Foundations of physiotherapy practice The WritePass Journal

Establishments of physiotherapy practice Presentation Establishments of physiotherapy practice IntroductionReferences:Related Presentation The point of the article was to investigate COPD in both hypothesis and practice in relationship with the three primary body frameworks. The body frameworks researched in detail where the respiratory, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and the neurological frameworks. Every framework was investigated for the impacts it has on practice bigotry, personal satisfaction and the restrictions that produce for a patient because of COPD. The job of pneumonic restoration is investigated all through the article and its importance in the administration of patients with COPD is communicated hugely inside the setting of the exposition. There is a proof based foundation to the activity program utilized for the pamphlet; it supports the significance of utilizing both continuance and quality preparing so as to improve a portion of the indications of COPD. The utilization of breathing activities and methods is additionally consolidated as it is a generous piece of the recovery program. The job of the phy siotherapist is completely settled in the exposition. The physiotherapist is perceived for his/her job in every perspective in the administration of the condition. Interminable obstructive pneumonic illness (COPD) is a malady characterized via wind stream restriction that can't be completely switched. COPD is a mix of emphysema, and ceaseless bronchitis. Ceaseless bronchitis is characterized by over the top bodily fluid discharges and a profitable hack for a supported timeframe (over two years). Emphysema is characterized by decimation of the alveoli and littlest aviation routes and auxiliary consequences for lung versatility, and different aviation routes (Gupta and Brooks, 2006, p.180).The wind stream impediment is commonly dynamic in nature related with an irregular provocative reaction of the lungs to gases. In spite of the reality COPD influences the lungs; it likewise adds to a considerable foundational response (Celli et al., 2004).although proof shows that no adjustment in lung work (FEV1) happens, regardless of how radical the treatment for the patient might be. Indeed, even intense loss of lung work isn't recovered; full of feeling as piratory recovery eases back the pace of decrease (Bellamy and Brooker, 2004, p.12). COPD is significant normal respiratory issue in essential consideration. Determination of COPD is frequently deferred until patients present with serious indications. There are a high level of people that are undiscovered in the populace. Beside patients being encouraged to quit smoking, it is significant that pneumonic recovery is a piece of the administration of this condition and physiotherapist see how to endorse suitable exercise preparing for patients with COPD (Gupta and Brooks, 2006, p.180).Patients with COPD are in the biggest level of people alluded for aspiratory restoration. There is an expansion in the proof based help for pneumonic restoration in the administration of patients with COPD (Nici et al., 2006). It tends to the various needs of the patient. It has numerous parts which are profoundly successful in thinking about the patient. Pneumonic restoration fuses the accompanying: smok ing suspension, instruction, practice preparing, brain research intercessions, physiotherapy, and sustenance. Exercise preparing is an indispensable segment of aspiratory restoration and is planned for improving a portion of the confining issues related with the malady, for example, dyspnoea and exercise resistance in spite of the irreversible distortions in lung work (Tiep, 1997, p.1652). The executives is basic in helping the patient have a superior personal satisfaction, as patients with COPD sink into an inert and ward state making them be at high danger of gloom and tension. (Maurer et al., 2008). Despondency and tension are tended to in the psychosocial segment of the recovery program (Nici, et al., 2006, p.1399). During the movement of COPD, all body frameworks here and there become influenced (Tiep, 1997, p.1631).patients with COPD will in general stop or lessen their degree of physical action as effort prompts the patient having upsetting sensations. An endless loop can happen, with decreases in physical exercises causing extreme deconditioning, and more impediments in every framework influenced by the condition (Thomas, 2006, p. 62).The changes in every one of these frameworks are coinciding variables that add to the activity prejudice in patients with the malady. The respiratory framework is influenced enormously by COPD; it adds to practice narrow mindedness in a number far. Ventilatory constraints happen for some reasons. An expansion in both aviation route obstruction and expiratory stream confinements causes a serious increment in crafted by relaxing. The versatile dividers of the alveoli give a specific measure of main thrust behind the dynamic procedure of exhalation (Rochester, 200 3, p.61). Wind stream hindrance prompts impeded lung exhausting and a better quality expiratory lung volume because of the misfortune in versatility of the alveolar dividers. This declines during exercise prompting dynamic hyperinflation. Hyperinflation limits the flowing volume reaction to discharge, levels the stomach and the embellishment muscles are then used to help breath, andâ the muscle length-strain relationship of the respiratory muscles is adjusted compelling the muscles into an abbreviated position which puts them at a mechanical inconvenience. The level of hyperinflation a patient is liable to is a significant marker of their activity resistance and dyspnea during exercise (Bellamy and Booker, 2004, p 23). Ventilatoryâ restrictions to practice causes break in gas trade that rises up out of the expansion dead space to flowing volume proportion, ventilation-perfusion befuddle, and the decrease in diffusing limit brought about by the loss of alveolar/narrow association s. The expanded dead space to flowing volume proportion thus causes an expanded ventilatory interest, for a similar level of real effort (Rochester, 2003, p. 61). Different factors likewise further increment ventilatory interest these incorporate, lactic acidosis and hypoxemia which legitimately or in a roundabout way limit practice resilience (Nici et al., 2006, p. 1391). The musculoskeletal framework is influenced likewise, there is proof demonstrating that muscle brokenness adds to practice prejudice in COPD. The decrease in physical exercises prompts harm in skeletal muscle work which thus causes more side effects at a less escalated degree of work. Inertia produces numerous basic and biomechanical changes in the skeletal muscle. Muscle quality is diminished in patients with COPD; fringe muscle quality is to an a lot more prominent degree influenced than upper appendage muscles quality. The decrease in fringe muscle quality might be straightforwardly connected with the reality there is an abatement in movement of the lower appendages in patients with COPD (Thomas, 2006, p. 63). There is additionally a decrease in perseverance in both lower and upper appendage muscles. Loss of lower appendage muscle quality is identical to the decrease in bulk. With delayed inertia type 11a filaments (slow jerk strands) convert to type 11b (quick jerk strands), R eduction in fiber type and abatement in cross-sectional of type 1 and 11a filaments is connected to muscle decay. Decrease in oxidative limit and muscle decay is standard in patients with COPD. Deconditioning is a significant factor in skeletal muscle brokenness (Mador and Bozkanat, 2001). Ceaseless obstructive aspiratory illness extensively affects the cardiovascular framework. The expanded right ventricular afterload which is brought about by the expanded aspiratory vascular obstruction coming about because of the basic irregularities in pneumonic flow, and the hypoxic aspiratory vasoconstriction all add with the impacts of COPD on the cardiovascular framework. These procedures lead to auxiliary changes in the heart which incorporate right ventricular dilatation and hypertrophy, to assist monitor with correcting ventricular yield (Vonk-Noordegraaf, et al., 2005, p. 1901). The impeded ventricular filling is brought about by hyperinflation and additionally other mechanical hindrances. Heart yield is moderately kept up in patients with COPD contrasted with typical people both very still and during physical exercises. Studies have demonstrated that activity preparing has no quantifiable effect on the adjustments in the cardiovascular framework as the consequence of COPD. Like the irreversible impacts COPD has on lung work, practice preparing can back it off yet it can never be turned around back to ordinary regardless of how broad the treatment (Sietsema, 2001, p. 656-657). The neurological framework is influenced because of COPD. Neuropsychiatric disarranges are regular in patients with COPD, especially gloom and tension. The predominance of despondency is higher than uneasiness it is over 20% higher than tension. They regularly go untreated in patients with COPD; the absence of sufficient treatment prompts patients having a low quality of life and is related with unexpected passing in COPD patients. The general effect of melancholy and tension on COPD patients, their families, and society is significant. Studies show that downturn has been found to cause exhaustion, dyspnoea, and incapacity (Maurer, et al., 2008, p. 43). Despondency increments with hypoxemia, carbon dioxide levels, and dyspnea. Hypoxia in patients with COPD might be a central point in the advancement of gloom and nervousness because of absence of adequate oxygen to the mind. Anyway decreased physical limit and negative mental self view may likewise be a causing factor in the improveme nt of the sickness (Armstrong, 2010, p. 132). Pneumonic restoration is the principle mediation used to attempt to improve the efficient impacts of COPD; its fundamental concern is to control the side effects and malady by including basic parts, for example, the multidisciplinary group for help and direction and the activity preparing program for upgrades in the patient’s physical confinements (Burton, et al

Efficient Regulation Capital Market Theory - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Examine about the Efficient Regulation Capital Market Theory. Answer: Presentation Griffiths choice to utilize another officeholder stage for his ticket stock was inspired by two principle objectives: to obtain however many clients as would be prudent and furthermore to convey the most excellent commitment as conceivable inside his objective market. On accomplishing the primary goal, it would be simple for Griffith to achieve the second objective since clients will know about this application and the choice will currently be founded on the last upper hand of his application in the market condition. Notwithstanding, considering the way that each decision has outcomes, this decision by Griffith joined its results, both Positive just as negative. The occupant and the Griffiths Gametime application played out a comparable errand and that was selling sports tickets. The way that the officeholder application had its own clients, this went about as an extraordinary advertising open door for Gametime since practically all the individuals who got to the occupant application were potential clients , most likely some would be pulled in to this Gametime application and build up an intrigue thus moving from officeholder application to Gametime.(Fischel Daniel., 76) Coordinating this application under occupant was an extraordinary chance to test its usefulness since it permitted new clients to communicate with it. This accompanied a few focal points likewise; right off the bat it was a chance to quantify the clients early introductions (Walker et al., 46). This depended on both the screen capture click testing and the screen capture break testing. Furthermore, it was a chance to improve the engineering and get routes right. Also, it went about as the bases to improve the application ease of use at an early stage since it achieved bits of knowledge on the purposes for a portion of the clients activities while interfacing with the application (Dumas et al., 78). Finally, it took into account approvals to enhance the previous settled on choice structures. This was with respect to the models convenience and suggestions from the clients. Profiting by the shortcoming of the occupant Each portable application has its own inadequacies which contrast starting with one versatile application then onto the next. Remembering this reality, the occupant application had its own detriments as plot by Griffith; the officeholder portable interface appeared as though a web rendition crushed onto the cell phone. The Gametime having a decent interface contrasted with the officeholder, presumably would allure a few clients of the occupant to move and become clients of the Gametime application (Dumas et al., 65). Also, since this application could just show the top best seats out of the numerous which the occupant showed, this went about as one of its principle zone to challenge the officeholder application which showed all the tickets for the clients to settle on the decision. Not all the clients of the occupant learned about fulfillment of the administrations offered by its application, this is on the grounds that various clients of an application will consistently have particular difficulties in communicating with a specific application. Thinking about this reality, a few clients would totally connect the Gametime application with the occupant and wind up deteriorating in the viewpoint that the deficiencies of the officeholder application are also the difficulties to be looked in the Gametime application (Fox et al, 74). So as to be effective in any undertaking there is consistently high points and low points and yielding for quite a while to procure to a great extent at last is a decent methodology in certain situations. Since Griffiths Gametime was extremely new in the market and acclimating individuals to it was one of his significant objectives, having a completely evolved independent adaptation of this application in the market for nothing would have been a smart thought (Fox et al., 87). Since toward the beginning the clients would have been pulled in by its free idea to make ticket buys, this would have been a decent chance to acclimate the customers with this application. Off base, the upsides of this application, for example, responsiveness, convenience and intuitive UIs would have been competent at this crossroads of free preliminary. On expiry of this free preliminary, these points of interest would incite the clients to embrace it. Works Cited Dumas, Joseph S., and Janice Redish. A handy manual for ease of use testing. Mind books, 2013. Fischel, Daniel R. Proficient capital market hypothesis, the market for corporate control, and the guideline of money delicate offers. Tex. L. Fire up. 57 (2014): 1. Walker, Miriam, Leila Takayama, and James A. Landay. High-devotion or low-loyalty, paper or PC? Picking characteristics when testing web models. Proceedings of the human variables and financial aspects society yearly gathering. Vol. 46. No. 5. Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, 2012. Fox, Justin, and Alan Sklar. The hypothesis of balanced market: history of hazard, pay, and confusion on Wall Street. New York: Harper Business, 2012.

