Charismatic Leadership and the New Leadership Approach Essays

Charismatic Leadership and the New Leadership Approach Essays Charismatic Leadership and the New Leadership Approach Paper Charismatic Leadership and the New Leadership Approach Paper Charismatic Leadership the New Leadership Approach 1. What are the similarities and differences between charismatic and transformational leadership? A charismatic leader is a leader that makes you believe in his ideas (makes them appealing), and not just accept them, exactly like a transformational leader. He really wants the subordinates’ commitment to the company’s goals and to the leader himself. To gain employees’ approval of himself, the charismatic leader will prove to be good at handling crowds of people, at analyzing their mood and consequently at talking to them. He will not rely on his power as a superior or the authority it gives him, and will take personal risks, which will grant him the trust of the people he works with. On the other hand, a transformational leader, who could well be charismatic, has the objective of transforming the whole company: thing that only a charismatic leader with good intentions would want to do. As the charismatic leader has everyone’s trust, it can be very dangerous for the organization if his priorities are not properly set and/or if they have a too high opinion of themselves and their capacities. In some cases, a leader can be so charismatic that subordinates would believe anything he says, even when it’s not the best for the company: and this is the main difference between charismatic end transformational leadership. 2. Read the attached excerpts from business media and consultancy presentations concerning leaders that are said to be charismatic. a. Is it correct to talk of charismatic leadership in these cases, according to the definitions of charisma found in the course literature? Steve Jobs is obviously a leader according to the definitions of charisma we went through: he got to give Apple the image it has today, and he manages to catch everyone’s attention at every important speech/introduction of a product (products he kind of takes responsibility for because he is the one who gets to choose what will be developed). Julia Hands, I would say, is not so much of a charismatic leader as Steve Jobs. She is, undoubtedly, an efficient leader and a really good manager but her obvious shyness and discretion bother me a bit. Last, John Stewart, is more a mix of transactional and transformational leader. b. What typical elements of charismatic leadership can you find in the texts? What elements seem to be lacking? Concerning Steve Jobs in the extract from the Economist: â€Å"the firm’s employees will continue to ask themselves â€Å"what would Steve do? † when making decisions. †; he’s got everyone’s trust, loyalty and awe, he is a role-model. Jobs also illustrates well the communicating skills of a charismatic leader. We can even see John Stewart’s reaction in times of crisis. c. Are there any notable ideas about charismatic leadership that can be traced in these descriptions of leaders? Charismatic leaders motivate followers, who look up to them and consider them as especially gifted people, who take responsibility for their decisions/actions. d. Can you identify any of the potential problems with charismatic/transformational leadership pointed out in the literature? As a charismatic leader gives a company its public image and is the glue that holds teams together, that can be a problem if the said leader has to leave the company. Who’s going to be the replacement? Could that person be as charismatic? 3. Summarize the central argument of Levay in one main sentence and develop it in three main points. What is this argument based on? In this article, the author wants to show that, even though a charismatic leader is often considered at the origin of lots of changes in the company, he may be in favor of the status quo, or the traditions (contrarily to what we can find in some of the definitions of charismatic leadership. ; he wants to show there is such a thing as â€Å"Charismatic leadership in resistance to change†. According to me, three main points are presented in this text: First, â€Å"if charismatic leadership arises in situations of change, the leader’s mission can be to propose and effect change, to resist change and propose a return to a supposedly previous state, or to resist change and defend the status quo. †(p. 39) It is shown in the text that charismatic leaders, with a ll the usual characteristics we give them (strong personality, extraordinary skills, devoted followers†¦), can have different opinions concerning change. Second, â€Å"the likelihood of charismatic leadership arising in defense of the status quo will increase if a relatively powerful group perceives ongoing or impending change as threatening their interests and/or values. (p. 139) As people usually gather round who promises to give them what they want, if they don’t want any changes, they will â€Å"worship† someone who defends status quo. Last, â€Å"If a charismatic leader and his or her followers have effected change and realized their main goals, they are likely to resist further changes that they perceive as threatening what they have achieved in terms of their interests and/or values. † (p. 140) Like previous point, people side by the leader who wants the same thing. The argument is based on the study of real cases of leaders opposing change. 4. Summarize the central argument of Tourish Pinnington in one main sentence and develop it in three main points. What is this argument based on? I think that the authors of this article want to show that transformational leadership theories â€Å"have the potential to encourage authoritarian forms of organization† and that transformational leaders are so focused on corporate cohesion that â€Å"internal dissent† (meaning the people in the company who do not agree with the majority ) is neglected. They suggest another, â€Å"less flawed†, model of transformational leadership. First, they compare the current transformational leadership to a cult, showing that they have the same defining points (charismatic leadership, a compelling vision, common culture†¦); which seems to prevent people from expressing their ideas, doubts†¦ Also, as it is the leader’s job to prepare key documents and as a whole, express the â€Å"group’s opinion†, there isn’t many opportunities for the followers to express their real opinion, and if they do so, they are â€Å"heavily penalized† for their dissent. And, if the leader is too narcissistic/driven mad by the power he has, there can be some, more or less, important consequences for the organization: as the leader is really good at giving speeches, he may retain bad news and maximize good news, â€Å"create an illusion of control through affirming information and attributing negative outcomes to external causes. † (p. 155) 5. Both Levay and Tourish Pinnington discuss aspects of charismatic/transformational leadership that are more problematic than the mainstream view in leadership research. Assuming that they are right in their arguments, can charismatic/transformational leadership still be an ideal for contemporary leaders and organizations? If we assume that such problems as those described by Levay and TourishPinnington exist, in my opinion, charismatic/transformational leadership can still be ideal, because it really motivates followers, gives them an example to follow†¦ To counteract the negative side, we could just try to establish an equivalent authority to keep an eye on those leaders and report anything suspicious to the board of directors. (without giving this authority a saying in the organizational decisions)

