critical factors of change and meet the challenges with creative inputs through collective vision and shared goals. The strategy involves simultaneous inputs from various different departments so as to measure, analyze, improve and control the production of new products and services. Hence, the companies through regular surveys, feedback processes and R&D activities are able to identify the opportunities for new products. Evaluation and implementation of performance metrics gives a competitive edge to

Greece is finding it difficult to manage its public sector deficit as Essay

Greece is finding it difficult to manage its public sector deficit as a tool to improve its economy. What alternatives are open - Essay Example The figures 1a below shows the evolution of some key macroeconomic indicators for Greece from 2006 to 2010 Figure 1a GDP growth and Unemployment for Greece from 2006 – 2010 Source: IMF The Economic problems for Greece The macroeconomic problems for Greece are aplenty. The GDP is contracting and unemployment rising. Most importantly, its debt has been constantly increasing for the last many years and as of end 2010, it was 143% of its GDP (as shown in Figure 1b below) with current deficit at 13% of the GDP. The current financial mess in Greece came to the open when the newly elected government announced in October 2010 that its current deficit had been falsely reported for the last few years. This revelation led yields on Greek government bonds and interest rates for new credit to rise astronomically, meaning that it was no longer viable for Greece to raise money from the market to maintain the levels of government spending that it had been doing since many years. The key prior ity now for Greece to overcome its economic woes is to bring its debt to more sustainable levels with a first target of not more than 100% of GDP. Figure 1b Gross debt as percentage of GDP for Greece 2006 to 2010 Source: IMF Option for Greece to alleviate its economic woes The Greek economy enjoyed growth from 2003-2007 largely due to high government spending. Historically, public spending accounted for a large part (>40%) of the GDP. Since public spending is not a luxury that Greece enjoys anymore, it needs to bring the economy back to growth through other means with the top priority of bring debt levels down to instil investor confidence in Greece. Because Greece is a member of the EMU, it has no longer the option to devalue its currency (to help make exports more competitive) or to control its monetary policy that best suits its own economy (interest rates and inflation). Given this, Greece could consider exiting the EMU - by exiting the EMU and dropping the Euro as its currency, Greece would revert to its original currency, the Drachma. It would no longer be under the control of the ECB for its monetary policy and it can devalue its currency and let its exporters get the competitive advantage. However, this would bring largely negative effect on the investors in Greece and would affect the investment coming into Greece. The overall effect may be a little to no change in the GDP but a largely disgruntled EU. So, Greece must look at options (with staying in the EMU in mind) aimed at reducing its overall sovereign debt and improving the economy. The possibilities for Greece then are: a) Reduce sovereign debt by restructuring the debt Clearly, sovereign debt is the biggest economic problem for Greece today. It is at a highly unsustainable level of 143% of the GDP. This means that any new loans for Greece would come at very high interest rates. Now, Greece could either simply default on its debt or it could try to restructure its debt. A debt default would mean even lower investor confidence which may not be a very positive sign for Greece. It could however, try to restructure its debt by: 1) Extending the maturity of its debt 2) Reducing the face value of the debt 3) Combination of both 1 and 2 above Extending the mat

590-1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

590-1 - Essay Example According to a report, Philip H. Knight, the CEO of Nike Inc. had felt that the University of Oregon (UO) had â€Å"broken chain of trust† by deciding to join the Workers Right Consortium which opposed the Fair Labor Association (FLA) as supported by Knight. The UO raised a dispute with the support of the student activists and the faculty that the Nike’s products which were sold in the stores of university campus, bearing the university logo apparel were manufactured by not abiding the sweatshop terms and conditions. In this connection it is worthy to mention that ‘Workers Right Consortium’ or WRC is identified as an independent labor rights organization which keeps an eye on and focuses on protecting the rights of the workers those who generally sews apparel and manufactures other products especially those which bears university and college logos being sold in the markets of United States. The FLA is a joint effort of socially responsible companies, colleges, civil society organizations and universities intended to recover the working conditions of the factories operating worldwide. It is a brand accountability system providing the responsibility towards companies for accomplishing the FLA’s labor standards as maintained in the factories which is involved with manufacture of their products. Their mission is to protect the workers and improve the working conditions of the workers globally. Their objective is to end up the sweatshop standards being followed worldwide. FLA’s code of conduct includes; abolition of child labor, discrimination, intimidation of those workers who seeks to organize unions, improving hazardous work conditions, settling payments for over time (Fair Labor Association, 2008). Whereas, WRC being a non-profit organization supervises the manufacturing of university apparel in order to make sure that