Ways that Training Can Drive Your Employees Productivity

Ways that Training Can Drive Your Employees Productivity Employee training is one of the most important ways to drive productivity in the workplace. Well-trained employees will not only work efficiently but they will be happier at work. Employee training is not as simple as sending your line managers to a weekend leadership conference in Tucson. Employee training should be tailored to both your organizations needs and your employees preferences.By aligning training with both your business and your employees needs, you can successfully organize and implement an effective employee training program. Not only will you drive productivity in the department being trained but you may reinvigorate your whole business. © Shutterstock.com | Minerva StudioIn this article, I will start with 1) how to begin with employee training, and continue then with 2) how training drives employees productivity, 3) practice after training, 4) how to evolve your training, and 5) understanding the ROI of your training.HOW TO BEGIN WITH EMPLOYEE TRAININGBefore you begin a new training program, you need to formulate a plan. A plan ensures that the program will suit your individual training needs. First, you must identify the training needs of your staff. This will prevent redundant training, that staff will present and promote the useful training that the staff has asked for. You also need to identify the preferred learning methods of your employees. Finally, you should identify barriers to training so that you can be aware of potential issues before you begin.Step 1: Identify Areas Where Staff Require More TrainingOne way to get insight into the areas where staff need more training is to create a training needs asses sment. Training needs assessments will provide the feedback that you need on either the employee, departmental or organizational level. To successfully analyze the training needs, you will need to consider three main areas:You will need to monitor the current performance levels of your organization. You can do this through observation. You should also include the employees thoughts through interviews and questionnaires. Using these written feedback methods will also help you collate data.You will need to anticipate future problems. A worthwhile training program should not only solve current issues but be forward thinking as well. Your training program can be designed to anticipate future training needs in your business. By anticipating future needs, you can either prevent or offset future training issues.You will also need to identify the level and type of training that will be required by your employees. While some staff will naturally fall into different levels of training, it is essential to have a minimum training requirement that all staff meet.Step 2: Identify Preferred Learning MethodsThe method of learning provided by a training program is equally as important as the content being delivered. Organizations should identify the employees preference for a learning method. There are four main options for delivering a training program.Classroom Style LearningClassroom style learning works well for both small groups of employees or entire departments. Many people respond well to classroom style learning because live teachers can be more engaging for some employees. Live training has several advantages. It allows the entire group to get the same information at the same time. This prevents some individuals from working too far ahead while others fall behind. Many people also appreciate face to face interaction because teachers can respond to students in ways that other methods like computer based training cannot. However, the effectiveness of the training sessi on will often depend upon the effectiveness of the teacher. If you choose to utilize the classroom style method of learning, it is important to choose a teacher or speaking that the majority of employees will respond to.If you choose classroom training, you will want to incorporate interactive methods to ensure that students get the most from the session. You can choose to incorporate small assessments to ensure that the audience stays engaged. You will also be able to determine the success of the training on some of the results of these assessments. You may also incorporate small group work and role play. Small group work encourages employees to learn from each other as well as the teacher.Hands-On LearningExperiential learning has been proven to an effective method of education in recent years. There are several ways that your organization can incorporate a hands-on learning experience for your employees. You can use popular methods such as demonstrations, coaching, drills or appr enticeships. These methods are ideal for training employees on a new procedure or new equipment. They are both theoretical and practical. Practical training is essential for some employees because it allows them to practice new skills immediately. This improves short-term memory retention for some employees. This type of learning is best suited for small groups or individuals in technical environments. Large groups often find this method frustrating because they find that there is a lot of downtime spent waiting.Computer-Based TrainingComputer-based training is a popular way to train large groups of people, including new hires. Many of the largest companies in the world use computer training for a variety of purposes. The uniformity of computer programs is ideal for provided standardized levels of basic training for all employees. They also often integrate interactive methods of learning that both keeps employees engaged and measures the results of the training. Computer-based train ing is ideal for groups of staff who are computer literate. However, you will need to dedicate someone who is fully trained to be available to answer questions because the computer training will not answer individual questions.E-LearningE-Learning is the new form of learning not only for companies but universities and even secondary education. There is a variety of Internet-based learning methods to choose from. You can choose from a web-based training program that is similar to the programs that were formerly delivered through software. You can also choose to take part into an online conference that is either audio or video based. Web meetings are a popular method of learning because they have the benefit of being delivered remotely but still incorporate the use of a live teacher. The benefit of online training is that it is often inexpensive compared to other methods. However, many of these training programs are generic and impersonal. Some employees do not respond well to program s that they do not feel are addressed to their needs.Step 3: Identify Barriers to TrainingThe barriers to training are unique to each organization. By identifying these barriers, you can successfully design the method of training that will best suit your employees. Training organizers will often need to work through serious barriers before implementing a training program. Some of the most common barriers to learning include the following:Computer Literacy: If you are choosing to implement an online or computer-based training program, it is essential that all of your employees are literate in computing and the necessary software.Lack of Motivation: The groups motivation to learning is one of the most essential parts of the learning process. The training process may be difficult if the group does not feel that they need the training or simply do not want the training. This barrier should be examined and overcome before training begins.Resistance: Some groups may be resistant to change in the workplace. New methods often spark fear or distrust in the eyes of employees. You will need to take this into account when organizing your training program.Negative Experiences: If you have run training programs in the past that were less than successful, you may find that this negative experience may become a barrier to training. The best method to overcome this barrier is to understand what went wrong, as well as to ensure that the program will suit the needs of the employees this time around.HOW TRAINING DRIVES EMPLOYEES PRODUCTIVITYSharpening employees skills in the workplace is the key to maintaining a high standard of productivity. By integrating a successful system of employee training, you can keep your employees both knowledgeable and motivated.Reinvigorates Old Skills: Basic skills can feel so common and easy that sometimes people forget the details. By retraining employees on old skills in an effective way, you can increase productivity by preventing small, basic mistakes in your work. Employees may feel like their old skills are refreshed. This can breathe new life into old tasks.Trains Staff on New Skills: Regular and effective training can acquaint employees with new methods and skills as well as refresh old ones. By teaching new skills, you can give your employees a sense of a new purpose. It also lets them know that the organization is willing and able to evolve. When you can successfully train employees on new methods, everyone wins.Boost Confidence Levels: Learning and maintaining skills can boost confidence not only in employees but employers. By boosting your employees confidence, you will provide them with a greater sense of value at work. This can translate into increased enthusiasm as well as a greater degree of accountability.Establishes a Performance-Based Culture: A performance based culture will inspire and motivate your employees by giving them attainable goals to reach on a regular basis. However, your culture should also h ave a clearly defined definition of success. When people know what they are reaching for, they are able to achieve it in an optimal manner.Boosts Employee Satisfaction: Employee satisfaction is an essential component to a productive workplace. Employees are satisfied when they are given the skills and support they need to perform their duties effectively. Training is one step to providing the skills your employees want and need to be satisfied with their performance at work.PRACTICE AFTER TRAININGThe best time to truly learn is after the training session has ended. By practicing the things you have learned in training, you can make the appropriate changes in your company. These changes will let you know if these new methods work for your organization. Implementing changes also boosts office morale. Employees feel like the training was useful if it is implemented.Training Is Not A One Time Event: Employee training is not an event that takes place over a few days each year. Employee t raining should be the spark that changes behavior in the workplace. In the case of leadership training, 48% of people believe that the greatest difficulty in workplace training is that the training is not implemented. When employees are assigned to a skills or learning seminar, they expect it to be meaningful. Before you train your employees, you should be sure to have the systems in place the be able to implement the training when it is over.Transfer of Applicable Skills Results in Productivity: Employees who learn skills that can be used across several different departments in the organization will increase productivity in the workplace. Employees who can work in conjunction with other departments instead of in competition with them will create an increasingly engaged workplace.HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TRAININGAs time goes on, your business practices will evolve. This evolution should include your training methods. Not only should you keep up with the current trends in methodology but y ou should also continuously work to improve the training experience. There are two imperative factors to consider when you decide to review your organizations training process:Employee Engagement Survey: You should always run an employee engagement survey after you run a training course of any type. The results of this survey will provide employee insight into the training process. They will be able to tell you what worked and what did not work. They will also be able to make suggestions for better practices. Not only with the survey provide you with important data, but it will inform your employees that you value both their education and their feedback.Compare Results: Look at your sales results from before the training and compare them with the results you have after the training has been implemented. These results will inform you about whether or not the training has been success fully implemented. Sales results are a good indicator of the levels of productivity in your organizat ion.UNDERSTANDING THE ROI OF YOUR TRAININGEveryone wants to receive a return on their investment. While training is a big investment in the short term, it can provide many benefits over the long term. However, the return on investment on training can be difficult to measure. Organizations should always have specific measurements against which they can view the efficacy of the training exercise. Although calculating the return on investment may be tricky, organizations can use these measurements to gain insight on how beneficial their investment was to the organization:Engagement: Measuring your employee engagement will give you a clear understanding of the benefits of the training. If your employees engaged with the training and are excited to use it in the workplace, then the training may be a success. The real measurement comes from whether or not it was implemented in the office and how well it has been maintained since the training finished.Skills: You should be aware of the ski lls that your employees gained during the training. If the training was to brush up on old skills to prevent small mistakes, you should monitor the situation to look for changes in behavior. If the training was designed to teach new skills that will be implemented in the future, you would be able to measure this when you roll out the new program. However, you should always account for a few weeks of confusion in the first weeks of a new program whether you have trained your employees or not.Implementation: Implementation is arguably one of the most crucial factors of the training. The point of training your employees on old and new systems is so that they can begin to practice them at work. If they are not being implemented, you should conduct an investigation into why they are not being utilized.Business Impact: Finally, you will need to calculate the impact that the training sessions have had on your business. You will want to measure the impact on the department as well as the or ganization as the whole. A well-trained department should contribute to the overall health of the organization.When you decide to run an employee training program, there are many things to take into consideration. There are various planning, review and assessment states that need to happen to make your next training exercise worthwhile. Yet, employee training is one of the most important tools a company has to be able to maintain both its productivity and its growth. An organization that is home to satisfied and knowledgeable employees is almost always an organization that is running at an optimal level of productivity. Employee training provides more benefits than just learning new skills. When you have a company full of well trained, highly productive, confident people, this will not only have a positive effect on your business but the industry and economy as the whole.

Joy Luck Club Character Analysis - 1045 Words

The Joy Luck Club Theme Analysis The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is an entertaining book that focuses on four Chinese American immigrant families. They face problems in their hometown which causes them to move to the United States. They end up moving to San Francisco and face many different problems with their cultural background. The theme of The Joy Luck Club is the relationship between both the mothers and their daughters. A variety of different events occur throughout the book that explains the complex relationship between the mothers and their daughters. They always have a special bond between them even though their different cultural and generational conflicts occur constantly. The mother and daughter relationship is shown†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"She never thinks anybody is good enough for anything† (Tan 183). She explains how her mother criticizes everything. There are many events that happen within the book that show the negative side of the relationship. On t he contrary, there are many events within the book that show the positive side of the relationships between the mothers and their daughters. There are many events within the book that represent the complex relationships between the mothers and their daughters. An example from the book that shows the positive side of their relationship would be in the American Translation section of the book. â€Å"She grabbed my hand and put the necklace in my palm, then shut my fingers around it† (Tan 235). Suyuan Woo gave a necklace to her daughter June. Suyuan said that she wore it and when June would wear it, she would know her mothers meaning. â€Å"This is your life’s importance† (Tan 235). Another example from the book would also be The American Translation. â€Å"I am not telling you to save your marriage, I only say you should speak up† (Tan 216). In this part of the book, An-Mei Hsu told her daughter, Rose Hsu Jordon, to speak up for herself because her husband was trying to get a divorce. Her mother was able to see what was going on and encouraged her to speak up. There are many different examples of The Joy Luck Club that show the positive side of the relationship betweenShow MoreRelatedCharacter Analysis : The Joy Luck Club1005 Words   |  5 Pagesyou who do not really understand what physical conflict is, it is a type of external conflict that occurs in a story when individual characters struggle against other external forces; a character may struggle against other characters, animals or even natural forces. 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Joseph Campbell says a hero is someone who undergoes a departure, where the person is confronted with a problemRead MoreAnalysis Of Two Kinds By Amy Tan1567 Words   |  7 Pagesmother and daughter. Amy Tan is an author who writes about her life growing up as an Asian-American in Chinatown. Her novel The Joy Luck Club is a series of short stories about Chinese mothers and their assimilated daughters. On e of these stories is â€Å"Two Kinds,† which looks into the life of Jing-Mei Woo and her struggle to gain a sense of self. 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TheRead MoreReading report: Two Kinds by Amy Tan1347 Words   |  6 PagesReading report: Two Kinds by Amy Tan A summary of the passage Two kinds, one of the short stories in The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, first published in 1989, vividly displays a bittersweet relationship between Jing-mei, the narrator and protagonist, and her mother Mrs. Woo, and explores conflicts between a Chinese mother and her disobedient Americanized daughter. The story happened in the Chinatown in San Francisco throughout the 1950s and maybe the early 1960s. It begins with Jing-mei and her

Analytical Case Report on This Case Sucks Beavis,...

