Impact of Motivation on employees Essay

Motivation is the word derived from the word ‘motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or drives within the persons. It is the process of inspiring people to actions to achieve the goals The sole reason for me in order to choose this topic is that in today’s world doing Business all over the world is a very challenging aspect. The performance that is given or delivered by the corporate is highly influenced by the Internal and the external operating environmental factors. To survive in the market in a profitable way in the highly challenging and competitive global market economy, all the factors of Employee Retention and Production like machine, materials & men should be managed in an efficient and a productive way. Among the factors of production the human resource constitutes the biggest challenge because unlike the other inputs, employee management is a very complicated process which includes the burdened task concerned with the handling of thoughts, feelings & emotions to project the highest productivity. High productivity is a long-term benefit of Employee motivation. Motivated employee is a valuable asset which delivers huge value to the Organization in maintaining and strengthening its business and revenue growth. This highlights as to why employee motivation is nessacary and also the need for learning about the impact that it bears on the employees. The importance with regard to motivation was realised as early as 1943 when Abraham Maslow wrote the theory with regards to human motivation on the basis of need hierarchy. Various theories were formulated since then due to the rising need in understanding employees and how or what are the factors that motivated them in order to increase their productivity and efficiency. Some of the theories are stated below:- 1. Abraham Maslow’s need hierarchy theory-According to this theory, individual strives to seek a higher need when lower needs are fulfilled. Once a lower-level need is satisfied, it no longer serves as a source of motivation. Needs are motivators only when they are unsatisfied. The various levels of need were classified as psychological needs, safety needs, belonging needs/social needs, self-esteem needs and self-actualisation 2. Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory – According to Herzberg, individuals are not content with the satisfaction of  lower-order needs at work rather, individuals look for the gratification of higher-level psychological needs having to do with achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, and the nature of the work itself. This appears to parallel Maslow’s theory of a need hierarchy. However, Herzberg added a new dimension to this theory by proposing a two-factor model of motivation, based on the notion that the presence of one set of job characteristics or incentives leads to worker satisfaction at work, while another and separate set of job characteristics leads to dissatisfaction at work. Thus, satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not on a continuum with one increasing as the other diminishes, but are independent phenomena. 3. Adams’ Equity Theory – Developed by John Stacey Adams in 1963, Equity Theory suggests that if the individual perceives that the rewards received are equitable, that is, fair or just in comparison with those received by others in similar positions in or outside the organization, then the individual feels satisfied. Adams asserted that employees seek to maintain equity between the inputs that they bring to a job and the outcomes that they receive from it against the perceived inputs and outcomes of others. Some of the other theories are theory X and Y by Douglas McGregor, ERG Theory by Clayton Alderfer, Goal-Setting Theory by Edwin Locke, expectancy theory, etc†¦ Some of techniques that can be adopted in a work place in order to motivate employees are:- 1. Know and care about the concerns of your employees 2. Develop and communicate a compelling organizational vision. 3. Address ineffective teamwork 4. Be a role model for your organization 5. Communicate with everyone respectfully 6. Provide employees with the opportunity to be creative. 7. Invest in developing employees 8. Regularly recognize and reward effort and results 9. Ensure compensation and other rewards and benefits are fair 10. Ensure that the right person is doing the right task and fully understands their role 11. Help your employees find  work/life balance The performance of employees will make or break a company; this is why it is important to find a variety of methods of motivating employees. â€Å"Motivation is the willingness to do something,† wrote Stephen Robbins and David A. DeCenzo in their book â€Å"Supervision Today.† â€Å"It is conditioned by this action’s ability to satisfy some need for the individual.† The most obvious form of motivation for an employee is money; however, there are other motivating factors that must be considered. Every employee within a company is different and, therefore, is motivated to perform well for different reasons. Due to the differences within an organization, it is important for a manager to get to know her employees and understand what motivates their performance. â€Å"If you’re going to be successful in motivating people, you have to begin by accepting and trying to understand individual differences,† Robbins and DeCenzo report in their book â€Å"Supervision Today.† Money is the most important motivator for employee performance but it is important for companies to find other ways to motivate. This involves getting to know their employees and what drives them, then making sure managers utilize appropriate motivational techniques with each employee. When appropriate motivation techniques are used, employee performance will improve. By this time we understood the various theories of motivation and the way in which employees can be motivated now lets come to the part where we learn about why it is important to motivate an employee, what kind of changes that it brings about or results in an organisation. The various changes that are bought about (i.e. impact) or seen in an individual/employee due to motivation and the benefits that the organisation derive out of such motivation are mentioned below:- 1. Puts human resources into action :- Every organisation has its own goals and objectives and in order for any organisation to be successful it needs to achive the goals and the objectives and the main means towards achieving these goals and objectives are financial and human resources there by in order for a company to be successful it needs to boost the so called human resource to produce efficiently and this efficiency is achieved through the means of motivation 2. Improves level of efficiency of employees The level of a subordinate or a employee does not only depend upon his qualifications and abilities. For getting best of his work performance, the gap between ability and willingness has to be filled which helps in improving the level of performance of subordinates. The employees in the organisation when they are less motivated and they feel bleak and dull at this particular point of time they are at the least level of productivity this is caused due to lack of excitement and satisfaction or even repeated jobs thus in order to avoid all these and in order to build on to the efficiency of the employees many motivational techniques can be used this will lead to a great level of improvement in the performance of the employees, reduces the cost of operation and improves overall efficiency and productivity of the firm. 3. Leads to achievement of organizational goals Goals of an organisation are the drivers with regard to success of an organisation and it has a direct impact on the performance of the organisation and also the employees working within. When employees are demotivated they will not care about the organisation and they will start having a negative impact toward the organisation thereby when they are motivated by various incentives and other such techniques and made to understand the goals they tend to work toward the development, i.e. they work toward goal development rather than going haywire. Goals can only be achieved only when coordination and cooperation takes place simultaneously occurs and this can be achieved with the help of motivation 4. Leads to employee satisfaction The satisfaction of the employee is nothing but how happy an individual is in working within an organisation without feeling the need to quit or discontinue. Only when the employees are satisfied will they be able to work properly and in turn be able to satisfy the end customer. In case the employee is not satisfied this will lead to a huge downturn in the organisation as it will start losing its customer base and clients start shifting to a more friendly and cooperative organisation. Thus some of  motivational techniques lead to satisfaction of employee’s which in turn leads to customer satisfaction. 5. Builds friendly relationship The employees when they are reinforced with some kind of reward system there tends to be a friendlier atmosphere all around which leads to better co-operation between the employees which leads to steady and stable environment, all the industrial disputes will come to a rest, employees will no more show any resistance toward change all this directly leads to a smooth and sound concern where the individual interests will coincide with the interests of the organisation 6. Builds stability in the workforce The employees will gain more benefits if they are working for longer periods of time they get bonuses they get more incentives this will help in building a stable workforce where the rate of turnover of the organisation will reduce which in turn will reduce the training cost and recruitment cost of fresh employees. The skills efficiency and the experience of the employees will be a great advantage to the organisation which will lead to a great public image and building the brand reputation of the organisation. 7. Leads to an optimistic and challenging work place In an organisation the employees are motivated to think creatively only when they get something in return and when any such kind of reward is kept then the people in the organisation will start thinking creatively and will start taking interest in the work that they do they will start competing against each other which will help the organisation to get more number of creative ideas which ultimately lead to profit making by the firm, 8. Boosts employee confidence When the people who work in the organisation are given a reward in terms of money or in terms of appreciation or any other kind they will get a confidence boost and they will think of it as the right path and it kind of becomes a positive reinforcement to them in order for them to work in a better manner and more efficiently 9. Employees tend to go the extra mile Whenever people know that there is something waiting for them at the end of the day they will tend to work hard and they will want to go that extra distance and put in that extra effort in order to achieve the reward. These rewards are different for different kinds of people it cannot be generalised it is the duty of the manager to make sure the rewards are appealing and also interesting in order to extract more work out of the employees. The more the desire to have the reward the more harder the person will work on order to attain the same. 10. Less number of mistakes caused by employees When there is some kind of a punishment that is kept for people who make mistakes and have lower productivity like cutting of salary, delay of promotions, taking away the perk and benefits given to them will all help in motivating a person in order to work more efficiently and also effectively without any mistakes and causing losses to the organisation 11. Increases the contribution/productivity The main outcome of any kind of motivation ultimately leads to this. The productivity of the employees and motivation are having a direct relationship and go hand in hand. When the employee is motivated using various kinds of techniques the outcome or the impact that such motivation holds is increase in the productivity or the contribution that is given by an employee. RESEARCH DATA University of Colorado boulder – guide to motivating employees In 2006, and again in 2012, classified and exempt professional staff on the Boulder campus participated in an Employee Engagement Survey. Through this process, the campus has been able to identify what it is doing well and where it can improve. Results and key trends from the surveys are highlighted below. In 2012, 90% of employees saw their job as vital to the overall purpose of the University, an increase from 88% in 2006. In 2006, 80% of employees were willing to go above and beyond their normal work duties. In 2012, this number increased to nearly 89%. From 2006 to 2012, the percentage of employees who believe they are utilizing their talents increased by 9% (75%  overall). Currently, 72% of employees would recommend a friend to work here (an increase from 60% in 2006). In today’s world motivation has gained a lot of importance in all fields and across organisations. Organisations cannot achieve their goals or attain maximum efficiency without the motivational aspect. By looking at the impact that motivation has caused on the employees as well as the organisation every organisation should understand its importance of motivation and start implying and do more of research in order to keep employees motivated, keep up with the pace of the world and in turn reap all the benefits that are associated with it. My learning’s with regards to this topic is knowing what motivation is, what are the theories behind motivation, the different techniques of motivation and finally the importance of motivation where both the employee and the employer are benefited by the application of this powerful tool. REFERENCES 1. Patel sandeep g. (n.d).information of employee motivation and research methodology. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/ravi2907/employee-motivation-17006508 2. Silverstien Barry. (2007). BEST PRACTICES: MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES. New York, U.S.A: hydra publishing. 3. (n.d). Guide to motivating employees. Retrieved from http://hr.colorado.edu/search/Results.aspx?k=guide%20to%20motivating%20employees