History of District Nursing in Australia Essay Example for Free

History of District Nursing in Australia Essay District nurses are those senior nurses who are involved in managing care in a community by leading teams of both support workers and community nurses. This particular paper talks about the history of district nursing since its emergence in England over one hundred and fifty years ago. It then discusses the progress of district nursing in other countries, in this case, Australia. Nursing can be defined as a science and an art with an exceptional body of knowledge drawing from behavioral, physical, and social sciences (Funnel et al, 2005, p. ). It is a profession that is unique in its own way because it addresses families and individuals responses to health problems, health maintenance, as well as health promotion. Over one hundred years ago, nursing was defined by Florence Nightingale as the act of making use of a patient’s environment in a bid to helping that particular patient recover. To facilitate for quick recovery, she considered a clean, quiet, and well ventilated environment as very essential. Nursing helps in facilitation of prescribed therapy, assists patients to be independent of assistance, and also help the patients to function to their maximum potential as soon as possible. Various themes have been associated with the definition of nursing. Some describe nursing as an art, as a science, that nursing is about caring, it is holistic, that it is client oriented, adaptive, and that nursing is generally a helping profession. The historical accounts of the profession clearly bring out the revolving nature of nursing. The word nurse was derived from a Latin word which means to cherish or nourish. In a human being’s life, birth, death, sickness, and injury are all very common. There has therefore always been that need to take care of others, especially those in need. Funnel et al state that some of the earliest and most organized nursing carried out by men who worked in hospitals which were established by military religious orders at the period the crusades. Some examples included the knights of St. Lazarus, and the Knights of St.  John of Jerusalem. Henry VIII, during the sixteenth century, commanded the closure of English monasteries and the confiscation of their wealth as well. What this meant was that all the sick and destitute people had no where to stay and were hence left to die. This then saw the construction of work houses which were used to house the poor and especially the sick. Here they lived in very bad conditions and were at the same time required to work in order to earn th eir continued stay there. Conditions in London got to a very desperate state, and after many petitions from the citizens, Henry VIII had no option but to allow for the re-founding of some hospitals like St Mary’s, St Thomas’s, as well as St Bartholomew’s. These hospitals despite their reopening were very poorly staffed and were characterized by untrained workers whose characters were very poor. Patients who were admitted in these hospitals lived under appalling conditions in overcrowded wards Funnel et al add that the early 18th and mid 19th century came to be termed as nursing â€Å"Dark Ages† of nursing. It was an age where caring of the sick and nurses’ status reached to the lowest levels ever imaginable (5). A clergyman named Theodor Fliedner in 1836 founded the institution Kaiserwerth where they trained specially chosen women as deaconesses. The institution was then to be famous for its high standards and levels of training as well as the care given to the sick. The institution then grew very famous and finally became the centre for training nurses and as a result received very many trainees, and from all parts of the world. Some of these trainees later opened up centers in their respective countries. Modern nursing has hence evolved as a result of the influence Kaiserwerth had on individuals like Florence Nightingle. She had spent two weeks at Kaiserwerth in 1850 and later visited the institution again in 1851 and was named Superintendent for Establishment for Gentlewomen during Illness. She became famous when she took with her a team of thirty nurses to Scutari where they were met with a lot of resistance from medics who refused them to take care of the sick and injured soldiers. She however did not give up and devoted her time and energy to improving bad conditions in the camps through the introduction of communal as well as personal hygiene, organization of excellent food supply, getting hold of medical supplies, and basic sanitary conditions like washing of hands and also the importance of fresh air. In a span of two to three weeks, the opposition she had earlier faced was no more and the nurses were then called back to come and take care of the sick. Florence Nightingle was viewed as an idol by the soldiers because she brought hope and comfort to the sick just by the light of the lamp she used t carry at night, hence she was later came to be known as the Lady of the Lamp. In the case of Australia, very little interest was paid for the care of the sick when the original English colony was established at Sydney Cove. In 1811, Sydney hospital was opened and the staff included of female convicts with some male convicts also carrying out nursing duties. They were however received no wages for the labor they offered although they received their keep. The nurses’ behavior here was wanting and they were known to be of poor character with them being drunk in most cases while on duty. In 1811, Australia opened its first lunatic asylum and it was characterized by untrained mental attendants. As a way of control, huge numbers of disturbed individuals were literally restrained because most of the staff were custodians and there was no emphasis whatsoever on treatment (Funnel et al, 2005, p. 5). In 1838, the first group of trained nurses arrived in Sydney. They were five in number. The influence of Nightingale was experienced in 1868. The principles of Nightingale were gradually adapted and the physically ill could now be cared for. Nurses were not left behind either. Practical skills were taught to them such as those of leeching, dressing, as well as administering enemas. Emphasis was however put on their punctuality, sexual purity, cleanliness, and most importantly obedience. A huge percentage of nursing comprised of housekeeping, and was dominated by house hold work. It was however acknowledged that compassion and also dignity were characteristics that were desirable for all those who took care of the sick. The necessity for nurses training in Australia grew as scientific advances continued to be made. By the year 1900, most of the Australian hospitals had a three year training program for student nurses where lectures were delivered by the medical staff. The students could not however maintain their concentration in class as a result of long hours of work. IN the wake of the twentieth century, conflict would arise whether nursing should be viewed as a vocation, subordinate to medicine, or as a profession which is different but of equal status with medicine. (Funnel et al, 2005, p. 6) add that in the year 1867, an Act of Parliament was passed which stated that all individuals displaying signs of mental impairments should be sent to mental asylums and not prisons. As a result, the developmentally disabled were then able to be separated from the mentally ill. Nursing in these mental asylums was delivered mostly by male attendants, and even though care remained and continued to be custodial, the medical staff was able to offer some lectures to these attendants. This is the period in which female attendants begun receiving serious considerations. As the increase in training of nurses continued to increase, so was the agitation for nurses’ registration. In 1920, South Australia was the first of the states to pass the relevant legislation followed by Western Australia in 1922 and Victoria and New South Wales in 1924. Industrial issues emerged as the sense of professionalism emerged among nurses. In 1924, the Australian Nursing Federation was able to hold its first meeting and the meting addressed several issues including the improved working conditions, improved wages, and the need for greater professional acknowledgment. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (1986), home nursing in Australia started in 1885 when a group of concerned nationals came together in Victoria and founded the Melbourne District Nursing Service. The main objective of the group was to look after the underprivileged sick people at home. Since then, nursing services have been seen to spread to every territory and state. Today, there are more than two hundred institutions using modern technology to take care of the sick and at the same time offer both general and specialized nursing services to the citizens of Australia. Australian Bureau of Statistics states that the link with district nurses from England is apparent in the growth of nursing institutes in Australia. In England, nurses begun to be trained for work districts in 1848. One, Mr. William Rathborne, in 1859, saw the need to provide a nurse who was meant to work amongst the poor in Liverpool. He later founded a training school for district nurses using his own personal finances. These nurses were not only seen as caring but also as social reformers due to their knowledge and also direct contact they established with those they cared for. During Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Year in 1887, some of the funds collected for her gift were given by the queen for the setting up of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Institute of Nurses. Throughout England for many years, the establishment facilitated both the employment and training of district nurses. A considerable number of district nurses also came to undertake this particular training program. The relevant information regarding district nursing services was brought to Australia by Dr. Caffyn and Rev. C. Strong who were from England. They were both very instrumental when it came to setting up the first home nursing in Australia which was known as the Melbourne District Nursing Society (204). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the first State to introduce a district nursing service in Australia was that of Victoria in 1885. It was then followed by South Australia in the year 1894, then came Tasmania in 1896, New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia in 1900, 1904, and 1905 respectively. One notable nursing service was the Blue Nursing Service. According to the history of Blue care, Blue care started off being known as the Blue Nursing Services. The service came to be through the vision and urgings of Rev. Arthur Preston, who was the founder. There was a great shortage of hospital beds in Australia and the nursing bodies that were in existence then were not able to cope with the demands of an ever growing population. This was the reason the founders saw the need to establish a new home nursing service to cater for this rising need. In 1977, together with the Methodist and Presbyterian churches, Blue Nursing was seen as a uniting factor in Australia. It is evident from the history of district nursing that the establishment of all nursing organizations was triggered by identified health care needs present in the society. At fist, focus was mainly at the poor, disadvantaged, and the sick. Services were however later made accessible to everyone in society. This was attributed to the government started issuing subsidies to most of these organizations. Nursing institutions today operate in very different structures and also under different support like voluntary bodies, local government, and hospitals. At the same time, nurses working in these organizations share one common goal and commitment: that of providing quality care in the society. There has been new demand on those nurses working in the society caused by the increased development of both technological and medical services. This has its results as people are now being discharged from hospitals earlier and also at a more accurate stage of sickness. Nurses have been forced to further and upgrade their current education so that they can keep up with helping and providing quality care to the community. For Australia, district nursing is a record of success. Realizing their extended roles as nurses which are based on their expertise, experience, as well as knowledge is crucial if at all effectiveness is to be maintained in delivery of their services.