Written Analysis of Case Siddharth Malhotra | Section MC-8 | 0328/49 Analytical Case Report on This Case Sucks: Beavis, Butt-Head, and TV Content (A) The Case as it stands: Beavis and Butt-Head, an animated series, made its debut on MTV in 1992. The show features two uncivilized teen-aged misfits who became a symbol of a heated debate in the USA about violent and inappropriate television shows. The vulgarity, impoliteness, cruelty and pyromania of the featured characters has often been linked to juvenile crudeness, violence and deviant acts performed by teenagers. Objective of Report: This is an analytical report on the varied perception of the animated series â€Å"Beavis and Butt-Head† aired on MTV and the ensuing debate on the affect†¦show more content†¦| Problem Inference: We may suggest that in view of the high popularity of the show, the inherent assumption that the show should be pulled off air in view of its depiction of deviant behavior is might not entirely be correct. It is possible that the show is only bringing out deep set tendencies in the youth of today, which are not expressed in normal routine due to societal norms. The origin of these tendencies could be traced back to faulty upbringing during formative years or the presence of family instability, chaos and insecurity. Hence blaming a TV show for the rise of crime is not entirely correct, because television violence might just be acting as a vent for pre existing mindsets. Decision Analysis: Decision Objective: The short term objective focuses on promoting the show to continue as it has a cult following and simultaneously reducing the incidence of juvenile crime and incidence of antisocial and deviant behavior. In the long term the objective is to target the root of such criminal tendencies and improve overall quality of family life and provide children with the security, education and care during their formative years. Criteria (i) Ratings of the show: These give a fair idea about the demand for the show amongst the viewers and can be used to target the right audience and also place the show appropriate timings on TV. (ii) Incidence of crime amongst juveniles who watch TV violence: The crime rates should be

Examine how globalisation has resulted in winners Free Essays

Examine how globalisation has resulted in winners and losers (15) Globalisation is the process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of massively increased trade and cultural exchange. Globalisation over the past hundred years has undoubtedly made the world more interconnected including closer societies, politics, economies, cultures and the environment. Globalisation has increased the production of goods and services. We will write a custom essay sample on Examine how globalisation has resulted in winners or any similar topic only for you Order Now There are those who argue that globalisation creates â€Å"winners† and â€Å"losers,† as some ountries prosper, mainly European countries and America, whilst other countries fail to do well. For example, USA and Europe fund their own agricultural industries heavily so less economically developed countries get ‘priced out’ of certain markets, even though they should theoretically have an economic advantage, as their wages are lower. The globalisation of economies has resulted in many winners from the developed nations while also improving improved the standard of living in many developing nations. As well as this numerous winners include most western nations, some third orld labourers and international institutions. The globalisation of nation’s economies has definitely improved the lives of millions across the planet, in both developed and developing countries. By far the major winner from this process has been the citizens and corporations of developed countries. This is due to many factors that have come to fruition in the later half of the twentieth century. Specifically, the roles of TNC’s, global financial institutions and consumerism all have ties to economic globalisation. Despite the criticisms that surround transnational orporations, they have been directly investing in developing countries and with their expansion into these markets, have actually raised the standard of living in many third world countries. An example of a transnational corporation creating winners with the globalisation process is McDonalds. This is a major example of globalization in both the economic and cultural sense, with nearly 50 million people around the world being served daily. The primary economic winner in recent times from McDonald’s globalisation process has been East Asia, as in 1975 when McDonald’s pened it first restaurant in Hong Kong, it brought with it a high standard of professional service and the first restaurant to continually offer a clean eating environment, which customers came to demand from all restaurants later. Another winner of the globalisation process, are the third world workers employed by transnational corporations. Although the western world sees sweatshops as immoral and unethical, the labourers who work in these places are often being paid a higher wage than most of their fellow citizens. This means through the economic lobalisation process and cross border corporations, workers in developing countries have the opportunities to survive and beat the poverty cycle. While there nave been many winners trom economic globalisation, there nave also been and will continue to be many losers. There have been many losers including most third world countries, the environment and ironically even most western countries. The primary loser from globalisation has been the developing countries, who have supplied the labour and raw material necessary to fuel globalisation. In any third world countries, globalisation has had the negative effect of creating sweatshops, where workers are paid low wages to do hard manual labour in often poor conditions. These sweatshops are run by transnational corporations, that have the aim of minimising costs by taking advantage of the relaxed labour laws often in developing countries. An example of a transnational corporation that uses sweatshops is Nike, as its shoes are made in many Asian countries at a low cost and then sold in western countries for a profit. After the goods are sold and the wages aid, the transnational corporations take any profit made back to their headquarters or home country. This leaves the developing countries in poverty as the workers are being exploited for a minimal wage while the country sees very little of the profits. However, not only are the developing countries affected by economic globalisation, the developed countries that are often at the center of globalisation also experience problems. A major loser that has resulted from the integration of economies specifically in times of economic downturn has been all economies, including both eveloping and developed. It can be seen that the primary losers from economic development are developing countries; however, developed countries can also be losers. Another significant loser from economic globalisation is the environment; this problem affects all countries on the planet and has been getting worse over time. The environment has been abused and neglected since the beginning of the industrial revolution and today is currently at a precipice. Developed countries are the worst offender when it comes to the abuse of the environment. There are positive aspects of globalisation as seen in developed countries, also now many developing countries are to some degree enjoying the benefits. However, transnational corporations and the developed world are still generally exploiting developing countries. Likewise, the planet’s environment is still being expended at a faster rate than it is being replenished or replaced and will surely cause problems for future generations. Therefore, it can be said that the globalisation process of integrating nation’s economies has had both positive and negative effects on the world. How to cite Examine how globalisation has resulted in winners, Papers

Secure Software Project Management

Table of Contents Abstract Project Risk Management Risk Assessment Security Management Secure Configuration Management Software Quality Assurance and Security Reference List Abstract Secure software project management comprises the steps that should be taken by software producers in their quest to provide good software to the market. Software production is a very challenging bit in information technology due to the nature of computer software that can be produced to do different functions.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Secure Software Project Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The need to come up with secure projects for software project management has been necessitated by the fact that the software has become a very integral part of the present-day society due to dependence by the society on computers to run different functions. The use of computers in the day-to-day running of activities has therefore called for the setting up of standards that will guarantee aspects such as security of the software by ensuring that ethical elements of the software production process are followed in an attempt to achieve a sustainable production of better and improved software over time. This therefore calls for a concerted effort between all stakeholders in the industry as a way of coming up with the best standards that can be followed during software production. With this light in mind, the question, ‘what role should stakeholders play to guarantee software security and hence information assurance?’ forms the basis of argument of this paper. Project Risk Management The evident technological advancement is the primary cause of the many incidences of computer insecurity. Hackers have managed to take advantage of the technology to crack into the information banks of other parties without the parties’ consent to perform malicious acts. During software development, several risks are involved, thus calling for all stakeholders to develop strategies to manage the risk for the project to be successful. Some risks can be easily identified while others may not, or may never be identified because of the complex nature of software development use and management that makes it multifaceted when it comes to managing the risks involved. Therefore, as highlighted in the next section, the involved parties need to be aware of the role of project risk management in a bid to implement the various risk handling steps in the computer sector as a strategy of guaranteeing security of information that is shared among people and/or organizations. The diagram below shows the steps that they can use for an effective risk management process.Advertising Looking for research paper on it? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Risk Assessment Risk assessment is the first step in managing risks. It involves finding out t he possible risks that the given project might face during its development and execution. During this stage, the risk threats to the project are usually highlighted with regard to the purpose that the software is going to serve. Different types of software attract different kinds of interests from players in the industry. Therefore, software serving very sensitive and lucrative purposes attracts a lot of attention from groups such as hackers (Otniel, 2013, p. 88). Steps can only be taken after the risk has been identified. The next stage involves identifying the risks that can be handled by the persons preparing the software along with the ones that cannot be handled. The complexity of software development indicates that different software developers have different abilities and hence the reason for continuous emergence of new software by new developers. Developers usually see what they are doing with a different eye relative to other developers. Therefore, the risks that can be ide ntified can easily be solved in this case. There are those risks that are beyond the developers of the programs. These can only be identified for further research. The solutions for the risks should outweigh the risks because a project that is full of risks is as good as desolate (Otniel, 2013, p. 90). In identifying the risks, standards have been put in place that programmers are supposed to use when working. Some of the risks identified include technical factors such as the necessary technical abilities to do certain projects, insufficient budget to carry out a project, operational risks that may be due to unforeseen factors, as well as schedule risks (Otniel, Bibu Brandas, 2012, p 1016). Technical-factor risks emanate from the fact that people working on the project might not be measuring up to the challenge that the risk might provide due to limited technical knowhow. Some programmers and software developers might be good in one language but not in the other languages. This pos es a challenge to the development of the projects. Different methodologies for running projects attract different risk levels, with some methodologies recording a below-medium level while some record an above-medium level as others record a below-medium rank (Brandas, Otniel Bibu, 2012, p. 153).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Secure Software Project Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More While choosing the methodology for executing a software project, the methodology should be compatible with the intended project based on what the programmer wishes to achieve. The final bit about project risk management that should be put in place is coming up with contingency measures that can be employed in case of an emergency. Software projects face uncertain risks when they are being prepared due to the dynamic nature of software. Thus, there should be a window for employing any contingency measures for any unforeseen risk. This strategy may not take away the risk. Rather, it serves the purpose of minimizing the risk. Security Management Security management of any software is very important especially when the project is a high-value type. Security management is meant to ensure that the security of a software project is functional and one that can achieve its intended purpose of securing the software project. Security management of a software project starts with finding out the requirements of the project (Deven, 2013, p. 35). Different projects require different security approaches and applications. Therefore, it is prudent to find out the security requirements of the given software so that structures can be put in place to secure the software. Requirements for security management will determine the steps to be taken to ensure the security of the software project. The design of the software and its accessibility will determine the best security steps that will be put in place. Securit y measures employed have to be compatible with the design of the software (Allen Hale, 2009, p.127) because the design determines where the security features lie. To manage the security better, the security system has to be well matched with the software being used. Security features of software are supposed to be a top secret. They are not supposed to be easily determined by unauthorized persons. Therefore, when setting up the system, very few people should be allowed to know and/or operate the security code because they will be able to make adjustments as administrators. This duty is reserved for persons with permission only. One way of managing security codes is to restrict the source code of the program so that just one or two people have it. This part is the most important while managing the software because the source code is the key to every part of the software and the whole project. Another important aspect of security management is the interval period for reviewing the se curity system (Allspau, 2012, p. 49).Advertising Looking for research paper on it? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The security system being employed should be one that is up-to-date with the latest trends in security features for software across the globe because information technology has made the world a global village and that threats from the most remote and unknown places can cause extensive damage. This therefore calls for the employment of a system that has been tested and declared good compared to the existing threats. No system can be the best because malicious players in the industry usually work hard to break the tightest security, thus setting the bar higher and higher. The system should be one that can be periodically evaluated to ensure that it is still relevant with the latest technological changes, which are due to the dynamic nature of the information technology industry (Allspau, 2012, p. 49). A security system being used on the software should not be permanent. Rather, it should be disposed the moment it becomes obsolete. Therefore, it is advisable to come up with a security system that be upgraded over a period. Security management will therefore require someone to be tasked with taking care of the security system of the project. In this case, the person will be giving support services as long as the project runs (Deven, 2013, p. 36). Support services will entail taking observations on the security system from other users and servicing the security set up to conform to the security demands of the industry as well as those of clients. Secure Configuration Management Management of configurations securely calls for a systematic set up of structures from the time the software is being produced to the time it will be used. Configuration settings and alterations should be limited to few people who are entrusted with the software (Parminder Hardeep, 2012, p. 262). This group should be the administrators of the system who should have the authority to alter configurations. Configurations should be secured where and when it is necessary. The process should not act as a hindrance to the proper functioning of the software because rigid configurations can lead to a waste of time as individuals waits for authority to change any settings that are necessary for their work. To secure configurations further, the system should have passwords for all individuals using them so that unauthorized persons may not have access to the system (Thanjaivadiel Singh, 2012, p. 1494). This step has to come with a history log that will indicate the time and period of each log in identity so that any malicious log in can be identified with immediate effect. Configurations for a system are usually better when they are done to the specifications of the client being served. Therefore, it will be prudent for the configurations to be done in such a way that they are easy to navigate while working with them. When the software is being produced, the programmer should secure every step of the design to make sure that every step that has to be changed will have to be eff ected using a password (Priyanka, 2013, p. 603). All configurations should be made according to the principles of the industry so that they conform to the set standards. System configuration should be done when the software is still being prepared. They should also be adjustable when the software is in use. Configurations should be secured against malicious attacks (from hackers and other software) because such groups form the greatest threat to all software that is being produced. Accordingly, as part of the configuration, the system should have an antivirus installed therein. Configuration settings should be secured further by creating automatic security features that would work on their own without necessarily being prompted (Parminder Hardeep, 2012, p. 264). This erases the need for an individual having to activate them all the time he or she need to do so. Secure configurations that activate on their own provide better security in instances where one forgets to activate them m ost of the times. Thus, one will always work with the confidence that the configurations are safe from interference. To secure the system against arbitrary changes that might be malicious as well, the system should be configured in such a way that it highlights any changes that might have occurred to the set up system (Priyanka, 2013, p. 604). Many hackers usually use loopholes in the configurations of systems to insert their own commands that will secretly allow them access to whatever they want. A log page or message that reports any changes will enable administrators to be alerted on the changes while at the same time showing them any other activities that have been going on with the changes. Such alerts will enable administrators of the system to make new changes in terms of the security of the system. They will also enable them know the vulnerabilities the system faces for further action. Very vulnerable configurations should be discarded because they will simply be a conduit f or exploitation by malicious activities. Software Quality Assurance and Security The quality of software depends on many different factors that when evaluated will determine if the software is good or not. Quality assurance of software is therefore a very challenging issue because of the dynamic nature of software, which keeps on changing day-by-day (Ankur, 2010, p. 2874). The life cycle of a software product can never be assured as long as programmers are working round the clock to come up with new software. In fact, programs such as the iSEC’s SecurityQA Program have come in to offer security services. The diagram below shows the services. Source: (Ankur, 2010) The best assurance that the industry can offer is a standard that should be applied when developing any software program. This goal is achieved through the input of different players in the field. Quality assurance and security are usually attained when the government and the private sector groups come together to s et up standards for system development (Terek, 1988, p. 397). The challenge with software development is that it is something that can only be controlled in a limited manner because anybody with the knowledge can come up with software of his or her choice and put it to use without seeking authority. Due to the rise in criminal activities especially on the internet, standards and laws have been put in place to ensure that software buyers are protected largely from unscrupulous players. Both the government and the private sector usually set the quality of software because the private sector is the largest consumer of software other than the government (Terek, 1988, p. 398). Global trends in software development advise on the steps that should be taken to ensure that the software developed falls within certain standards. Software developers and buyers will therefore have the duty to find out whether it meets certain features that fall within the definition of quality and standards befo re they develop or buy the software. Ethical standards are set to ensure that any software made is ethically fit for the market (Borislav, 2012, p. 1230). What ethics tries to erase is the mischief that can be played by developers when they try to still control of software they have already sold you. Some developers may insert malicious codes in the software since it allows them to access it when on the internet. This act is wrong and unlawful because they will be intruding on someone’s privacy. Quality assurance standards keep on changing with time as new developments happen in the industry and hence the need for industry’s main players to review them on a regular basis (Borislav, 2012, p. 1234). For instance, the major worldwide internet service players have come up with a database that identifies and notes any emerging malicious viruses and software. They therefore highlight them, block them, and put them in their database so that other players can check with them t o find out the latest threats to their work (Ankur, 2010, p. 2876). Reference List Allen, J., Hale, R. (2009). Improved Security Through Information Security Governance. Communication of the ACM, 52(1), 126-129. Allspau, J. (2012). Fault Injection in Production. Communications of the ACM, 55(10), 48-52. Ankur, P. (2010). A Framework Based Approach or Reliability Quality Assurance of Safety-Critical Software. International Journal on Computer Science and Engineering, 1(1), 2874-2879. Borislav, N. (2012). Software Quarterly Assurance Economics. Information Software Technology, 54(11), 1229-1238. Brandas, C., Otniel, D., Bibu, N. (2012). Study on Risk Approaches in Software Development Projects. Informatica Economica, 16(3), 148-157. Deven, D. (2013). Beyond Location: Data Security in the 21st Century. Communication of the ACM, 56(1), 34-36. Otniel, D. (2013). The Role and the Effects of Risk Management in IT Projects Success. Informatica Economica, 17(1), 86-98. Otniel, D., Bibu, N., Brandas, C. (2012). Risk Management Approaches and Practices in IT Projects. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Sciences Series, 21(1), 1014-1020. Parminder, K., Hardeep, S. (2012). Configuration management Issues in Software Process Management. American Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, 5(3), 261-265. Priyanka, G. (2013). Configuration Management and Change Management. International Journal of Advances in Engineering Technology, 6(2), 601-605. Terek, A. (1988). The Economics of Software Quality Assurance: A Simulation Based Case Study. MIS Quarterly, 12(3), 395-411. Thanjaivadiel, S., Singh, J. (2012). WWDC Server Software Inventory Management and Automation. International Journal on Computer Science and Engineering, 4(8), 1493-1497. This research paper on Secure Software Project Management was written and submitted by user Archer Wiley to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