Od Interventions

Definition of od interventions: An OD intervention can be defined as â€Å"the set of structured activities in which selected organization units engage with a task or a sequence of tasks where the task goals are related directly or indirectly to organizational improvement † â€Å"A set of sequenced and planned actions or events intended to help the organisation increase its effectiveness†. In an od intervention the entire process of diagnosis, alternative generation and making action choices are jointly conducted and od will also examine the process of such diagnosis, action planning and implementation.Criteria for Effective Interventions: In OD three major criteria define the effectiveness of an intervention: 1. The Extent to Which it (the Intervention) fits the needs of the organization. 2. The degree to which it is based on causal knowledge of intended outcomes 3. The extent to which the OD intervention transfers change-management competence to organization members. Characteristics of od intervention: First An od intervention will focus on the organizational processes apart from the substantive content of an activity.Secondly an od intervention would generally focus on a work team as the unit of analysis and change towards effective behaviour Thirdly od would normally view change as an on-going process and would rely on a collaborative management of work culture Types of od interventions : These interventions can be clubbed into twelve groups and they are diagnostic, team-building, inter-group activities, survey feedback methods, education and training programmes, techno-structural activities, process consultation, the management grid, meditation and negotiation activities, coaching and counseling and planning and goal setting activities. ) Survey Feedback: It recounts to an approach survey through well planned assessment or Interviews. It covers the feedback to the customer organisation. It has a demand and significance in a genuine situation. The attitude survey can have a purpose to measure the process; for instance, communication, decision making and leadership at different levels. The data produced under this system is perceptual and attitudinal.. A review of the product is prepared in a group discussion.Generally feedback of results is specific to the group which prepares the data. As a result strategies are planned to resolve the organisational problems. Consequently, the process of survey feed back includes: collection of data, feedback, development of action plan and follow-up. Therefore, to ensure authentic results, the survey should be applicable and dependable. 2) Management Grid : The method urbanized by Robert Blake and Jane S. Mouton is a step to move toward. This Grid represents a rational support of managing people.Growth of management skills from beginning to end grid program involves wide range of included and instrumented activities are the ways having investigational and planned conditions. The member s are secondary to be pleased about the advances to integrate people and their invention. 3) Team Building: Team building is an attempt to assist the work group to identify, diagnose and solve its own problems. Actually groups develop their own norms of behaviour which pressurize the persons and group behaviour. Organisation is a system to interconnect with groups.OD considers that work groups are the teams which are spinning around to introduce changes in the organization. Team building actions are taken to develop a range of groups in an organization like permanent work teams, task forces, committees etc. Team building actions focus on finding, task achievement, team relationships and organisational process. The component groups in team building activity are: the external advisors, the group leader and the members of the group. In team building movement, associates meet and talk about troubles connecting to their coursework It obtain sincere and courageous argument.In the team bui lding movements, the associate adds the sequence relating to their personal observation of issues, problems and task relationship. 4) Sensitivity Training: It is known as training being carried out by creating an experimental laboratory circumstances where workers will be brought together to do something together in a formless environment. Sensitivity training helps in understanding people well again, to develop appreciation for others, to develop specific behavioral skills and to gain effective approach into the group development. It also aims at falling interpersonal confrontation.The main aim of sensitivity training is to split all the methods through the bond of silence and ease the expression of associates to emphasize on the process of debate to a certain extent than to fulfill the instructions. It is a method which proposes to have brain washing of persons. This training is accepted by formless groups without any agenda, leader and predetermined goals. The group is given inde pendence to expand their plans, contacts and on going process for interaction. Sensitivity training gives a technique to enable special knowledge and development. ) Four System Management : Rensis Likert’s four System Management has given four stage to represent the organizational values to include the essential collection of job bearing and people way. According to Likert management philosophy can be classified into four systems they are: i) Exploitative-Autocratic System ii) Benevolent Autocratic System iii) Consultative Democratic System and iv) Participative Democratic System. This theory explains that three basic concepts of system has four management which will help making the organization effective they are: ) To use the principle of supportive relationship in the organisation b) To use the group decision making and group methods of supervision in the organisation, and c) To emphasize more on the high performance goals. 6) Management by Objectives (MBO): It is another important tool of O. D and involves the process of educating the concerned persons about M. B. O, agreement upon clear cut quantifiable objectives, evaluation of objectives and feedback for deviation and coercive action. . M. B. O is wide-ranging overall managerial philosophies that focuses upon joint goal setting and synthesize the individual’s goal to organisational goals.The entire organization will have the feeling of unity as all levels of management of an organization are involved in goal setting. The programmes relating to M. B. O can be effective if they are properly implemented and needs the support of the top management. 7) Process Consultation: It can be described as the set of activities on the part of the consultant that helps the client to perceive, understand and act upon the process events that take place in the client’s environment. Process consultation concentrates on the analysis of process of activities like communication, leadership etc.It also aim s to attempts to develop initial contacts, define relationships, selecting the method of work, collection of data and diagnosis. Process consultation is a method of intervening in an on going system and is designed to change attitudes, values, interpersonal skills, group norms, and cohesiveness and other process variables. 8) Contingency Approach : This approach was given by P. Lawsence and J. Lorseh. It is based on the principle that an organisation is a multifaceted social system. Its behavior must be included into a united effort to enable it to cope with the environment.Theoretically individuals in different departments have different orientations related to the tasks they perform. Genuinely, the organisational units in their regular operations they are differentiated along with their direction. It appears that with the task discrimination coordination is not possible. According to contingency approach separation and combination are possible for total organisation’s effec tiveness with the help of integrative devices. To sum up, high organisational presentation is well-suited with the existence of both separation as well as combination which are required as per the stress of heir immediate environment. The contingency approach can be useful as an OD intervention in industrial organizations in the form of inter group argument meetings of concerned departmental persons. 9) Role Analysis : In the presentation of their individual roles persons manifest certain behaviour which may upset team efficiency. At times it is established that the persons are unambiguous about their own expected behaviour from the view point of other members of the team. In these circumstances the role analysis procedure is used to clarify the role expectations and obligations of the members of a team.The ensuing role requirements and the expected behavioral mechanism of each other help the member enjoy an equally acceptable behaviour in the team work. In this technique, the indiv idual role players analyze the focal role of the individuals. 10) Inter-group Activity : Meager interpersonal relations are not unusual features in organisational performance . Under these circumstances, inter-group motion spotlights to improve the relationships between the groups. It helps in the interaction and communication between the work groups which eventually avoids dysfunctional inimical competitiveness among them.Inter-group team building entails the procedure of discrimination and combination. 11) Organisation Mirroring: It monitors the activities of group of members and gets the feedback from the members of several other groups about how is it being professed. Organisational mirroring is used when there is complexity with other department in the organisation. A meeting is called and response is sought from other department. During the meeting the correct picture emerges which will determine many mistakes committed between two groups. 2) Third Party Peace Making Intervent ion: This intervention is the foundation of the thoughts to understand the conflicts and their resolutions at the interpersonal level. It helps to confront the method of resolving the conflicts takes place between two parties who are aware of the existence of the conflicts and want to confront the issues. The advisor as a third party must be accomplished in the art of identifies the conflicts and use confrontation as technique. This process focuses on four basic elements of conflicts they are : i) The conflict issues, (ii) The contributory circumstances, (iii) The conflict related behaviour, and (iv) The results of the conflict. 13) Job Design/Redesign : It is task -technology connected approach and aims at making changes in the work procedure of the groups of employees. Job design occupies a well planned reorganization of a job. On the whole it focuses to develop worker’s motivation, commitment, performance, job satisfaction etc. , through job enrichment, job engineering, jo b rotation, job enlargement and socio-technical system. 4) Quality Circles: Quality Circles are semi-autonomous work groups with six persons who volunteer to talk about and solve feature related problems during working hours. It has impact on working conditions, employee’s commitment and self development of employees. 15) Counselling : Counselling is the method to extend the help by a manager to his assistant to enhance his prospective. It plans at hypothesizing and empathize with the workers. It assists to bring about self consciousness in the worker about his capability. Single or group of interventions may be used to resolve the issues.Od intervention used in BHEL-BLOCK5 PAGE33-34(M) In order to develop & improve the effectiveness of the human resources in the Organisation, a committee called ‘Human Resources Committee’ was first constituted by BHEL in Bhopal in 1976. The committee is the central body and plays the central role in implementation of all OD effo rts. With the help of external and internal resource persons, a number of programmes/workshops have been Organised for the development of the members of this committee improving their problem solving capabilities and decision making.The range of OD interventions are described below. Job Redesign and Work commitment as an OD intervention In one of the BHEL units (Hardwar) Job redesign was taken up and as an OD intervention in 1975. This experiment was pursued for around 4 years and very encouraging results were obtained. i) A more satisfying job, due to increased variety and relief from boredom and monotony ii) Personal growth for all, by learning additional skills of other trends and acquiring leadership Qualities iii) Reduction in health/safety hazards iv) An atmosphere with less tension and jealousy ) An improved team spirit and morale resulting in improved communication and human relationship vi) Increased self esteem and pride among the workers. Workshops were conducted and it w as found to be very useful and threw up more questions for wider debate and discussions. By using survey method, a list of programmes or subjects or themes is sent to various. H. O. Ds who respond by ticking the appropriate ones for their executives. As a result of various diagnostic exercises some critical needs of training and development are identified.The workshops on various themes also give valuable idea of the areas requiring more thrust by way of training and development and specific training and development needs are thus identified. Based on role analysis a draft system with the following objectives has been circulated by the Corporate Personnel for the comments of Personnel/Training (HRD)/Divisional Heads. . Helping the executives to become more effective in their present and future jobs. . Enabling the executives to perform at optimum level by determining and meeting their growth needs. . Helping the executives to visualise their roles more clearly. Preventing the obsole scence of their technical and managerial skills. . Optimising the utilization of training resources by providing appropriate inputs. . Facilitating the design of need based programmes and identify the training and development needs. . Preparing data bank of capabilities required for various positions. . Facilitating job rotation, career and succession planning. Once implemented, it will provide a valuable data base for planning, training and development activities and identifying appropriate candidates for programmes. Performance Appraisal and Potenfial AppraisalIn BHEL it has remained so far that the role of superior was limited to evaluator or judge and the role of the appraisee was passive. Now the superiors role is being conceived as helper and counseller and the appraisee is encouraged to become more involved and committed in achieving the objectives. Performance feedback and Counselling The need and importance of performance feedback and counseling has been realized. Attempts are being made to cover maximum number of executives in various programme/workshops on performance feedback and counselling to enable them to practice it as an important tool for Human Resource Development.The supervisors also will be covered in such efforts. Career Planning and Development Time-cum-merit based promotion was practiced which is able to satisfy the individuals and organizational needs to a great extent. The employees are encouraged and helped to plan a career path. They are liberally sponsored to higher educational programmes in IIMS/IITs. Posted bySatish Raj Pathakat9:19 PM Labels:OD intervention Od intervention at NTPC