Those Pesky Pastimes

Those Pesky Pastimes Those Pesky Pastimes Those Pesky Pastimes By Maeve Maddox What is a pastime? It is an occupation that passes the time. Hobbies are pastimes. Attending sports events is a pastime. Cooking, woodworking, reading, and watching television are all pastimes. Most Americans have probably read thousands of times that baseball is â€Å"the national pastime.† Yet, when I browse the web, I discover that thousands of web users do not know how to spell pastime: Trolling used to be a past time for people who frequent these message boards. What is your favorite past time-hobby? (Header for a Hub page) I have three favorite past times. Sleeping Is My Favorite Past Time Marie now feels it time to put her favorite passed time to use and hopes she can give others as much joy with her books as some of her favorite authors have to her with their books. (Marie is publishing a book.) The National Passed Time My favorite pass time is watching tv shows as Family Guy and NCIS. Its my favorite passed time and hobby!! Music is my favorite Pass-Time! Cooking is my favorite pass time. The word pastime combines the verb pass and the noun time. Its earliest documentation in the OED is dated 1490 and is spelled as two words: passe tyme. Through the centuries, it has been spelled in different ways. I suppose it might have come to be spelled â€Å"pass time† or â€Å"pass-time† or â€Å"passtime,† but it didn’t. Its modern spelling is pastime. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect modern speakers to learn to spell it that way. While they’re at it, they might make an effort to learn the difference between passed and past. Passed is the past tense of the verb pass: The truck passed the Miata. Time passed quickly. Past can be either a preposition, an adjective, or a noun: Preposition: The antelope ran past the watering hole. Adjective: He recalled the past years with pleasure. Noun: Don’t dwell in the past. Related posts: Confusing Passed with Past Taking Another Pass at Passed Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 101Latin Plural EndingsPhrasal Verbs and Phrasal Nouns

Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Risk Management - Essay Example These risks are then incorporated in the bones of the â€Å"fish† (Lin, 2009). This is effective as it assists the person carrying out the analysis understand the critical threats that exist and thus work to eliminate all the risks starting with these ones. This method is effective in reducing the running costs because there is the prior identification and elimination of the risks. There is also the qualitative risk identification and assessment. In this, there is the red light and green light rating where there is the analysis of the risks that will have the greatest impact. After this, there is the analysis of the major project objectives where there is then the changing of the various features regarding the goals where they can be altered (Lin, 2009). This is helpful in that it reduces the amount of defects that may occur. Urgency assessment in identification assists in understanding where along the project continuation the risk may occur. Scheduled delays are the ones best resolved through this method of risk identification and

Brand description 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Brand description 4 - Essay Example In the UK and broader European marketplace, there are a substantial amount of competitors, creating difficulties in achieving brand loyalty and differentiating the product in a way that makes it outperform other fragrances. â€Å"Consumers show less brand loyalty to fragrances than other cosmetics† (Min, 2004, p.44). When the marketplace is saturated with different competitors and consumers often defect from one brand to another, attempts at gaining loyalty would require concentrated promotion as part of an integrated marketing communications campaign. Two main competitors, Prada brand and Christian Lacroix brand, are both high-cost perfumes in the UK and will be two main forces which can take market share away from this new brand: Invigo Arturo. Prada’s main communication strategy involves its reliance on past successes with its brand in product placement in a highly-successful American import movie entitled The Devil Wears Prada. At the online company Amazon, â€Å"their Devil Wears Prada-themed shop has sold out† (Friedman, 2006, p.6). This particular film and its product placement efforts brought much higher brand exposure to international audiences, thereby boosting sales of its perfume line. Unlike many other of Prada’s perfume competitors, they do not have to rely on excessive promotional communications since the brand is receiving a high consumer following in the luxury target markets. Prada does not cater to niche markets, but essentially uses mass marketing concepts to reach their desired demographic: The affluent, female luxury goods consumer. In relation to perfume advertising, â€Å"A lot of what is seen in our culture is based on sex† (Newman, 2006, p.50). Prada, in its print advertisements, uses light sexuality when attempting to position its product among competitors. (See Appendix 1 for an illustration of Prada Perfume advertising). Prada appeals to the consumer, rather