25+ Pieces of Writing Software You Should Know About

25+ Pieces of Writing Software You Should Know About 25+ Pieces of Writing Software You Should Know About 25+ Pieces of Writing Software You Should Know About By Ali Hale Of course, all you really need in order to write is a notebook and pen. But there are lots of software packages that can make life easier for writers. Whatever you want to be able to do, there’s almost certainly some software out there to help you. The list below includes the best packages to help you plan and structure a novel, share documents online with other people, format your screenplay or script correctly, minimize writing distractions, improve your English and more Collaborative Documents Often when writing, you’ll want to share a document with other people – either to ask for feedback, or to get them to add to it. All of these pieces of software allow you to share documents online, so that multiple people can have access to and edit them. I’ve found this very successful for receiving feedback from friends on my short stories. Google Docs FREE â€Å"You can easily do all the basics, including making bulleted lists, sorting by columns, adding tables, images, comments, formulas, changing fonts and more. And its free. †¦ Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc. So go ahead and upload your existing files.† Writeboard from 37 signals FREE â€Å"Writeboards are sharable, web-based text documents that let you save every edit, roll back to any version, and easily compare changes. Use Writeboard to write solo or collaborate with others.† Word Processors Microsoft Word $324.99 for Microsoft Office 2007 Standard version $109.99 for Student version â€Å"Microsoft Office Standard 2007 offers the core Microsoft Office applications, but significantly updated for faster, better results. Comprised of Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, this software suite empowers you to create high-quality documents and presentations, build powerful spreadsheets, and manage your e-mail messages, calendar, and contacts.† Word Viewer FREE â€Å"View, print and copy Word documents, even if you dont have Word installed.† Open Office FREE â€Å"OpenOffice.org 2 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.† As a hard-up student (who preferred to spend money on booze than software), I used Open Office throughout my degree, and found it an excellent alternative to Microsoft Office. It’s a whole office suite, so can also be used to replace Excel, Powerpoint and more. AbiWord FREE Famous open source word processor, and ideal for someone looking for a light and compact software. It comes with all the basic features that you would expect from a word processor, and it also supports different languages and operating systems. Fiction: Writing Novels and Screenplays If you’ve tried a bit of fiction and you want some help with writing longer pieces, there are a number of software packages you might want to try out. Here’s some reputable, well-established ones: New Novelist $54.99 download, $59.99 download and CD â€Å"If you’ve ever tried to write a novel (or even just thought about it), you know the routine. You just can’t put everything together. You’ve got to work step by step to write a great book, right? NOT ANYMORE! NewNovelist Software has turned the writing process on its head. With this revolutionary software, you can write your novel the way you want to.† I used version 1.0 of this myself, and it definitely helped me with my world building and pre-writing notes. None of the twelve structures it suggested quite worked for the novel I was planning, but you can change the headings to suit yourself. Character Pro (Now called Character Writer, see below) 60 days free, then $69.99 â€Å"Character Pro puts a proven system for understanding human behavior at your fingertips The Enneagram to create a character spine for your character. But thats only the beginning. Character Pro isolates each part of the character, provides tools and extensive help files to guide you to a well-rounded, complex and realistic character.† Quick Story (Now called Character Writer, see below) $49.99 â€Å"Create a basic story structure with the Story Generator then use the tree to organize your structure while you develop the story in the edit box on the right. Simply drag and drop or insert and delete story items until your story is perfectly structured.† Character Writer $69.99 This version combines features of both Character Pro and Quick Story, and is Java Based (so runs on almost any system), for $69.99. Writers Cafà © Demo version free, $45 download,  £32.90 (approx $65) on CD. â€Å"Writers Cafà © is a software toolkit for all fiction writers, whether experienced or just starting out. The heart of Writers Cafà © is StoryLines, a powerful but simple to use story development tool that dramatically accelerates the creation and structuring of your novel or screenplay.† Writing: Organising and Formatting your Manuscript One of the biggest headaches for fiction writers is coming to the end of a project only to realise that every scene or chapter is in a separate file (and sometimes in different formats), and that pulling this all together – and editing it to match editorial conventions – is going to take ages. These packages can help you keep things organised: Celtex FREE â€Å"Celtx is the worlds first fully integrated solution for media pre-production and collaboration. It replaces old fashioned paper, pen binder media creation with a digital approach to writing and organizing thats more complete, simpler to work with, and easier to share.† Scrivener 30 days free, then $39.99 Mac Only â€Å"Scrivener is a word processor and project management tool created specifically for writers of long texts such as novels and research papers. It wont try to tell you how to write it just makes all the tools you have scattered around your desk available in one application.† Minimise Distractions When Writing If you’re anything like me, distractions come up constantly when trying to write. Whether your problem is instant messenger, web browsing, email, or just using all the fancy formatting features on your word processor, a simpler writing environment can be the solution. Wordpad FREE If you’re running Windows, this almost certainly came free with your computer. Some people find all the extra bells and whistles of a full wordprocessor distracting when writing. If you have trouble knuckling down to write, Wordpad allows formatting (bold, italics, etc) and can be easier to use than Word. Write Room Free trial, then $25. Mac only. â€Å"For people who enjoy the simplicity of a typewriter, but live in the digital world. WriteRoom is a full-screen writing environment. Unlike the cluttered word processors youre used to, WriteRoom is just about you and your text.† Dark Room FREE Windows version of Write Room Both Write Room and Dark Room have a retro feel of green text on black background (though you can change the background of Write Room). I’ve used Dark Room when suffering from a severe bout of procrastination on my novel, and would certainly recommend it. Scientific Writing For specialised types of writing, such as creating scientific documentation, normal word processing software may not be enough. Latex FREE â€Å"LaTeX is a high-quality typesetting system; it includes features designed for the production of technical and scientific documentation. LaTeX is the de facto standard for the communication and publication of scientific documents.† Improving your English (for native and non-native speakers) The spelling and grammar checks built into word processors can often leave much to be desired. If your English is shaky, or if you’re learning English as a foreign language, you might want to invest in software designed to help you improve your grammar and style. JaLingo FREE This cool little program will bring a handy dictionary to your desktop, that you can use to confirm spelling of words or to check their meanings. The advantage of JaLingo is that it is OS independent, so it will work smoothly on most computers. WhiteSmoke $79.99 for â€Å"General† version, $99.99 for â€Å"Business† version other specialised ones. Executive writing version usually $250 but currently $125. â€Å"WhiteSmoke is an innovative software tool that improves and edits your English writing. Based on patented natural language processing (NLP) technology, WhiteSmoke performs advanced and context-based English grammar, spelling, and punctuation checking, as well as text enrichment to enhance your writing.† StyleWriter $160, which includes a â€Å"Software for writers† CD â€Å"Designed by journalists, editors and business writing tutors, StyleWriter gives you the skills of a good editor. Simply click the StyleWriter button in Microsoft Words or WordPerfects toolbar (or any clipboard text) to launch a check for thousands of faults and bad habits found in writing. Trimming the excess words, simplifying and clarifying your style, checking for good English usage - editing is easy with StyleWriter.† Typing Software After a mis-spent youth playing online text games, I learnt to touch-type without trying to, but I realise many people aren’t so lucky (or so geeky). Typing speed is a surprisingly big factor in being a successful writer, and if you’re still pecking away at the keyboard with two fingers, it’s worth investing in software to help you learn to type properly. Kaz-Type $19.95 download, $34.95 CD â€Å"KAZ will teach you how to learn to type and master your computer keyboard fast. Our interactive, multimedia typing tutor software uses a revolutionary learning method so you can learn to type really quickly without the need to resort to repetitive typing drills and games. Learning to touch type with KAZ is tested and proven with over 1 million users.† Miracle Type (Not Available Anymore) $19.99 â€Å"Miracle Type is the perfect answer for you if typing on your computer is just taking far too long or if you have given up in frustration after trying to teach yourself to Touch Type with other typing software.† Blogging Platforms If you run your own blog or website, you’ve almost certainly heard of WordPress and Movable Type. Both are content management systems that you install on space provided by your web host, allowing you to easily publish new posts to your blog and modify existing ones. WordPress FREE (but you’ll need to pay for web hosting) â€Å"WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.† Moveable Type FREE (but you’ll need to pay for web hosting) â€Å"Movable type is a professional publishing platform.† There are also many blogging services which will host your blog for you, such as blogger.com, livejournal.com, but these are more â€Å"sites† than â€Å"software† (you don’t install them on your own webspace.) Journalling Software At the moment, I journal on paper, as I like to get away from the computer screen and take fifteen minutes alone with my thoughts. I also enjoy writing with a good fountain pen, in a nice hardback notebook. However, this does make it hard to search for anything†¦ David RMs The Journal $39.95 download / $49.95 CD / $69.95 for â€Å"Writers’ edition† â€Å"The Journal is a powerful journaling and writing tool that can help you take control of your life. Create a digital scrapbook of your life! Organize your notes about your family, about your work, about a hobby, about anything. Write a short story, a magazine article, or even a novel. Remember your appointments, events, tasks special days! Find whatever youre looking for with The Journals powerful searching. Get inspired!† Debrief FREE basic version, $29.95 for standard version, $39.95 for professional version â€Å"Debrief ® is software for saving notes on your PC. Ideas. Experiences. Research. Thoughts. They come from projects, meetings, status, tasks, issues, changes, risks, decision, contacts, brainstorming, pondering, work, studies, school. Capture them while you can and put them to good use later† Suggested by Our Readers Final Draft $229 Use your creative energy to focus on the content; let Final Draft take care of the style. Final Draft is the number-one selling word processor specifically designed for writing movie scripts, television episodics and stage plays. This sure is not a cheap writing software, but it is supposed to be the industry standard when it comes to script writing. Q10 FREE A free alternative for Dark Room and WriteRoom, Q10 brings you a full screen word processor that will let you focus entirely on what you are writing. Additionally, it also come with customizable features like paragraph styling and live statistics about your pieces. Scripped FREE An online service that lets you write, edit and print your scripts straight on their website. The advantage is that you can work on your scripts from different locations and from different computers. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:"Because Of" and "Due To" 3 Types of HeadingsWhat is an Anagram?