Proposal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Proposal - Research Paper Example On the basis of collected data on different socio-economical parameters related to juvenile crime, we are trying to figure out whether one single reason plays more important behind this crime or the different social and economical parameters an important role behind this. Use of different statistical methods to analyze the collected data will help us figure out what are the points that play a major role behind juvenile crimes across the world. To sum up the research topic we can say that the most important question in relation to juvenile crime is how many lives should be lost when a young person gets involved in a crime resulting in a death of an innocent person? In every country, the above question is the most important point of debate with respect to juvenile crime. Hence this research attempts to find the relation between socio economic factors and juvenile offences. Part 2: Literature Review: According to Binder, Geis, Bruce (2001), a person below a certain legally defined age o f criminal responsibility and above a certain age limit, held punishable for conducting any criminal offense is known as juvenile delinquent. The consideration of minimum age, at which an individual can be convicted in a criminal court varies in different countries. For youngsters, any hearing for any kind of offense happens in a juvenile court initially but if the court feels that the level of crime is bigger, then the justice can be done through normal hearing (Binder, Geis, Bruce, 2001, p.3). Principal youth court judge of New Zealand Becroft (2009), in his writing pointed out different reasons behind the antisocial or criminal behavior of any child. These comprised previous history of antisocial behavior, use of tobacco, alcohol etc, low self control, hyperactive nature, low family income, less educated parents, family history of criminal behavior. All these directly or indirectly induce a young child to get involved in criminal activities. According to Shoemaker (2009), Juvenil e delinquency not only include criminal activities, conducted by any minor, but it also includes other activities like running away from home, truance from school, disobeying the instruction of parents or local guardians etc. These activities known as â€Å"status offenses† (Shoemaker, 2009, p 3). According to Shoemaker, in the USA, two factors were taken into consideration by any state before taking a case from the juvenile court to adult court jurisdiction. These are age of the child at the time of the offense and the nature of magnitude of the offense. Any serious offense like murder or forcible rape by any juvenile sometimes transferred to the adult court of jurisdiction which requires a higher level of punishment. (Shoemaker, 2009, p 3-4) Elrod and Ryder(2013) in their study pointed out the importance of juvenile justice as an institution for social control. According to them it is important for the family and school to have control over the youth and also teach them the lesson to not get involved in the criminal activities. According to them, juvenile justice system will help young individuals to avoid the criminal activities in the near future which are harmful for them as well as their near ones. (Elrod and Ryder, 2013, p. 13). According to World youth report 2003 (2004), the intensity of the juvenile crime, is determined by the social, economical and cultural conditions of

Illegal Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Illegal Immigration - Essay Example Immigrations are good sometimes for the country but as every good thing has a bad trait; the immigration gets costly for the host country. Sometimes more disasters may cause due to these immigrants. In this piece of writing, discussions on illegal immigrations in different countries, its positive and negative effects will be through. It's the dream of every mankind to live better and give best to one's family. People immigrate from one family to other not only for change in their mood; making thing adventurous for themselves but also to find better land to live and better job to earn. Few of them move to stay with their families already settled in the other country. Few immigrants need the best education in their lives and few of them need the best environment for their families to groom in. Little of them are switching their own countries coz they are tied of country's culture and tradition. Few of them needs different good opportunities in life to grow economically more rapidly. Money really makes this world's mankind crazy to run and leave their loved ones. No doubt many countries offer immigrants a good guest of honor. They serve them if they are here with their families a nice discount on their schools, on their health care etc. similarly if they are employed there, its in some countries a rule to provide a nice income to the employee, more over a nice hand on employee kids expenditures. Medications, electricity charges, Grocery stocks and traveling are few more incentives immigrants get to have. Holidays from work, Different incentives while working really gives attraction to immigrate to a nice high standard countries. America is one of the biggest countries that receive the world's biggest amount of immigrants. People run for good jobs to other countries, leaving their home and family and moreover the fame and respect from the society to earn money. People leave their official respectable job and immigrate to work day and night having number of part time jobs. And for that even they are ready to sweep, serve on petrol pumps, and providing themselves in hotels and restaurants as waiters. Most of the poor people like to go in such countries for part time opportunities as soon as possible and though instead spending money or using their education they just went by using different resources and known to be as illegal immigrants. Immigration costs the country more as its spending less than its earning to its citizens. Few years back it was easy for every one to move from this country to that; and that country to this. But this was giving tough time to host countries, as they have to spend more for sometimes their guests and sometimes who are not citizens of the country but stayed for so long that they are good to be a citizen. These kinds of few reasons make country government set few rules to join their country. Now these rules are being checked on the immigrant and then the permission to be the guest is awarded. People not fulfilling these immigration requirements use illegal ways to enter the country. Crossing Country's borders by hiding here and there, from ports hiding in luggage, etc are few ways to be in the country without immigration. Moreover, people who come once through legal immigration stays long for work even after the expiration of their Visa limit; is also an illegal immigrant. These illegal immigrants not only uses country's goods and

PESTEL analysis Courier and Delivery market UK Essay

PESTEL analysis Courier and Delivery market UK - Essay Example The economic factors in the United Kingdom courier industry constitute a substantial reason for the general outlook to same (MSI 2000). To expound on this, the courier industry in the United Kingdom operates in different places around the globe. There are many companies from the United Kingdom which command global influence (Campbell 2001). This has necessitated the companies to look for choices that facilitate smooth interactions between their choices (Monaghan 1998). The courier industries in the United Kingdom have an unusually high demand, and this had caused the economic landscape of the United Kingdom courier industry to keep changing. This has caused the airline industry in the United Kingdom to have an economic boom. In the delivery of documents and packages, speed is vital (Crew & Kleindorfer 1999). The environmental factors in the United Kingdom courier industry cover the governmental legislation and regulation. This is because the policies of the government in United Kingdom have created a favourable business environment for the rise of the industry or vice versa. Some government believes in subsidizing local industries with an aim of increasing their effectiveness and global influence (Luff 2009). When the government policies and legislation proposes heavy taxation of local courier industry in the United Kingdom, then the business environment of the industry is altered, and the companies begin to strain (Campbell 2001). According to Campbell, the environmental factors include the population gross domestic product, GDP. This affects the competitiveness of the industry. When ordinary citizens have a string purchasing power, then they are likely to hire the services of the courier industry in the United Kingdom which raises their turnover (Luff 2009). The competition of the cour ier industry in the United Kingdom is exceptionally high (MSI 2000). The recent spread of recession of the economy that was spread from the United States of America affected the courier industry in the United Kingdom (Monaghan 1998). This indicates that the health of ht economy is extremely crucial for the growth of the industry in the United Kingdom (Crew & Kleindorfer 1999). The rise of oil prices caused many airline industries t cut down the size of their fleet, which affected many courier industries in the United Kingdom. In extreme cases, this led to the closure of some courier companies which could not meet the demands of the industry. Therefore, the company could not be operational (Monaghan 1998). Many others were forced to downsize their workforce, and this affected their capability. This has forced managers to take appropriate actions to make sure their industries maintain a competitive edge over their competitors. Many courier industries in the United Kingdom operate in o ver 200 countries around the globe. Each country has a different business atmosphere with because of the territorial difference in terms of regulations and rules. Each and every country has different barriers when it comes to new entrants (MSI 2000). For instance, china has extraordinarily high barriers to new entrants compared to countries like Kuwait and Sri-lanka which have low barriers. When it comes to foreign direct investments, many countries have different

How can Coca Cola further increase their customer base in reference to Case Study

How can Coca Cola further increase their customer base in reference to marketing strategies - Case Study Example This implies that the Company has a multi-million consumer base all around the globe. Customers for Coca-Cola products comprise of retail outlets, restaurants, and local distributors, among others, who purchase the products and later sell or serve them to actual consumers. However, unlike Pepsi, Coca Cola does not refresh its brand image. For instance, the Company has been using a single slogan for decades, without incorporating new sounds and faces. This is an aspect that makes the Company get affiliated to older generations, while Pepsi is seen as the hype face of the younger people (Baron 237-241). Coca-Cola’s distribution network is also one of its strong points. The Company has the largest bottling system, in the liquid soft drinks category. This is due to the fact that Coca-Cola sells its products to bottlers and canning companies, fountain wholesalers or retailers, as well as, distributors. This means that Coca Cola mandates the bottlers to produce and package its produ cts, formulated from syrups and concentrates, into recognized finished drinks. However, as has been clear on analyzing the CSD industry, Pepsi follows a similar distribution network, where all producers are incorporated into the parent company’s operation framework. This gives the implication that, to avoid being overtaken by Pepsi, Coca Cola must devise additional distribution strategies (Thompson and John 36-42). In consideration of the nature of competition in the market, the soft drinks industry has numerous players, hence relatively high rivalry. Principal competitors, therefore, include manufacturers, distributors and bottlers of locally, nationally or globally marketed beverages. Coca-Cola...For instance, the Company should target individuals with special dietetic needs in society. The best illustration of this strategy is the recent Coca Cola introduction of Coke zero to the market. Coca Cola should embark on producing diet versions of the rest of its renowned beverag e brands. It is also notable that people prefer portable drinks like cans and plastic bottled sodas, over the traditional glass bottle. Therefore, Coca Cola should increase its plastic bottled sodas, not only in specific markets, but everywhere. This way, they will be able to cater for the large customer base comprising of travelling individuals or working persons’ with tight schedules. In addition, in order to outdo Pepsi, Co. in regard to the size of customer base, Coca Cola should focus more on foreign markets. This is because the customers in the domain country seem to be loyal to either of the two CSD giants, implying that the statistics weigh in favor of both. Venturing more into foreign markets would, therefore, place Coca Cola at an advantage of widening its customer base thus staying ahead of Pepsi. Distribution analysis As indicated in the findings section, Coca Cola has not been able to distribute their products effectively in the rural areas, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, the Company should ensure that it distributes its products to the rural areas by involving merchants and other retailers for distribution purposes.

