Managerial Skills Essay

In order for managers to be effective, they must have a clear understanding of whether different skills are important in their managerial role. In addition, managers must have a mutual understanding of the skills and responsibilities necessary for other managers across similar and different organizational levels and functions ([10] Kraut et al. , 1989). If these skills and responsibilities are not clearly understood, managers will neither be able to coordinate work effectively, communicate expectations, deliver feedback, nor be prepared for job transitions or other training and career development activities ([10] Kraut et al. , 1989). In short, understanding whether certain managerial skills are important to a manager’s job is essential. A number of researchers have investigated the roles, tasks, or activities of managers (e.g. [18] Mintzberg, 1973; [13] Luthans, 1988; [10] Kraut et al. , 1989). However, these studies are over a decade old, some more than two or three decades, and have not specifically examined skills. The world of work has changed since these studies, most notably due to organizational downsizing, technology, and the globalization of the workplace. Skills important to managers in the late 1980s and early 1990s may not be as important today. As times change, researchers should update important findings to determine if those findings are still applicable ([4] Cronbach, 1975), especially when considering that the skills and roles of managers need to be clearly defined and understood to effectively teach, select, develop, and promote these individuals in the workplace. Based on results of a study of more than 14,000 managers over two distinct time periods, this paper will highlight whether the importance of certain managerial skills changed over a 15-year time period, and determine which skills are needed at different organizational levels and across organizational functions from the opinions of managers themselves. Our main research question is, to what extent has the importance of certain managerial skills changed, or remained constant, over time, and whether certain skills are important based on organizational level and function. Studies of managers [18] Mintzberg (1973) provided one of the most influential works on managerial roles. Prior to his research, the roles of managers were understood to be embedded in a rigid functional approach of planning jobs, organizing staff, and leading personnel ([20] Pearson and Chatterjee, 2003). However, Mintzberg observed that managers worked at a much faster pace during which they were required to address a range of issues. The job of the manager required an ability to handle more complex roles than those described by classical management theory. Using a descriptive diary method to observe managers at work, Mintzberg identified ten roles of managerial work, which were divided into three categories: interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles. Expanding on [18] Mintzberg’s (1973) work, [10] Kraut et al. (1989) investigated the differences between managerial levels in the perception of role importance. They identified seven major factors of management tasks including: managing individual performance; instructing subordinates; planning and allocating resources; coordinating interdependent groups; managing group performance; monitoring the business environment; and representing one’s staff. Their findings also revealed distinct differences in role importance based on the level of the manager. For instance, first-level managers reported that managing individual performance and instructing subordinates were the most important set of activities in their job. However, as managers moved up the management hierarchy to the level of middle manager, the importance of these activities dropped and more focus was placed on tasks related to linking groups. The act of linking groups included planning and resource allocation, managing group performance, and coordinating interdependent groups. Executive managers took an even broader view of their job as evidenced by their high importance ratings related to monitoring the environment including business, economic, and social trends. The only commonality among the different managerial levels was the importance they placed on representing their staff; over 50 per cent of managers at each level rated representing staff of â€Å"utmost† or â€Å"considerable importance.† [13] Luthans’ (1988) research also examined differences between top and middle managers. However the focus was more on the distinction between the activities of an effective manager versus a successful manager. Effective managers were identified by a high level of performance in the unit they are responsible for, whereas successful managers were recognized by their rapid promotions within an organization. The activities that characterize effective managers included spending time on communication and human resource management, which can lead to long-term results. In contrast, successful managers spent more time on networking and aimed for short-term results. In addition to differences between levels, [10] Kraut et al. (1989) also compared managerial activities across the different organizational functions of marketing, manufacturing, and administration. For example, a greater percentage of marketing managers rated monitoring the outside environment more important when compared to other managers. Alternately, fewer marketing managers rated instructing subordinates as important when compared to managers in manufacturing and administration. Managers from all three organizational functions indicated that activities involving coordinating interdependent groups were important. The present study will attempt to expand on similar research such as those previously mentioned. First, this research examines managerial skills, which are much different than managerial roles, activities, or tasks. While past research has determined what roles or activities are important for managers and what tasks managers tend to spend much of their time on, this research attempts to determine what skills are important for managerial jobs. Second, this research will use opinions from practicing managers totaling more than 14,000 from two distinct time periods (1988-1992, and 2004-2006) to capture what skills have been important in the past, and determine whether those skills have changed in importance over time. In addition, this research will examine whether managerial skills are important across different organizational levels and organizational functions in the context of today’s work environment. The changing world of work The aforementioned research regarding the importance of managerial tasks, roles, and activities was conducted in the 1970s and 1980s. There is reason to believe that skills once deemed important for managers may have adjusted in relative importance since much has changed in the world of work since these studies. One can assume that the changes in the world of work may coincide with possible changes in the importance of different managerial skills. Organizations have become flatter and less hierarchical with fewer levels and more responsibilities ([2] Allen et al. , 2001; [16] McKinley et al. , 2000; [17] Miller, 1990). Also, organizational downsizing is commonplace due to the increasing need to reduce costs, to eliminate unnecessary levels of management, and to streamline operations ([5] DeMeuse et al. , 2004). As organizations become less hierarchical, there is reason to believe that the skills managers thought were important in the past may have changed in scope. Organizations also exist in a different environmental context than 15 years ago. Due to improved technology such as e-mail and the internet, changes have occurred in the way managers and co-workers interact. We have seen the emergence of the Internet as a major form of communication and e-commerce as a new source of business. Flexible work patterns and the ability to work in geographically dispersed teams is now a common reality in the workplace ([27] Wallace, 2004). These changes have cultivated the need for better communication, coordination, improved performance, team monitoring, and more interdependence and trust ([22], [21] Salas et al. , 2004, 2005; [28] Zaccaro et al. , 2004). Teams and organizations are increasingly becoming more global or virtual in nature. As a result, an awareness of different cultures and attention to multiculturalism and globalization is vital for the success of many managers. As organizations become more fast-paced and global, there is also speculation that the importance of different skills managers need may have shifted in scope. [7] Kanter (1989) argued that these rapid changes, spurred by technology and competitive pressures, have made traditional forms of organizing work obsolete. Managers may believe certain skills are important in order to be a partner with and empower employees to address business problems on their own and to work in cross-functional teams, which could be different than the skills believed to be important 15 years ago. Managers must fully understand their roles and responsibilities and become adept at a variety of skills to perform their job effectively ([1] Ahearn et al. , 2004; [6] Halbesleben et al. , 2003; [25] Stockdale and Crosby, 2004; [27] Wallace, 2004; [28] Zaccaro et al. , 2004). As previously mentioned, understanding the skills of managers is essential to coordinate work effectively, communicate expectations, deliver feedback, and for training and career development ([10] Kraut et al. , 1989). It is unknown whether the changes over the past 15 years that have occurred in an organizational and global context have also coincided with possible changes in importance of managerial skills over time. A recent case study reexamined [18] Mintzberg’s (1973) work 30 years after the original research by studying the pattern of behavior among four executives in Sweden ([26] Tengblad, 2006). The findings revealed that modern executives are more oriented towards working with subordinates in group-settings and focus more time on giving information rather than performing administrative duties. However, Tengblad noted significant similarities with Mintzberg’s original study, indicating that claims of the emergence of radically different managerial work may be exaggerated. However, due to the small sample size and lack of empirical data in that study, it is important that further work specifically examine the modern skills of managers with a wide range of managers and ample sample size. In other words, are the skills thought to be important to managers 15 years ago still important to managers in today’s work context? The present research will attempt to answer this question and provide relevant present-day information for managers and those who work with, train and develop them, by re-examining the importance of managerial skills across two distinct time periods and across both organizational level and function in the context of today’s work environment. Method Participants This research used data from two waves of managers engaged in a leadership development program from a leadership development provider in order to compare differences in managerial skills over time. The first wave consisted of 7,389 managers from the USA involved in a leadership development process between 1988 and 1992. The second wave consisted of 7,410 managers from the USA who were involved in a leadership development process between 2004 and 2006. Because of data housing and management issues, demographic data could not be given for the first wave of participants. However, aggregate biographical data from the leadership development provider from the time period of 1988 to 1992 revealed that leadership development participants in general were similar in terms of age, gender, race, education, and job status to those of 2004 to 2006. Demographic data in aggregate could be given for the 7,410 participants of the second wave. The average age of the managers in the second wave was 41.73 years old, 59 per cent were male, 86 per cent were white, 69 per cent worked in the private sector and 77 per cent had a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. Managers came from over 60 organizational