How to Create a Homeschool Schedule

How to Create a Homeschool Schedule After deciding to homeschool and selecting  curriculum, figuring out how to create a homeschool schedule is sometimes one of the most challenging aspects of educating at home. The majority of today’s homeschooling parents graduated from a traditional school setting. The schedule was easy. You showed up to school before the first bell rang and stayed until the last bell rang. The county announced the first and last days of school and all the holiday breaks in between. You knew when each class was going to take place and how long you’d spend in each based on your class schedule. Or, if you were in elementary school, you just did what your teacher told you to do next. So, how do you make a homeschool schedule? The complete freedom and flexibility of homeschooling can make it difficult to let go of  the traditional school calendar mode. Let’s break homeschool schedules down into some manageable chunks. Yearly Schedules The first plan you’ll want to determine is your annual schedule. Your state’s homeschooling laws may play a  role in setting your yearly schedule. Some states require a certain number of hours of home instruction each year. Some require a specific number of homeschool days. Others consider home schools self-governing private schools and put no stipulations on attendance. A 180-day school year is fairly standard and works out to four 9-week quarters, two 18-week semesters, or 36 weeks. Most homeschool curriculum publishers  base their products on this 36-week model, making it a good starting point for planning your familys schedule. Some families keep their schedules very simple by choosing a start date and counting days until they’ve met their states requirements. They take breaks and days off as needed. Others prefer to have a framework calendar in place. There is still lots of flexibility even with an established yearly calendar. Some possibilities include: A typical school schedule from Labor Day until the end of May/first of JuneYear ‘round schooling with six weeks on/one week off or nine weeks on/two weeks offFour-day school weeks until youve satisfied attendance requirementsFollowing your city or countys  public/private school calendar (This option works well for families who homeschool some of their children while others attend a traditional school or families in which one parent works at a traditional school.) Weekly Schedules Once you’ve decided on the framework for your yearly homeschool schedule, you can work out the details of your weekly schedule. Take outside factors such as co-op or work schedules into consideration when planning your  weekly schedule. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that your weekly schedule doesn’t have to be Monday through Friday. If one or both parents have  an unconventional work week, you can adjust your school days to maximize family time. For example, if a parent works Wednesday through Sunday, you can make that your school week, as well, with Monday and Tuesday being your family’s weekend. A weekly homeschool schedule can also be adjusted to accommodate an  irregular work schedule. If a parent works six days one week and four the next, school can follow  the same schedule. Some families do their regular  school work  four days each week reserving the fifth day for co-op, field trips, or other outside-the-home classes and activities. Block Schedule Two other scheduling options are block schedules and loop schedules. A block schedule is one in which one or more subjects are allotted  a large span of time a couple of days a week instead of an hour or so every day. For example, you might schedule two hours for history on Mondays and Wednesdays and two hours for science on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Block scheduling allows students to fully focus on a particular subject without over-scheduling the school day. It allows time for activities such as hands-on history projects and  science labs. Loop Schedule A loop schedule is one in which there is a list of activities to cover but no  specific day  to cover them. Instead, you and your students spend time on each as its turn comes up on the loop. For example, if you’d like to allow space in your homeschool schedule for art, geography, cooking, and music, but you don’t have time to devote to them each day, add them to a loop schedule. Then, determine how many days you want to include loop schedule subjects. Perhaps, you choose Wednesdays and Fridays. On Wednesday, you study art and geography and on Friday, cooking, and music. On a given Friday, you may run out of time for music, so the following Wednesday, you would cover that and art, picking  up with geography and cooking on Friday. Block scheduling and loop scheduling can work well together. You may block schedule Monday through Thursday and leave Friday as a loop schedule day. Daily Schedules Most of the time when people ask about homeschool schedules, they’re referring to the nitty-gritty daily schedules. Like yearly schedules, your states homeschool laws may dictate some aspects of your daily schedule. For example, some states homeschooling laws require a specific number of hours of daily instruction. New homeschooling parents often wonder how long a homeschool day should be. They worry that they aren’t doing enough because it may only take two or three hours to get through the day’s work, particularly if the students are young. It is important for  parents to realize that a homeschool day may not take as long a typical public or private school day. Homeschooling parents don’t have to take time for administrative tasks, such as roll call or preparing 30 students for lunch or allow time for students to move from one classroom to the next between subjects. Additionally, homeschooling allows for focused, one-on-one attention. A homeschooling parent can answer his or her student’s questions and move on rather than answering questions from an entire class. Many parents of young children through first or second grade find that they can easily cover all subjects in just an hour or two. As students get older, it may take them longer to complete their work. A high school student may spend the full four to five hours – or more – dictated by state law. However, you shouldn’t stress even if a teen’s school work doesn’t take that much time  as long they are completing and comprehending it. Provide a learning-rich environment for your children and you will discover that learning happens even when the school books are put away. Students can use those extra hours to read, pursue their hobbies, explore electives, or invest in extracurricular activities. Sample Daily Schedule Allow your daily homeschool schedule to be shaped by your family’s personality and needs, not by what you think it â€Å"should† be. Some homeschool families prefer scheduling specific times for each subject. Their schedule may look something like this: 8:30 – Math9:15 – Language Arts9:45 – Snack/break10:15 - Reading11:00 – Science11:45 – Lunch12:45  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ History/social studies1:30 – Electives (art, music, etc.) Other families prefer a daily routine to a time-specific schedule. These families know that they’re going to start with math, using the example above, and end with electives, but they may not have the same start and end times each day. Instead,  they work through each subject, completing each and taking breaks as needed. Factors to Consider It’s important to note that many homeschooling families start much later in the day. They don’t start until 10 or 11 a.m. – or even until the afternoon! Some factors that may influence a homeschooling family’s start time include: Biology – Night owls or those who are more alert in the afternoon may  prefer a later start time. Early risers and those who are more focused in the mornings, usually prefer an earlier start time.Work schedules – Families  in which one or both parents work an atypical shift may choose to start school after that parent goes to work. When my husband worked second, we had our big family meal at lunch and started school after he left for work.Family needs – Factors such as a new baby, a sick parent/child/relative, a home-based business, or maintaining a family farm can all affect start times.Outside classes  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Homeschool co-op,  dual-enrollment, and other classes or activities outside the home may dictate your start time requiring that you  complete school work before or after these commitments.   Once you have teens who are working independently, your schedule may undergo a radical shift. Many teens find that they’re most alert late at night and that they also require more sleep. Homeschooling allows the freedom for teens to work when they’re most productive. The Bottom Line There is no one perfect homeschooling schedule and finding the right one for your family may take some trial and error. And it will likely need to be adjusted from year to year as your children get older and the factors affecting your schedule change. The most important tip to remember is to allow your familys needs to shape your schedule, not an unrealistic idea of how the schedule should or shouldnt be set up.

Leadership Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Leadership - Assignment Example It is difficult to measure and assess leadership potential as it cannot be calculated by any tool neither it can be measured in a specific value. It can only be analyzed by customers’ and employees’ satisfaction. This indicates that the organization’s leadership is communicating the vision of the company in a right way. Measuring Leadership: Leadership potential can be analyzed on the basis of the skills present in a person who is willing to take the role as a leader. It is imperative for a leader to know the vision of his organization in a clear manner. He should be aware of the vision and the values from the core. A leader should be aware of his strengths and weaknesses. He should know how to positively use his strengths as tools to win the situation and how to overcome the weaknesses to gain power and authority. Training and development are the essential components in measuring the leadership skills and to enhance them further. A leader should know how to buil d trust and how to develop flawless interpersonal relations with the employees or the subordinates. Situational Theory: Situational theory can be very helpful for the leaders to select the best course of action that are dependent on the situation and the circumstances. ... Answer: The Role of Values, Ethics and Morals in Leadership: Leaders are subjected to perform the â€Å"right things† in a right way. These right things should be morally and ethically right. A true leader seeks truth and rightly justification before taking any decision. A leader may fail to inspire his followers if he undermines the value of ethics, moral and truth in his actions. It is imperative for a leader to have a strong ethics and moral values in his personality. Values and ethics help a leader to develop moral conscience and without these basic elements, a leader cannot demonstrate true leadership. These elements define the level of trust between the leaders and the followers. Values help a leader to construct a positive behavior and personality. On the other hand, ethics enable a leader to commence the right conduct and to be more thoughtful in his actions and decisions. Leaders use moral reasoning to make decisions between what is right and what is wrong. Values pla y a central role in developing moral reasoning (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy, 2012). Martin Luther King, Jr. can be stated as a true leader who inspired his followers with his leadership based on moral and ethical values. He raised his voice against discrimination and was known in the history for the liberation of African-American nationals in America. His leadership revolved around nonviolence actions against racial inequality. He received Nobel Peace Prize due to his sincere efforts and true leadership. Some other known examples of behaviors exhibiting values, morals and ethics can be unbiased decisions by leaders, choosing the same for the followers what one chooses for oneself, valuing honesty without any fear and making right judgments.

The raise of Militarization of American Police Essay

The raise of Militarization of American Police - Essay Example On the other hand, community, policing is most concerned with addressing the issues that the community is most concerned about and other concerns that the members of the community may have. Ties are established by assigning officers to certain regions for extended periods so as to get to know the people and to have a better understanding of the geographical location. Call-in programs and town meetings are some of the ways in which rapport is created. This paper looks at the effectiveness of community policing and the reasons as to why it is being adopted by many police departments. Community policing has over the years been evolving and is being changed to become more adaptable with the different setting in which it is to be applied. Its origin is traced to the civil rights movements of the 1960s. It was meant to address the challenges and social upheavals that were made manifest during this time. Riots and racial injustices caused many tensions and led many to view the police service as a symbol of political authority causing wide public criticism. As a result, the president of the Unite States at the time set up a commission in 1967. The committee findings were that the police service ought to be made more sensitive and responsive a rapidly changing society (Kappeler & Gaine, 2012). Over the years, a few factors have led to its evolving in into the many forms of community policing that exist today.. The concern of most of the people was the unfair treatment of the minorities, especially black people by the police. The treatment led to the restructuring of th e police service into geographical regions and aspects such as foot patrol and line officers being introduced. In the 1970s, academic interest in this discipline increased as the many researchers began examining the role and the effectiveness of the traditional strategies that the police service