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the idea that businesses conduct business practices for the social good while they pursue economic goals. It refers to operating a business in such a manner that all social environmental impacts that are created are then accounted for. Both market and nonmarket stakeholders expect businesses to be socially responsible. (Business and Society) It is a commitment to developing policies that integrate responsible business practices into daily operations, and to report on the progress made toward the implementation of these practices. (As you sow, 2011) So why is this so important? Some see this work as charity, philanthropy, or an allocation of resources that could better be donated by shareowners themselves, but to us, it is a vital investment in our future, essential to our top-line and bottom-line business success. Dunn, Hewlett Packard Senior Vice President for Global Citizenship Richard Murphy references a study, done in 2003 of buyer/supplier relationships, in his article â€Å"why doing good is good for business.† The study found a strong correlation between trust and procurement costs. The least trusted buyers in the study incurred procurement costs that were five times higher than the cost of most trusted buyers.† This statement alone shoes the value of social responsibility and how it now only impacts consumers views on the company but the relationships firms foster with suppliers. It is simply good for business. Throughout this report we will evaluate the importance of CSR and how it affects the firm and the impact the firm has on the community from and environmental perspective. A study performed in 2003, by researchers at the university of Iowa, evaluating the relationship between corporate social responsibility and firm performance; concluded â€Å"Corporate virtue, in the form of social responsibility and, to a lesser extent, environm ental responsibility is likely to pay off.† 1 After all it green is the color of money. It pays to go green this day in age. Going Green: Environmental Considerations Deseret Digital Media, also referred to as DDM, is an online internet conglomerate in the intermountain west. Being a media company, I’m sure much like others, environmental consideration are certainly a thought but not highly acted upon due to the â€Å"minimal† impact that online media has to the environment. While DDM has a strong company mission and culture, in which they excel and positively impact the community, they do little in means of protecting the environment. They are constantly in the public eye in their operation area due to their user base which leads me to believe that going â€Å"green† would only be a beneficial think for business. be good for business. Mark Orlitzky, Frank Schmidt, and Sara Rynes, â€Å"Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-analysis,† Organization Studies, 2003, pp. 403–41. Also investigating this issue are Marc Orlitzky and John D. Benjamin, â€Å"Corporate Social Performance and Firm Risk: A Meta-analytic Review,† Business Society, 2001, pp. 369–96; and for a contrarian view see Idris Mootee, â€Å"The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility—From Creating Customer Goodwill to Influencing Social Standards,† Futurelab, blog.futurelab.net/2008/12. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS We only have one earth, and one ecosystem. We each need to do our due diligence in protecting that ecosystem. Understanding the earth’s carrying capacity, how fast resources are being used and what we are doing to change that, can only positively affect our world ecosystem. Damaging any part of the ecosystem in one area can affect others in other parts of the world. (Lawrence Weber, 2010) Now human activity affects three major forms of natural resources; water, air and land. (Lawrence Weber, 2010) Deseret Digital Media can actively improve business practices and protocols to reduce the company’s impact on the usage of those three natural resources. Areas of impact below include but are not limited to: Water Resources: 3% of the water on earth is actually fresh. Only about one-tenth of 1 percent of the Earth’s water is in lakes, rivers, and accessible underground supplies, and thus available for human use. Water is, of course, renewable: Moisture evaporates from the oceans and returns to Earth as freshwater precipitation, replenishing used stocks. But in many areas, humans are using up or polluting water faster than it can be replaced or naturally purified, threatening people and businesses that depend on it. Humans are consuming/using water faster than it can be replaced or naturally purified, threatening those who depend on it. (Lawrence Weber, 2010) ï‚ § Considerations: DDM currently does nothing to maintain their water consumption. Currently the only consumption that is taking place is human usage by means of drinking water and restroom usage. Might not seem like a significant amount of consumption however; simple math, 100 employees x 64 ounces of drinking water = 6,400 ounces of water a day. While drinking water should not be regulated there are other ways to regulate water usage. ï‚ § Recommendations: A very simple concept used in all places, the restroom, can minimize water consumption quite significantly. Reducing the amount of usage by installing flushometeres. The current standard specifies that flushometers use no more than 1.6 gpf, though many manufacturers are shooting for 0.8 gpf (3 liters) 2. Urinals are also improving: The U.S. Department of Energys standards for urinals are currently at 1 gpf (3.8 liters)3. An important water-saving feature of commercial flushometers is that they can be designed to let users push a handle in one direction for liquid waste and another direction for solid waste. The latter would trigger a full flush while the former would trigger a partial flush. This dual-flush technology is becoming common other parts of the developed world, including the U.K. and Australia, though it has yet to become as popular in the United States. With wider use of these features, water efficiency is expected to improve for all toilet types. (Cancio, 2009) Air Pollutants/Energy Consumption: According to the American Lung Association (ALA) an estimate in 2008 reported that 125 million Americans, or 42 percent of the population, were breathing unsafe air for at least part of each year. (Lawrence Weber, 2010) This has to do with the pollutants that are being emitted into the air we are forced to breath. A major contributor the unsafe air and even more concerning; a major factor of Global Warming is the burning of fossil fuels that releases carbon dioxide. Not only do fossil fuels affect the air they also account for a huge percentage of the world’s energy source. 85% of the energy in the United States comes from fossil fuels by way of combustion of coal, oil and natural gas. (Lawrence Weber, 2010) Kohler. Power Lite Technology. (accessed December 11, 2009)http://www.us.kohler.com/tech/products/why_powerlite.jsp U.S. Department of Energy. Best Management Practice: Toilets and Urinals. Federal Energy Management Program. July 2009. (accessed December 16, 2009)http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/program/waterefficiency_bmp6.html Unfortunately the unlike water fossil fuels are nonrenewable energy sources. Even more concerning is that for every one barrel discovered for every three or four consumed. ((Lawrence Weber, 2010) 10) ï‚ § Considerations: When it comes to air pollution DDM luckily doesn’t have to worry about it as much, as say, a manufacturing facility. What needs to be considered more in depth is the amount of energy being used on daily basis. Being an internet company and hosting six websites 24/7, requires multiple servers and in turn a high consumption of energy. Along with traveling from coast to coast and using fossil fuel resources there are a few small â€Å"green† concepts that can be applied to reduce the amount energy being used. Deseret Digital Media has mentioned upgrading the hosting servers to protect the sensitive content, as well as, an energy saver. Recommendations: Something as simple as encouraging each employee to put their computers in an energy saving mode, turning computers in sleep mode or shut down when leaving for the evening. Updating IT equipment, and using energy saving light bulbs, are small changes that can make a sustainable difference. Land Waste: The United States produces an astonishing amount of solid waste, adding up to almost five pounds per person per day. Of this, 46 percent is recycled, composted, or incinerated, and the rest ends up in municipal landfills4. (Lawrence Weber, 2010) ï‚ § Considerations: While 46% is quite a large percentage there is more that can be done to protect the environment. Currently DDM has a small recycling program that is not widely publicized. While it is a great concept more needs to be done in order to encourage employees to use such programs. ï‚ § Recommendations: While having a small recycling program is a great concept more needs to be done encouraging employees. Posting flyers around the office, ensuring everyone is aware of the recyclable materials. DDM has numerous soda fountains throughout the building for their employees. Currently the drinking cups provided are Styrofoam that get thrown away regularly. Offering employees reusable hard plastic cups will help reduce the company’s carbon footprint and the amount of waste that is admitted into local landfills. ETICAL LEADERSHIP CONSIDERATIONS In simple terms what are