types (e.g. aerospace and defense, finance, communications, government, education) and over 1,300 companies. In addition, 999 managers (13.5 per cent) were first-level managers (forepersons, crew chiefs, section supervisors), 3,136 (42.3 per cent) were middle-level managers (office managers, professional staff, mid-level administrators), 2,197 (29.6 per cent) were upper-middle managers (department executives, plant managers, senior professional staff), and 1,078 (14.6 per cent) were top or executive level managers (chief executives or operating officers, presidents, vice presidents, directors). Measure Managerial skills . Data determining the importance of managerial skills was collected from SKILLSCOPE ®[1] a 360-degree instrument that assesses job related strengths and weaknesses. The instrument has 98 items that are organized into 15 skill clusters. These clusters represent 15 skills and roles managers need in order to be effective in their job which are part of Mintzberg’s three categories (interpersonal, informational, and decisional) and two other categories (personal resources and effective use of self). The conceptual basis for SKILLSCOPE ® is research which focused on managerial skills, roles and tasks (e.g. [3] Beggs and Doolittle, 1988; [8] Kaplan, 1987; [9] Kotter, 1982; [14] McCall and Kaplan, 1984; [15] McCall et al. , 1979; [18], [19] Mintzberg, 1973, 1990; [23] Sayles, 1979; [24] Stewart, 1976). As part of their leadership development process, managers chose which five of the 15 skill clusters were the most important for their current job. Table I [Figure omitted. See Article Image.] describes each skill cluster. Results A frequency count of the data revealed the skills that are most important for managers in their current job. Result show that both â€Å"Communicating information, ideas† (60.1 per cent of the managers in 1988-1992 and 63 per cent of the managers in 2004-2006) and â€Å"Taking actions, making decisions, following through† (59.7 per cent of the managers in 1988-1992 and 62.9 per cent of the managers in 2004-2006) were the most important skills across all managers. On the other hand, â€Å"Self-management, self-insight, self-development† and â€Å"Openness to influence; flexibility† were the least important for managers in 1988 through 1992 (8.6 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively as one of the most important skills needed) and managers in 2004 through 2006 (10.9 per cent and 7.2 per cent selected respectively as one of the most important skills needed). Table II [Figure omitted. See Article Image.] shows a comparison between managers from 1988-1992 and managers from 2004-2006. Many of the skills were similar in importance for both waves of managers. However, there were three skill clusters with differences of more than 10 percentage points that should be noted. First, 39.9 per cent of 2004-2006 managers rated â€Å"Relationships† as one of five important skill clusters which was an increase from 29.4 per cent of managers in 1988-1992. Second, 33 per cent of 2004-2006 managers rated â€Å"Administrative/organizational ability† as one of five important skill clusters, a decrease from the 45 per cent of managers was from 1988-1992. Finally, 31.7 per cent of managers from 2004-2006 rated â€Å"Time management† as one of five important skill clusters which was an increase from the 19.7 per cent of managers in 1988-1992. The next set of analyses focused only on the 2004-2006 managers. Examining the results as a whole may mask important findings based on managerial levels. Consequently, we analyzed the importance of managerial skills across the four managerial levels for the present study, similar to [10] Kraut et al. (1989). Figure 1 [Figure omitted. See Article Image.] displays the importance rankings for each skill sorted by managerial level. â€Å"Communicating information, ideas† and â€Å"Taking action, making decisions, following through† were the two most important skills for all managerial levels with the exception of first-level managers. While â€Å"Taking action, making decisions, following through† ranked as the most important for first-level managers, â€Å"Knowledge of job, business† ranked as second-most important, followed by â€Å"Communicating information, ideas†. On the other hand, â€Å"Openness to influence, flexibility† was the least important to managers at each level, again with the exception of first-level managers who believed â€Å"Risk-taking, innovation† was the least important, followed by â€Å"Openness to influence, flexibility†. In general, the importance rankings were similar across managerial levels, though there are some notable exceptions. First, â€Å"Getting information, making sense of it; problem identification† was less important for top/executive-level managers (48 per cent) than for other managerial levels (each over 55 per cent). Second, as managerial level increased, so did the importance of â€Å"Influencing, leadership, and power†, (from 21 per cent of first-level managers to 45 per cent of top/executive level managers), and of â€Å"Risk-taking, innovation† (from 7 per cent of first-level managers to 22 per cent of top/executive level managers). Last, as managerial level increased, the importance of two managerial skills decreased, namely â€Å"Knowledge of job, business† (from 63 per cent of first-level managers to 45 per cent of top/executive-level managers) and â€Å"Time management† (from 42 per cent of first-level managers to 19 per cent of top/executive-level managers). In addition, viewing the results from all managers in aggregate may also conceal important findings based specifically on job function, as managers in different functions may have different managerial challenges ([10] Kraut et al. , 1989). In order to account for this, the present study mirrored the data analysis of the [10] Kraut et al. (1989) study in that the levels of management were equally weighted in each function so that no one managerial level would have statistical influence over the other managerial levels, and managers from marketing (n =282), manufacturing (n =253), and administration (n =489) would be selected. Due to the functional diversity of the sample of the second wave, managers from engineering (n =413), human resources/training (n =345), operations (n =916) and sales (n =518) were also examined. Figure 2 [Figure omitted. See Article Image.] provides the rankings for the skills of managers across job function. It is interesting to note that the pattern of skill importance is similar across functions. For instance, â€Å"Communicating information, ideas† was most important for marketing, human resource, and sales managers, while â€Å"Taking action, making decisions, following through† was the most important managerial skill for manufacturing, administration, engineering, and operations. In fact, across the seven managerial functions studied, these two managerial skills were among the top three in importance for each managerial function. On the other hand, â€Å"Openness to influence; flexibility† was the least important to managers across all functions except for managers in human resources, who believed â€Å"Energy, drive, and ambition† was the least important. Some managerial skills were rated similarly in importance across managerial functions. For instance, between 22 per cent and 27 per cent of managers across different functions believed â€Å"Coping with pressure, adversity; integrity† was important. Also, between 8 per cent and 13 per cent of managers thought â€Å"Self-management, self-insight, self-development† was an important skill to have. There was variability among the importance of some skills across managerial function. For example, â€Å"Administrative/organizational ability† was important for less than 25 per cent of managers in marketing, manufacturing, and sales, but was important for 58 per cent of managers in administration. â€Å"Getting information, making sense of it; problem identification† was less important for sales managers (39 per cent) than it was for engineering managers (65 per cent). Regarding â€Å"Managing conflict; negotiation† it is interesting to note that most managers rated it the same in importance (between 27 per cent and 31 per cent) except managers from marketing, where only 17 per cent of managers thought it was important. Managers in manufacturing (25 per cent) and engineering (26 per cent) ranked â€Å"Relationships† less important than human resources (51 per cent) and sales (52 per cent) managers. â€Å"Selecting, developing, accepting people† was important to some managers in manufacturing and sales (both 35 per cent), but was not as important to marketing managers (12 per cent). Discussion In total, 30 years after [18] Mintzberg’s (1973) original study, [26] Tengblad (2006) found that while some things have changed, managerial work has remained the same, despite changes in the world of work. In a similar fashion, the present research attempted to determine whether the importance of skills managers need in their job have shifted over a 15-year time period. Though many have commented on how the world of work has changed over the past 15 years (e.g. [2] Allen et al. , 2001; [5] DeMeuse et al. , 2004; [7] Kanter, 1989; [16] McKinley et al. , 2000; [17] Miller, 1990; [22], [21] Salas et al. , 2004, 2005; [27] Wallace, 2004; [28] Zaccaro et al. , 2004), the data of the present research suggests that despite the changes in the work environment, the importance of certain managerial skills is somewhat similar. For instance, what was believed to be important in 1988-1992 (i.e. â€Å"Communicating information, ideas† and â€Å"Taking action, making decisions, following through†) is still considered important for managers today. In addition, skills that were not thought of as important in 1988-1992 (i.e. â€Å"Self-management, self-insight, self-development† and â€Å"Openness to influence; flexibility†) are still not thought of as important for managers in today’s work context. Despite these apparent similarities, there are some noteworthy differences between what managers thought was important 15 years ago and what managers think is important today. First, â€Å"Relationships† seem to be more important now than for managers 15 years ago. [26] Tengblad (2006) hinted at this with the finding that executives are concentrating more today (than 30 years ago) on working with others in a group setting. The increased importance of this skill cluster coincided with the changes in the organizational context that managers today must face. The use of communication technology, such as e-mail, and the existence of geographically dispersed teams require managers to be more deliberate in the effort they devote towards forming and maintaining relationships. The nonverbal cues that aid in face-to-face communication cannot be relied on in virtual relationships. By acknowledging and facing the challenges presented by these new forms of communication, managers can successfully execute their job requirements. In addition, the flattening of organizational hierarchies has forced a higher level of coordination and collaboration between peers. As more and more people work in an environment structured around the work team, the more likely a focus on building relationships will be encouraged. For instance, more time is devoted to interdependence and trust in a team setting ([22], [21] Salas et al. , 2004, 2005; [28] Zaccaro et al. , 2004), where ultimately, building relationships is necessary. [26] Tengblad (2006) found that executives are indeed focusing less time on administrative duties, and [7] Kanter (1989) also revealed that organizing work was becoming obsolete with changes in the environment. In a similar fashion, the present study found that â€Å"Administrative/organizational ability† seems to be less important today than it was 15 years ago. One of the reasons could correspond with the recent trend of the flattening of organizations. Organizations have become more streamlined, and responsibility has become more spread out in the organization. In effect, managers do not have a hierarchical structure to manage. The administrative tasks that were needed in more hierarchical structures 15 years ago are not needed as much in the present work context. The advent of technology has also facilitated many organizational