Leadership Skills Theory at HSBC Life Assurance Malta

Leadership Skills Theory at HSBC Life Assurance Malta Chapter 1 Introduction Leadership skills are the focus of this study and therefore the author will be, in this chapter introduce leadership and the concept of the leader versus the manager as a primary source. In this section the author will define the meaning of leadership enabling one to understand better the next stages of this study. Furthermore one can find the objective of this study and the organisation studied. The structure section will define the construction of the complimenting chapters. 1.1 Objective The scope of this organisational case study is to compare and contrast the leadership skills theory and the selected organisations leadership and provided the concept of leadership versus management in order to understand better leadership skills which are defined later on in this study. Leadership skills will be reviewed by means of secondary research. Subsequently the leadership skills within the organisation will be studied by means of a primary research methodology. This will enable the author to reach the main objective which aim is to highlight the theory of leadership skills and present findings of the selected organisations current leadership practices. One will eventually benefit from the authors recommendations and conclusions based on the out come of the data analysis. 1.2 The Organisation The selected organisation for this study was HSBC Life Assurance Malta Limited. HSBC Life Assurance Malta Limited was set up in 1995 and is a fully owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank Malta Plc, regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority. Over the years, HSBC Life has developed into one of the leading life assurance product providers on the island with its full and diversified product range, including group and individual term assurance products, mortgage protection policies, etc. This study research thus moves towards assessing all the concepts of leadership styles, skills, coaching, team building. The organisation is in the direction of the Managing Director. 1.3 Structure The structure of this study will be based on 5 chapters. The introduction, chapter 1, has highlighted leadership and the concept of leadership versus management, the objective and the organisation under investigation. Chapter 2 will follow with a literature review of leadership skills from previous studies whilst chapter 3 will cover the research methodology. Chapter 4 will present the findings and finally chapter 5 will cover the authors views and recommendations. Chapter 2 2.0 Leadership Leadership can be defined as: The ability to persuade others willingly to behave differently. The function of team leaders is to achieve the task set for them with the help of the group (Michael Armstrong 2003: 259). Another definition of leadership is: The task of a great leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision. Those leaders who do not are ultimately judged failures, even though they may be popular at the moment (Henry Kissinger). Clawson (2006) explains that leadership consists of three components: the ability to influence others; the willingness to influence others; and the exercise of influence in a way that others respond voluntarily. Thus, while leadership included the use of power, not all uses of power are leadership. The highlight of leadership within an organisation is an emphasis on the importance of a strong human relation and the importance of creating rewarding high-performance teams of motivated and empowered employees. Human understanding and sensitivity are absolutely critical for leadership success. Leadership also consists of identifying proven talent within an organisation and optimising on this talented human resource by developing, retaining and partnering smartly together. Leadership has been perceived to be a primary key to successful strategy implementation. One of the key factors in implementing a strategy is building consensus. A consensus built by motivating, persuading people and by shaping culture and values within an organisation to support the new strategy (Ashby and Miles, 2002). Taking IBM as an example CEO Sam Palmisano has embarked on a leadership mission to get people within the organisation to focus on strategy formulation and implementation. He embarked on a mission to persuade people to focus on the on-demand vision and communicating clear directions. With this positive attitude and employee empowerment he made employees feel motivated and challenged to follow new strategic goals. In this changing world of globalisation, organisations are constantly facing changes within their set ups and therefore leadership plays an important role. Three important aspects of leadership would be people, influence and goals. In order to influence, the relationship between the leader and the follower must not be passive but assertive (Draft, 2006). Within an organisation, leadership directly impacts the effectiveness of costs, revenue generation, service, satisfaction, earnings, market value, share price, social capital, motivation, engagement, and sustainability. In this view one can identify the importance of vision within leadership. In order to move a group successfully towards its goal the leader must communicate the vision or visions with his or her followers. For effectiveness, a vision should appear to be simple, appear desirable enough to energise followers and should describe the organisations future position, which must be credible and preferable to the present state. The leader must communicate these visions adequately to ensure the followers feel as if the vision has been created by themselves (Renesch, 1994). Nonetheless one would need to understand that although leadership focuses on people, influence and goals it cannot be easily defined in such a generic context. However according to Scott (2007) a leader needs to understand that the follower may value a leader differently. Some may prefer a task oriented leader where others may prefer a people oriented leader. In this view the leader must identify the followers needs and how they construe effective leadership. One can see that self awareness is the foundation of effective leadership and one ought to communicate the vision and help the followers fit into that vision. Effective leaders need to change their approach according to the situation, as with one follower, a leader may need to be directive while with others, a leader may need to coach. 2.1 The History of Leadership Leadership, and the study of it, has roots in the beginning of civilisation. Egyptian rulers, Greek heroes and biblical patriarchs all have one thing in common leadership. There are numerous definitions and theories of leadership; however, there are enough similarities in the definitions to conclude that leadership is an effort of influence and the power to induce compliance (Wren, 1995). Our work, our environment, the motivation to work, leaders, leadership, leadership style, and a countless of other work-related variables have been studied for almost two centuries. The organisational focus of the leader has evolved over this same period. Early organisations with authoritarian leaders who believed employees were basically lazy transitioned into way to make work environments more conducive to increased productivity rates. Today, organisations are transforming into places where people are empowered, encouraged, and supported in their personal and professional growth throughout their careers. As the focus of leaders has changed over time, it has influenced and shaped the development and progression of leadership theory. 2.1.2 Early Leader Studies The Industrial Revolution shifted Americas economy from an agriculture base to an industrial one and, thereby, ushered in a change how leaders would treat their followers. The Industrial Revolution created a paradigm shift to a new theory of leadership in which common people gained power by virtue of their skills (Clawson, 1999). New technology, however, was accompanied and reinforced by mechanisation of human thought and action, thus creating hierarchical bureaucracies (Morgan, 1997). One major contributor to this era of management and leadership theory was Max Weber, a German sociologist who observed the parallels between the mechanisation of industry and the proliferation of bureaucratic forms of organisation (Morgan, 1997, p. 17). He noted that the bureaucratic form routinized the process of administration in the same manner that the machine routinized production. 2.1.3 Classical Management Theory and Scientific Management Webers concerns about bureaucracy, however, did not affect theorists who set the stage for what is now known as classical management theory and scientific management. Classical theorists focused on the design of the total organisation while scientific managers focused on the systematic management of individual jobs. In contrast to Weber, classical theorists such as Henri Fayol and F. W. Mooney, staunch advocates of bureaucratisation, devoted their energies identifying methods through which this kind of organisational structure could be achieved (Bass, 1990; Morgan, 1997). Collectively, these theorists set the basis for many modern management techniques, such as management by objectives. Scientific management, an approach heralded by Frederick Taylor, was technological in nature (Hersey, Blanchard Johnson, 1996). Taylor fused the perspective of an engineer into management with a strong emphasis on control, ruthless efficiency, quantification, predictability, and de-skilled jobs. He initiated time-and-motion studies to analyse work tasks to improve worker productivity in an attempt to achieve the highest level of efficiency possible. Consequently, he has been accused of viewing people as instruments or machines to be manipulated by leaders. The function of the leader under scientific management theory was to establish and enforce performance criteria to meet organisational goals; therefore, the focus of a leader was on the needs of the organisation and not on the individual worker. Although the classical and scientific approaches were different, the goals were similar organisations are rational systems and must operate in the most efficient manner possible to achieve the highest level of productivity (Morgan, 1997). Both theories relied on the machine metaphor with a heavy emphasis on mechanisation of jobs, which undermined the human aspect of the organisation and failed to recognise organisations as complex organisms. Although mechanistic organisations proved productive, there were limits to hierarchical bureaucracy. Emerging theorists encouraged leaders to recognise that humans were not machines and could not be treated as such. A post bureaucratic shift in the mid-1940s moved toward everyone taking responsibility for the organisations success or failure (Heckscher Donnellon, 1994). Researchers began to examine the relationship between leader behaviour and follower satisfaction level and organisational productivity and profitability. 2.1.4 Hawthorne, Maslow, and Herzberg Environment and Worker Needs Much organisational research during this era focused on overcoming the perceived shortcomings of the classical and scientific schools of management. Elton Mayos Hawthorne Studies focused on the work situation and its effect on leaders and followers, indicating that the reactions of human beings influence their work activities as much as the formal design and structure of the organisation. Early on leaders could focus their attention on the environment factors of the organisations. The early theories and studies provided researchers with tangible and measurable performance outcomes that were directly transferable to profitability and spreadsheet bottom-lines. A new theory of organisations and leadership began to emerge based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied. Maslows (1959) Hierarchy of Needs posited that once a workers physiological, security, and social (intrinsic) needs were met, productivity would only be possible of the employees ego and self-actualising (extrinsic) needs were also met. Leader focus became redirected toward worker needs. Herzbergs Dual Factor Theory, the evolution of intrinsic and extrinsic needs, furthered Maslows work stating the employees intrinsic and extrinsic needs could, and should, be met simultaneously. Herzbergs (1966) Motivation-Hygiene theory furthered the work of Maslow by providing insights into the goals and incentives that tend to satisfy a workers needs. Herzberg concluded that people have two categories of needs, which he termed hygiene (environmental factors such as working conditions, company policies, etc.) and motivators (factors involving the job itself). According to Herzberg, an employees intrinsic and extrinsic needs could and should be addressed simultaneously. 2.1.5 The Shift to Behavioural Factors Leader focus had moved to understanding the relationship between a leaders actions and the followers satisfaction and productivity. Theorists began to consider behavioural concepts in their analysis of organisational leadership. For example, Chester Barnard was instrumental in including behavioural components (Bass, 1990). Barnards work emphasised the ways in which executives might develop their organisations into cooperative social systems by focusing on the integration of work efforts through communication of goals and attention to worker motivation (Hatch, 1997). Barnard, for example, identified an effective organisational leader as one who determined objectives, manipulated means, initiated action, and stimulated coordinated effort (Bass, 1990, p. 31). Barnard (1938), whose work focused on the functions of the executive, was instrumental in including behavioural components in his analysis of organisational leadership, which claimed that leadership involves accomplishing goals wit h and through people. The theorists of this age argued that in addition to finding the best technological methods to improve output, it would behove management to address human affairs as well. It was claimed that the real power centres within an organisation were the interpersonal relationships that developed among working groups (Hersey, Blanchard Johnson, 1996, p.100). A new theory of organisations and leadership began to emerge based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied. Additionally, when this happens they are more likely to increase their productivity which in turn impacts the organisations bottom line. According to McGregor (1960), the traditional organisation with its centralised decision making, hierarchical pyramid, and external control of work is based on certain assumptions about human nature and human motivation. He dubbed these assumptions Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X assumes that most people prefer to be directed, are not interested in assuming responsibility, and want safety above all else. Accompanying the Theory X philosophy is the belief that people are motivated by money, fringe benefits, and threat of punishment. Managers who espouse Theory X assumptions attempt to structure, control, and closely supervise employees. Although McGregor himself questioned whether Theory X was as accurate view of human nature, the assumptions persisted for a long time in leadership theory circles because it explained à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"some, though not all, of human behaviour within organisations (Pugh Hickson, 1993). Drawing heavily from Maslows (1959) Hierarchy of Needs, McGregor ultimately concluded that Theory X assumptions about human nature, when universally applied, are often inaccurate and that management approaches that develop from these assumptions may fail to motivate individuals to strive toward organisational goals (Hersey, Blanchard, Johnson, 1996). McGregor (1960) believed that management needed practices based on a more accurate understanding of human nature and motivation. The resulting concept, Theory Y, proposed that individuals are not, by nature, lazy and unreliable. People can be self-directed and creative at work if properly motivated (Pugh Hickson, 1993). Therefore, an essential task of management is to unleash this potential. Consequently, the goal of effective leadership was evolving and moving away from the earlier concepts of the classical and scientific management theories that treated workers as machines. Leaders were now challenged to actively involve followers in achieving organisational goals. McGregor (1960), whose work was closely linked to that of the behavioural theorists, is a reflection of that era, providing a foundation for the future emergence of the transformational leadership. McGregors Theory X and Theory Y assumed that employees and leaders had progressed beyond Taylors productivity models that employees could find ways to satisfy their needs within the organisations structure. McGregor assumed employees far more complex that the trait and behavioural theories of leadership assumed and that their complexity and the leaders response to that complexity would affect how and whether the leader and followers worked in tandem to reach mutual organisational goals. McGregor proposed a replacement of direction and control of employees with humanistic motivation. The resulting concept, Theory Y, proposed that individuals did not inherently dislike work and, and that under certain conditions, work could actually be a source of great satisfaction. Theory Y assumed individuals would exercise self-direction and self-control, accepting and seeking responsibility (Pugh Hickson, 1993). The essential concept McGregor and other behaviourists proposed was that organisations are interacting groups and that leaders are a part of these groups. The leaders interaction and relationship with the employee must be a supportive relationship so all members of the organisation feel the organisations objectives and their achievement, are of personal importance to them (Pugh Hickson, 1993). 2.1.6 Situational/Contingency Theory The Circumstantial Focus Unprecedented social change in the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s shifted societal focus from increasing economic wealth to ensuring social rights and equality. Along with this social change, technology was again preparing to jolt American businesses. The advent of the computer age was shifting employee requirements from brawn to brains. Leadership became an intricate process of multilateral brokerage where leaders were forced to focus on constituencies within and without the organisation to survive (Vanourek, 1995). The internal and external environments of organisations were changing. The transference of power from those doing the work to those possessing knowledge about how to organise work more closely levelled the playing field for leaders and followers. Society acknowledged that traditional methods of leadership were no longer effective. McCollum (1995) implied that companies in the information age were unsuccessfully trying to conduct their business using obsolete industrial age leadership theories. Change was the only thing of which everyone could be sure, a factor requiring leadership research and society to consider contingency/situational approaches to leadership if businesses were to remain successful and profitable in an ever-changing and increasingly complicated environment (Contee-Borders, 2003). Heysey and Blanchard (1996) proposed a contingency/situational theory advocating a leaders use of differing leadership behaviours dependent upon two interrelated maturity factors: (a) job maturity relevant task and technical knowledge and skills, and (b) psychological maturity the subordinates level of self-confidence and self-respect (Yukl, 1998). An employee who has a high level of job and psychological maturity requires little supervision; while an employee who has a low level of job and psychological maturity requires hand-on attention. Fielders contingency theory is viewed as the opposite of Hersey and Blanchards theory, maintaining that leaders are less flexible in their ability to change their behaviour based on followers maturity (the basic concept of Hersey and Blanchards theory) (Hughes, Ginnett, Curphy, 1993). Fielders contingency theory posited that leader effectiveness is determined by not the leaders ability to adapt to the situation, but by the ability to choose the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"right leader for the situation (though this theory does not identify who would be responsible for making this choice). Some leaders are simply better for specific situation than others and the situation determines the identified leaders success, though leaders would need to be capable of understanding when they were not right for the situation and remove themselves a task of humility. 