The problem of intrusive UI hints Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The problem of intrusive UI hints - Essay Example cated does not mean that the changes should be something that comes to appear in the eyes of the ordinary user as a change that has moved from good to bad or bad to worse. Rather, the changes should be one that can be seen as one that has moved from bad to good or good to better. The first rhetorical question that would be asked in validating the concerns and claims of the writers is; â€Å"where users of any kind considered in their advocacy for change?† A critical look at the articles presented by the writers would confirm that the writers gave very little concern to new and novice users of various computer software. Miller (2011) for instance would prefer that technical usability changes to aesthetic changes stating that â€Å"perhaps without the limitations of a finite number of colors and pixels to force simplicity, UI designers just dont know what to do with themselves. Id argue they do too much.† Meanwhile, there is no denying the fact that computer software gets new users everyday who cannot really much up with complicated mode of operating user interfaces. As far as new users are concerned to, new users are people who would be attracted by sight. For this reason, it is important to improve on aesthetic quality whiles maintaining the co mplexities in operations very minimal. Having noted this, it is not a point to suggest that there is no room being made for mature users of various software and that as the user interface hints keeps getting simple, they will be bored with the process. It is in the light of this that Siracusa (2011) uses the example of a car that explains all its gadgets and uses everyday to the driver for five year. According to the writer, the driver would feel bored of this. However, something that the writers did not consider is needed amendment for user interface hints. So as much as it would be admitted that when the operations are so simple, mature users will be bored, the alternative will be for system designers to add up options of

Tourism in Manchester Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Tourism in Manchester - Essay Example The intention of this study is Manchester as the place of contrasts and a place of enormous wealth, meaning that it is a place that depicts the cultural heritage of different areas and tourists pay a huge amount of money for visiting these places. Similarly, another historian wrote about Manchester that it is a place which has all the basic necessities of life worthy for a standard lifestyle besides water, and among all this, the beauty of Manchester is the one that is worth seeing Ritvo. Asking from one of the respondents he replied: â€Å"it is the boundless beauty, worth seeing places, availability of all facilities like spa, beauty salon, shopping malls, dining, water parks and much more makes Manchester famous for tourism among tourists†. This takes us to the point that makes Manchester eminent among outsiders is its interminable beauty, untainted environment, and all the facilities that are available at the doorstep. Tourism places are always equipped with wonderful mast erpieces of architectural designs, museums, recreational places, and much more that not only enhance the real beauty of the respective place but attract different people from all parts of the world. As indicated by respondents they perceive that the factors responsible for increasing inclination of individuals towards the development of tourism industry are the never-ending beauty and availability of all the facilities at the threshold. Thus, if we critically analyze this point we can see that the tourism industry in Manchester has undergone a huge development because of its infinite beauty that has always and still is attracting tourists from different parts of the world.

Quality of Work Life of Cement Industry Essay Example for Free

Quality of Work Life of Cement Industry Essay Abstract Quality of work life is an important indicator and yardstick for any organization to measure its overall performance and overall satisfaction of its stakeholder‟s .Quality of work life comprises of several factors which are influencing the quality of work life in different dimensions. Quality of work life of this industry is concerned the safety, healthy work environment, adequate and fair compensation and social relevance are undedicated by the internal stakeholders (Employees).Also the lower level workers don‟t have ,that much amount of quality of work life that is why they don‟t have that much level of involvement in their company. Hence to bring-up the expected level of involvement of the employees they must be provided enough amount of training and they must be given on –par treatment while compare with the rest of the level of employees of their organization. Key words: Quality of work life Total life space, social relevance Quality of work life feeling stakeholders. Introduction Historically, cultural values about work have shifted greatly over the years. In ancient time work was performed only by slaves, The Renaissance and Reformation brought great changes in prevailing attitude towards work. Work acquired a moral dignity of its own. Work serves many purposes. The economic function of work for producing goods and services is its most obvious value. In return form of production the work is paid wages that enable the purchase of good, shelter, plus other needs and luxuries of life. But work serves other values as well. As part of social needs people are supplied at the work place, were they meet, and converse and share experiences. One‟s job connotes a certain social status both for the worker and his or her family. Work also contributes to an employee‟s self-esteem by reflecting a contribution to the work group, department and company. If a person is competent and meets his own personal and the boss‟ satisfaction expectations, this contributes to a sense of personal worth. Quality of Work Life (QWL) is a relatively new concept. It refers to the favorableness or unfavrableness of a job environment for people (Davis and Newstrom, 1985). Evolution of quality of work life Walton attributes the evolution of QWL to various phases in history. Legislation enacted in early 20th century to protect employees from job-injury and to eliminate hazardous working conditions, followed by the unionization movement in the 1930s and 1940s were the initial steps. Emphasis was given to „job security‟, due process at the work place and economic gains for the worker‟. The 1950s and the 1960s saw the development of different theories by psychologists proposing a „positive relationship between morale and productivity‟, and the possibility that improved human relations would lead to the enhancement of both. Attempts to reform and to acquire equal employment opportunities and job enrichment schemes also were introduced. Finally, in the 1970s the idea of QWL was conceived which according to Walton, is broader than these earlier developments and is something that must include „ the values that were at the heart of these earlier reform movements‟ and „human needs and aspirations‟(Walton, 1973). The modern interest in the quality of work life was stimulated through efforts to change the scope of people satisfaction job in attempting to motivate them (Tyagi 1997). The jobs should seek to employ higher skills of workers, improve their skills, and contribute to general Social advancement as well as programs that offer employees, the opportunity to purchase equity in their firms or programs that provide protection against arbitrary action for their supervisors (Robins, S. 1997). Criteria for quality of work life: It has been pointed out by Ted Mills that one of the problems with the tern is that â€Å"quality of work life† is not a single, specific notion. Rather, it subsumes a whole pass of terms and notions, all of which he feels really belong under the umbrella â€Å"quality of work life†: 1. Industrial Effectiveness 2. Human Resource Development 3. Organizational Effectiveness 4. Works Restructure 5. Job Enrichment 6. Organizational Restructure 7. Socio- Technical Systems 8. Work Humanization 9. Group work concept 10. Labour – management cooperation 11. Working together; work involvement; and worker participation 12. Cooperation work restructures Importance of Quality of Work Life: Quality work life is essentially the concept of favorable situation of a work environment. It is imperative in any type of organizations to ensure high productivity and involvement of employees in generation of goods and services of better quality. The global economy presents the organization with new challenges to be faced by the employees. To make it more imperative employee‟s involvement and commitment are required in achieving organizational goals. Such involvements and commitments could be secured only through improved quality of work life. Furthermore working life is regarded as a larger ecological complex of human resource. So ultimately the quality of working life of employees should be made better and pave the way for satisfied working conditions and make them involved in the growth of the organization. Review of Literature: Cohen. D.S (1979) Quality of work is a process of joint decision making, collaboration and building mutual respect between management and employee, which seems to cause a change in how people feel about labour their work and each other. It is this change in the human climate that quality advocated, maintains, increases satisfaction and facilitates better solution to management and production. Ekramul Hoque, M. and Alinoor Rahman (1999) They attempted to compare the QWL of industrial workers according to the nature of the organizations and to measure whether there is any significant relationship among quality of work life, job behaviour and demographic variables of the workers. The result revealed workers of private sector textile mills perceived significantly higher QWL than in the public sector; QWL has significant negative correlation with absenteeism and accident and QWL has significant positive correlation with performance. 3 Tambe M.R. (2000) In a broad sense QWL includes job enrichment group work concept, labour management cooperation, workers involvement, co-operative work environment and organizational industrial effectiveness. In a narrow sense it is a conductive and encouraging job and physical environment. Mentz (2001) conducted a study to determine the quality of work life of teachers in farm schools in South Africa. The sample consists of 60 teachers in 15 farm schools. Findings indicate that teachers in rural schools are generally satisfied with circumstances and enjoy teaching; they are satisfied with classroom size, physical facilities and teacher student relations. Topper (2008) The literature reviews of psychological and sociological studies of job satisfaction in general and specifically for library workers were under taken by Topper(2008). The investigation was primarily intended to measure the job satisfaction among library workers. It revealed that the library workers are very satisfied in their job. It also underlined the fa ct that job satisfaction should be the key factor for recruitment of the next generation library workers. Edwards, J.,Van laar ,D.L Easton ,S.(2009).Regular assessment of quality of work life can potentially provide organization with important information about the welfare of their employees, such as job satisfaction, general well-being, work related stress and the home-work interface. Objective To find out the existing level of Quality of Work Life perceived by the employees in cement industry Research methodology: Research Design The research design is an important yardstick and it is describing the properties of the proposed research with related to a particular domine. This article is concerned; the research design is descriptive in nature. This article is going to evaluate the existing level of quality of work life which is prevailing in cement industry at Ariyalur District. Survey and sampling method: The researcher is decided to deploy the primary data from the concerned indust ry [respondents] with the help of the data collection tool [questionnaire]. Apart from the primary data the required data‟s to enhance the quality of the article is to be collected from the secondary sources such as books, magazines and annual reports of the companies. The data which is to be collected from the respondents on random basis [simple random sampling]. The companies which are included in this survey are TANCEM, BIRLA and RAMCO. The sample size which is a determined for the study is 300 from all three companies. Statistical tool used: The collected data which is analyzed with the help of ANOVA. Analysis and Interpretation: Quality of Work Life (QWL) includes a host of issues ranging from occupational safety and health, job training, retraining, educational opportunities to society recreational facilities and childcare. QWL is a process of work organizations, which enables its members at all levels to participate actively and efficiency in shaping the organizations environment, methods and outcomes.