processes that were once paper-based. More and more companies have converted to computer-based processes (i.e. online recruiting and staffing) that have minimized the necessity to focus one’s skill on administrative or organizational duties. â€Å"Time management† appears more important now than it was 15 years ago. The reasons why could coincide with changes in the work context. Technology now enables people from around the world to work in real-time, to contact people instantly, and work more quickly. E-mail has replaced mail and fax. The use of cell phones and electronic devices such as â€Å"blackberries† has also increased. At the same time, employees are focusing on creating balance between their professional lives and their personal lives, attempting to get work out of the way faster. Employees and their managers therefore must focus on time management now more than ever. The differences in importance rankings of managerial skills we observed between managers at different organizational levels confirm previous findings in the literature. [10] Kraut et al. (1989) found that some managerial roles are considered important at each level, but the degree of importance may be contingent on a particular level. In the present study, â€Å"Influencing, leadership, and power† and â€Å"Risk-taking and innovation† showed an increase in importance ranking as managerial level increased. Both of these skills are indicative of senior levels of leadership. As a manager takes on more responsibility, it is critical to the manager’s success that the manager’s focus shifts to meet the new demands of the job. Also important to note, some managerial skills differ in importance depending on managerial function and relevance. For instance, â€Å"Administrative/organizational ability† is more important to managers in administration than it is for any of the other functions because administrative ability is inherent in the administrative function. â€Å"Getting information, making sense of it; problem identification† is more important for engineering managers than it is for any of the other functions because working with information and problem identification is particularly relevant for engineers. â€Å"Communicating information and ideas† and â€Å"Risk-taking, innovation† are more important for managers in marketing than any of the other functions because those with a marketing background must be able to communicate and be innovative. Finally, â€Å"Relationships† is more important for managers in sales and HR than any of the other functions because sales and HR functions are dependent on forming and building good relationships. In effect, some skills are important to different managerial functions because of relevance of the specific organizational function. Practical applications Determining what is important for managers at each level and each function is crucial to coordinating work effectively, communicating expectations, and facilitating training and career development activities ([10] Kraut et al. , 1989). Relying on past (or outdated) information about the importance of certain managerial skills, roles, tasks, or activities could hinder effective work coordination, communication, and effective training and career development. Hence, â€Å"updating† this type of information may help managers in their work and development, even if it is to simply validate or reinforce previous findings. Imagine the challenges managers face if relevant information about the importance of certain skills in their jobs were not correct or outdated. If information from previous research from the 1970s or 1980s is still used for coordinating work activities and it has not been updated, managers may be concentrating on different or unnecessary skills that are no longer relevant. This could greatly impede their work, their advancement, and ultimately, their success. Moreover, managers may not be taught the appropriate skills for the present-day work environment that is needed to succeed if training and development relies on outdated information. For instance, [11] Lipshitz and Nevo (1992) detailed research of the competencies of effective and ineffective managers whose activities and practices aided the design of training and development programs. Knowing which managerial skills are important for different managerial levels and functions would definitely bring knowledge to improve training and development programs. Because of their rated importance, the data suggests that managerial training and development in today’s world of work may need to keep focus on communication and decision-making, decrease focus on administration and organization ability, and increase focus on enhancing relationships and the concept of time management. In addition, these findings may help those in selection and in succession planning; knowing that certain skills are important at different levels and functions can help determine what type of manager is needed at each level or each function. For instance, time management may be a skill set that is necessary particularly for first-level managers and not top-level executives, and hence, first level managers should have that appropriate skill for the job. Administrative/organizational ability may be important for managers in the administration function, and those in succession planning or selection for managers in that particular function should keep in mind that information, along with relevant information from any job analysis or competency model. Limitations and future directions There are some limitations to this study. First, asking managers to choose five of 15 skill clusters that are important to their current job does not provide the level of detail that could be obtained by evaluating the importance of each cluster using other methodologies. In the present study, a skill cluster is either among a manager’s top five most important or it is not. Therefore, the data does not permit an assessment of how much more important the top five skill clusters were than the ten skill clusters not selected. In addition, the data did not allow us to assess any relative ranking among the top five skills. As a result, it would be useful to assess the importance of clusters, competencies, roles, skills, or abilities using a Likert-type scale in the future. In this manner, researchers could examine to what extent each cluster is important to managers. Also, examining what managers believe are the most important skills for their job may not yield the same findings as asking what their direct reports or supervisors consider important. Future research should investigate what direct reports and supervisors of managers think are important skills for managers to acquire a more global perspective of managerial competencies, similar to those acquired through competency modeling (e.g. [12] Lucia and Lepsinger, 1999). Also, asking similar questions to managers outside the United States would bring more information about the importance of managerial skills across cultures. Combining the quantitative approach of evaluating to what extent a variety of skills are important for managers along with more qualitative methodologies of on-the-job observation and interviewing to assess competencies should create a more comprehensive picture of â€Å"today’s manager†. Finally, any future research should capture the demographic data for the sample across successive waves. Without knowing more about the sample composition for the first wave of data, it is not possible to ascertain whether changes over time are due to differences in organizational structure or function, differences in individual jobs represented by the sample, or differences in workforce composition. Therefore, explanations of changes cited in our findings may be due to structure changes and changes in technology or they may be due to changes in workforce demographics (i.e. aging baby-boomers). The best this research can conclude is that shifts in the importance of certain managerial skills have coincided with changes in the context of the world of work. However, with the present research data set, having a large sample of more than 7,000 managers with similar aggregate demographic data for each time period may tend to lead to more generalizable results than would a sample of a lesser number of participants. The world of work has changed over the past 15 years. Results of this study revealed that managers today feel the need to concentrate more on building relationships and time management skills and focus less on administrative and organizational ability. However, many of the skills managers thought were important to their job in the late 1980s and early 1990s are somewhat similar in importance from the opinions of managers in the first decade of the 2000s, particularly skills concerning communication and decision making. To answer the original research question, much like [26] Tengblad (2006) found, despite noticeable changes in the world of work, while some managerial skills shifted in importance, some managerial skills remain as important today as 15 years ago. The importance of these managerial skills not only coincided with the changes in the work environment, but also are context dependent based on managerial level and function. For instance, though time management has increased in importance over the years, managers at lower levels (i.e. first-level managers) seem to believe time management is more important to their job than those at higher levels (i.e. top- or executive-level managers). In essence, one should take note not only of how the importance of certain skills change over time, but also, that certain skills believed to be important for managers at one particular level or function may be more or less important for managers at other levels or other functions. 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(1979), The Looking Glass Inc. ® Simulation, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC. 16. McKinley, W., Zhao, J. and Rust, K.G. (2000), â€Å"Sociocognitive interpretation of organizational downsizing†, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25, pp. 227-43. 17. Miller, D.B. (1990), â€Å"Organizational, environmental, and work design strategies that foster competence†, in Willis, S.L. and Dubin, S.S. (Eds), Maintaining Professional Competence: Approaches to Career Enhancement Vitality, and Success throughout a Work Life, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, pp. 233-48. 18. Mintzberg, H. (1973), The Nature of Managerial Work, Harper & Row, New York, NY. 19. Mintzberg, H. (1990), â€Å"The manager’s job: folklore and fact†, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68, pp. 163-76. 20. Pearson, C. and Chatterjee, S. (2003), â€Å"Managerial roles in Asia: an empirical study of Mintzberg’s role formulation in four Asian countries†, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 22, pp. 694-707. 21. Salas, E., Sims, D.E. and Burke, C.S. (2005), â€Å"Is there a ‘Big five’ in teamwork?†, Small Group Research, Vol. 36, pp. 555-99. 22. Salas, E., Kosarzycki, M.P., Tannenbaum, S.I. and Carnegie, D. (2004), â€Å"Principles and advice for understanding and promoting effective teamwork in organizations†, in Burke, R.J. and Cooper, C. (Eds), Leading in Turbulent Times, Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA, pp. 95-120. 23. Sayles, L.R. (1979), Leadership: What Effective Managers Really Do†¦ and How They Do It, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. 24. Stewart, R. (1976), Contracts in Management, McGraw-Hill, London. 25. Stockdale, M.S. and Crosby, F.J. (2004), The Psychology and Management of Workplace Diversity, Blackwell Publishers, Malden, MA. 26. Tengblad, S. (2006), â€Å"Is there a ‘new managerial work’? A comparison with Henry Mintzberg’s classic study 30 years later†, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 43, pp. 1437-61. 27. Wallace, P. (2004), The Internet in the Workplace: How New Technology Is Transforming Work, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. 28. Zaccaro, S.J., Ardison, S.D. and Orvis, K.A. (2004), â€Å"Leadership in virtual teams†, in Day, D.V. and Zaccaro, S.J. (Eds), Leader Development for Transforming Organizations: Growing Leaders for Tomorrow, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 267-92.

Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala Essay

During the late 70’s and 80’s, Guatemala experienced the wrath of Hades as the Guatemalan army conducted a genocidal campaign against the Maya through massive violence and terrorism. This campaign was known at first as â€Å"La Situacion† but after the peace accord was signed down in 1996 the persecuted Maya used a more appropriate terminology and called it as â€Å"La Violencia†. Because of the economic sabotage of several Guerilla movements, the government was forced to â€Å"cleanse† Guatemala. Two hundred thousand people, mostly Mayan, were persecuted and murdered and one and a half million people from six hundred twenty six villages were put out of place. Victoria Sanford used the power of language in her book â€Å"Buried Secrets: Truth and Human rights in Guatemala† by gathering more than four hundred testimonies and interviews from forensic experts, human rights activists, military officers, government officials, guerilla soldiers and survivors that seeks community healing, truth and justice. The book provides genuine perspective into the experiences of the survivors as they fight to rebuild their lives and devastated community and more importantly, it shows how these testimonials became evidence of finding truth and justice for the Mayans in Guatemala. Also, the book gave emphasis on the new way of genocide the Guatemalan army carried out. People who agree with the notion that human rights are anthropology’s most important scholarly and political concern would admire Sanford’s book. Sanford sympathetically and critically documents and analyzes one of the most inhuman events in American history, the genocide against the Maya population. She observed the participants with the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation as they disinterred concealed graves, which enabled her to execute what she calls as â€Å"excavation of memories† (p.17) through collecting testimonies from survivors. She used her multisided ethnography to argue persuasively the reformation of genocide from a violent intrusion of villages to the massacre of its inhabitants and to continuous experience of aggression. This point of view is carried out from five intertwined chapters – 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 – in which Sanford explained genocide as a process rather than an event. The first stage is the militarization of the villages where the army would intrude the villages and accuse its inhabitants as sympathizers of the guerillas, specifically the Guerilla Army of the Poor, the Revolutionary Organization of Armed People, the Rebel Armed Forces, and the Guatemalan Labor Party. Villagers are then massacred by the Guatemalan army. At first, only men are murdered but at the end of the reign of terror, children and women will also be slaughtered. The army will further punish the so-called sympathizers by burning all the structures and crops leaving no place for shelter and source of living. Survivors will then flee to the mountains to hide but the army would follow and hunt them. Who ever they’ll see will either be killed or forced to join the army control. The intolerable difficulties that hiding in the mountains brings – starvation and diseases – would make the survivors surrender to the army. Those who joined the army would be sent to model villages. These are army controlled towns which came from the original lands that the Mayas possess. After being placed in model villages, the survivors would be brainwashed by the army to erase whatever sympathy with the guerillas they still have. The final step is the lurking memories of terror the army gave to the survivors. Democracy and justice is taken away from the captives making them more vulnerable from emotional stress. Sanford shows that the redefinition of mass killing and the survivors that suffered a long way during that era and told their stories through testimonies could begin the healing process. At first, this would be simply a psychological help but as one goes on, he can get the sympathy of other people that can help them rebuild their destroyed lands and unsecured futures. The author resists the desire to breakdown the stories of the survivors, but instead, she synthesized them creating a whole picture of violence and inhuman activities. The power of the book is that Sanford did not create the events and the characters. All are real events experienced by real people. Sanford’s gathered testimonies have the power to transform a private memory into a public space, where the survivors has the courage to speak. It gets away from the government’s negotiation of life-shattering events. (p. 12). Although Sanford saw hope in her field work and analysis, the issue of impunity one of her informants raised is a critical concern. The author recounts a horrible experience of a doctor whose patient was murdered while lying down on the operating table. With the doctor plastered against wall, three men with guns shot the patient to death. As the doctor said to the author, it is all about privileges, the protection from punishment of the act itself when those gun shooters did not even wear masks so as not to be recognized considering that they live in the vicinity is so visible. One of them actually lives on the same street as the doctor, and each time the doctor runs into him, he relives the moments of that murder. He sees that man every single day and the freedom is so great that the murderer does not even droop his head to express fear from justice. (p. 35). In a world where forensic anthropologists receive death threats and increasing criminal violence fills every published newspaper, a skeptic may ask, is speaking and gathering truth worth the risk just to empower equality among races? The book demonstrates clearly how the power of testimonies can help transform a land of havoc and wrath into a land of democracy and peace. Language became a powerful tool in fighting the advocacy of violence. It was evident on many parts of the book. The Maya, by being able to tell their adventurous but somewhat horrific plight, took their persecutor’s remaining authority. Also, language has become a tool for both the political and physical of space for the resistors. Language helped the genocide victims by excavating their graves and giving them decent funerals. But in order for an excavation to be carried out, it should be first decided by the court. If the court decides the approval of an excavation, testimonies are gathered to locate the mass grave and identify the found bodies. The act of excavation, which is aided by the power of testimonies, is then again a part of the healing process. The survivors who submit a petition to the court for the excavation of the bodies of their loved ones is engaged in a political process that was forbidden from them before. In this case, democracy at its least essence has become transparent. This shows that at the least, spiritual justice is obtained by those who have been brutally killed and by the relatives and friends of the bodies recovered. In addition to the author’s intervention on international human rights by writing about the reformation of genocide, she highlights the importance of the Maya survivors as a tool in history for achieving freedom and justice for those who had experience the tyranny of the army. She directly challenges the people, like the Guatemalan army, who tried to discredit her informant’s testimonies. As in the original story on which it is based, it’s analysis is of the same racist theoretical foundation that resists political consciousness and free will to the Maya whose perception, being manipulated, means to remove the society, individual memory and organization. (p. 49). By gathering information from the survivors, Sanford shows how anthropologists can aid democratic social projects. Now, though Guatemala failed to combat impunity, peace implementation and legislation to improve political awareness and participation, the current administration made progress by taking state responsibilities on some human rights violations that occurred during â€Å"La Violencia† and by supporting human rights internationally. Though the testimonies and the expertise of Sanford in anthropology did not fully helped Guatemala, evidence shows that improvements are being made to this country. The book clearly explores the intersection of memory, history and testimonies as it emphasize that through it, power from language can give the survivors power to work within a larger political system. At the end, the survivors redeemed power by the use of judicial system to attain their long-lost aspiration of truth, justice and democracy and the courts played a major role for the survivors to regain power. They decided whether to excavate the graves of the victims of genocide, they have trials for the perpetuators of genocide and most importantly, they helped in uncovering the truth behind the long violence that happened. Works Cited: Victoria Sanford. (2003). Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala. Palgrave Macmillian. New York   

Perception Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Perception - Essay Example My father placed the sole blame on me for the situation without considering that there might be external factors at play. His error was that he assumed that I had no good reason for driving fast and he did not understand the situation fully. My father believed that that the accident was a result of my nature as a reckless driver. Due to my active participation in previous classes, I am stereotyped as a very studious person who spends hours studying for courses. It stems from the typical thinking that any person, who takes an interest in their course work and does well, spends day and night pouring over books. I am also a very social person and talk to a lot of different people, so people generally stereotype me as a very outgoing person who spends his nights out partying in clubs with a big group of friends. The only part that is true about those stereotypes is that I do study hard for my courses but I do not spend hours poring over books. I believe in studying smart rather than studying for hours and hours. I am a socially active person but I am not very outgoing and do not spend my nights out partying. I prefer small gatherings and outings with close friends. After analyzing those stereotypes, I think that a few of my friends and acquaintances become biased in their subject of conversation with me. After assuming that I love partying late, they often invite me to go out with them to late running parties. People perceive me to be a social and outgoing guy whose life is in complete order and nothing is out of place. I don’t let my issues or problems show or come up too frequently which had led many people to believe that I am a well-adjusted person. I do have control over this perception and I believe if I open up a little more to people, the perception might change. My past experiences have taught me that people see what they want to see in a person and their perceptive filters are slanted towards what they want to

A striking feature of weak states is that they face very few Essay

A striking feature of weak states is that they face very few challenges from the people living in them. Why do weak states persist - Essay Example Research and analysis revel that the major contributor of weak states’ persistence is international support and assistance. Political scientists’ perception about the concept of state relies on Max Weber’s definition which entitles state as a corporate group that: holds a certain jurisdiction; practices continuous organization; maintains monopoly of power over territory and its population, in addition to all activities in its jurisdiction. The concept is primarily based on empirical and de facto aspects of statehood. The test for Weber’s state is the claim to monopoly of force in its jurisdiction. It implies that if an internal or external group or organization gets the hold and monopolistic control of a certain jurisdiction, it becomes a state. When there are several groups contesting for the same territory, and none can get control over and practice monopolistic force, Weber attributes this situation as â€Å"statelessness† (qtd. in Jackson and Carl 2-3). According to Weber’s empirical approach to statehood, many African states can be disqualified from the status of being a state because they don’t practice monopoly of force over their territorial jurisdiction. Rivals to the national government effectively established monopoly in some of the cases. Absence of continuous control of a permanent political organization and anarchy exist in these states. Regardless of the lacking governmental control, anarchy, and uncertainty, these states persist as members of international society of states. If we consider that the empirical statehood led to the persistence of state, some of the African states must disqualify. However, they persist and none of the claimant governments who practiced de facto control could establish new states in the particular area (Jackson and Carl 3). States definition that is based on juridical attributes of statehood is Ian Brownlie’s. He defines state as a legal person authorized by international law.

