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.