Information Technology Management Emphasis Essay Example for Free

Information Technology Management Emphasis Essay The Master of Business Administration—Information Technology Management is specifically designed for experienced business professionals and managers seeking upward career mobility in the information technology arena. The program prepares you for a mid-level to upper-level information technology management position in business, industry, and non-profit organizations. MBAITM Understanding the Competency-Based Approach Practically speaking, what does it mean when we say that WGU programs are competencybased? Unlike traditional universities, WGU does not award degrees based on credit hours or on a certain set of required courses. Instead, students earn their degrees by demonstrating their skills, knowledge, and understanding of important concepts through a series of carefully designed assessments. Progress through your degree program is governed, not by classes, but by satisfactory completion of the required assessments that demonstrate your mastery of the competencies. Of course, you will need to engage in learning experiences as you brush up on competencies or develop knowledge and skills in areas in which you may be weak. For this learning and development, WGU has a rich array of learning resources in which you may engage under the direction of your mentor. You will work closely with your mentor to schedule your program for completing the assessments. (We discuss assessments in much more detail later in this guide.) You will work closely with additional faculty members as you proceed through courses of study that are designed to lead you through the content you must master in order to pass individual assessments. The benefit of this competency-based system is that it makes it possible for people who are knowledgeable about a particular subject to make accelerated progress toward completing a WGU degree even if they lack college experience. You may have gained your skills and knowledge of a subject on  the job, accumulated wisdom through years of life experience, or, indeed, took a course on a particular subject. WGU awards a degree to you based on the skills and knowledge that you possess and can demonstrate, not the number of credits you have on your transcript. Accreditation Western Governors University is the only university in the history of American higher education to have earned accreditation from four regional accrediting commissions. WGUs accreditation was awarded by (1) the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, (2) the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, (3) the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and (4) the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The university’s accreditation status is now managed by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). The university is also accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), and the WGU Teachers College is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The Health Informatics program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The Degree Plan The focus of your program is your personalized Degree Plan. The Degree Plan is a detailed blueprint of the learning resources and assessments that comprise your program. The length of your program depends on both the amount of new information you need to learn and the amount of time you plan to devote each week to study. Students will vary widely in the specific skills and information they need to learn. For example, some may be highly knowledgeable in a subject matter and would not need to engage in new learning opportunities. Others may find that portions of the program require completely new learning and that they may need to take an online class or participate in a study module to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to pass the program competencies in that area. Some individuals may be able to devote as little as 15ï€ ­20 hours per week to the program, while others may have more time. For this reason, you will complete pre-assessments to help your mentor form a profile of your prior knowledge and experience for use in creating your Degree Plan. WGU’s Mentoring Approach ]Our mentoring approach is a powerful component of the WGU educational experience. When you enroll at WGU, you will begin interacting with your personal mentor, course mentors, and support staff. Your mentor takes an active role and a personal interest in your success. Whether by e-mail or phone, your mentor will be your ―point personâ€â€" of communication throughout your program. Your mentor will help motivate you to work hard to complete your program. When you have questions or concerns, your mentor team will help you resolve them. You and your mentor will work together to evaluate your educational background, strengths, and weaknesses. With this analysis, your mentors will help determine in which areas you are already competent (and can move quickly to assessment) and areas you need to work on; this will become your personalized Degree Plan. Your mentor will direct you to the Courses of Study that contain the best learning resources for you (courses, texts, independent study modules, etc.) and are supported by course mentors that serve as your content experts for each area of study. As you proceed through your academic program, you and your mentor will determine when you are ready for the required assessments. If you are ready, your assessment will be scheduled. You will follow this same process as you proceed through each domain. Connecting with Other Mentors and Fellow Students As you proceed through your Degree Plan, you may also have direct contact  with other faculty members. These communications can take a variety of forms, including participation in learning communities, office hours via the courses of study, and webinars. As a WGU student, you will have access to your own personal MyWGU Student Portal that will provide a gateway to courses of study, learning communities, and program communities where you will have interactions with faculty and other students. Courses of study and communities are specifically designed to support you as you develop competencies in preparation for your assessments through the utilization of threaded discussions, blogs, and chats that are guided by content experts. You will access your program community during the Education Without Boundaries introductory course to network with peers who are enrolled in your program and to receive continued support through professional enrichment and program-specific chats, blogs, and discussions. WGU also provides a Student Services Associate to help you and your mentor solve any special problems that may arise. Education Without Boundaries Orientation Education Without Boundaries (EWB) is a required orientation that focuses on acquainting the student with WGU’s competency-based model, distance education, technology, and other resources and tools available for students. You will also utilize tutorials, message boards, online MBAITM chats, and other activities to connect with other students in your program. This orientation is completed before you start your first term at WGU. Transferability of Prior College Coursework Because WGU is a competency-based institution, it does not award degrees based on credits but on demonstration of competency. However, if you have completed college coursework at another accredited institution, you may have your transcripts evaluated and may be able to have some lower-division or co-requisite assessments cleared. The guidelines for determining what will  Ã¢â‚¬â€¢clearâ€â€" through transfer vary based on the degree program. The following transfer guidelines generally apply to graduate programs: Graduate domains (i.e., subject areas) cannot be cleared through transfer. Requirements in the domains that can be considered the degree major cannot be cleared through transfer. Furthermore, WGU does not clear any requirements based on the students professional experience and does not perform a resume review or portfolio review that will automatically clear any degree requirements. Degree requirements and transferability rules are subject to change in order to keep the degree content relevant and current. Remember, WGUs competency-based approach lets you take advantage of your knowledge and skills, regardless of how you obtained them. Even when you do not directly receive credit, the knowledge you possess may help you accelerate the time it takes to complete your degree program. Continuous Enrollment, On Time Progress, and Satisfactory Academic Progress WGU is a ―continuous enrollmentâ€â€" institution, which means you will be automatically enrolled in each of your new terms while you are at WGU. Your terms are six months long. Longer terms and continuous enrollment allow you to focus on your studies without the hassle of unnatural breaks between the shorter terms that you would experience in a more traditional environment. At the end of every six-month term, you and your mentor will review the progress you have made and revise your Degree Plan for your next six-month term. WGU requires that students make measurable progress toward the completion of their degree programs every term. We call this On Time Progress – denoting that you are on track and making progress toward on time graduation. As full-time students, graduate students must enroll in at least eight (8) competency units each term, and undergraduate students must enroll in at least twelve (12) competency units each term. Completing at least these minimum enrollments is essential to On Time Progress and serves as a baseline from which you may accelerate your program. We measure your progress based on the assessments you are able to pass, not on your accumulation of credit hours or course grades. Every time you pass an assessment, you are demonstrating that you have mastered skills and knowledge in your degree program. For comparison to traditional grading  systems, passing an assessment means you have demonstrated competency equivalent to a ―Bâ€â€" grade or better. WGU has assigned competency units to each assessment so that we can track your progress through the program. A competency unit is equivalent to one semester credit of learning.