Lighting and Consumer Perception in Retail Design Thesis

Lighting and Consumer Perception in Retail Design - Thesis Example A specific example of this is how digital interaction with shoppers could be implemented in retail without constraining the use of space and movement (Manuelli 2006, p. 37). Take the case of the ‘magic mirror’ and the ‘Privalite wall’ in Prada’s Beverly Hills Epicenter Store – these examples are based on interactions driven by technology involving body movements that result in a playful, spontaneous interaction with the consumers. Another key retail technology development is the use of the RFID technology wherein tags and labels are developed as â€Å"active,† embedded with computer chips and responding to different environmental conditions. Some of the other inventions in retail system designs are reliable and secure systems based on efficient automated product replenishment and environmentally friendly and cost effective solutions (Salvador, et al., 2006). Most of these technologies help retain current customers and attract new custome rs by keeping the store well stocked. In addition, the profile of the modern shopper has also evolved and diversified. Today’s modern shopper demands more from their purchases and more from the establishments providing their merchandise. Because of this, retailers are forced to offer consumer-specific features and functions in order to gain competitive advantage. For instance, convenience stores classify areas in their store according to age groups. Generally, the two major design components a retailers store must focus on are the physical design of the interior (walls, structures, etc.) and the design of a favorable environment for effective visual communications (Retail Systems, n.d.). Thus, a good retail space must be able to create the synergy between technologies and design to achieve optimal delivery of consumer service and increased margins in the business. As previously stated, good customer service means value for the customer, a variable pivotal in attracting

The Road to the Business of Chiquita Brands International Case Study

The Road to the Business of Chiquita Brands International - Case Study Example This research will begin with the statement that the 21st century has been a period of globalization in which business organizations have developed new strategies to venture in new market environments. The international business environment is characterized by many challenges and organizations have to be prepared to meet the international business standards to meet the demands of this business niche. For Chiquita Brand’s International, the road to the international business market has between rough and challenging. When Chiquita landed in Ghana, the company blossomed and found this to be a new opportunity to increase its business revenue. In fact, the organization managed to make tens of millions in profit from its Columbia banana plantations. However, the company was faced by the terrorist culture that had developed controlled the banana industry for long. When the Guerrilla war in Columbia begun, Chiquita was forced to adopt new tactics of survival in this market. When the R evolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia started a war in Columbia, the Chiquita legal officer took the initiative to pay the counter-FARC, the AUC, to protect the organization against attack. It is this initiative that made Chiquita face the US legal system that regarded AUC as terrorist body. The company was accused of collaborating with terrorist an act that was against the US legal system. The organization had to negotiate its way out this problem. Chiquita International negotiated from this legal lawsuit by pleading guilty of collaborating with the terrorist. In 2007, the organization entered a plea agreement in which the organization accepted to have been involved in financial dealings with terrorist groups. This strategy of negotiation of the Chiquita had a lot of value. All organizations that are found guilty of collaborating with terrorist attacks are fined double its income in compliance with the legal policy. However, Chiquita was allowed to a penalty relief for having admit ted to the crime before investigation. This step also was a great advantage to Chiquita’s council advisor, Mr Olson, who would have received a life sentence if the case had attained its climax. Another legal charge was raised against Chiquita in 2007 when the company was accused of poor worker environments. In Columbia, employees were subjects of hard labor, risky work conditions and long working hours. In 1996, Chiquita had provided $20 million to standardize its work environment in all its branches in the Latin America. At that time, the company had employed over 30,000 workers in 7 different countries. When the organization was accused of neglecting corporate responsibility, it filed a lawsuit against these allegations and was paid a multimillion settlement by the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper for reputation damage. The ability of the organization to develop a standard work environment formed its strength in corporate responsibility. Chiquita placed value in its communicat ion strategy as part of the development of good customer relation in a culturally diverse population. Gerbe points out to the value of communication intercultural communication in the international market. Chiquita communication strategy is depicted in its core values. The organization puts value in open, straightforward, respectful and transparent communication.

Consolidation of an ERP system on a global standard to enhance Research Proposal

Consolidation of an ERP system on a global standard to enhance visibility - Research Proposal Example Another pointer to the need for an ERP is when the existing system is unable to support the needs of the organization or when many resources are required to maintain and support the organizational activities. Growth of an organization leading to incompatibility of the various information systems used is also a driving force towards adoption of ERP. Lastly, when organizational employees are unable to respond to questions from their key suppliers and customers, it is time to implement an ERP system (Awad and Nassar 3). In the current world, the main question is not whether to implement an ERP system, but what system they should implement (Awad and Nassar 2). Consequently, once an organization has decided to implement an ERP system, the next step should be deciding on how such project would be undertaken and the goals of such a venture. At this stage, the organization determines the functionalities and modules to be included into the new system. According to Awad and Nassar, installatio n of ERP system demands that companies be able to match its business process to the functioning of the ERP systems (3). Additionally, in implementation of ERP there is a need for the organization to fully understand all the requirements which come with such an initiative. The top management must be willing to support the installation of ERP even after completion of the project by offering education to all employees (Carter et al. 23). According to Jitpaiboon, consolidation of the enterprise resource plan in an organization is critical for its global strategy (2). Consolidation of enterprise resource planning is critical in automating all the functions needed for managing the various local operations. The most critical activities supported by ERP include customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (CRM) and accounting systems. Data stored in ERP system is critical in enabling the employees to gain visibility into consolidated and accurate information about busines s performance (Fawcett and Magnan 24). Furthermore, a well implemented ERP system is a key performance indicator (KPIs) needed by organizations to ensure achievement of the corporate objectives. Moreover, Awad and Nassar explain that an ERP solution can enhance transactional interoperability (3). Organizations can choose to implement ERP solutions for each business division or the entire business can adopt a single ERP system to standardize and centralize its key operations. The chosen configuration can have a significant impact on the ability of an organization to enhance visibility and ensure that they achieve all the operation functionalities envisioned during its development. For globalized organizations such as Thermo Fisher, it is critical to consolidate their business operations into a fewer ERP systems. Problem Statement Thermo Fisher is an international organization dealing with scientific equipment and reagents required for research, diagnostics, analysis and discovery. Th e company has annual revenue of around 11 billion USD and has about 37,000 employees (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Last Call at the Oasis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Last Call at the Oasis - Essay Example The problem at hand within the American community is hidden by the fact that water delivery is sufficient to every citizen. However, the grim reality is that the American society is faced with looming shortages in water supply if means to curb the over utilization of water is not observed. Water pollution is not a new phenomenon and its is expounded in the film raising need for conservative measures to be pursued. The world is covered with seventy percent of water content, but only a mere 0.7 percent of the total water available is fresh and fit for use. This in itself is alarming and presents a serious challenge for the country and the globe at large. Water depletion across the globe is commensurate to the rapid and steady increase in population. The American society has been secure about availability of water a scenario that has been a far cry in developing countries where access to clean water safe for consumption is a daunting task. People have to travel long distances to access different water sources as reflected in the documentary. The problem faced by people from different locations cannot be isolated from the actions of Americans as water is a global crisis. Water pollution is not a new term in conservation circles, but its amplification in the documentary necessitates consideration of alternatives to avert a looming crisis across the world. Water pollution is a phenomenon that relates to the direct contamination of different water bodies ranging from rivers, lakes, groundwater, oceans, and aquifers (Last Call at the Oasis). Water pollution poses different challenges to a population if not addressed as it not only affects human beings, but also the activities they are engaged in for the generation of revenue. Clean water is a source for a thriving community a fact that is contradicted by individual actions contributing to the pollution of water bodies. The United States is at a precarious position in the need for water conservation efforts given its le ading consumption of water status across the world. Pollution and its effects can be traced to the drops in water levels as indicated in the documentary with the example of Lake Mead, which has been used for the generation of electricity and supply of water has only forty percent of its capacity filled with water. Pollution of water within the American society and across the globe can be linked to unsustainable water use patterns. The use of water in the modern society can best be described as overly wasteful and alarming to the future generation’s ability of accessing clean and fresh water. The wasteful behaviors can be credited for the over eighty percent of water that is used for agricultural process and other food production systems a phenomenon that cuts across the globe. Water pollution and the misuse of water resources in the American society are intertwined with a fine example being activities highlighted in the documentary such flushing of toilets and watering of law ns (Dropbox). Toilets whose capacity is estimated at above six gallons contribute to the waste and pollution of water and thus such water closets should be replaced with others whose capacity is minimal. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is criticized in the documentary for the lack of clear policies regulating water usage and pollution. Water contamination takes different forms from basic pollution at the domestic level to complex