2.2 Leadership Styles From a very classical autocratic approach to a very creative, participative approach, different styles were needed for different situations and each leader needed to know when to exhibit a particular approach. The most familiar model is the leadership scale devised by Tannenbaum and Schmidt. In this model, the leader is advised to choose a leadership style that it appropriate for the particular situation. These styles or behaviours, can be placed along continuum ranging from boss-centred at one-end of the scale to subordinate-centred at the other end, as illustrated in Figure 1.1 Inevitably, the opposite poles of this continuum have been labelled Authoritarian (or task-centred), and Democratic (or people-centred) and the inference has been drawn that a concern forgetting the job done is at the opposite end of the scale of the people involved. Tannenbaum and Schmidts article is not as shallow as that, but, like it or not, the impression is left that the two concerns are somehow incompatible. Other commentators advised that authoritarian leadership styles would be most effective in situations that were favourable to the leader and democratic styles would better suit situations that were unfavourable to the leader. Favourable in this context means that the leader has high formal authority, relations between the leader and the staff are good, and the task is highly structured. This further reinforces the assumption that democratic styles are for the leaders to fall back on when things are not going entirely their way; they would not want to be democratic if it could be avoided. The Democratic styles should be the preferred option, falling back on authoritarian styles only when circumstances require it. For example, when the fire alarm sounds tell everyone to leave the building; do not hold a decision about the best course of action. Or, when something bad can not be avoided, accept your responsibility as a manager and give instructions clearly and assertively. Otherwise, the benefits of the bringing several brains to bear on an issue, and the commitment that democratic approaches tend to foster, usually outweigh the inevitable untidiness of getting everyone involved in decision-making . Interestingly, research into animal social groups has found that decisions arrived at communally or democratically are usually more beneficial for the group and its individual members than despotic decision-making, and tend to be less extreme. Whether lessons drawn from the observation of animal behaviour can usefully be applied directly to human groups depends on how much corroborating evidence there is. 2.3 Leadership versus Management Creech (1995) defines the manager versus the leader. She explains how a manager is typically well-educated and would generally possess very high conceptual skills. Managers are mostly focused on the latest management literature. Furthermore managers are very aware of the system, rules and procedures both documented and undocumented. They tend to be very productive oriented rather than people oriented persons and this style proves that they are usually inaccessible or have very little time to listed to the people they manage. This also results form their heavy busy schedules. In addition managers face highly intensive stresses and become very intolerant of any mistakes. They rarely motivate their people to take significant risks to improve operationally or personally and in moments of crisis they can easily consider to re-establish who is in charge, believing that they will achieve the expected performances and organisational goals. Nonetheless, they are very conscious of what others think about them and expect to be liked, despite being aware that this is rather impossible, due to the conflicting roles between management and workers. Furthermore managers ask subordinates for participative input, but rarely encourage real dissent with their own views (Creech, 1995). In contrast, leaders are very people oriented and although they are conscious of what people think of them they are generally less concerned. However, leaders feel themselves as helpers to the organisation as opposed being in command. They are inventive and imaginative movers and participate in achievement of goals. Arguably, leaders have a more positive style to achieving goals and during time of financial or operational turbulences they focus on asking team members for help in strategies and innovation in order to regain competitive advantage. Opposed to this, managers would consider downsizing and cost cutting (Creech, 1995). One can that this is visionary and leaders do communicate widely with simple clear cut visions and goals. They intend to simplify communication to ensure the message gets through without ridiculing anyone in the event of misunderstandings. Additionally they are tolerant of mistakes during the process of development and goal achievement and they are fond of acknowledging their mistakes and do not fear to take whatever measures are required to rectify them (Creech, 1995). Bennis and Goldsmith (1997) define the difference between manager and leader using the following paired contrasts: The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager maintains; the leader develops. The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it. The manager focuses on systems and structures; the leader focuses on people. The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon. The manager imitates; the leader originates. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. The manager is the classis good soldier; the leader is his or her own person (Bennis and Goldsmith, 1997, p.9). Chapter 3 Literature Review For the purpose of this literature review it has been classified as follows: Human Relation Skills including follower leader relation, and conflict management and counselling as intrapersonal skills. Intrapersonal Skills includes self confidence, stress management, and time management whilst Organisational Skills include leadership styles and motivation and finally Creativity Skills. Human Relation Skills and Intrapersonal Skills follow the same paths and are the abilities how one interacts with others. However Intrapersonal Skills is ones own personal development whilst Organisational Skills is the skill to have a conceptual focus. Finally, Creativity Skills are the having of new ideas. The author introduced these skills in the above sequence as she believes that without having human relation skills one cannot help ones personal development and cannot encourage motivation or creativity. Needless to say, that without motivation one would find difficulties creating new ideas. 3.1 Human Relations and Intrapersonal Skills 3.1.2 Follower Leader Relation In order for a leader to achieve effectiveness through human relations, Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt (2001) shared four important insights and beliefs about the nature of their relationships with their followers: Firstly, they explain how positively effective it is, to gradually and gently direct the follower towards the established goals rather than throwing them into heavy burdens to accomplish corporate purposes. When a mutual agreement of mutual interest is established leaders would smartly lay down the red carpet to the follower and will satisfy the goals of both parties. Rigid commands from the hierarchy within an organisation normally lead to unsatisfactory results and frustration (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001) Secondly, it is in the leaders interest to strongly understand their followers, by recognising their needs, what motivates them , their various stages of personal development, and their goals. This is seen through a flow of communication and observations. The leaders challenge in such scenario would be to reach satisfactory levels of both the follower and the organisation. During such a process of identifying the followers needs the leader must show sensitivity, ingenuity and judgement when putting together corporate and personal objectives through communication. The leader should address those areas identified to be low in self confidence and capability by the follower in order to achieve maximum results (Isaac, Zerb and Pitt, 2001) Thirdly, leaders have to establish motivating conditions not only to motivate the follower but to encourage self motivation. One of the motives encouraging the self motivation process would be organisational rewards however this makes the leaders responsibility intense, as he/she would need to determine the various intrinsic or extrinsic rewards to followers. Intrinsic motivational states are beyond leaders control however they can possibly enhance such feelings and emotions by: Spending time with the follower and enhancing, rather than undermining, self-confidence. Increasing follower knowledge, skills and abilities through exposure to various educational and training programs, as well as experiences. These activities enhance both follower capability and self-confidence. Establishing realistic, meaningful and attainable goals with the follower to both parties. Creating a climate of mutual respect. Showing appreciation when the follower meets or exceeds expectations, or addressing problematic issues regarding the followers performance by focusing upon the work rather than the individual. (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001, p.212) The fourth and final insight relates to the importance of honesty and consistent behaviour showed to the followers. Leaders can loose credibility through promises that are rather difficult to fulfil at a later stage, and will also be exposed to deducting the followers motivation. On the other hand consistency generates a clear path to the followers especially in matters such as fairness, expectations and personal cose of conduct. In addition, leader must reduce distinctions of status that might cause some followers to feel degraded and not regarded (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001). Relationship closeness, is the extent to which an employee has a sharing, open, familiar relation with management. Thus, relationship closeness is a broad concept that encompasses several specific constructs like interaction, open communication, and informal relations between employees and management(Mcknight, Ahmad and Schroederet, 2001, p.466). As one can see from the above four insights of human relations skills incorporates a strong degree of interpersonal skills and as Leadership Skills Theory at HSBC Life Assurance Malta Leadership Skills Theory at HSBC Life Assurance Malta Chapter 1 Introduction Leadership skills are the focus of this study and therefore the author will be, in this chapter introduce leadership and the concept of the leader versus the manager as a primary source. In this section the author will define the meaning of leadership enabling one to understand better the next stages of this study. Furthermore one can find the objective of this study and the organisation studied. The structure section will define the construction of the complimenting chapters. 1.1 Objective The scope of this organisational case study is to compare and contrast the leadership skills theory and the selected organisations leadership and provided the concept of leadership versus management in order to understand better leadership skills which are defined later on in this study. Leadership skills will be reviewed by means of secondary research. Subsequently the leadership skills within the organisation will be studied by means of a primary research methodology. This will enable the author to reach the main objective which aim is to highlight the theory of leadership skills and present findings of the selected organisations current leadership practices. One will eventually benefit from the authors recommendations and conclusions based on the out come of the data analysis. 1.2 The Organisation The selected organisation for this study was HSBC Life Assurance Malta Limited. HSBC Life Assurance Malta Limited was set up in 1995 and is a fully owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank Malta Plc, regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority. Over the years, HSBC Life has developed into one of the leading life assurance product providers on the island with its full and diversified product range, including group and individual term assurance products, mortgage protection policies, etc. This study research thus moves towards assessing all the concepts of leadership styles, skills, coaching, team building. The organisation is in the direction of the Managing Director. 1.3 Structure The structure of this study will be based on 5 chapters. The introduction, chapter 1, has highlighted leadership and the concept of leadership versus management, the objective and the organisation under investigation. Chapter 2 will follow with a literature review of leadership skills from previous studies whilst chapter 3 will cover the research methodology. Chapter 4 will present the findings and finally chapter 5 will cover the authors views and recommendations. Chapter 2 2.0 Leadership Leadership can be defined as: The ability to persuade others willingly to behave differently. The function of team leaders is to achieve the task set for them with the help of the group (Michael Armstrong 2003: 259). Another definition of leadership is: The task of a great leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision. Those leaders who do not are ultimately judged failures, even though they may be popular at the moment (Henry Kissinger). Clawson (2006) explains that leadership consists of three components: the ability to influence others; the willingness to influence others; and the exercise of influence in a way that others respond voluntarily. Thus, while leadership included the use of power, not all uses of power are leadership. The highlight of leadership within an organisation is an emphasis on the importance of a strong human relation and the importance of creating rewarding high-performance teams of motivated and empowered employees. Human understanding and sensitivity are absolutely critical for leadership success. Leadership also consists of identifying proven talent within an organisation and optimising on this talented human resource by developing, retaining and partnering smartly together. Leadership has been perceived to be a primary key to successful strategy implementation. One of the key factors in implementing a strategy is building consensus. A consensus built by motivating, persuading people and by shaping culture and values within an organisation to support the new strategy (Ashby and Miles, 2002). Taking IBM as an example CEO Sam Palmisano has embarked on a leadership mission to get people within the organisation to focus on strategy formulation and implementation. He embarked on a mission to persuade people to focus on the on-demand vision and communicating clear directions. With this positive attitude and employee empowerment he made employees feel motivated and challenged to follow new strategic goals. In this changing world of globalisation, organisations are constantly facing changes within their set ups and therefore leadership plays an important role. Three important aspects of leadership would be people, influence and goals. In order to influence, the relationship between the leader and the follower must not be passive but assertive (Draft, 2006). Within an organisation, leadership directly impacts the effectiveness of costs, revenue generation, service, satisfaction, earnings, market value, share price, social capital, motivation, engagement, and sustainability. In this view one can identify the importance of vision within leadership. In order to move a group successfully towards its goal the leader must communicate the vision or visions with his or her followers. For effectiveness, a vision should appear to be simple, appear desirable enough to energise followers and should describe the organisations future position, which must be credible and preferable to the present state. The leader must communicate these visions adequately to ensure the followers feel as if the vision has been created by themselves (Renesch, 1994). Nonetheless one would need to understand that although leadership focuses on people, influence and goals it cannot be easily defined in such a generic context. However according to Scott (2007) a leader needs to understand that the follower may value a leader differently. Some may prefer a task oriented leader where others may prefer a people oriented leader. In this view the leader must identify the followers needs and how they construe effective leadership. One can see that self awareness is the foundation of effective leadership and one ought to communicate the vision and help the followers fit into that vision. Effective leaders need to change their approach according to the situation, as with one follower, a leader may need to be directive while with others, a leader may need to coach. 2.1 The History of Leadership Leadership, and the study of it, has roots in the beginning of civilisation. Egyptian rulers, Greek heroes and biblical patriarchs all have one thing in common leadership. There are numerous definitions and theories of leadership; however, there are enough similarities in the definitions to conclude that leadership is an effort of influence and the power to induce compliance (Wren, 1995). Our work, our environment, the motivation to work, leaders, leadership, leadership style, and a countless of other work-related variables have been studied for almost two centuries. The organisational focus of the leader has evolved over this same period. Early organisations with authoritarian leaders who believed employees were basically lazy transitioned into way to make work environments more conducive to increased productivity rates. Today, organisations are transforming into places where people are empowered, encouraged, and supported in their personal and professional growth throughout their careers. As the focus of leaders has changed over time, it has influenced and shaped the development and progression of leadership theory. 2.1.2 Early Leader Studies The Industrial Revolution shifted Americas economy from an agriculture base to an industrial one and, thereby, ushered in a change how leaders would treat their followers. The Industrial Revolution created a paradigm shift to a new theory of leadership in which common people gained power by virtue of their skills (Clawson, 1999). New technology, however, was accompanied and reinforced by mechanisation of human thought and action, thus creating hierarchical bureaucracies (Morgan, 1997). One major contributor to this era of management and leadership theory was Max Weber, a German sociologist who observed the parallels between the mechanisation of industry and the proliferation of bureaucratic forms of organisation (Morgan, 1997, p. 17). He noted that the bureaucratic form routinized the process of administration in the same manner that the machine routinized production. 2.1.3 Classical Management Theory and Scientific Management Webers concerns about bureaucracy, however, did not affect theorists who set the stage for what is now known as classical management theory and scientific management. Classical theorists focused on the design of the total organisation while scientific managers focused on the systematic management of individual jobs. In contrast to Weber, classical theorists such as Henri Fayol and F. W. Mooney, staunch advocates of bureaucratisation, devoted their energies identifying methods through which this kind of organisational structure could be achieved (Bass, 1990; Morgan, 1997). Collectively, these theorists set the basis for many modern management techniques, such as management by objectives. Scientific management, an approach heralded by Frederick Taylor, was technological in nature (Hersey, Blanchard Johnson, 1996). Taylor fused the perspective of an engineer into management with a strong emphasis on control, ruthless efficiency, quantification, predictability, and de-skilled jobs. He initiated time-and-motion studies to analyse work tasks to improve worker productivity in an attempt to achieve the highest level of efficiency possible. Consequently, he has been accused of viewing people as instruments or machines to be manipulated by leaders. The function of the leader under scientific management theory was to establish and enforce performance criteria to meet organisational goals; therefore, the focus of a leader was on the needs of the organisation and not on the individual worker. Although the classical and scientific approaches were different, the goals were similar organisations are rational systems and must operate in the most efficient manner possible to achieve the highest level of productivity (Morgan, 1997). Both theories relied on the machine metaphor with a heavy emphasis on mechanisation of jobs, which undermined the human aspect of the organisation and failed to recognise organisations as complex organisms. Although mechanistic organisations proved productive, there were limits to hierarchical bureaucracy. Emerging theorists encouraged leaders to recognise that humans were not machines and could not be treated as such. A post bureaucratic shift in the mid-1940s moved toward everyone taking responsibility for the organisations success or failure (Heckscher Donnellon, 1994). Researchers began to examine the relationship between leader behaviour and follower satisfaction level and organisational productivity and profitability. 