Introducting the Characters and Themes in Educating Rita Essay

Introducting the Characters and Themes in Educating Rita GCSE Coursework: In what ways is Act 1 Scene 1 of â€Å"Educating Rita† a good introduction to the play’s main characters and themes? Do you think Willy Russell has made his opening dramatic and entertaining? â€Å"I’m coming in aren’t I? It’s that stupid bleedin’ handle on the door!† is not the way in which we would expect a new university student to talk to a lecture she had never meet before, but as we later find out, Rita, is not a stereotypical student and her lecture, Frank, is not a stereotypical lecture. The play â€Å"Educating Rita† is based on an out going character, who has decided her working class lifestyle, does not fit who she is anymore. She believes she can change her life by achieving a higher education, to â€Å"fit in† with everyone else around her. Changing her name from Susan to Rita is her first step, she had now begun the great leap from the 26year old hairdresser, to a well spoken and well educated higher classed human being. This 1970’s play displays the struggle and frustration of a woman, caught in the working class. Willy Russell uses wit, humour and his knowledge of that time period to create and develop his two characters as they travel through substantial changes in their lives. Willy Russell uses two very different styles of writing for each of his characters, the introduction to his play begins with a conversation between lecture Frank and his wife. â€Å"Look if you’re trying to induce some feeling of guilt in me over the prospect of a burnt dinner you should have prepared something other than lamb and ratatouille†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Russell was determined to show Frank’s striking upper class exterior, with the usage of such formal and polite languag... ...appy with life until Rita was able to show him his true colours. Using the snappy, chatty atmosphere so early on in the play, Willy Russell was able to keep his fairly long opening; dramatic, entertaining and enjoyable to watch. Willy Russell’s choice to uses such different characters to base his piece around, made one hundred percent sure that his audiences anxiety levels would have been raised as they became more and more intrigued, to find out if the characters would clash or get on like a house on fire. But I believe it was Willy Russell’s pure talent that enabled him to places to different characters in the same scene and make it work. Using the two different styles of writing and such different character personalities creating an opening, which was not only dramatic and entertaining but will be remembered in history as the starting point for woman.