Peace in Eastern Religions Essay Example for Free

Peace in Eastern Religions Essay All Eastern religions have their own ideas about engendering peace within individuals and society. Jainism and Buddhism insist on the protection of all life. Confucianism permits war whenever reality would not allow for absolute peace within society. Daoism, on the contrary, rejects war by almost equating tranquility with the true nature of humanity. It is reasonable, therefore, to pose the following questions: Do all people love peace? If so, why do we have to discuss the subverting of hatred? As a matter of fact, all people cannot find peace until and unless they have come to believe in certain peace-inducing thoughts, such as ahimsa of the Buddhists. All religions propose peace with their particular sets of beliefs. Followers of the religions are required to know the thoughts of their peace-loving leaders, however, before they can find absolute peace within themselves. There is no religion without knowledge, which is why a Jain must know the basic beliefs of his or her community before peace could be practiced in the form of complete nonviolence. I believe that the â€Å"inner peace† proposed by Buddhism is the most important definition of peace. This is the kind of peace that is available to all, regardless of our levels of education. Even before an individual has realized the peace-inducing thoughts of the Buddha, or another religious leader, â€Å"inner peace† is essentially available. Moreover, nonviolence is best practiced with â€Å"inner peace. † If this kind of peace is not available to an individual, he or she may find it difficult also to understand the nonviolent practices of the religion. After all, an agitated and wrathful mind would not be able to practice nonviolence in the best possible way. Despite the fact that Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism, Smith-Christopher (1998), the editor of Subverting Hatred: The Challenge of Nonviolence in Religious Traditions, has positioned the chapter on Buddhism before the chapter on Hinduism. This allows the reader to understand the origins of Buddhism after reflecting on the religion. Most importantly, however, the placement of the chapter on Buddhism before the chapter on its origins allows the reader to be introduced to the concept of â€Å"inner peace† earlier on. This is an indispensable form of peace without which no concept of nonviolence is possible to be understood. Seeing that the subject of the book is the practice of peace, it would have been appropriate also to place the chapter on Buddhism as the first chapter in the book – simply for an understanding of â€Å"inner peace. †

Critical Reflection Journalism Portfolio

Critical Reflection Journalism Portfolio The portfolio is designed to showcase my work and abilities as a potential journalist. In putting together my portfolio, I was guided by my interests; principles of journalism as taught in class and the requirements of the module. In the portfolio, I wrote about a train driver who blamed a non-existent bad weather for jumping the platform; the ‘dishonest’ and double standard manner the Cameron led coalition has handled the issue of tax avoidance involving Starbucks and the cases of looted funds from developing countries coming into the West, including Britain. I also wrote about the possibility that British universities may be turning out Islamic ‘terrorists’. There was also an interview with a Social Worker, who chose to remain anonymous, on the difficulties of effectively discharging social care work. The first thing I noticed with the module was the fast pace of activities required to meet my portfolio requirements. Ordinarily my class work tends to move fairly slowly. The truth is I was not prepared for the speed and discipline portfolio production demands. More importantly I had problems picking a news event to cover out of all the options suggested. There is a reason. In my first year at the university, for one of my journalism modules the class was asked to cover a particular lecture at the University’s Stratford campus. The whole exercise ended in agony. I ended up trying to make sense of a highly technical Science lecture and to make it relevant and interesting to an audience that was not scientific or particularly interested in how scientists go about their research. It was a nightmare. I must have done something however because I did very well with the copy. It was a difficult exercise and I believe I made a mental note to stay away from such assignments in the future. This explains therefore, my decision to write on economic and business topics. In one or two of my copies I veered to political issues but at the heart of all this was my passion for issues affecting my native African roots, the perceived injustices, inequalities, inefficient and corrupt regimes in African countries and Nigeria in particular. The general view is that such regimes are largely sustained by the patronising Western powers. I have conducted interviews before but was unprepared for an interviewee who wanted to remain anonymous. I was therefore unsure of how to retain credibility for my copy on social work without betraying the confidentiality I promised my interviewee. I decided therefore to tie the piece to the Baby P scandal. The core of the story was the burden of expectations society placed on the professionals who work in the social care work without , as they see it, â€Å"adequate resources and remuneration†, and also without making allowance for the fact that care service is not an exact science. Getting someone to speak on record for this piece was not easy and so, rather than ask around I decided to take the advice by Formichelli, Linda Diana Burrell (2003), and â€Å" found my own source†. Another advice I took to heart was to â€Å"give my interviewee a verbal ‘thanks’†after the interview. The module instilled in me a number of significant transferable skills. The first is the need to be organised. Nothing significant is achieved without detailed and thorough planning. I have also taken an ‘entrepreneurial’ attitude to work and learnt to be focused on the ‘consumer’ – the audience. Most importantly, I was learnt to have an eye for newsworthy stories, with my target audience at the back of my mind. For example I was in that Southeastern train that jumped the platform but was still able to write the story in the third party. I have learnt how to write news and features for publication. I learnt to generate ideas, to research those ideas and to produce copies based on those ideas, to a high standard. I have also been able to detail proposals to a high degree and therefore in my view in a position to pitch for commission with editors. But I am still learning The module also helped me to take advantage of new social media tools with which journalists can communicate with their audiences.I am now able to confidently upload copies to websites, where allowed. I am also able to write directly online and given the fact that the internet and social media tools can now be monitored, I am able to apply journalism principles responsibly. These principles include my obligation to truth; discipline of verification and to recognise the platform as a forum for public criticism and compromise. I am aware also that I am allowed to exercise my personal conscience and take full advantage of my blog and twitter accounts. I have come away from the module recognising the primacy of traditional journalism values, particularly that of fact verification. I recall a situation concerning the copy I submitted for publication on the risingeast.co.uk website on the looting and transfer of funds from developing countries, particularly Nigeria to the West. Dr. Andrew Calcutt, my module tutor was unwilling to publish certain parts of that copy until he had evidence that is already in the public domain on the individuals named in the piece. I went back and sourced more than thirty one pages of newspaper articles for him. I appreciated his position especially when he said he was acting on advice from the legal department. This informed my approach to all the pieces that I submitted. Additional values I picked on include: truth, clear and clean writing. These are core skills and knowledge that I believe will make me a competitive player in the contemporary media and journalism industries. I have learnt to think clearly and to make sense of the world around me; I also learnt to communicate clearly and directly; and to work co-operatively with colleagues. To be organized in my work is to be able to meet deadlines and to present my stories and their ideas to other people. The module helped me to eliminate the boundaries between print, multimedia and broadcast, and to be strong on good writing and critical thinking. It was uplifting seeing my module leader present a fresh approach to my first copy in minutes. I told myself, with time and practice, I’ll be like that. I learnt in practical terms how to identify workable and unique angles to news stories and features and how to remain focused on the message that I wish to convey. Another outcome was the how and why I should forget I have an opinion when putting a copy together. I am allowed to have an opinion but that opinion must not get in the way of the story I am telling my audience. I believed I managed that in the copies in my portfolio. I have always had an interest in following news, both serious and the mundane. This module reinforced this trait, which I consider one of my strengths. I am at home reading news online, in print and on mobile devices. One other strength I believe I have and which is essential to my programme is that of curiosity. I tend to observe and explore, asking questions, even in my everyday life. I read newspapers and magazines, watch news on television and listen to news on radio and still query them, trying to see them from different angles to see if they will come out the same way. I tend to stretch myself and to do things I wouldnt normally do, if only for the experience. This is essential to journalism. Lastly, I believe that any journalistic story must remain significant, interesting and relevant. I know I am good at this, but also mindful of the need to keep the news comprehensive and proportional. I appreciate that though I did not produce as many copies as I proposed to deliver, I am encouraged by the fact that I have picked up the necessary knowledge and skill to do so should I be able to work up the necessary discipline to effectively manage my time. I also note that I need to improve on my research efforts, particularly into the academic overview of journalism as a discipline. Nonetheless I have learnt a lot from this module. I know in practical terms what News is; I know how to recognise my audience and what it wants; how to write a story and how to pitch it to an Editor. I have picked up skills, I have met challenges which my training has helped me to get round. I have knowledge of how institutions work, and have highly developed communication skills which will work to my benefit. I am on my way. Bibliography Formichelli, Linda Diana Burrell (2003), The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success, New York: Marion Street Press Inc. Harrower, T (2007) Inside Reporting: A practical Guide to the Craft of Reporting, McGraw Hill, New York Sova, Dawn B. (2002), How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines, London: Petersons,