Google's equity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Google's equity - Essay Example Brand awareness measures the accessibility of the brand in the memory. Brand awareness can be measured through brand recall or brand recognition. Brand recognition reflects the ability of consumers to confirm prior exposure to the brand and recognizes that it is an â€Å"old† brand that they have been before and not a â€Å"new† brand that they are seeing for the first time. Brand image is defined as consumer perceptions of a brand and is measured as the brand associations held in consumer’s memory. Google has bagged a prominent place in the first 10 major brands in the world. It has dominated to expand in to software and video, mapping and web browsing its brand value had short up by 43%, from $17.8 billion to $25.59billion. (Top 100 Most Powerful Brand 08). Young and Rubicam developed a proprietary tool to measure brand asset value. It has four dimensions the four dimensions are (1) the brand’s perceived differentiation (2) its relevance (3) its knowledge and (4) its esteem To evaluate the four parameters brand knowledge, brand recognition, brand awareness and brand image an international market survey was conducted in ten major countries using internet. The population of the survey included students, teachers, educational institutions, industrial establishments, banking and insurance industry the sample questionnaire is enclosed the survey revealed that Google occupies 10Th place among the major brands in the world in all types of the commercial and industrial activities and first place in internet services. The four major parameters of brand audit is supplemented by brand positioning statement. â€Å"A brand positioning statement describes the "mental space" a brand should occupy in the minds of a target audience. It serves as an internal document which guides most of a companys marketing communications strategies, programs and

The Rising Problem of Water Essay Example for Free

The Rising Problem of Water Essay Although water is â€Å"the commonest molecular compound† (Crystal, 1990) there is a rising problem concerning its purity. We can’t reach for the nearest stream and draw water for a drink the way people did before. Today, water is for sale. Water’s scarcity and depletion, lack of sanitation and pollution, inequalities in distribution, problems caused by dam projects, to extravagant use or mismanagement and even cross-border conflict, etc. (Godrej, 2003) account for the crises that governments are dealing with regards to water. Though water is foundational to life, e.g. part of our physical component, and as experts say it â€Å"occurs in all living organisms† (Crystal, 1990), truth is, the world faces a water crisis. Before pointing to big companies/factories and relegate to them the reason for this crisis, we are all delinquent when it comes to the management and the use of water. When one’s use of water is too much or â€Å"beyond the rate† of normal use, the hydrological cycle is being put in danger (Godrej, 2003). The hydrological cycle is so arranged as to allow for replenishing. When there is overuse, replenishing becomes difficult and depletion and pollution follow. Water like those in oceans and rivers, usually have natural pollutants, but only enough to be purified by the natural hydrological cycle. The main culprit for water pollution is man whose human activities are the causes of localized pollution. â€Å"Heavy metals, oil spills, and bacteria,† (Barnes-Svarney, 1996) are all contaminants which are results of human abuses. References 1. Crystal, David. 1990. Water H2O. The Cambridge Encyclopaedia. Cambridge University Press, p. 1285. 2. Godrej, Dinar. 2003. Crisis and challenge. Precious fluid. New Internationalist magazine, volume 354, pp. 9-12. 3. Barnes-Svarney, Patricia. 1996. The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference, p. 472.

Focus Of Supervision Analysis Social Work Essay

Focus Of Supervision Analysis Social Work Essay The focus of this supervision is to look at how our supervisiory relationship is working in regards to our different learning styles. Referral to Public Health Nurses (PHN) for girls in the in the Early Intervention Program (EIP). Wai Ora Girls Program one client has offended and one client has absconded reflection on practice. Feasibility study Community Coordinators have said there are no issues with youth crime in their area. Where to next? During this supervision my supervisor is to complete my second direct observation assessment. Discussion points Learning Styles We began the session by reviewing our learning styles. My supervisor asked me to fill out the 80 question Honey Mumford Learning Styles Questionnaire (2006) in my first week of placement. My learning style is a reflector and my supervisor has a pragmatist learning style. Reflectors: like to view the situation from different perspectives. They like to collect data, review and think carefully before coming to any conclusions. They enjoy observing others and will listen to their views before offering their own (Mumford, 1992). Pragmatists: are eager to try things out. They like concepts that can be applied to their job. They tend to be impatient with lengthy discussions and are practical and down to earth (Mumford, 1992). Therefore, we discussed how we can work together in supervision from these different learning styles to make it affective. My supervisor has identified as a pragmatist learner he does not like lengthy discussions and prefers to get straight to the point when it comes to discussions around practice. Where as because I am a reflector I like to discuss my learning through different perspectives at length before I am able to come to any conclusions around my learning. This can cause difficulties within our supervisory relationship and we need to work together so that I am able to make the most out of our supervision sessions and the field education placement in relation to my own learning style. My supervisor identified that he needs to be flexible in the different learning approaches that are presented by: Organising a range of opportunities for practice Using a blend of methods and materials that will help me learn Using a mixture of theory and practice focus in supervision Using learning materials that focus on the reflection of practice Formal and informal opportunities to learn Continuing teaching and learning styles discussion EIP Program I have identified a range of health issues presented by the girls who attend the EIP. In a previous supervision session it was discussed that I will contact the PHN to arrange health assessments for the girls that are presenting concerns. Following on from this I discussed with the volunteers of the Girls EIP which girls we believe could use a health assessment. On contacting the PHN it became apparent that we would be unable to get these girls health assessments as I did not have parental consent, and two girls are already involved with the PHN. Upon contacting the parents of the girls who are not already involved they did not give permission for their children to be assessed. I discussed with my supervisor that I still has concerns for these girls but because there is no parental consent we are unable to refer them to the nurses. We decided it is up to the volunteers and I to monitor the concerns, and if they became more evident to approach the parents again. Wai Ora Girls Program one of my clients who I have been working with has been arrested over the weekend and charged with driving with excess blood alcohol. I discussed with my supervisor the concerns I had around this charge and the events that had led to the young women driving whilst under the influence. We agreed that it would be best for me to notify her Child, Youth and Family Services (CYFS) social worker in regards to the concerns I had as it was beyond my level of involvement. Another one of the young women I have been working with has absconded over the weekend; I discussed with my supervisor what I should do next in regards to this client. My supervisor suggested that as we do not have any mandate to work with this young person and that it was not my responsibility to follow up with this young person, as her involvement with our agency is voluntary and if she does not wish to be involved that I was not to force her. I will contact her CYFS social worker to let her know that if the young person returns I am happy to continue working with her. Feasibility Study during supervision I discussed the information and negative feedback I had received from the Community Coordinators in regards to the feasibility of Te Roopu O Wai Ora working in Albany and the East Coast Bays areas. He said to document these conversations and the next step us to speak to CYFS, Police, and the local schools. Direct Practice Observation the second direct practice observation was completed in relation to the second Learning Outcome. This assessment bought out discussion around my resiliency as I have been confronted with a range of client issues through out my placement. We focused more closely on working cross-culturally in my practice with clients and I am often working with young people and their families who are of a different culture from my own. At the alterative education centre where I am placed two days a week I am the only female and pakeha person there. We discussed how I can critically reflect on my issues in practice and working cross-culturally (I will discuss this further in my critical reflection). Direct practice feedback from Fieldwork Educator My supervisor discussed how he views my experience as an advantage for the organisation; that he trusts me to manage my own workload and ask for help when I need it. The information my supervisor has feedback through this supervision and direct practice will lead me to further discussions and reflections in my critical reflection assignment: Grace has shown good levels of interviewing techniques on our observation of her at work. She has interviewed family members of our clients and shown experience beyond her years. Through supervision and on job training Grace has self-reflected on issues and questions she has been challenged with. She is not afraid to ask the hard questions. Grace is aware of her own feelings and background in working with different clients on a range of issues. She shows genuine empathy and an ability to engage with clients in a relaxed and professional manner. Working in the school setting as the only female and pakeha person, has enabled her to identify the differences in culture but also helped her to work cross-culturally with other staff and clients. Family visitation has also helped her to identify areas that need more training in. Suggested next steps for practice No Steps 1 Critically reflect on discussions in this supervision and the direct observation assessment in regards to working cross-culturally. 2 Contact CYFS in regards to the two young women in the Wai Ora Girls Club that are presenting with problems/concerns/absconding. 3 Attend EIP program and monitor their health issues 4 Contact police, CYFS and local schools in regards to Feasibility Study. What is the relationship between this supervision session and the B.Soc.Wk 2 learning objectives, generally and my contract specifically? The relationship between this supervision and the B.Soc.Work learning objectives and my contract were the discussions around my second learning outcome in relation to the second direct observation. I have demonstrated the appropriate use of self in a professional social work setting by exploring in supervision my practice, cultural awareness, resiliency, and my learning style. I have demonstrated my ability to initiate and articulate my own learning in my placement by reflecting on my learning style and discussing how our supervisory relationship is working. Also by identifying that in this supervision session that there was a significant focus on my practice cross-culturally and using it as the basis for my second critical reflection, to enable me to reflect on my cultural framework more critically. I have been in contact with other agencies and the community in relation to shared clients and the Feasibility Study. Learning Made The learning I made in this supervision session was in regards to my learning style and how it affects our supervisory relationship, and how we can make it effective for my learning during y field placement. I will use the learning made from the discussion around my practice this week and working cross-culturally as the basis for my critical reflection.