Determining Databases and Data Communication Essay

Understanding technology is important when managing companies that have computer technology as their backbone. Knowing this information helps the employees responsible for information management to make informed choices about how to implement technology. These decisions allow the manager to successfully use time and resources in apparently menacing tasks. This is shown in the two scenarios. In the first scenario, a marketing assistant of a consumer electronics company is given the task of maintain booths for trade shows from the beginning to the end of the show, they are also responsible to solve any issues related to the product shipment that may arise. Knowing what information is important in making sure the right tools are used. Situations like those call for detailed lists of displays, equipment and booths are necessary, also how the equipment is going to be shipped and received. For example if a show is to be organized in Chicago with a requirement of one booth and display. The marketing assistant musk be certain that the booth with the display must be brought to the location in time and also be taken down and shipped backed for future use in the company. With knowing what the tracking number from the post office is a tab can be kept on the package through all stages of transport. Each show typically needs certain tools for maintaining information and tracking the equipment. Excel is a good way to start the tracking. However, it may not be useful with large sets of data and data that vary. A database maybe a more useful choice because it can store all types of data and the marketing assistant can generate reports for future reference while making changes (changing the shipment time to make sure it arrives on time) In cases like this where only one person is responsible for a large database it is a good idea to use a database management systems that are available across all department of an organization. This gives all the control to one person for several departments. This also prevents confusion when many employees come together to manage information. When the marketing assistant faces the task of maintain and managing mass data related to the show, there needs to be a decision support system (DSS)Â  to help them in the process. A DSS can be describes as a computer system capable of assisting in the evaluation and determination of action plans by data collected from previous dealings of the company. The data is then analyzed by statistical tools for data interpretation. The process can help provide valuable insights to marketing assistant in improving future shows. In the second scenario, the objective is the proper management of a consulting team consisting of seven members with technology. Some of them work in the office and some work from home. In order for the business to run smoothly everyone need to be reached with equal effort. A way that this could happen is the use of a Wide Area Network or a WAN that could connect the employees across specific regions. Regardless of the employees’ physical location, all employees would be able to reach the same information. Most consulting projects have strict deadlines and all the employees must be allowed access to equipment like the printers and scanners connected to the network. This could create some security concerns while working on the WAN. It is possible that hackers could breach the network and put malicious malware or viruses on the devices. This of course could be prevented with certain programs that protect against malware and viruses. A wireless connection is also a good idea when needing remote access. Wireless is similar to WAN in that it can provide access to employees to information secured in the workplace. A virtual private network or a VPN needs to be installed to deal with concerns for privacy. A VPN is good because it withhold sensitive information from non employees by giving them access rights. This helps with incidents such as malware or virus program attacks which could affect functionality. Cost and features are important factors when choosing which route to go. The information regarding to wireless networks needs to help in choosing the right wireless network can be stored in an Excel document. The price cannot be the deciding factor when purchasing. Speed and security features are also important when deciding. It is important to make a list prioritizing and listing features of the network necessary for the company. This way a wireless network can be found at a minimal cost. Knowledge of technology that are made use of in a company can go a long way in helping supervisors and managers decide upon the tools to be used in a more efficient and smart manner. In the first scenario the marketing assistant is able to use a database to organize the information need for the trade show. The second scenario shows where WAN and wireless networking enables a consulting team to access data securely and on a strict time schedule with no regards to their physical location. These scenarios show the usefulness of technology in a business setting.

Saab Scania Case

It can be inferred from the case that the work group design in engine assembly department has caused a high turnover ratio, has uninterested younger work force and absenteeism opted to re-design assembly jobs. The current dilemma for the Saab Automobile is whether they should go for product line design or continue with the group design to all the other assembly departments. Our objective is to decrease the turnover ratio, increase productivity and to improve motivation among young force which is currently prevalent in the work environment. The current productivity is 36 engine per hour which is much below the US counterparts.Thus, there is a need to increase it to a comparable level. We think that rather than going with the group design approach, we intend to follow a modified group design across all departments. Firstly, we need to segregate all the activities across the four departments based on the nature/similarity of the job. Secondly, employee profiling need to be done which wo uld categorize based on their willingness to work across similar jobs or the same specific jobs. Now people who are interested to work across similar jobs would be given periodically an option to switch between jobs which might be across departments also.This would in turn increase employees’ job engagement, job belongingness and job rotation. Employees would now not get bored of their monotonous jobs and will find a point of motivation and interest. Employees who like doing the same job or are not so much interested in switching jobs would be allowed to do so. All these decision will trickle down to the long term hiring strategy of profiling employees based on their willingness to work across jobs at the very initial level of recruitment.This should decrease the dissatisfaction and the boredom that was getting created among them. Once employees start to connect with the jobs then the 20% of absenteeism mentioned in the case would decrease drastically. Also, it will increase the number of young minds in the industry as a whole. On the flip side, people will find it difficult to accept the change instantly. After few rotations it may again become monotonous and cause boredom among employees. It may also cause resentment among employees in the initial stage. Saab Scania Case It can be inferred from the case that the work group design in engine assembly department has caused a high turnover ratio, has uninterested younger work force and absenteeism opted to re-design assembly jobs. The current dilemma for the Saab Automobile is whether they should go for product line design or continue with the group design to all the other assembly departments. Our objective is to decrease the turnover ratio, increase productivity and to improve motivation among young force which is currently prevalent in the work environment. The current productivity is 36 engine per hour which is much below the US counterparts.Thus, there is a need to increase it to a comparable level. We think that rather than going with the group design approach, we intend to follow a modified group design across all departments. Firstly, we need to segregate all the activities across the four departments based on the nature/similarity of the job. Secondly, employee profiling need to be done which wo uld categorize based on their willingness to work across similar jobs or the same specific jobs. Now people who are interested to work across similar jobs would be given periodically an option to switch between jobs which might be across departments also.This would in turn increase employees’ job engagement, job belongingness and job rotation. Employees would now not get bored of their monotonous jobs and will find a point of motivation and interest. Employees who like doing the same job or are not so much interested in switching jobs would be allowed to do so. All these decision will trickle down to the long term hiring strategy of profiling employees based on their willingness to work across jobs at the very initial level of recruitment.This should decrease the dissatisfaction and the boredom that was getting created among them. Once employees start to connect with the jobs then the 20% of absenteeism mentioned in the case would decrease drastically. Also, it will increase the number of young minds in the industry as a whole. On the flip side, people will find it difficult to accept the change instantly. After few rotations it may again become monotonous and cause boredom among employees. It may also cause resentment among employees in the initial stage.