Religion and Economics in Robinson Crusoe and Protestant Ethic and the

Religion and Economics in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Max Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most recognized and influential theories in sociology appears in Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, which links the development of capitalism to social and cultural factors, primarily religion, instead of economic factors alone. In his theory Weber concludes that the Protestant Ethic greatly influenced the development of capitalism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. According to Gordon Marshall, Weber argues that the two most important factors of Protestantism contributing to capitalism were "diligence in worldly callings or vocations" and the notion of predestination (71). If indeed these religious factors did influence the rise of capitalism, it would make perfect sense that other cultural elements, such as literature, would reflect both Protestant and capitalist ideology. This essay shows that in fact such Protestant notions as calling and predestination, which were present in the religion of the time, interact with capitalist ideas in Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, who was himself a devout Protestant that used his writings to influence both the religious and economic views of his readers (Earle 31). If Weber's argument is tenable, then Robinson Crusoe may serve to represent in fiction the Protestant Ethic in early eighteenth century society and its developing spirit of capitalism. An especially interesting question that arises from this analysis is how a social structure that is traditionally considered a-moral, unfair, and materialistic (i.e., economics) can be justified by a structure that is considered moral, just, and spiritual (i.e., rel... ...ork: Scribner's, 1954. Earle, Peter. The World of Defoe. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1976. Forell, George W. The Protestant Faith. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1960. Marshall, Gordon. In Search of the Spirit of Capitalism: An Essay on Max Weber's Protestant Ethic Thesis. New York: Columbia UP, 1982. Pauck, Wilhelm. The Heritage of Reformation. New York: Oxford UP, 1950. Reshef, Yonatan. "Max Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." n. pag. Online. Internet. 5 October 1999. Available: http://courses.bus.ualberta.ca/orga417/weber.htm Tawney, R. H. Religion and the Rise of Capitalism: A Historical Study. London: Hazell, Watson, and Viney, 1926. Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Online. 10 October 1999. Available: http://www.spc.uchicago.edu/ssrl/PRELIMS/Theory/weber.html#weber2.   

Capitalism and the Joy of Working :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Enjoyment of work and creativity is more important to most people than higher pay. Employers cant pay to get more creativity because it is not just about the money. Something meaningful and challenging is generally more important for new workers coming into the workforce. No more is it the hope of reaching fame or making money that drives the workforce. It’s the opportunity to do the work that is enjoyed. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist at the University of Chicago and author of Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life, has found through his research that for some people, paying them to do things they enjoy actually reduces their interest in doing those things. Another theory is that if you take your hobby and turn it into a career you wont enjoy it as much.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capitalism plays a key factor in creativity because the workforce needs to be stimulated in order to produce good results. â€Å"Cracking the whip† on an assembly line stifles creativity in the workplace and most workplaces are not assembly lines like they were a while back. Leaders that work under an authoritarian model stifle creativity and innovation. This will ultimately lead to low productivity and low turnover within the workforce. The â€Å"good life† just doesn’t happen anymore. There aren’t millions of people working in assembly lines and in automobile manufacturing plants .. people are creating their happiness and most of it is a direct result on how they spend their time while they are punched into a clock.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When what we do at work is meaningful people don’t get bored or distracted, they get so involved they forget to eat. The world, and capitalism, needs creativity and innovation and without it would breed a lull in change and technology. Obviously, change and technology are what drives our capitalistic society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I remember my father always telling me that in order to appreciate and value the things you have you have to work for them yourself. I think the same holds true for business ventures. Having a personal interest and a personal bank account on line drives one to succeed possibly all the more than k working for a set paycheck.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wealth and prosperity are created with capitalism. Freedom, self-interest and competition make for a healthy environment engulfed in capitalism. Freedom is the rights to exchange products and capital. Self-interest is the right to pursue ones own happiness (which after all is the American way) which transforms into pursuing ones own business and use it to appeal to the consumers.

Leadership in the 21st Century: Contrasting Views of Leadership and Their Utility for My Practice