ethics and how do they play a role in business? Ethics is a conception of right and wrong conduct. It tells us whether our behavior is moral or immoral and deals with fundamental human relationships—how we think and behave toward others and how we want them to think and behave toward us. Ethical principles are guides to moral behavior. (Lawrence Weber, 2010) Business ethics derive from the same moral compass. This generalized human trait is applicable to business and their ethical ideas and behavior within an organization. All areas of business, accounting, marketing and IT have to follow a certain standard of ethical considerations in operations. For this report in particular we will focus of ethical leadership and how they play a role in our green effort, with regards to social responsibility. Institutionalizing a code of ethics and ethical safeguards are grounds for encouraging environmental ethical performance. Institutionalizing a code of ethics encourages our employees to align with the company’s â€Å"green† mission (an articulation of our goals) and our societal obligations. By creating a strong code of ethics we are establishing expected behaviors among employees. Environmental Protection Agency, â€Å"Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2007 Facts and Figures,† www.epa.gov/epawaste. ethical behavior is extremely important because it will help to ensure that employees have predefined expectations of in office behavior and guidelines to follow in all functional areas of operation, as well as the companies green efforts. In the first line of the written mission statement form Deseret Digital Media (2012) it states, â€Å"The mission of Deseret Digital Media is to become the trusted digital voice in all of the markets we reach. This goal is part of our broader corporate mission to become â€Å"trusted voices of light and knowledge, reaching hundreds of millions people.†Ã¢â‚¬  They are trying to accomplish what any company is hoping to do as well, be a trusted place to come to for your product, service or information. To develop a strong presence in the market by adhering to the green policy suggested above, DDM can have a much greater impact on their local market. As much as it pays to be green, ethics pays as well. Below review the ethical leadership recommendations for each environmental issue discussed above. Water Resources: The water conservation suggestion presented above is a little bit more detailed and requires many parts in order to implement. To start management will need to get with building maintenance and even determine if this is possible to make such a change to the plumbing. From there the implementation process will take some time and patience leaving many toilets out of commission for a time. After the conversion process has been completed a company meeting will need to be held regarding how the new toilet process will work. It wont need to be in depth just a quick overview is needed and the importance and positive impact it will have on the community. Air Pollutants/Energy Consumption: With the recommendation above: Something as simple as encouraging each employee to put their computers in an energy saving mode, turning computers in sleep mode or shut down when leaving for the evening. Updating IT equipment, and using energy saving light bulbs, are small changes that can make a sustainable difference. A lot can be done by management’s actions. If management isn’t shutting down at the end of the night, and we have outdated equipment what makes employees inclined to want to save our resources. Leading by example and have management place their computers in an energy saving mode and sending a interoffice memo encouraging employees to do the same thing will definitely help reduce the amount of energy being consumed by DDM in a daily basis. As for updating the servers to be more energy efficient DDM is one step ahead of the game. They VP of Technology realized what an impact that would make and this suggestion is currently in process. Land Water: Since DDM has a tiny recycling program with limited recycling stations it would be suggested that management offer individual recycling bins to be stationed at each individuals workstation. This way it is more accessible/convenient for employees to recycle certain materials as opposed to throwing them into a waste bin, which will eventually be deposited into one of the nations landfills. This small step can mean great things for reducing the company’s carbon footprint. We want to accomplish just that by allowing consumers to feel safe buying our product and letting their children play with it. Their stakeholders are those who use media on a daily basis, while ours are children and parents of children who buy/use our toy collections. â€Å"All Deseret Media Companies are owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That ownership comes with a significant amount of trust and an expectation that we will align our actions to honor our owner. We want to work hard to demonstrate that we value our users and our marketplaces as well. To paraphrase the founder of largest the social media network in the world, We don’t create communities, they already exist. We know we have to earn the trust of the communities and individuals who choose to use our products. We are not perfect, but we want you to know that Deseret Digital is always working†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Deseret Digital, 2012) We need to align our actions much like Deseret Digital Media is order to grow a successful business and maintain employee and customer satisfaction. MEASURING SUSTAINABILITY TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE Now that we have a solid suggestion for the implementation of our green movement, we need to ensure that it â€Å"makes sense† for the company. Not only in a socially responsible manner but also from a fiscal stand point. A common and effective way to measure environmental impact compared to the company’s financials is known as Triple Bottom Line Accounting (TBL). Triple Bottom Line is a concept that was first coined by John Elkington of SustainAbility in 1994, and it referred to the interrelated goals of economic prosperity, environmental quality, and social justice. He developed the TBL concept in context of the growing concern centered around sustainability. TBL added the social dimension to the corporate sustainability framework which had previously focused mostly on businesses’ environmental impacts. The next year, SustainAbility developed the 3P (People, Planet, Profits) formulation of the TBL. Elkingtons 1997 book, Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, helped launch the concept of the TBL among corporate leaders. (McNulty , 2012) The TBL concept provided a means of incorporating sustainability concerns within the traditional accounting framework familiar to and accepted by corporate managers. While there is no universally accepted means of practicing TBL accounting and reporting, the TBL framework is widespread in the business world. A 2008 survey by KPMG of the 250 largest companies in the world found that nearly 80 % of them issued corporate sustainability reports and that the large majority (77 %) of the companies reporting did so using the TBL standards developed by the Global Reporting Ini tiative (GRI). (McNulty , 2012) This concept enables the organization to effectively assess sustainability movements and performance. Furthermore the metrics provide managers with feedback to make more informed decision and displays a picture for employees to see exactly hoe their green efforts contribute to corporate sustainability goals. When making a decision to use the TBL the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a great way to benchmark performance indicators for all three aspects; people, planet, and profits. The â€Å"people† component of the TBL refers to the social aspects of the an organization’s activites and impacts. In short it is meant to gauge the organizations impacts on and relations with its own employees, its suppliers and contractors, the communities within which the organization operates, and the organizations customers or clients. (McNulty , 2012) Since this is much harder to determine the social impact the ‘people’ component is slightly less developed so we aren’t going to focus too much on that. Compare to the ‘people’ aspect, with the â€Å"planet† component it is easier to measure environmental impacts. (McNulty , 2012) There are many metrics that contribute to the performance indicators used in the GRI. For the purposes of corporate sustainability, the Profits component of the TBL takes a broader view of an organizations economic impacts and evaluates the activities and impacts of a firm with respect to a wider array of stakeholders than just the firms owners. (McNulty , 2012) Below is an example of TBL principles: PowerStar, an electric utility company, is considering making an investment in a new power plant and is evaluating several options that use different technologies and would be located at different appropriate sites. The technologies being considered use different fuels and require different capital and labor inputs for construction and ongoing operations. In the past, PowerStar focused primarily on the financial returns associated with the different options. The firm has now adopted the TBL framework and is using a project evaluation matrix. This matrix evaluates how projects can be evaluated and trade-offs identified in terms of economic, social, and environmental impacts.