Nelly Dean, the Narrator of Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights Essay

Wuthering Heights: Nelly the Narrator  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Emily Bronte wrote the book Wuthering Heights from the narrative point of view of Nelly, a servant who lived most of her life with Catherine. Many have questioned why Bronte would do so.   Why did she not choose someone with more knowledge? Why did she not choose a major character like Heathcliff or Catherine?   The choice to make Nelly the narrator is what makes the book so great. She is one who qualifies most to be the narrator.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This book is very much about love and hate, and Nelly is the one who is totally un-opinionated about the characters.   She was like a mother figure, always there for everybody, and listened to them.   That is what made her a good narrator because she always knew how everyone felt.   She lived At Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange all her life, and experienced the first and second generation, therefore she knew exactly what went on.   If Heathcliff was the narrator, you would not know how Isabella or Edgar felt due to their lack of communication or friendship.   Although Heathcliff's opinion’s are valuable, Nelly's knowledge is more valuable because she got along with and talked to everybody.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nelly never really had a life of her own because she lived at Wuthering Heights all her life.   Therefore, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange were her life.   Nelly was more than a servant, and had a personal relationship with most of the characters. This   is why her story is so efficient, and her lack of knowledge not as important.   S... ...rst generation were left   Thrushcross Grange.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the end, we realize that Nelly was more than a servant.   She was a part of their lives, and considerably a major character.   Without the presence of Nelly, the book would not be the same.   Catherine and Heathcliff would not have anyone to consult or look after them.   There really was not   a mother in the story, but Nelly is practically everyone's mother.   It is very questionable, but Nelly could be more important than Heathcliff (who is more likely favored to being the most important.)    NOTES ***SEVERAL TIMES SEMICOLONS WERE USED AFTER AN INTRODUCTORY CLAUSE WHEN COMMAS SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED*** ***WATCH VERB TENSE! MAKE SURE IT STAYS CONSISTENT WHEN YOU ARE RECALLING THE EVENTS OF THE STORY!***

Beyond Dim Sum :: Personal Narrative Essays

Beyond Dim Sum There is truth to the platitude that it isn't the destination that is important, but the route that one takes to get there. To say my goals for studying abroad were purely academic would be skewing the truth; studying Chinese took me to China. But just as from studying Chinese language, I have gained new insights into China's cultural and historical legacy, so too, in going to China have I gleaned more than just the ability to speak a foreign language. I remember arriving in Beijing. I was awestruck. Tiananmen Square on my left, the Forbidden City on my right, a giant-sized portrait of a deified Mao Zedong looking down on me from above. It seemed unreal. So many times had these images been a part of montages in books and on television, I had become accustomed to representations of this amazing place, but had never taken in "the real thing." It was all so surreal, so wondrous, these impressions were unforgettable. A week into my trip abroad, here is what I wrote as my first journal entry: "I am for the first time in my life truly alone. Alone not just in the sense that I don't have anybody to rely and depend on, but in that I am in a country where I can barely communicate with anyone, and beyond that, I don't have a cultural clue how to follow that old traveler's phrase: 'When in Rome, do what the Romans do.' I am a stranger here. I wear the marks in every sense of the word. It is in the way that I look, it is in my inability to communicate with people, it is in the way I carry myself. Sure, I am nervous, and rather timid. But, the fact is, I am excited. I am finding in China a new kind of engagement; it permeates every minute of my time. All these activities in my life that I have taken for granted, those that even no longer warrant the classification of 'activity,' those things like buying a soda or taking a bus, the r egimens of everyday life, have now become the instruments of my engagement. Ironically, my vehicle is Chinese; until this point, my studies have been so figurative. It is so strange to actually hear people use this language that I have been studying for so long in American classrooms as their everyday mode of communication, as I use English.

War and Heroism in Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five Essay examples -

What is war? Is war a place to kill? Or is it a place where something more than just killing happens? War, as defined by the Merriam Webster is â€Å"a state or period of usually open and declared fighting between states or nations.† War, can also be viewed with romantic ideals where heroes and legends are born. Even the most intelligent of us hold some rather naà ¯ve notions of war. Upon reading Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, intelligent readers have been divested of any romantic notions regarding war they may have harboured. In Slaughterhouse Five the reader is encouraged to show contempt for war and to abandon all hopes of thinking war as a place where deeds of heroism are and bravery are performed. A character in the novel, Roland Weary, seems to think the very opposite of what Vonnegut is trying to communicate in the novel. He sees war as an adventure, a time for exploration, not as a time where horrible atrocities are committed and where massacres take place. Even army personnel turn on each other. Billy Pilgrim who is being beaten by Roland Weary is saved from death, ironically, when a German patrol finds him. Another bunch of characters that seem to ‘mistake’ war as something fun is the English officers at the POW camp. In the words of Vonnegut, â€Å"they made war look stylish, reasonable and fun.† Another interesting thing that Vonnegut does is that he frequently uses the phrase â€Å"So it goes,† after every death or mention of dying in the novel. He uses the phrase very often, and after a certain amount of time, it begins to remind the reader that the reader is powerless to stop all the killing that is going on. Vonnegut uses irony very often to strengthen the readers’ contempt for war. Edgar Derby, the well-liked high sc... ...me soldiers refuse to fire a shot due to the great personal conflict within them to kill another human being. Normal human beings cannot kill in cold blood. Normal human beings usually can’t even think about killing somebody. To not feel remorse after killing a fellow human being would be inhuman. Slaughterhouse Five is not a book that should be glanced over and discarded away like a dirty rag. Slaughterhouse Five is a book that should be carefully analyzed and be seen as an inspiration to further improve the well-being of mankind. Vonnegut makes it clear that an easy way to improve mankind is to see war not as a place where legends are born, but rather, an event to be avoided. Intelligent readers and critics alike should recognize Vonnegut’s work and see to it that they make an effort to understand the complexities behind the human condition that lead us to war.