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan Over the centuries, various would-be conquerors have thrown their armies against the sere mountains and valleys of Afghanistan. In just the past two centuries, great powers have invaded Afghanistan at least four times. It has not turned out well for the invaders. As former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski put it, They (the Afghanis) have a curious complex: they dont like foreigners with guns in their country. In 1979, the Soviet Union decided to try its luck in Afghanistan, long a target of Russian foreign policy. Many historians believe that in the end, the Soviet War in Afghanistan was key in destroying one of the Cold War worlds two superpowers. Background to the Invasion On April 27, 1978, Soviet-advised members of the Afghan Army overthrew and executed President Mohammed Daoud Khan. Daoud was a leftist progressive, but not a communist, and he resisted Soviet attempts to direct his foreign policy as interference in Afghanistans affairs. Daoud moved Afghanistan toward the non-allied bloc, which included India, Egypt, and Yugoslavia. Although the Soviets did not order his ouster, they quickly recognized the new communist Peoples Democratic Party government that formed on April 28, 1978. Nur Muhammad Taraki became Chairman of the newly-formed Afghan Revolutionary Council. However, infighting with other communist factions and cycles of purging plagued Tarakis government from the start. In addition, the new communist regime targeted Islamic mullahs and wealthy landowners in the Afghan countryside, alienating all of the traditional local leaders. Soon, anti-government insurgencies broke out across northern and eastern Afghanistan, aided by Pashtun guerrillas from Pakistan. Over the course of 1979, the Soviets watched carefully as their client government in Kabul lost control of more and more of Afghanistan. In March, the Afghan Army battalion in Herat defected to the insurgents, and killed 20 Soviet advisers in the city; there would be four more major military uprisings against the government by the end of the year. By August, the government in Kabul had lost control of 75% of Afghanistan - it held the large cities, more or less, but the insurgents controlled the countryside. Leonid Brezhnev and the Soviet government wanted to protect their puppet in Kabul but hesitated (reasonably enough) to commit ground troops to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. The Soviets were concerned about the Islamist insurgents taking power since many of the USSRs Muslim Central Asian republics bordered on Afghanistan. In addition, the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran seemed to shift the balance of power in the region toward Muslim theocracy. As the Afghan governments situation deteriorated, the Soviets sent in military aid - tanks, artillery, small arms, fighter jets, and helicopter gunships - as well as ever-greater numbers of military and civilian advisers. By June of 1979, there were approximately 2,500 Soviet military advisers and 2,000 civilians in Afghanistan, and some of the military advisers actively drove tanks and flew helicopters in raids on the insurgents. Moscow Secretly Sent in Units of the Spetznaz or Special Forces On September 14, 1979, Chairman Taraki invited his chief rival in the Peoples Democratic Party, Minister of National Defense Hafizullah Amin, to a meeting at the presidential palace. It was supposed to be an ambush on Amin, orchestrated by Tarakis Soviet advisers, but the chief of palace guards tipped off Amin as he arrived, so the Defense Minister escaped. Amin returned later that day with an Army contingent and placed Taraki under house arrest, to the dismay of the Soviet leadership. Taraki died within a month, smothered with a pillow on Amins orders. Another major military uprising in October convinced the Soviet leaders that Afghanistan had spun out of their control, politically and militarily. Motorized and airborne infantry divisions numbering 30,000 troops began preparing to deploy from the neighboring Turkestan Military District (now in Turkmenistan) and the Fergana Military District (now in Uzbekistan). Between December 24 and 26, 1979, American observers noted that the Soviets were running hundreds of airlift flights into Kabul, but they were unsure whether it was a major invasion or simply supplies intended to help prop up the tottering Amin regime. Amin was, after all, a member of Afghanistans communist party. All doubt vanished over the next two days, however. On December 27, Soviet Spetznaz troops attacked Amins home and killed him, installing Babrak Kamal as the new puppet-leader of Afghanistan. The following day, the Soviet motorized divisions from Turkestan and the Fergana Valley rolled into Afghanistan, launching the invasion. Early Months of the Soviet Invasion The Islamic insurgents of Afghanistan, called the mujahideen, declared a jihad against the Soviet invaders. Although the Soviets had vastly superior weaponry, the mujahideen knew the rough terrain and were fighting for their homes and their faith. By February of 1980, the Soviets had control of all of the major cities in Afghanistan and were successful in quashing Afghan Army revolts when army units marched out information to fight the Soviet troops. However, mujahideen guerrillas held 80% of the country. Try and Try Again - Soviet Efforts