Organisational Strategy, Culture and Leadership

Organisational Strategy, Culture and Leadership Introduction Future challenges for business organisation will vary in so many ways compared to the past. Organisations in this 21st century are working on different ways of doing things to stay in the competition or beat it. In this fast moving and fluctuating economic environment, finding market opportunities and developing a competitive edge for any organisation is critical and it involves lots of executive time and effort. To ensure sustainable growth for any company, the leaders of any organisation should plan strategically and tactically to meet the needs and wants of the customer in the long run and increase the shareholder value. In this context, leadership in modern organisations is a challenge in this dynamic social and cultural environment. As Elkin(2007) describes, strategies for organisational wellbeing is their ability to understand what should be done today and tomorrow to live up to customer expectations and prosper in the long run. Jonson et al (2008) argue that historical and cultural perspectives of an organisation are vital to understand the opportunities and the threats in the business environment. So, it is clear that the culture of an organisation is the central thesis of organisational strategy and implementation. To ensure successful Strategy formulation, implementation and the evaluation/measurement, need right talent within the organisation. This is where leadership of the organisation comes handy. Giving employees a purpose, directing them willingly to it and creating a feeling of importance and ownership is very important to drive the organisation towards the super ordinate goal. Therefore, it is evident that leadership in an organisation is vital in organisational development and change to achieve strategic objectives. Strategic leadership is the ability to shape the organisations decisions and deliver high value overtime, not only personally but also inspiring and managing others in the organisation. Lynch R (2009: 9) Lynchs clearly state about delivering high value or increasing shareholder value, ensuring individual and team performance in a stressed atmosphere where the change is the name of the game plan. Therefore, the author of this paper attempts to understand the concepts of organisational strategy, leadership and culture and how each of these concepts and theories can be applied in a practical scenario. Specifically, the author attempts to understand and clarify how organisational culture influence leaders in forming and performing organisational strategies. Organisational Strategy Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations Johnson et al (2008: pg 3) In simple term literature describes strategy as a long term plan, a course of action to achieve competitive advantage, a path to get from where they are to where they want to be. Elkin (2007) describes strategy as a process of positioning an organisation in its environment to achieve and sustain competitive advantage profitably. Whereas, McGee et al (2005) in their chapter on the concept of strategy, discussing Chandlers (1963) definition on strategy concludes that it as the determination of basic long -term goal and objectives, and the action plan and the allocation of resources to achieve them. Mintzberg (1994) defines strategy as a set of interrelated decisions to achieve articulated results and Appelbaum (1991:pg.41) definition characterises strategy: As a coherent grouping of actions intended to gain distinct advantage over competition Why strategy To achieve business stability and growth in this competitive business environment, even a sole trade organisation cannot do things on an adhoc basis. The Pereto Principle (80 20 rule) applies to products, customers and markets as well. Therefore, the leaders should plan to invest in 20% value adding markets. This requires logical and creative thinking in place and some extra effort from leaders. According to Jonson et al (2008), Elkin (2007) and Juran (1994), to ensure sustainable growth and to enhance shareholder value, todays organisation should have a long term direction, and a course of action to bridge the competition. Companies who make occasional improvements at a pedestrian pace cannot possibly hope to keep up with their competitors; they need to set ambitious goals Juran (1994.pg 48) Saying this Juran (1994) further emphasises the need for set goals to keep up with their competitors. Lafley ( 2009), chairman Procter & Gamble (P & G) says that they are purpose driven and values and principle led, he further state that is why they could navigate through two world wars, regional, local wars, periodic panics and recessions. Having formulated five main strategies (Product, Operations, social responsibility, employees, stakeholders www.pg.com) for P&G, they emphasis the need for a long term direction for survival and sustainable growth and is a living example for a strategy driven organisation. Basic Dynamics of Strategy Every organisation has to manage its strategies in main three areas; The organisations internal resources; The external environment within which the organisation operates; The organisations ability to add value to what it does. Lynch R ( 2009:52) And further, he describes five key elements of strategy which are needed for value addition and create the competitive edge over competitors; those are sustainability, process, competitive advantage, the exploitation of linkages between the organisation and the environment, vision. McGee et al (2005) introduces main three factors that control organisational plans, decisions and actions. In his model of basic dynamics in strategy, he explains that goals are derived considering external environment [PESTEL, Five forces Model (Porter, 1980)] and resources that an organisation has. Strategy formulation, execution and evaluation are highly integrated with organisations external and internal environments. Johnson et al (2008) also takes kind of similar approach and believes them as basic dynamic of organisational strategy. Leadership Leadership is fundamental aspect of strategic management and paramount in strategy implementation Sherman .et al (2007:pg.167) Leadership is the ability to influence, motivate individuals and teams to get the contribution towards organisational strategy willingly. (House et al, 1997; Blanchard, 2007). These are the qualities that Nelson Mandela got even after being in the jail for 28 years (www.anc.org.za, New York Times, 1990), Mother Theresa was another example with a great passion to motivate and persuade people for the end state (nobelprice.org). Hughes and Beatty (2005) state that individuals and teams become strategic as they think, act, influence towards sustainable competitive advantage and he further emphasis that Strategic thinking, Strategic acting and strategic influencing are key skills for a leader. As an example, Martin Luther Kings I have a Dream changed the Americas direction as a country in terms of culture, strategy as well as leadership. It is his acumen as a leader, ability to shape decisions to deliver high value which created this atmosphere (Lynch, 2009). When looking at great leaders in the past and the future, it is clear that the self belief, confidence, courage, integrity and being yourself, with skills (Goffee and Jones, 2000) have guaranteed the sustainability as a nation or any formal or informal organisation. Why leadership In most of the organisations in todays business context, interest of employees and employers are not aligned. As success highly depends on human capital readiness, it is leaders responsibility and the ability to get the right commitment from all in the ship. Doz and Thanheiser (2000) say that Inventing a creative recipe and cooking a perfect dish still require much talent from leaders. So, it is leaders responsibility to formulate strategy and create a strategic intent to drive the organisation for results. In any organisation existing structure is very important for employees as they are comfortable with the existing power bases, rewards and recognitions as well as the job security. Appelbaum (1991) emphasises that success of any strategic change is highly depend on the key people. So, adjusting the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities would be the challenge and leaders have to apply different types of leadership styles depending on employees educational, cultural, religious and social background as well as the organisational values and beliefs. Leadership Styles Leadership literature emphasises that there is no single effective style of leadership (Goffee and Jones, 2000; Gill, 2001; Higgs and Rowland, 2003). But Sherman et al (2007) points out that transformational leadership has been successful in getting the work done willingly while giving people a sense ownership. He further states that transformational leaders are change agents and cheer leaders in organisations. Sherman continues saying that transactional leaders enhance organisational performance by providing support and guidance to accomplish specific tasks or functions. Yukl (2006) calls transformational leadership as relationship oriented and transactional as task oriented where he points out that the appropriate mix of both depending on circumstances as situational leadership. Servant leadership takes place when leaders assume the position of servant in their relationship says Russell Stone (2002). Autocratic route is rarely an acceptable option even in sole trader organisations , Nolan et al (2007). It is very clear that different authors argue in various ways and has come up with a range of suggestions for leading styles. For example, Jack Welch approach to turn around GE is a prime example of varying leadership styles depending on the situation and the long existed organisational and the social climate. At the initial stage as a senior leader, he creates a vision and strategy to re-organise and drive GE towards success where he had to dismiss people, sell under performing units etc. During this time, he uses his positional power and authority and acted as an autocratic leader most of the time as a result he was nick named as Neutron Jack. Once he made GE lean and a flexible organisation without boundaries his approach was more democratic. Fujio Mitarai at Canon is also renowned for taking a similar kind of approach where as Paul Kennedy a fictional HBR leader is renowned as a soft negotiator who is not willing to push for best deal, critics called him as a Laissez -faire leader. But nobody justifies his approach was wrong and is totally Laissez-faire approach (Strategic Direction, 2006) as Laissez-f aire style is associated with dissatisfaction, unproductiveness and ineffectiveness. Though Jack Welch was earlier called as a neutron, later he was recognised as a transformational leader who turns around GE as the most recognised and valuable organisation in the world. He proved that the right mix with all styles drives organisation towards success. Goffee and Jones (2000) state that being your self, with skills is important as a leader, so it is clear that successful leaders represent this argument introducing their own way of doing things. Prime example is Finnish mobile manufacturer Nokia, Jorma Ollila, who is a silent CEO but with high-performance. It is believed that he take servant to transformational style as and when required. Organisational Culture Deshpande and Webster (1989), define culture as a set of tacitly understood rules and procedures which guide employees behaviours depending on the situation where as Williams at el. (1993) describes it as common and stable beliefs, values and attitudes . Schein (2004) and Johnson et al (2008) share their view stating culture as a shared basic assumptions that has worked well in the past, so they are forced to think and feel same when it comes to same kind of situations and Johnson put this into his words; Organisational culture is the basic assumptions and belief that are shared by members of an organisation that operate unconsciously and define in basic taken for grated fashion an organisations view of it and its environment. (Johnson et al, 2008: pg 189) Therefore, in general culture can be defined as norms, values and belief or assumptions people in an organisation shares commonly and be guided by. For example, Fujio cho, the president Toyota says that their business practices are based on core principles created values, beliefs and business methods and he further states those have become competitive edge over the years. So, for Toyota, culture is more important and they drive organisation benefiting from their strong homogeneous