The Effects of Memory Improvement by Saying Words Aloud

This experiment proposes to study the effects of memory improvement by reciting and saying the words out loud to oneself. Participants will be assigned to either two different types of conditions and will then be required to recall the information of words as best as they can. It is assumed that a higher level of generating the targeted words into memory is improved when readers say the words out loud to themselves. Thus, the hypothesis concluded is that people who say words out loud after reading them are expected to improve their memory in retaining information.The Effects of Memory Improvement by Saying Words Aloud Whenever a person thinks, sees or hear words that are needed later on for remembrance, most of us would automatically try to retain the information by methods of imagery, recitation and elaboration to bring it more meaning in their understanding of the definition of those words. Words and languages are interrelatedly connected and associated with memory. Historically, m emory is a complex system which began in primitive organisms that stores an assorted array of fragments that grows more indispensable as we advance through the years.In terms of retaining memory, humans have extraordinary abilities to accumulate a huge amount of knowledge, but they do not always be able to retrieve or gain access to the parts that have since long been forgotten. Since words serve as a medium to communicate and interact with other people, it is a natural part of daily life that people will say certain words out loud in order to effectively convey particular messages or to recall specific information. According to Macleod et al. 2010), saying a word out loud or at least mouthing it, improves memory function by increasing its distinctiveness, i. e. making it unusual compared to others. The fact that producing a word aloud, which is relative to simply reading a word silently, improves explicit memory (Hourihan & MacLeod, 2010). The past studies done on the effects o f mouthing or vocalizing words to an extent of memory recall often yield consistently similar results in which those who have recited the information out loud were being reinforced to maintain that information for a longer term.Physically moving or acting out the words by means of vocalization would involve certain electrical muscle movement so that information sent to the brain are known to increase mental response, thus it has its relativity on the ‘generation effect’. This generation effect refers to an enhanced memory encoding by which a participant has better memory improvement by being involved in its creation or by acting it out. By vocalizing â€Å"out loud†, recitation in past research by Foley et al. (1983) as cited in Dodson & Schacter (2001) had participants to hear and say words out loud.Reciting words out loud would naturally be one of the most effective method for review because it employs more of the senses than any other review technique (ima gery, auditory). For instance, in Schacter et al. ’s (1999) study, when students were reviewing notes or tests immediately after class by means of vocal recitation, they yielded higher scores in memory improvement because not only will they be consolidating the new information, but also it strengthens the neural traces made to the brain. It ‘provides a basis for employing a distinctiveness heuristic during the test. (Dodson & Schacter, 2001). Reciting words out loud to understand the message conveyed by a sentence or paragraph would only then have a higher chance of that information moving on into the long-term memory, as most verbal information goes first in the short-term memory. When information is rehearsed aloud, part of it goes into our long-term memory. The most recent research done by Hourihan & MacLeod (2010) found that reading words aloud during study explicitly improves memory compared to reading a word silently and this is called ‘the productio n effect’.The researches hold that the production effect is that by saying words aloud would make them distinctive and better recognized than words which are read silently, which will be easier to forget. This distinctiveness is not available for the words read silently (Hourihan & MacLeod, 2010). The production effect has its basis on the generation effect whereby reciting words out loud produce a certain distinctiveness as done by a series of experiments by Macleod et al. , (2008).Moreover, a study done by Strain, Patterson & Seidenberg, (1995) as cited in McKay et al. (2008) found that words containing high imageability (e. g. house, chair, elephant) are proposed to have stronger representations in semantic memory. However, past researches found contrasting results compared to Hourihan & MacLeod’s. Research done by Maisto et al. (1977) as cited in Mohindra & Wilding (1980) in a free recall tests found that saying each word out loud three times had im paired their memory performance when subjected to expected recall.This study is further supported by Folkard & Monk (1979) as cited in Mohindra & Wilding (1980) where they suggested that articulating words impaired free recall. In view of these findings which yielded contrasting or relatively different results in relation to vocalizing words out loud, it can be explained that participants were using a strategic reading process when reading the words aloud, since it does not normally involve the conscious recall of information (MacLeod & Masson, 2000) as cited in McKay et al. 2008). There is also a claim that a potential issue in difference of these researchers’ results could be in the time criterion whereby participants shift the influence of certain words to a different semantic pathway (Strain et al. , 1995, as cited in McKay et al. , 2008). However, recent research done by Reynolds & Besner (2008) suggests that contrary to the view that by vocalizing words out loud is entirely an automatic memory encoding, it in fact requires some form of attention.Previous research was investigated further where participants were exposed to reading lexicon and pseudo homophones aloud that required the use of central attention. In research done by Blais & Besner (2007), repetition of words of lexical representations suggests longer persistence in the early memory processing, as cited by Reynolds & Malley (2008). It was discussed earlier that possibly the mere action of vocalizing words for memory recall will encourage memory improvement at a higher level, thus making a person to be able to better retrieve previous information if need be (Macleod et al. 2010). In another study, Kappel, Harfard, Burns & Anderson, (1973) gave another possible explanation on the advantage of reading words out loud, indicating that serial voiced recall were found to be superior for the later positions, and these results replicates previous experiments done by M urray (1966) and Conrad & Hull (1968). However, Kappel et al. , (1973) proposed that the results reported suggest that differences in participants’ level of processing information to memory between saying out loud and reading silently.Similar to the researches done by Macleod and Hourihan (2010), our proposed study focuses in determining whether reading and saying words out loud would have an effect on people’s memory improvement and recall when acquiring new information. The hypothesis of our proposed experiment is that adults, who vocalize new information aloud is expected to have higher memory improvement and better recall of information, thus have the highest number of correct answers in the test as indication of their reading the story out loud during the experiment.Based on past researches, I am taking the side with the assumption that saying words aloud can aid in memory improvement to gather information during other reviewing or learning new knowledge, as s uch an act would require a certain amount of cognitive effort, thus enabling adults to improve their memory technique on learning tasks at hand. Methods Participants As many as 200 participants from schools and offices will be recruited in this study. All participants will include both English speaking males and females and should be between the ages of 18 to 30 years old.All participants will be divided into two categories, each receiving a story in the English language of an average English proficiency level. It should be estimated that the total number of males and females selected are approximately equal in number. The participants will not engage in any other experiments beforehand. Design In this experiment, we will be using a 1 (memory improvement or performance) x 2 (participants recite the story out loud or does not recite the story out loud) independent design. The first independent variable (IV) is the participants’ memory improvement and their ability to remember certain information in the story.For this proposed experiment, the operational definition of reciting the story out loud is where a participant vocally recites aloud a story as they read and comprehend the story at the same time. The dependent variable (DV) is the vocal recitation of the story either the participants read it out loud, or to just read the story silently. Materials The materials to be used in this experiment include administrative letters sent out to the participants informing them of the research and what is expected of them.Procedural materials include the sheets of paper containing the story, test papers with 30 fill-in-the-blank questions, experimenters’ scripts and a stopwatch to keep track of time. The sheets of paper which contains the story to be later recalled by the participants will be a short story that is in English and contains approximately 1000 words. It is entirely fictional and unique, therefore it is not in any way affiliated to share any res emblance or similarities to stories the participants would have known in the past i. e. fairytales or well-known childhood stories.Thus, we expect the participants to be reading and learning about new information based on the fictional story given. This is done so as to reduce any extraneous variables that may interfere with the results of the experiment. The test papers consist of 30 fill-in-the-blank questions that require the participants to answer by recalling information based on the story provided. This format is chosen to avoid any possibility that participants may get the correct answer by chance of lucky guesses. The experimenters’ scripts will contain the standard instructions for the experimenters to read out to the participants when conducting the experiment.Procedure Participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 2 rooms. In each of the rooms, it is expected to have approximately similar ratio of male and female participants so as to avoid gender directed outcome s and to maintain neutrality. Participants will be led into the room by the experimenter and be asked to take a seat. They will then be briefed on the experiment and will be required to sign two consent forms, one of which is to be kept for themselves and the other, for the research copy of the experimenter.In Room 1, each participant will be provided with a sheet of paper containing the fictional story to be read out loud by the participants. The following instructions will be read out to them: â€Å"You are required to read the fictional story provided out loud. You are highly encouraged to vocalize your words aloud at your own pace. † In Room 2, each participant will be provided with a sheet of paper containing the fictional story. The instructions read will be as follows: â€Å"You are required to read the fictional story given silently. You are not allowed to vocalize your words by reading the story out loud.You will read the story silently at your own pace. † The experiment will take 25 minutes for the participants to take time to read the story. After they read the story, each participant will be given a surprise fill-in-the-blanks test. The test consists of 30 questions relating to the fictional short story that they had to read earlier. Participants will be given 20 minutes to answer the set of questions. Their answer sheets will then be collected and the participants will be thanked for participating in the research. Statistical AnalysisThis experiment will use an independent t-test to calculate the results of the experiment. This test will be used because this study has only 1 IV with 2 levels (1Ãâ€"2) and uses between-subjects design, in which the participants will experience different levels of the IV.References Besner, D. , O’Malley, Shannon, & Robidoux, S. (2010). On the Joint Effects of Stimulus Quality, Regularity, and Lexicality When Reading Aloud: New Challenges. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(3), 750-764. Retrieved June 16, 2010 from PsychARTICLES database. Dodson, Chad S. amp; Schacter, Daniel. L. (2001). If I Had Said It, I Would Remember It: Reducing False Memories with a Distinctiveness Heuristic. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8 (1), 155-161.Retrieved June 14, 2010 from http://pbr. psychonomicjournals. org/content/8/1/155. full. pdf Hourihan, Kathleen L. & Macleod, Colin M. (2008). Directed Forgetting Meets the Production Effect: Distinctive Processing is Resistant to Intentional Forgetting. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol. 62, No. 4, 242-246. Retrieved June 14, 2010 from PsychARTICLES database. Kappel, S. , Harford, M. , Burns, V. & Anderson, N. (1973). Effects of Vocalization on Short-Term Memory for Words. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 101(2), 314-317. Retrieved June 16, 2010 from PsychARTICLES database. MacLeod, C. , Gopie, N. , Hourihan, K. , Neary, K. , & Ozubko, J. (2010).The Production Effect: Delinea tion of a Phenomenon. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 36(3). 671-685. Retrieved June 16, 2010 from PsychARTICLES database. McKay, A. , Davis, C. , Savage, G. , & Castles, A. (2008). Semantic Involvement in Reading Aloud: Evidence from a Non-Word Training Study. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34(6), 1495-1517.Retrieved June 18 from PsychARTICLES database. Reynolds, M. , & Besner, D. (2008). Contextual Effects on Reading Aloud: Evidence for Pathway Control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34(1), 50-64. Retrieved June 14, 2010 from PsychARTICLES database. Wilding, J. , & Mohindra, N. (1980). Effects of Subvocal Suppression, Articulating Aloud and Noise on Sequence Recall. British Journal of Psychology, 71(2), 247. Retrieved June 18, 2010 from Academic Source Premier database.