to 1985 In the first five years, the Soviets held the strategic route between Kabul and Termez and patrolled the border with Iran, to prevent Iranian aid from reaching the mujahideen. Mountainous regions of Afghanistan such as Hazarajat and Nuristan, however, were completely free of Soviet influence. The mujahideen also held Herat and Kandahar much of the time. The Soviet Army launched a total of nine offensives against one key, guerrilla-held pass called the Panjshir Valley in the first five years of the war alone. Despite the heavy use of tanks, bombers, and helicopter gunships, they were unable to take the Valley. The mujahideens amazing success in the face of one of the worlds two superpowers attracted support from a number of outside powers seeking either to support Islam or weaken the USSR: Pakistan, the Peoples Republic of China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Withdrawal From the Quagmire - 1985 to 1989 As the war in Afghanistan dragged on, the Soviets faced a harsh reality. Afghan Army desertions were epidemic, so the Soviets had to do much of the fighting. Many Soviet recruits were Central Asians, some from the same Tajik and Uzbek ethnic groups as many of the mujihadeen, so they often refused to carry out attacks ordered by their Russian commanders. Despite official press censorship, people in the Soviet Union began to hear that the war was not going well and to notice a large number of funerals for Soviet soldiers. Before the end, some media outlets even dared to publish commentary on the Soviets Vietnam War, pushing the boundaries of Mikhail Gorbachevs policy of glasnost or openness. Conditions were terrible for many ordinary Afghans, but they held out against the invaders. By 1989, the mujahideen had organized some 4,000 strike bases across the country, each manned by at least 300 guerrillas. One famous mujahideen commander in the Panjshir Valley, Ahmad Shah Massoud, commanded 10,000 well-trained troops. By 1985, Moscow was actively seeking an exit strategy. They sought to intensify recruitment and training for the Afghan armed forces, in order to transition responsibility to local troops. The ineffectual president, Babrak Karmal, lost Soviet support, and in November of 1986, a new president named Mohammad Najibullah was elected. He proved less than popular with the Afghan people, however, in part because he was the former chief of the widely-feared secret police, the KHAD. From May 15 to August 16, 1988, the Soviets completed phase one of their withdrawal. The retreat was generally peaceful since the Soviets first negotiated cease-fires with mujahideen commanders along the withdrawal routes. Remaining Soviet troops withdrew between November 15, 1988, and February 15, 1989. A total of just over 600,000 Soviets served in the Afghan War, and about 14,500 were killed. Another 54,000 were wounded, and an astonishing 416,000 became ill with typhoid fever, hepatitis, and other serious diseases. An estimated 850,000 to 1.5 million Afghan civilians died in the war, and five to ten million fled the country as refugees. This represented as much as one-third of the countrys 1978 population, severely straining Pakistan and other neighboring countries. 25,000 Afghans died from landmines alone during the war, and millions of mines remained behind after the Soviets withdrew. The Aftermath of the Soviet War in Afghanistan Chaos and civil war ensued when the Soviets left Afghanistan, as rival mujahideen commanders fought to enlarge their spheres of influence. Some mujahideen troops behaved so badly, robbing, raping, and murdering civilians at will, that a group of Pakistani-educated religious students banded together to fight against them in the name of Islam. This new faction called itself the Taliban, meaning the Students. For the Soviets, the repercussions were equally dire. Over the previous decades, the Red Army had always been able to quash any nation or ethnic group that rose in opposition - the Hungarians, the Kazakhs, the Czechs - but now they had lost to the Afghans. Minority peoples in the Baltic and Central Asian republics, in particular, took heart; indeed, the Lithuanian democracy movement openly declared independence from the Soviet Union in March of 1989, less than a month after the withdrawal from Afghanistan finished. Anti-Soviet demonstrations spread to Latvia, Georgia, Estonia, and other republics. The long and costly war left the Soviet economy in shambles. It also fueled the rise of a free press and open dissent among not only ethnic minorities but also from Russians who had lost loved ones in the fighting. Although it was not the only factor, certainly the Soviet War in Afghanistan helped to hasten the end of one of the two superpowers. Just over two and a half years after the withdrawal, on December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union was formally dissolved. Sources MacEachin, Douglas. Predicting the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: The Intelligence Communitys Record, CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence, Apr. 15, 2007. Prados, John, ed. Volume II: Afghanistan: Lessons from the Last War. Analysis of the Soviet War in Afghanistan, Declassified, The National Security Archive, Oct. 9, 2001. Reuveny, Rafael, and Aseem Prakash. The Afghanistan War and the Breakdown of the Soviet Union, Review of International Studies, (1999), 25, 693-708.