culture (Liker, 2004) Johnson, et al (2008) emphasis that individuals are surrounded by four different cultures, namely national/regional, organisational field, organisational and functional/divisional and he further states that the importance of understanding all four frames of culture in order to be successful in the business environment. McDonalds approach to enter and operate in India is a prime example for this. McDonalds menus in India do not contain pork or beef. Vegetarian and non vegetarian food products are kept separate throughout the sourcing, supply chain, cooking and serving process, (cordthinking.wordpress.com). They have been successful in achieving their strategic objectives with the thorough understanding the all forms of cultures that Jonson explains. Burt et al (1994) and Burt (2000), say that in some sectors corporate culture does not have say on performance but in others culture play a pivotal role in creating completive edge. Toyota, PG are prime example for organisations which take edge from their strong cultures. He continues stating that understanding cultures contingent value is important as it says when and when not to consider about culture in strategy formulation and leadership. Composition of culture Literature describes culture is a composite of values, belief, behaviours and norms which has been existence and accepted for a certain period of time (Schein, 2004; Liker, 2004; Burt, 2000). Where as Johnson, et al (2008) points out that paradigm is the base for culture and he explain in his below model that behaviours, belief and values are guided by this paradigm. Types of cultures Sherman et al (2007) introduces three different types cultures in organisations; Homogenous characterised by consistency, consider organisation as one and they react to changes as a unit. Toyotas culture is prime example for it as all employees values, behaviours and belief are guided by the culture. Differentiated there are majority and minority subculture but the majority runs the organisation. Fragmented small units maintain their unique cultural identities; a subculture will dominate only due to organizational necessity. It is not clear that which culture runs the firm. Trade unions and other formal and informal groups also have a say and influence on organisational decisions. Royal Mail trade union dispute and current organisational issue have been created through these cultural norms as they do not have a strong organisational consensus. Strategy, Culture and Leadership Schein E.H (2004) sees culture and leadership as two sides of same coin and he further says that leaders first create cultures and then groups and organisations. The culture often determines the degree of co-operation and commitment among the staff as well as the organisations strength of purpose and the CEO is usually responsible for setting this tone Appelbaum (1991:pg.50) Therefore, strength of organisational purpose, employee commitment and co -operation are highly depending on organisational culture. As Appelbaum (1991) says, leader is the creator of it. To achieve sound business performance while exploring unprecedented business opportunities with highest risk ever, business managers plan strategically. PGs connect develop, GEs work out are transformational strategies from which they turn around their organisations. According to Appelbaum (1991), Leaders can ignore the culture, fit culture to strategy or fit the strategy to culture compromising performance. In GEs and PGs case, strategic leaders were not ready to compromise on results they really cared about value addition in terms of customers, shareholders and for the society as whole. For example PGs A.G. Lafley has created a homogeneous culture which supports their strategy. Understanding the importance of culture for organisational well being he as the leader lives with it talks it all the ti me, in almost all reports such as sustainability, annual reports etc makes sure that they communicate their values, beliefs and the organisational purpose to all stakeholders and in that leadership creates the culture which supports to organisations end state. Schein (2004) says understanding culture is desirable for all but is a must for leaders. So, it is evident that Welch and Lafley live with this argument when driven their organisations to greatest states ever. The Work-Out in essence turned the company upside down says Welch so that the workers told the bosses what to do. That forever changed the way people behaved at the company (www.1000ventures.com). Formulating sound organisational strategy, giving sense of ownership and creating the right cultural environment have been the key to winning leaders success at GE. In contrast to GE and PG, Toyota takes a different approach as they have a strong culture in built to the organisation. They train their leaders from inception to live with their values, and belief and to get the commitment from shop flow level to the board for their culture driven strategy. (Like, 2004; Appelbaum ,1991) further talks about the need of a right mix stating leadership is responsible for creating comprehensive aspirations and goals for all emphasising the need to blend aspirations with values to get the commitment to the organisational strategy. Sherma.et al (2007) emphasises that creating the right culture to support strategy does not guarantee performance. According to him it is all about creating an organisational profile which consists of organisational culture, competitive method, market approach, leadership style and the structure. Jack Welch at GE has taken this into consideration creating different profiles at different stages of the strategy execution at GE changing his styles of leading from Autocratic, transformational to servant changing organisational structure from hierarchical to a more flexible boundary less organisation. Practitioners argue that organizations can have sound strategies in place and well documented policies and procedures. But the success relies on how competent an organisation is to implement it. Many strategies fail due to poor implementation Mcdonald (1998.pg 458) It is highly recognised that managing the knowledge workforce in this 21st century is critical and retention is a challenge with the unprecedented opportunities around. As McGee et al (2005) state in his basic dynamic of strategy it is very important to know what we have within (human capital, competencies, and other resources). In this context social and emotional intelligence of leaders come into handy. GE Welch accepts that this aspect of his leadership has been poor though he has been successful. Therefore, it is still in debate what leadership style is best suit for organisational success and what strategy is best or how culture should be changed to support organisational strategy. But it is very clear, if a leader does not want to compromise on where they want to be, the organisations should formulate strategy and demand a cultural change. This is all about taking the challenge to deliver results. From formulation of strategy, implementation and to measurement of success leadership of any organisation pay a pivotal role. Any organisation capable of placing drivers in the right seats will ensure organisational success in the long run as those drivers are capable of creating the right profile for the organisation creating the right balance among leadership, culture and strategy. Conclusion Energy stems from a genuine belief from both leadership and self and focus, innovation and growth derived from organisational strategy, (Kipp, 2005). To ensure sustainable growth in this fast moving unpredictable business environment, it is vital to have these all elements in place. But the success depends on how competent the organisation in implementing their well defined plans (McDonald, 1998). In this context, organisational culture can act as a barrier or as a strong favourable factor for positive organisational changes. According to Drago (1996), culture can be used to focus on resources and activities for the set direction as IBMs cultural emphasis is exceptional customer service, which organisation as a whole are driven and lived with. Therefore, it is pivotal for any leader to have a cultural awareness in formulation, exaction and evaluation of strategy process for any organisation irrespective of their purpose of existence. Ultimately it is leaders ability to strike the right balance between Strategy, leadership and culture to realise organisational vision ethically, Kaplan and Norton (2001). References Appelbaum (1991), the strategic Management Model: A prescription (Rx) for the CEO, international Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 41-57. MCB University Press. Blanchard, K.2007, Leading at a higher level, Blanchard leadership on high performing organisations, Prentice Hall, financial times. Burt, R.S (2000) financial times, mastering the strategy, the complete MBA companion in strategy When is corporate culture a competitive asset? Pearson Education Limited. Burt, R.S., Gabbay, S.M., Holt,G. and Morgan,P.(1994), Contingent organisation as a network theory, the culture performance contingent function, Acta Socioloica, no. 37, pp. 345 70. Drago W.A (1996), Strategic plan intensity and competitive strategy, Management research news, Vol.19.No.11,pp.13 25 Doz, Y. and Thanheiser, H. (2000) financial times, mastering the strategy, the complete MBA companion in strategy The art and science of corporate renewal Pearson Education Limited. 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An examination of approaches to change and its leadership, Henley Working Paper 0313, Henley Management College, Henley, available at: www: henleymc.ac.uk Hughes, L.R and Beatty, K.C (2005), Becoming a Strategic Leader, Your role in your organisations enduring success, Jossy- Bass Huczynski A.A Buchanan, D.A ( 2007), Organisational Behaviour, 6th edition, Pearson education limited. http://cordthinking.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/mcdonalds-set-the-standard-for-indian-market-entry/ [accessed on 18th Oct 2009, 18.05) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1530536.stm (assessed on 28th of October 2009, 19.57) http://www.anc.org.za/people/mandela.html (accessed on 27th of October 2009, 20.12) http://www.pg.com/innovatingsustainability/history/strategy-goals.shtml (accessed on 29thOctober 2009; 21.59) http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/11/world/south-africa-s-new-era-mandela-go-free-today-de-klerk-proclaims-ending-chapter.html (accessed on 20th October 2009, 21.18) http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/cs_change-mgmt_ge_work-out.html (accessed on 20th October 2009, 20.12) Johnson, G., Scholes, K, and Whittington (2008), Exploring Corporate Strategy, Text and Cases, 8th Edition, Pearson education Ltd. 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Lafley, A.G ( 2009), Business, A force for growth.. and a force for good, Speech transcript, committee for economic development, business statementship awards. http://pg.com/news/pdf/AGL_CED.pdf (accessed on 1st November 2009, 20.05) McDonald (1998), Stop Strategic Planning..and create shareholder value, Management Decision, MCB university press, pp.456 459 McGee, J., Thomas, H., Wilson, D (2005) Strategy analysis and Practice, McGraw Hill Education. Mintzberg, H. (1994), The Rise and fall of strategic Planning, free Press, New York. New York Times (1990), http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/11/world/south-africa-s-new-era-mandela-go-free-today-de-klerk-proclaims-ending-chapter.html Nobelprize.org, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html Nolan, E., Robertson, P., Rothwell, S. (2007), Spiritual leadership: a changing management paradigm, in Singh-Sengupta, S., Fields, D. (Eds),Integrating Spirituality and Organisational Leadership, Macmillan, New Delhi Russell, R.F Stone, A.G (2002), A review of servant leadership attributes: developing a practical model, leadership and organisational development journal, 23/3, pp. 145 157. Sherman, H., Daniel, J., Rowley and Armandi, B.R (2007), Developing a strategic profile: the pre-planning phase of the strategic management, Business Strategy series, vol.8, no. 3, pp. 162 171. Schein E.H (2004) Organisational culture and leadership, 3rd edition, Jossey- Bass Strategic direction (2006), Leadership Styles at GE and Cannon, Jack Welch and Fujio Mitarais differing approaches, vol.22, no.11, pp. 15-18. Williams A., Dobson P., Walters M ( 1993), Changing Culture, New organisational approach, 2nd edition, Cromwell Press. Yukl, G. (2006), Leadership in organisations, 7th edition, Pearson education, Inc.