HML 1001: Leadership of change S. McGowan. June 2008 Leadership in the 21st Century: Contrasting Views of Leadership and their Utility for My Practice Introduction In this paper I will examine two modern views of leadership. The leadership models I have decided to review are Servant-Leadership and Discretionary Leadership and my aim is to describe them, explore some of their similarities and differences and consider their usefulness for my own practice. Servant-Leadership Robert K Greenleaf defined Servant-Leadership in1970 in his essay ‘The Servant as Leader’ (Greenleaf, 1970). Greenleaf attributes the inspiration for his idea to the novel ‘Journey to the East’ by Herman Hesse (1932), where the central character Leo; servant to a party of travellers, proves ultimately to be the vital member of the group, whose mission fails without him. The servant-leadership theory is based on a model of empowerment and contrasts sharply with models of leadership that are based on power. Instead of concentrating on the acquisition of power and control, servant-leaders focus on helping people to grow and fulfil their potential. Greenleaf states: the servant-leader is servant first†¦ It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions’. (Greenleaf 1970) The servant-leadership theory advocates the role of leader as serv ing rather than controlling. By serving the needs of their workforce, clients and communities servant-leaders can harness the full force of an empowered group. Servant-leadership models promote a sense of community and an holistic approach to work and, ultimately, society. Steven R Covey, vice chairman of Franklin Covey, the world’s largest management and leadership development organisation, described four roles of leadership in his keynote speech to the Greenleaf Centre’s (www. greenleaf. org) 1999 conference (Covey 1999). These are: (i)Setting an Example: Leaders must work hard, contribute and model integrity, humility and the values of servant-leadership. Integrity breeds confidence and generates followers. ii)Pathfinding: Creating a vision that involves and inspires, and that through empowerment, mobilises the efforts of others. This way, strategic planning is values based and derived from an understanding of people’s needs. This is in stark contrast to power models, which espouse individualistic missions and goals for organisations to be ‘herded’ towards. (iii)Alignment: Aligning the systems and struct ures of an organisation to serve the agreed task and vision. Values need to be ‘institutionalised’ and language and action must be consistent. iv)Empowerment: This is what Covey describes as the ‘fruit’ of the first three roles: When you have a common vision and value system, and you have put into place structures and systems reinforcing that vision, when you have institutionalised that kind of moral authority – its like lifeblood feeding the culture, the feelings of people, the norms, the mores – feeding it constantly†¦You can†¦release the enormous human creativity, the human ingenuity, the resourcefulness, the intelligence of people to the accomplishment of those purposes. Everything connects together: the quality of the relationships, the common purpose and values. You find that people will organize themselves. They’ll manage themselves. People are drawn to doing their own best thing and accomplishing that worthy purpose, that vision. That’s empowerment! (Covey 1999) Max DePree has famously defined leadership as ‘a serious meddling in other people’s lives’ (DePree 2002). DePree is concerned with the interdependence of members of organisations and has argued that leadership can’t be just about the individual: When we think about the people with whom we work, people on whom we depend, we can see that without each individual, we are not going to go very far as a group. By ourselves, we suffer serious limitations. Together we can be something wonderful. (DePree 1990) DePree coined the term ‘Fiduciary Leadership’; one of the three things he believes to be vital to servant-leadership. Fiduciary leadership describes a model of leadership based on trust and reliance. With this model, leadership is a set of opportunities and accountabilities bestowed (temporarily) by followers, in the trust of the leader. Central to this concept is the idea that the ‘led’ are consenting to be led and this idea lies at the heart of democratic society. In the 18th Century Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Anglo–Irish statesman and political philosopher wrote: It is the love of the people; it is their attachment to their government, from the sense of the deep stake they have in such a glorious institution, which gives you both your army and your navy, and infuses into both that liberal obedience, without which your army would be a base rabble, and your navy nothing but rotten timber. Burke1775) With regard to fiduciary leadership Burke said: All persons possessing any portion of power ought to be strongly and awfully impressed with an idea that they act in trust. (Burke1790) And DePree says: Leadership is not a position†¦promotion has never made anyone a leader. Leadership is a fiduciary calling. Inherent in this calling is the knowledge that hope plays a critical part in the lives of fo llowers. Fiduciary leaders design, build and then then serve inclusive communities by liberating human spirit and potential’ (Depree 2002) Here again, then, the themes of leaders serving and harnessing human potential in organisations that are communities. Depree’s second ‘necessity’ vital to servant-leadership is broadenning the definition of leadership competence. He describes five areas of compertence: Firstly, defining and expressing reality for an organisation; second, vision and strategy; third, enabling creative people; fourth, transforming – by learning, risking and changing – and finally, unleashing the potential of all members of an organisation. Depree’s referrence to ‘transforming’ is important. Servant-leadership and fiduciary leadership are both examples of Transformational Leadership (Burns 1978). Transformational leadership is concerned with bringing about progress and accomplishing success through communication, influence and empowerment, as opposed to Transactional approaches, which favour activities such as resource management, and management by policy, proceedure and control. Transactional leaders prefer systematic approaches, organisational hierarchy, straightforward objectives and tried and tested techniques. They manage efficiently but are in danger of producing mediocrity and suffocating innovation and creativity (Fairholm 1991). Transformational leaders reject the rigidity of transactionalists, arguing that ideas such as Scientific Management (Taylor, 1910), with their focus on controlling the minute details of the means of production are restrictive , dehumanising, alienating (Marx, 1959) and, ultimately outdated. Conversely, the transformational model can be criticised as inefficient, wasteful and lacking focus and direction. The third of Depree’s three neccesities for servant-leadership is a clear moral purpose. He argues that leadership requires moral purpose to give it meaning, measures and a worthwhile goal. Keen on lists, DePree desribes six ‘signs’ of moral purpose. These are: (i)An acceptance of Human Authenticity: Organisations comprise individuals with a ‘cornucopia of gifts and talents’ and not just their ascribed roles or inherent characteristics. (ii)Rights: All are entitled to the right to belong; to ownership; to opportunity; to inclusion; to a covonatal relationship as ‘members’ of the organisation. iii)Truth: Consistent, multifaceted honesty is crucial to moral leadership (iv)Vulnerability: An absence of ego and openness to criticism. Willing to listen to others, to experiment, to make mistakes and to learn from them. (v)Equitable Distribution of Results: Distributing ‘profits’ fairly is a necessary and motivating feature of an org anisation that demands high levels of contribution from its members. Results or profits can be financial or else less tangiable outputs. (vi)Personal Restraint: Vulgar displays of power, wealth and status are offensive and demotivating to others. Ultimately, then, the servant-leadership theory regards leadership as a moral calling. Greenleaf’s leadership theory also has its basis in morality and latterly he concerned himself with the question of managing change in society, citing examples of immoral, senseless and destructive problems in the world. His view was that the system to deliver the necessary change would be the one that works best – in his view servant-leadership: The difference [between leader first and servant-leader] manifests itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? (Greenleaf, 1970). To read Greenleaf and his followers, one might conclude that servant-leaders are essentially ordinary people drawn naturally, perhaps randomly, from the servant ‘classes’. People with philanthropic and selfless natures, who assume leadership positions only to spread their good deeds more widely. Interfering (DePree 1993) ‘do-gooders’ best suited to social and charitable enterprises! However servant leadership places as much emphasis on leadership as it does on servitude, even if the servant has to come first. Powerful servant-leaders can be found at the head of many serious, succesful, profit making organisations (e. g. Herb Kelleher, CEO South West Airlines, Jack Lowe, chairman of TDI Industries and Rich McClure, president of UniGroup Inc. [all US]) and, most recently, servant-leadership is the leadership philosophy espoused by newly elected President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, who has called for servant-leadership as his primary presidential leadership vision (Hyun-kyung, 2008): Military leaders or professional politicians will be unable to manage the economy any longer mainly because they were born to wield power, instead of serving citizens. These leaders attempt to rule the country, while managers serve their customers. As a result, the boss is destined to wane, while servant leaders achieve mutually beneficial goals for the community. (Myung-bak, 2002) If we look more closely, then, servant-leadership, far from rejecting the idea that some people are natural leaders, actually shares many ideas with ‘trait’ models of leadership. Trait theories date back to the first half of the twentieth century and Weber’s thory of leadership-charisma (Webber 1947) is a good example. Trait theorists argue that leaders neither emerge naturally as a result of a personal ‘epiphany’, nor are they created by experience or training, but that they are born. Born leaders are the result of natural selection (Darwin 1859). Nicholson (2000) describes how evolutionary psychology has produced ‘alpha-males’: hard wired individuals with natural leadership qualities driven, by high levels of testosterone, to seek an optimal seratonin buz by taking charge and achieving personal success. Grrrrr! Foremost among these natural leadership qualites is charisma. Charismatic Leadership (House 1977, Burns 1978) concerns itself with the impact of charisma on the leader/follower relationship and the effect of charismatic leadership on the motivation and morale of followers. Charisma is regarded as an inate quality, a charm that compells others to follow. Freud described charisma as an ability to realise compliance from others (Freud 1922). Charismatic leaders are heroic, energetic and driven by dissatisfaction with the status quo. Although generally seen as a transactional model, charismatic leadership, when paired with a moral basis, is far from inconsistent with servant-leadership. In fact, many of the qualities required of the servant-leader such as vision, integrity and empowering others can be regarded as extremely attractive and thus charismatic qualites. Indeed Jesus Christ, cited by many servant-leadership disciples as the ultimatate servant-leader, was undoubtedly a charismatic leader. Discretionary Leadership In contrast to servant-leadership – which, whilst advocating a different moral basis for leadership, retains traditional ideas of hierarchy and organisational structure – discretionary or ‘shared’ leadership theory recognises the need for a number of leaders with different viewpoints and responsibilities to coexist and cooperate in organisations. Discretionary leadership has emerged as a model suitable for complex modern day organisations (Kakabadse, 2000) with complex environments, contexts, and structures or, as Hunt put it, ‘macro-variables’ (Hunt 1981). Modern organisations are frequently network based, where the sum of a wide and diverse set of functions and departments combine to form a ‘virtual’ whole. Discretionary leadership places high value on an organisations’ ability to respond effectively to multiple agendas and stakeholders in a variety of situations simultaneously: a challenge that would be impossible to meet with conventional hierarchical organisations where leadership authority is held by a small number of senior managers. In essence, modern complex organisations need to coordinate the actions of a broad group of employees who adopt leadership behaviours, when and as required, to tackle the issues they face. Discretion would seem to be a two way process with this model: Senior leaders still define the degree of leadership authority that is delegated at their discretion, whilst employees are expected to adopt leadership roles, when necessary, at their discretion. Not completely un-hierarchical, but certainly less paternal and more organic than traditional models of leadership. Thus roles are defined in terms of the breadth of their discretion. At one extreme, some employees will have minimal discretion and be expected to carry out their duties in strict accordance with prescribed procedures – a model akin to that of production line workers in a scientific management system (Taylor 1910). At the other extreme, the CEO of an organisation has ultimate discretion. Between these two extremes it is vital that the quantity and quality of available leadership is commensurate with the needs of the organisation. Discretionary leadership, it is argued, is not only a suitable model for complex network-based organisations, but also the model of leadership that will naturally emerge in response to the pace and pressure of organisational change in the twenty-first century: The nature of role discretionary boundaries is increasingly determined by personal views concerning the challenges leaders face and the nature of those with whom they interact†¦Thus, the idiosyncratic nature of the organisation, the peculiarities of each leader role and the characteristics of each individual occupying such a role, are critical considerations in determining role boundaries and parameters. Kakabadse & Kakabadse, 1999) Organisations that require/generate substantial numbers of discretionary leaders will, by definition, include a multitude of visions and ideologies. Achieving cohesion is the vital key for this group model of leadership to be effective. This is achieved by those in charge skilfully conducting multiple conversations (or ‘polylogue’ – Kakabadse, 2005); by discretionary leaders reflectively understanding their roles and relationships and acting responsibly, and by promoting a shared philosophy, core vision and value system. Kouzmin has described this as the role of the ‘organisational architect’: The focus [for Contemporary leaders] has shifted increasingly to the role of the ‘organisational architect’. The principal contributing skill of architects is an ability to design and develop organisations; skills that require considerable creative insights and technical knowledge about how to analyse, design and stimulate complex, increasingly globalising, social and communication networks supported by rapidly advancing IT. Kouzmin et al. , 2007) With this model, leadership is not simply about goal-oriented control and coordination. Leaders need to properly understand the context in which actions are exercised and the appropriate mobilisation of others (Kakabadse, 2005). The modern organisation will be flatter, less hierarchical and based more on networks. It will be founded on interdependency, communication and the flow of ideas (supported by ever more sophisticated information techn ologies) rather than command and control models. With discretionary leadership employees will be incentivised to produce value by being fully and intelligently involved in the overall purpose of their organisation rather than alienated in the way that Marx (1959) has criticised scientific management (Taylor 1910). However, discretionary leadership also has its critics. Variations and tensions among workers in leadership roles can lead to negativity, whilst success is highly dependent on cohesion and the quality of interactions; both notoriously hard to control in network-based organisations: Where discretionary role analysis highlights variation of experience, capability, values, personality, behaviours, and the exercise of choice among the leaders of the organisation, tension and conflict become endemic with potentially disastrous implications for individuals and the