2.1.4 Hawthorne, Maslow, and Herzberg Environment and Worker Needs Much organisational research during this era focused on overcoming the perceived shortcomings of the classical and scientific schools of management. Elton Mayos Hawthorne Studies focused on the work situation and its effect on leaders and followers, indicating that the reactions of human beings influence their work activities as much as the formal design and structure of the organisation. Early on leaders could focus their attention on the environment factors of the organisations. The early theories and studies provided researchers with tangible and measurable performance outcomes that were directly transferable to profitability and spreadsheet bottom-lines. A new theory of organisations and leadership began to emerge based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied. Maslows (1959) Hierarchy of Needs posited that once a workers physiological, security, and social (intrinsic) needs were met, productivity would only be possible of the employees ego and self-actualising (extrinsic) needs were also met. Leader focus became redirected toward worker needs. Herzbergs Dual Factor Theory, the evolution of intrinsic and extrinsic needs, furthered Maslows work stating the employees intrinsic and extrinsic needs could, and should, be met simultaneously. Herzbergs (1966) Motivation-Hygiene theory furthered the work of Maslow by providing insights into the goals and incentives that tend to satisfy a workers needs. Herzberg concluded that people have two categories of needs, which he termed hygiene (environmental factors such as working conditions, company policies, etc.) and motivators (factors involving the job itself). According to Herzberg, an employees intrinsic and extrinsic needs could and should be addressed simultaneously. 2.1.5 The Shift to Behavioural Factors Leader focus had moved to understanding the relationship between a leaders actions and the followers satisfaction and productivity. Theorists began to consider behavioural concepts in their analysis of organisational leadership. For example, Chester Barnard was instrumental in including behavioural components (Bass, 1990). Barnards work emphasised the ways in which executives might develop their organisations into cooperative social systems by focusing on the integration of work efforts through communication of goals and attention to worker motivation (Hatch, 1997). Barnard, for example, identified an effective organisational leader as one who determined objectives, manipulated means, initiated action, and stimulated coordinated effort (Bass, 1990, p. 31). Barnard (1938), whose work focused on the functions of the executive, was instrumental in including behavioural components in his analysis of organisational leadership, which claimed that leadership involves accomplishing goals wit h and through people. The theorists of this age argued that in addition to finding the best technological methods to improve output, it would behove management to address human affairs as well. It was claimed that the real power centres within an organisation were the interpersonal relationships that developed among working groups (Hersey, Blanchard Johnson, 1996, p.100). A new theory of organisations and leadership began to emerge based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied. Additionally, when this happens they are more likely to increase their productivity which in turn impacts the organisations bottom line. According to McGregor (1960), the traditional organisation with its centralised decision making, hierarchical pyramid, and external control of work is based on certain assumptions about human nature and human motivation. He dubbed these assumptions Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X assumes that most people prefer to be directed, are not interested in assuming responsibility, and want safety above all else. Accompanying the Theory X philosophy is the belief that people are motivated by money, fringe benefits, and threat of punishment. Managers who espouse Theory X assumptions attempt to structure, control, and closely supervise employees. Although McGregor himself questioned whether Theory X was as accurate view of human nature, the assumptions persisted for a long time in leadership theory circles because it explained à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"some, though not all, of human behaviour within organisations (Pugh Hickson, 1993). Drawing heavily from Maslows (1959) Hierarchy of Needs, McGregor ultimately concluded that Theory X assumptions about human nature, when universally applied, are often inaccurate and that management approaches that develop from these assumptions may fail to motivate individuals to strive toward organisational goals (Hersey, Blanchard, Johnson, 1996). McGregor (1960) believed that management needed practices based on a more accurate understanding of human nature and motivation. The resulting concept, Theory Y, proposed that individuals are not, by nature, lazy and unreliable. People can be self-directed and creative at work if properly motivated (Pugh Hickson, 1993). Therefore, an essential task of management is to unleash this potential. Consequently, the goal of effective leadership was evolving and moving away from the earlier concepts of the classical and scientific management theories that treated workers as machines. Leaders were now challenged to actively involve followers in achieving organisational goals. McGregor (1960), whose work was closely linked to that of the behavioural theorists, is a reflection of that era, providing a foundation for the future emergence of the transformational leadership. McGregors Theory X and Theory Y assumed that employees and leaders had progressed beyond Taylors productivity models that employees could find ways to satisfy their needs within the organisations structure. McGregor assumed employees far more complex that the trait and behavioural theories of leadership assumed and that their complexity and the leaders response to that complexity would affect how and whether the leader and followers worked in tandem to reach mutual organisational goals. McGregor proposed a replacement of direction and control of employees with humanistic motivation. The resulting concept, Theory Y, proposed that individuals did not inherently dislike work and, and that under certain conditions, work could actually be a source of great satisfaction. Theory Y assumed individuals would exercise self-direction and self-control, accepting and seeking responsibility (Pugh Hickson, 1993). The essential concept McGregor and other behaviourists proposed was that organisations are interacting groups and that leaders are a part of these groups. The leaders interaction and relationship with the employee must be a supportive relationship so all members of the organisation feel the organisations objectives and their achievement, are of personal importance to them (Pugh Hickson, 1993). 2.1.6 Situational/Contingency Theory The Circumstantial Focus Unprecedented social change in the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s shifted societal focus from increasing economic wealth to ensuring social rights and equality. Along with this social change, technology was again preparing to jolt American businesses. The advent of the computer age was shifting employee requirements from brawn to brains. Leadership became an intricate process of multilateral brokerage where leaders were forced to focus on constituencies within and without the organisation to survive (Vanourek, 1995). The internal and external environments of organisations were changing. The transference of power from those doing the work to those possessing knowledge about how to organise work more closely levelled the playing field for leaders and followers. Society acknowledged that traditional methods of leadership were no longer effective. McCollum (1995) implied that companies in the information age were unsuccessfully trying to conduct their business using obsolete industrial age leadership theories. Change was the only thing of which everyone could be sure, a factor requiring leadership research and society to consider contingency/situational approaches to leadership if businesses were to remain successful and profitable in an ever-changing and increasingly complicated environment (Contee-Borders, 2003). Heysey and Blanchard (1996) proposed a contingency/situational theory advocating a leaders use of differing leadership behaviours dependent upon two interrelated maturity factors: (a) job maturity relevant task and technical knowledge and skills, and (b) psychological maturity the subordinates level of self-confidence and self-respect (Yukl, 1998). An employee who has a high level of job and psychological maturity requires little supervision; while an employee who has a low level of job and psychological maturity requires hand-on attention. Fielders contingency theory is viewed as the opposite of Hersey and Blanchards theory, maintaining that leaders are less flexible in their ability to change their behaviour based on followers maturity (the basic concept of Hersey and Blanchards theory) (Hughes, Ginnett, Curphy, 1993). Fielders contingency theory posited that leader effectiveness is determined by not the leaders ability to adapt to the situation, but by the ability to choose the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"right leader for the situation (though this theory does not identify who would be responsible for making this choice). Some leaders are simply better for specific situation than others and the situation determines the identified leaders success, though leaders would need to be capable of understanding when they were not right for the situation and remove themselves a task of humility. 2.2 Leadership Styles From a very classical autocratic approach to a very creative, participative approach, different styles were needed for different situations and each leader needed to know when to exhibit a particular approach. The most familiar model is the leadership scale devised by Tannenbaum and Schmidt. In this model, the leader is advised to choose a leadership style that it appropriate for the particular situation. These styles or behaviours, can be placed along continuum ranging from boss-centred at one-end of the scale to subordinate-centred at the other end, as illustrated in Figure 1.1 Inevitably, the opposite poles of this continuum have been labelled Authoritarian (or task-centred), and Democratic (or people-centred) and the inference has been drawn that a concern forgetting the job done is at the opposite end of the scale of the people involved. Tannenbaum and Schmidts article is not as shallow as that, but, like it or not, the impression is left that the two concerns are somehow incompatible. Other commentators advised that authoritarian leadership styles would be most effective in situations that were favourable to the leader and democratic styles would better suit situations that were unfavourable to the leader. Favourable in this context means that the leader has high formal authority, relations between the leader and the staff are good, and the task is highly structured. This further reinforces the assumption that democratic styles are for the leaders to fall back on when things are not going entirely their way; they would not want to be democratic if it could be avoided. The Democratic styles should be the preferred option, falling back on authoritarian styles only when circumstances require it. For example, when the fire alarm sounds tell everyone to leave the building; do not hold a decision about the best course of action. Or, when something bad can not be avoided, accept your responsibility as a manager and give instructions clearly and assertively. Otherwise, the benefits of the bringing several brains to bear on an issue, and the commitment that democratic approaches tend to foster, usually outweigh the inevitable untidiness of getting everyone involved in decision-making . Interestingly, research into animal social groups has found that decisions arrived at communally or democratically are usually more beneficial for the group and its individual members than despotic decision-making, and tend to be less extreme. Whether lessons drawn from the observation of animal behaviour can usefully be applied directly to human groups depends on how much corroborating evidence there is. 2.3 Leadership versus Management Creech (1995) defines the manager versus the leader. She explains how a manager is typically well-educated and would generally possess very high conceptual skills. Managers are mostly focused on the latest management literature. Furthermore managers are very aware of the system, rules and procedures both documented and undocumented. They tend to be very productive oriented rather than people oriented persons and this style proves that they are usually inaccessible or have very little time to listed to the people they manage. This also results form their heavy busy schedules. In addition managers face highly intensive stresses and become very intolerant of any mistakes. They rarely motivate their people to take significant risks to improve operationally or personally and in moments of crisis they can easily consider to re-establish who is in charge, believing that they will achieve the expected performances and organisational goals. Nonetheless, they are very conscious of what others think about them and expect to be liked, despite being aware that this is rather impossible, due to the conflicting roles between management and workers. Furthermore managers ask subordinates for participative input, but rarely encourage real dissent with their own views (Creech, 1995). In contrast, leaders are very people oriented and although they are conscious of what people think of them they are generally less concerned. However, leaders feel themselves as helpers to the organisation as opposed being in command. They are inventive and imaginative movers and participate in achievement of goals. Arguably, leaders have a more positive style to achieving goals and during time of financial or operational turbulences they focus on asking team members for help in strategies and innovation in order to regain competitive advantage. Opposed to this, managers would consider downsizing and cost cutting (Creech, 1995). One can that this is visionary and leaders do communicate widely with simple clear cut visions and goals. They intend to simplify communication to ensure the message gets through without ridiculing anyone in the event of misunderstandings. Additionally they are tolerant of mistakes during the process of development and goal achievement and they are fond of acknowledging their mistakes and do not fear to take whatever measures are required to rectify them (Creech, 1995). Bennis and Goldsmith (1997) define the difference between manager and leader using the following paired contrasts: The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager maintains; the leader develops. The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it. The manager focuses on systems and structures; the leader focuses on people. The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon. The manager imitates; the leader originates. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. The manager is the classis good soldier; the leader is his or her own person (Bennis and Goldsmith, 1997, p.9). Chapter 3 Literature Review For the purpose of this literature review it has been classified as follows: Human Relation Skills including follower leader relation, and conflict management and counselling as intrapersonal skills. Intrapersonal Skills includes self confidence, stress management, and time management whilst Organisational Skills include leadership styles and motivation and finally Creativity Skills. Human Relation Skills and Intrapersonal Skills follow the same paths and are the abilities how one interacts with others. However Intrapersonal Skills is ones own personal development whilst Organisational Skills is the skill to have a conceptual focus. Finally, Creativity Skills are the having of new ideas. The author introduced these skills in the above sequence as she believes that without having human relation skills one cannot help ones personal development and cannot encourage motivation or creativity. Needless to say, that without motivation one would find difficulties creating new ideas. 3.1 Human Relations and Intrapersonal Skills 3.1.2 Follower Leader Relation In order for a leader to achieve effectiveness through human relations, Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt (2001) shared four important insights and beliefs about the nature of their relationships with their followers: Firstly, they explain how positively effective it is, to gradually and gently direct the follower towards the established goals rather than throwing them into heavy burdens to accomplish corporate purposes. When a mutual agreement of mutual interest is established leaders would smartly lay down the red carpet to the follower and will satisfy the goals of both parties. Rigid commands from the hierarchy within an organisation normally lead to unsatisfactory results and frustration (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001) Secondly, it is in the leaders interest to strongly understand their followers, by recognising their needs, what motivates them , their various stages of personal development, and their goals. This is seen through a flow of communication and observations. The leaders challenge in such scenario would be to reach satisfactory levels of both the follower and the organisation. During such a process of identifying the followers needs the leader must show sensitivity, ingenuity and judgement when putting together corporate and personal objectives through communication. The leader should address those areas identified to be low in self confidence and capability by the follower in order to achieve maximum results (Isaac, Zerb and Pitt, 2001) Thirdly, leaders have to establish motivating conditions not only to motivate the follower but to encourage self motivation. One of the motives encouraging the self motivation process would be organisational rewards however this makes the leaders responsibility intense, as he/she would need to determine the various intrinsic or extrinsic rewards to followers. Intrinsic motivational states are beyond leaders control however they can possibly enhance such feelings and emotions by: Spending time with the follower and enhancing, rather than undermining, self-confidence. Increasing follower knowledge, skills and abilities through exposure to various educational and training programs, as well as experiences. These activities enhance both follower capability and self-confidence. Establishing realistic, meaningful and attainable goals with the follower to both parties. Creating a climate of mutual respect. Showing appreciation when the follower meets or exceeds expectations, or addressing problematic issues regarding the followers performance by focusing upon the work rather than the individual. (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001, p.212) The fourth and final insight relates to the importance of honesty and consistent behaviour showed to the followers. Leaders can loose credibility through promises that are rather difficult to fulfil at a later stage, and will also be exposed to deducting the followers motivation. On the other hand consistency generates a clear path to the followers especially in matters such as fairness, expectations and personal cose of conduct. In addition, leader must reduce distinctions of status that might cause some followers to feel degraded and not regarded (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001). Relationship closeness, is the extent to which an employee has a sharing, open, familiar relation with management. Thus, relationship closeness is a broad concept that encompasses several specific constructs like interaction, open communication, and informal relations between employees and management(Mcknight, Ahmad and Schroederet, 2001, p.466). As one can see from the above four insights of human relations skills incorporates a strong degree of interpersonal skills and as