History of the Spanish Language Essay -- history, official language

A language, much like a person, is molded over time by different experiences, and is influenced by the languages which surround it. History has taught us time and time again that all it takes is one action to change the course of a language. During the battle of Hastings, King Harold II was shot in the eye by the Norman invaders; resulting in the Norman-French language all but taking over English in the 11th century AD. This seemingly insignificant event would forever change the way that English is spoken. Similar to English, Spanish is from the Indo-European family of languages. Unlike English however, Spanish is derived from a category of the Romance Languages, of which it is the most widely spoken today. The Spanish language is also known as Castilian, which is the dialect from which Modern Spanish is derived, and originated in the Iberian Peninsula of Spain. Today, Spanish is the official language of: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Spanish has evolved, in a multilingual environment, over the course of the last 2000 years, beginning with Vulgar Latin, it evolved into medieval Castilian in the 8th century, it then became Early Modern Spanish during 15th century, finally it became Modern Spanish from the 16th century on. The Second Punic war, beginning in 218 BC, was the second major war between the Roman Empire and the Carthage. Around the same time, the Roman Empire deployed troops to the Northeastern peninsula of Spain to keep reinforcements, from the Carthaginian South, from getting to Hannibal’s armies in Italy to assist them. In A Histor... .... An Introduction to Vulgar Latin,. Boston: D.C. Heath &, 1907. Google Scholar. 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Nov. 2015. Green, Jennifer L. "The Development of Maritime Law in Medieval Spain: The Case of Castile and the Siete Partidas." The Historian 58.3 (1996): 575. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Nov. 2015. . Penny, Ralph J. A History of the Spanish Language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print. Rodriguez Gonzalez, Felix. "Anglicisms in Contemporary Spanish. An Overview (1)." Atlantis, Revista De La Asociacià ³n Espaà ±ola De Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos 21.1-2 (1999): 103. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Nov. 2015. .

Trip Report :: essays research papers

Trip Report Summary This assignment was designed to get the views of athletes toward how the athletic budget is spent and what type of activities that they do. In this case the intended audience was current athletes at Washington State University. Athletes competing in different sports were surveyed. This survey was conducted February 17-20. My target audience was the actual audience that I surveyed. The majority of my surveying was conducted outside of the varsity weightroom. Assesment I felt that I got reliable info on the majority of the questions. My goal, as stated above, was to get the view of athletes on what they thought of their budget, and how they spend their free time. I believe that the questions represented what it was I was trying to get. The information that I received will be helpful to my group in that we can assess the athletic budget to see if there is excess spending that can be used by the students. The questions can be delegated to three different groups, as follows: Budget and Spending 1. I am aware of how tuition is dispersed throughout the University.  Twenty-five of the thirty people surveyed (83%) said no, that they do not know how it is dispersed. 2. Yes or no; my tuition is paid by an athletic scholarship.  Twenty-two of the thirty surveyed (73%) said yes, their tuition is paid for. 3. True or False, I spend all of the meal money allotted to me on the trips.  Seventeen of the thirty surveyed (57%) said true, they spend all of the meal money. 4. How would you rate the hotels that you stay in during your trips, one being excellent and four being poor.  Sixteen of the thirty surveyed (53%) circled four, saying that the hotels are excellent, four of the thirty (13%) said that the hotels were poor. Facilities and Equipment 1. On a scale of one to five with one being that highest, how would you rate the varsity gym?  Twenty-three of the thirty surveyed (77%) gave the varsity gym the highest rating; not one person gave the gym a rating of four or five. 2. How often must you wait around to use the equipment in the varsity gym?  Twenty-three of the thirty people surveyed (77%) selected never while only seven said that they sometimes had to wait. 3. How would you rate the student gym?  Fifteen of the thirty (50%) gave the student gym the highest rating, while five of the thirty (17%) gave it a poor rating.