organisation. (Finklestein and Hambrick, 1996) Globalisation, fast moving technological development, the increased recognition and value of social capital, multi-faceted demands and accountabilities, and the need to respond simultaneously and effectively to a number of agendas, means that organisations need different leadership models in the twenty-first century. Models of leadership that might have been appropriate to the manufacturing industries of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries now seem increasingly inappropriate to the educated, informed, skilled and sophisticated workforce of the present day, whether working in manufacturing or (more probably) in paper-based organisations or the service sector. It can, therefore, be argued that discretionary leadership is the ideal solution for the future, but only in a carefully esigned and managed system that maturely accepts the inherent will and ability to lead that is both needed and to be found within many key members of complex organisations. The utility of these ideas for me The leadership theories that I have chosen to examine might be considered to have much in common and it might seem that more radical alternatives could have been examined in order to better illustrate the contrast between theories. I have however chosen to focus on these models because of their resonance with my own i deas about leadership and their utility for a modern health service. I would also refute the view that servant leadership and discretionary leadership are very similar. Yes, they are both progressive, placing as they do an emphasis on employee empowerment and the importance of shared values and vision. However, servant leadership takes a rather traditional and paternalistic view of the structure of organisations and those destined to lead them, whilst discretionary leadership is based on a much more sophisticated understanding of the structural configuration of modern organisations. Personally, I have found utility in each of these models. As service lead for a new specialist mental health service, I am acutely aware of the complexity of modern day organisations as described by Hunt (1981) and Kakabadse (2000) in their explorations of discretionary leadership. The multifarious environmental, contextual and structural variables of the NHS epitomise the challenges recognised by advocates of this model. The NHS is also increasingly network based and is certainly the sum of a wide and diverse set of functions. For my own service, the ability to respond effectively to multiple agendas and stakeholders in a variety of situations simultaneously is vital. Our structure, although not completely without hierarchy, is relatively flat. The largest group of employees in my service are senior, professionally qualified practitioners including nurses, doctors, psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists. Each of these practitioners is responsible not only to me but also to their professional bodies and, as such, have a substantial degree of authority devolved to them, and broad freedoms to act and make decisions. The need to coordinate the actions of this broad group of employees is central to my role as service lead, as is the need for these well-paid individuals to accept and adopt leadership behaviours, when and as required, without undue recourse to management advice or consent. Discretionary leadership theory also recognises the need for a number of leaders with different viewpoints and responsibilities to coexist and co-operate in organisations. This is extremely pertinent to modern mental health services, which are both multi-disciplinary and multi-agency. With multi-disciplinary teams, each different discipline ideally brings unique professional skills and ideologies to the service, which are then combined to produce a multi-dimensional ‘whole’ befitting of a service aimed at meeting the holistic needs of diverse individuals. For me, the achievement of cohesion is certainly the vital key to realising this ideal and Kakabadse’s (2005) notion of ‘polylogue’ resonates with me. Similarly, modern mental health services exist as components of broader networks that transcend the traditional boundaries of the NHS. In order to run an effective service I need to manage interfaces with a wide and diverse range of partner agencies and stakeholders that include GPs and other referrers, social care agencies, specialist providers, the criminal justice system, drug services, community and faith groups, and service users and their carers. Pollywollydollylogue! Central to the achievement of cohesion in my service has been the promotion of a shared philosophy, vision and value system and Kouzmin’s (2007) concept of the ‘organisational architect’ appeals to me in this sense, with its emphasis on leaders’ responsibility for designing and developing organisations with shared vision and effective communication networks. This concept of shared vision is also found in servant-leadership. Covey (1999) emphasised the need for leaders to create a vision that involves and inspires, and that mobilises the efforts of others, and Depree’s (2002) third neccesity for servant-leadership was a clear moral purpose, arguing that leadership requires moral purpose to give it meaning. It is not surprising that such sentiments should find esonnance in the NHS, or any other care sector organisation that has its base in social morality, and we are reminded of Bevan’s vision for a national health service, available to everyone and free at the point of access, sixty years ago: The collective principle asserts that†¦ no society can legitimately call itself civilized if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means. (Bevan 1952) Interestingly, ‘moral purpose’ has played a significant role in influencing the development of my specialist field, Early Intervention in Psychosis (EI P), in this country. The introduction of this new model of mental health service has been extensively driven by a ‘bottom up’ approach that has witnessed the emergence of a ‘social movement’ for mental health reform (Bate et al, 2004): A diverse group of proponents, including statutory and non-statutory agencies, clinicians, service users and carer groups who are impatient for service reform and find commonality with the civil rights movement, equal rights for women campaigners and Gay Pride. Despite its diversity, this mental health social movement is connected by a shared view that that the suffering associated with the poor outcomes experienced by people with serious mental health problems is unnecessary, and largely a product of inadequate and ineffective services. It is argued that the kind of radical, transformational change required for mental health modernisation will not be achieved by top down, programmatic, transactional leadership approaches, but must be complemented by a grass roots desire for bold, sustainable change. Harnessing this shared sense of moral purpose has proved crucial to achieving cohesion in our complex service and is constantly and intentionally reinforced through team meetings, training and supervision. DePree’s (2002) notion of ‘fiduciary leadership’ also resonates and the sense that my position is one of responsibility and accountability both to and for a group of staff remains important for me. Having emerged from the ‘ranks’, my painfully slow rise to mediocrity might be seen as a good example of Greenleaf’s model, where individuals accept leadership, with modest reluctance, as a means to better serve others. In reality, my pathway has been determined by a combination of bossiness, laziness and poverty, fueled by a growing sense of moral purpose and by a personal philosophy that ‘it is better to lead, than be led by a w*nker’. I am, however, genuinely drawn to many of the core values of the servant-leader model: I believe that as leader I must work hard, contribute and model the values of the service. I believe that language and action must be consistent and that integrity breeds trust and confidence. I am keen to drive progress through experimentation and risk-taking but recognise interdependence with work colleagues and that change and improvement will only be delivered by harnessing human potential, empowering staff and clients, and by helping people to grow and fulfil their potential. In a service where ‘recovery’ is the product (or ‘profit’) it is vital that everybody’s contribution is acknowledged and people are fairly rewarded. Inevitably our system rewards some more than others and the recent introduction of ‘Agenda for Change’, the new NHS pay structure, has arguably made this harder. Never the less, I strongly agree with the need for personal restraint (DePree, 2002) in a system with such a wide range of pay scales. There is nothing more offensive than a highly paid NHS manager in an expensive sports car, no matter how severe their mid-life crisis. I do also recognise the reasonable criticisms of servant-leadership when presented as a purely transformational approach. Traditional transactional activities such as resource management, policy and proceedure are also necessary in a twenty-first century health service and some control remains necessary if outcomes are to be realised efficiently. Balancing these requirements with empowering models is the key, in my view, to enabling innovation and creativity whilst avoiding mediocrity and waste. Finally, as a big, hairy bossy-boots, I would need to declare some sympathy for the trait theorists. I think that I do have some natural in-built leadership qualities, as well as plenty of testosterone, and I enjoy seratonin as much as the next man (or woman)! Learning Points Foremost among the learning points stemming from this assignment for me was the relevance and usefulness of this subject to my work and this has been explored in the previous section. Also, I was surprised at just how large in both breadth and depth this subject is. Theories on leadership can be traced as far back as the ancient Greeks and Romans, with a massive expansion of interest dating back to the nineteenth century, culminating in a veritable explosion from the middle of the twentieth century onwards. And leadership theories stem from a wide spectrum of fields including industrial, religious, military, financial, educational, political and organisational. I have learned that no one model fully explains everything or is pertinent to all situations, and that leadership models, like history, are open to interpretation and reflective of the dominant culture of a particular place or time. Theories seem to exist, like most things, on a continuum, with poles that represent unworkable extremes such as dictatorship and anarchy. In between lie a spectrum of models that will have different levels of utility according to the presenting circumstances. I have reflected that there are times when strong, authoritarian leadership is necessary (such as wartime or when trying to organise a multi-agency conference! ) and there are times when more subtle influence is required. Coming from a health service management perspective, this assignment has reinforced my view, as illustrated by Covey’s (1999) description of servant leadership, that clinicians in caring roles have to want to perform well and that managers can’t force workers to ‘care’ – any more than the north wind could force the man to remove his cloak in Aesop’s sixth century BC fable of the wind and the sun: Kindness, gentleness, and persuasion win where force fails. (Aesop, 6BC) I have also learned to recognise that different, coexisting parts of the same organisation can be working to different leadership models simultaneously. For example, in our organisation, the IT and catering departments might be run along the lines of scientific management, the finance department (and in particular the director of finance) employ authoritarian transactional control, whilst our clinicians require engaging and empowering approaches to optimise their creativity and output. The CEO, as ‘organisational architect’ needs considerable skill to hold all of this together and I have learned that complex organisations like ours can only function when discretionary leadership roles are promoted. When thinking about the different types of leadership required in the NHS, I was also led to consider the problems that occur when leadership style conflicts with leadership need and there are many examples of organisational problems stemming from this kind of dichotomy. Similarly, problems occur when the ‘espoused’ (Argyris, 1974) theory of leadership differs from the theory in action. The starkest example of this, perhaps, would be Adolph Hitler, who espoused to be the natural leader (‘Ubermensch’ – Nietzsche, 1883) of national socialists but was in fact a nasty dictator. Speaking of dictatorship, in studying for this assignment I found myself naturally drawn to models of leadership that reflect my own values and beliefs and that vindicate my own approach. At the same time I found it useful to see these ideas in their broader context and contrasted with alternatives. I have become increasingly aware of the social, political, philosophical and spiritual dimensions of leadership theory and was struck by the strong link between Christianity and servant-leadership, with many of its exponents being unashamed god-botherers with evangelical tendencies. This led me to reflect on the way leadership theories have been influenced by dominant cultural models over time, and how we have seen a transition from authoritarian ‘old testament’ models of leadership at the start of the industrial revolution, to the scientific and evolutionary models of the twentieth century and, finally, to models based on the modern Christian/Humanistic values of empowerment. In the NHS we have witnessed a shift from leadership models based on power and status (Consultants, Medical Superintendents etc. to models based on emulating the business models and management control of business/industry, to the discretionary models of leadership that are increasingly found in large, complex, network-based NHS organisations. It remains to be seen whether the NHS will continue this evolutionary journey or, as some fear, pendulum back to models based on the divine power and status of medical leads and general managers. Conclusion This essay asked us to consider leadership requirements for the twenty-first century and I would be inclined to agree with Greenleaf’s (1970) axiomatic proposition that the system needed to deliver the necessary change would be the one that works best. For Greenleaf that was servant-leadership. Importantly Greenleaf identifies the requirement for leadership to deliver the ‘necessary change’, and this examination of leadership theories has shown me how the management of change is central to the purpose of leadership and how successfully managing change is a defining characteristic of leadership (Pedler et al, 2004). Pedler describes this in a way that both resonates with me and promotes simultaneously the ideas of discretionary leadership, servant leadership and transactional progress: Major change usually involves large numbers of people, and there are usually many agendas present concerning what the change should be, what it is for and how it is achieved. Listening to and balancing these views and concerns, whilst continuing to move forward is one of the hallmarks of good leadership. (Pedler et al, 2004) With regard to whether a different kind of leadership is required for the twenty-first century, I think that it can be concluded that different scenarios demand different models of leadership. Kakabadse (1999) argues that discretionary leadership will naturally emerge in response to the pace and pressure of organisational change in the twenty-first century. For me, the model of leadership needed in the twenty-first century, will be the one that best reflects the cultural norms and values of the century. For modern NHS organisations, I am inclined to agree with the discretionary leadership theorists that flexible, interdependent, multi-layered leadership based on shared values, relationships, communication and the flow of ideas is required. Gooding supports the view that the requirements of the twenty-first century will undoubtedly be different to those of the preceding centuries: The manager will become much more of a coach, positioned alongside rather than above his team, working with them, acknowledging their concerns, ideas and aspirations. (Gooding, 2005). According to Gooding, the ‘command and control’ culture is dying and the personality profile of successful managers will change, emphasising empathy and sensitivity. However, despite many examples of successful servant-leaders, I remain to be convinced that these models will soon be adopted in the ‘for-profit’ sector, where macho, transactional behaviour is still valued and rewarded: ‘You’re fired! ’ (Alan Sugar, 2008) References Aesop, (6BC). A Selection Of Aesop’s Fables From A New Translation For Modern Readers (1953), Wolverhampton College of Art Argyris, C and Schon D (1974). Theory in Practice, Jossey Bass Bate, P, Robert, G & Bevan, H (2004). 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