The Incredible Disappearing LinkedIn Profile

The Incredible Disappearing LinkedIn Profile Okay, I might be exaggerating when I say your LinkedIn profile is disappearing, piece by piece. But it might feel that way. With the new LinkedIn, you might be wondering where those old familiar functions went! For me, it’s a bit of a â€Å"Where’s Waldo† experience, with some items hiding under my nose. LinkedIn has a history of removing features, often without notification. With its newest revision, true to form, LinkedIn has taken away or moved a few of the items that I, for one, had been taking for granted. Here are a few things to watch out for: 1. Your Summary section. Okay, well, it hasn’t entirely disappeared. It’s just that only the first 210 characters (including spaces) are visible when you initially view someone’s profile. This means that whatever you consider the most important information for viewers needs to be in your first 210 characters. If you attract enough interest in your opening lines, people will click on â€Å"See more† to read the rest of your summary. 2. Job descriptions. Similarly to the summary, although your first (most recent) job description will appear in its entirety (up to 2,000 characters), all other positions will be curtailed and your viewers will have to click on â€Å"See description† to read more. Done with reading the description? Click on â€Å"See less.† 3. Contact Information. This information hasn’t actually disappeared either. It has, however, been relocated to the right navigation bar in a section called â€Å"Contact and Personal Info.† To view someone’s deets, including email, phone number, and web addresses, click on â€Å"Show more† and you’ll be greeted with lots of valuable info. To edit your own contact information, when viewing your profile, click on the pencil icon and you’ll be brought to an â€Å"Edit contact info† box. At the bottom, you can choose whether you contact details are visible to your connections, your network, or all LinkedIn members. 4. No more Interests section. There used to be an opportunity to use up to 500 characters to list both your professional and personal interests. This section no longer exists that I can see (if you find it let me know!). If you backed up your profile as I urged you to do before the rollout, you’ll have access to these in case you want to add them back in another way. Otherwise, while probably easy to reconstruct, whatever you previously had in your Interests section is gone gone gone. 5. No more subject lines. You used to be able to insert a subject line into messages sent through LinkedIn. No more. Now you will simply have a title-less ongoing thread of your conversations with other members. The good news is that it’s much easier now to see the complete history of your communications with your connections. 6. No more saved searches (but wait†¦!). LinkedIn took away saved searches, and got so much pushback about it that they added it back in! How about that †¦ LinkedIn listened! 7. Alumni and other top navigation items. The top navigation bar used to include Home, Profile, Connections, Education, Jobs, and Interests. The new bar comes with seven â€Å"core areas†: Home (Your Feed), Messaging, Jobs, Notifications, Me (with your profile image), My Network, and Search. Then the â€Å"non-core areas†: Work and Advertise. The old â€Å"Connections† tab had an Alumni option which is no longer located under the comparable â€Å"My Network.† Your choices are â€Å"Invitations† and â€Å"People you May Know.† To find alumni now, put the name of your school in the main search bar and then click on your school from the dropdown. You’ll be taken to a page where you can then click on â€Å"See alumni.† The old Alumni page is hidden under that â€Å"See alumni† button! Under these statistical bars will be images of your current connections, followed by images of other alumni with whom you might want to connect. Thankfully, if you click â€Å"Connect† you will be brought to a window to write a message. LinkedIn will NOT send a generic message for you! Alumni are some of the highest quality connections you can make on LinkedIn, so explore this function thoroughly. 8. Education. This tab used to be its own navigation item. Now, instead, go to the Work icon and click Learning to access the courses available through LinkedIn. As you can see, there are several other features hidden under that â€Å"Work† menu as well. Please check all the items out to see which are most valuable for you. 9. Tagging and Notes Tagging and notes really have been eliminated. No joke. If you want to add tags or notes to your contact list now, you have three choices that I am aware of: 1) Upgrade to Sales Navigator for a pricey $79/month, 2) If you’re using Chrome, get the Chrome Extension Dux-Soup, or 3) Invest in the CRM solution Nimble ($25/month). I have not tried this extension myself but it’s recommended by Viveka von Rosen of LinkedIntoBusiness. 10. LinkedIn Groups While LinkedIn Groups are still around, there’s a lot of talk that they might be becoming irrelevant or extinct. Many group owners have been shutting down their LinkedIn groups and moving them to Facebook or the newer platform, beBee. One of the main complaints is that group notifications of discussions and group announcements have not been working properly. According to my sources, LinkedIn knows about this issue and is working on it. I am not ready to abandon LinkedIn groups, but my curiosity has been piqued about beBee, an engagement-based community with 12 million users worldwide. After I get some other projects complete, I’ll be thinking about joining some hives and creating some buzz on that site! Is there anything else that’s gone missing from your LinkedIn profile? Let me know and I’ll see if I can find it for you! Or, I’ll write another blog about all the things I didn’t notice disappearing at the time of this writing. I also invite any questions or comments about the new LinkedIn redesign. I will answer them! Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save

The Effective Media Tool In Communicating With Arab Audience. Which Of Essay

The Effective Media Tool In Communicating With Arab Audience. Which Of The Four Media Tools, (Newspaper, Radio, Internet Or Television) Is Mostly Preferred By Arab Audience In The Middle East - Essay Example Many factors will give me a competency in doing this research. I was born and reared in that region. During my work in the media field in the Middle East, I was in direct contact with people and their concerns. The study about the audiences has always been an essential part of my undergraduate and graduate studies. Additionally, I am a native Arabic speaker and I have easy access to the researched region and its population with regards to surveys. This study enables me to apply my research techniques and know the role of each medium in influencing public opinion. The September 11 terrorist attack in New York City and the recent bombings in London made communication with the audience of Middle East a main priority for United Kingdom and other countries. Arab audience have become a very important issue for the western countries. Infact, the BBC World Service, will be launching an Arabic TV station dedicated in communicating with the audiences in the Arab world. This paper examines political, physiological and social issues that affect an audience towards the medium.