The Life World of Alfred Schutz

The world of everyday life is known as the life-world in Schutz's sociology. People are oriented to the life-world in the natural attitude, in which the world is taken for granted until a problematic situation emerges. Schutz maintained that the life-world is defined by six characteristics. First, it is characterized by wide-awakeness in which the actor gives full attention to life and its requirements. Second, the world is taken for granted; actors suspend any doubt of the existence of the life-world. Third, people work in the life-world — they â€Å"gear into† the life-world.Fourth, people experience the working self as the total self in the life-world. Fifth, the social life of the life-world is characterized by intersubjectivity. Sixth, the actor's flow of time intersects with the flow of time of society. The life world is an intersubjective world, one that existed before our birth; it was created by our predecessors and it was given to us to experience and interpre t. One's life-world, in other words, predates an individual's birth and is given to them to struggle with and attempt to transform.The life-world is therefore constraining, and people are always trying to shape or dominate it Cultural world was created by people in the past as in the present because it originates in and has been instituted by human actions; all cultural objects such as tools, symbols, languages, art, and social institutions point back to the origin and meaning of human action In his analysis of the life world Schutz was mainly concerned with the shared social stock of knowledge that leads to more or less habitual action Schutz views knowledge as the most variable element in our stock of knowledge because in a problematic situation we are able to come up with innovative ways of handling the situation Two aspects of stock of knowledge that is less likely to become problematic: 1. Knowledge of skills- most basic knowledge that rarely becomes problematic 2. Useful knowl edge- definite solution to a situation that was once problematic

Personality Type Assessment

Personality Type Assessment (Week-2 Individual Assignment) CMGT/530 – IT Organizational Behavior July 1, 2012 Personality Type Assessment The first section of this paper details the elements that a personality type assessment typically measures. The second section contains discussion on the personality type assessment of the author of this paper. In the third and last section, the author shares how his personal assessment outcomes could affect his work relationships with his colleagues. Elements of Personality Type AssessmentA personality profile assessment is typically an objective test where an individual gives yes or no responses to a series of systematic and deeply constructed behavioral and situational questions. These objective questions at a fundamental level assesses the individual's cognitive mental process and orientations and based on the responses classifies the individual into one of the several personality types. Each of these personality types is associated with different sets of possible behaviors and tendencies that the individuals are most likely to exhibit.This classification of personality types is by a personality inventory framework called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), created by Isabel Briggs Myers after extensive testing and research on the theory of psychological types introduced in the 1920s by Carl G. Jung. At the basic level, the MBTI differentiates people's cognitive functions in four ways, as defined by four mutually exclusive pairs of the dominant or likely mental preferences, and the combinations of these four pairs lead to a set of 16 personality types (MBTItoday. rg, n. d. ). The first pair of preferences, extroversion (E) and introversion (I), is for mental energy orientation. The extroverted individuals are expressive, assertive, outgoing, sociable, and draw their mental energy from the interactions with the outside world. The introverted individuals are reflective, reserved, quiet, and draw their mental ener gy from the dwelling in the inner world of thoughts and ideas (Center for Applications of Psychological Type, 2012).The second pair of preferences, sensing(S) and intuition (N), is for irrational mental cognitive process related to perception and receipt of information. The individuals with dominant sensing perception live in the present moment and are practical. They prefer simplicity, clarity, routine, and order in their daily lives. The individuals with dominant intuition perception are inspired by creativity and innovation, and imagine the possibilities for future. They are drawn to the big picture and abstract theoretical concepts (Center for Applications of Psychological Type, 2012).The third pair of preferences, thinking (T) and feeling (F), is for rational mental cognitive processes of forming judgments and making decisions. The individuals who primarily rely on their thinking for forming judgments are objective, analytical, and logical. They use logic, reason, and cause-eff ect analysis to handle any problems and tasks they face for achieving results. The individuals who primarily rely on their feelings for forming judgments rely on their personal emotions and value system.They are concerned about impact of their actions and decisions on other people (Center for Applications of Psychological Type, 2012). The fourth pair of preferences, judging (J) and perceiving (P), is for mental orientation while dealing with outside world. The individuals who prefer judging rely on the rational cognitive functions of thinking or feeling. They prefer the world around them to be structured, organized, and orderly. The individuals who prefer perceiving rely on the irrational cognitive functions of sensing and intuition.They typically are open, spontaneous, and flexible; and look forward to experiencing the world in its natural state (Center for Applications of Psychological Type, 2012). Personality Type Self-Assessment The writer used Jung typology test to complete the self assessment of his personal style and the results indicated that the writer belongs to personality type ISFP; that means the writer prefers introversion over extroversion, sensing over intuition, feeling over thinking, and perceiving over judging (HumanMetrics, 2012).The writer found himself taking the assessment test few more times to confirm the derived results. According to personality inventory of MBTI and the Myers and Briggs Foundation (n. d. ), the individuals with personality type of ISFP have tendency to seek a peaceful, easygoing life with a â€Å"live and let live† philosophy. They tend to enjoy life as it comes and define their own pace. They tend to be quiet, caring, considerate, and have a pleasant demeanor. They tend to be very devoted to their family and friends, and have a strong set of values that they cherish.They tend to dislike conflicts, disagreements, and imposing of their opinions on others (Myers and Briggs Foundation, n. d. a). After looking at the results, the writer understood some of his own tendencies and consoled himself that he did not have to good at everything. He opined that the knowledge of these personality types can help in developing a deeper understanding of people around him. Also while taking the assessment, for some of the questions the writer was forced to choose yes or no when he believed the answer was neither, and there were no in-between options to choose from.So the writer agrees with Robbins & Judge (2011) that the problem with these assessment tests is that they force a person into one type or another. According to Mccaulley (1990) every person uses all eight processes (E, I, S, N, T, F, J, and P) but intrinsically prefers one of each opposite pair. In the normal course of life, people develop preferences by doing what comes most naturally. As they grow older and wiser, they develop as well as use more of the lesser preferred processes (Mccaulley, 1990).Reflecting back on his life, the writer agree s the personality type ISFP correctly indicates his default tendencies. Moreover, the writer also believes that over the years he has developed more shades to his personality and has become more balanced. Effect of Personal Assessment The assessment provided an opportunity for the writer to do some self-introspection and become more aware of self. Also the knowledge and understanding of 16 distinctive personality types helped the writer to appreciate others possessing different personality types.When employees can understand their type preferences, they can approach their work in a manner that best suits their style, including managing their time, problem solving, best approaches to decision making, and dealing with stress (Myers and Briggs Foundation, n. d. b) . The writer could analyze better the good and not-so-good relations he has experienced with his prior bosses and colleagues. The personality type assessment also helped the writer to reexamine his behavior with prior colleag ues and identify the scope for improving relationships with his colleagues at the workplace.As a software development manager in a leading health care organization, the writer will make use of the new understanding of his own personality to improve upon his managerial functions and his handling of the different situations. These functions includes managing others, developing leadership skills, organizing tasks, creating teams, training for management as well as staff, conflict resolution, motivation, coaching, diversity, recognition as well as rewards, and change management (Myers and Briggs Foundation, n. d. b) . References Center for Applications of Psychological Type. 2012). Mbti overview. Retrieved from http://www. capt. org/mbti-assessment/mbti-overview. htm HumanMetrics. (2012). Jung typology test. Retrieved from http://www. humanmetrics. com/cgi-win/jtypes1. htm MBTItoday. org. (n. d. ). History of the myers briggs type indicator. Retrieved from http://mbtitoday. org/about-th e-mbti-indicator/a-mini-history-of-the-myers-briggs-type-indicator/ Mccaulley, M. H. (1990). The myers-briggs type indicator: a measure for individuals.. Measurement & Evaluation In Counseling & Development (American Counseling Association), 22(4), 181.Retrieved from https://search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx? direct=true&db=f5h&AN=9705111082&site=eds-live Myers and Briggs Foundation. (n. d a). The 16 mbti types. Retrieved from http://www. myersbriggs. org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/the-16-mbti-types. asp#ISFP Myers and Briggs Foundation. (n. d. b). Mbti type at work. Retrieved from http://www. myersbriggs. org/type-use-for-everyday-life/mbti-type-at-work/ Robbins, S. P. , & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organization behavior (14th ed. ). New York, NY: Prentice Hall.