Does Patriotism Still Matter?

Does Patriotism still Matter? Ah! You ask me,† Does patriotism still matter? † Well of course patriotism still matters! When you think of all of the love you receive for yourself, shouldn’t you apply that similar love to your country? I could definitely dig out a few explanations. Well first of all, without patriotism we wouldn’t have peace or stability. A good supportive foundation wouldn’t hurt, but bring healing to our soldiers who risk their lives to sacrifice themselves for the love, or patriotism, for their country.Also, during a present war, without patriotism, what is left in this world to support! Pretty much everything that our world is revolving around is war. Lastly, the peace and stability for one’s country is provided by their citizens who show their true patriotism. Second of all, a country without patriotism is like a dog without an owner. When a pup is hungry, an owner’s duty is to feed it, right? Well it’s the sa me with a country, because when a country is empty for patriotism it’s our duty to feed it with patriotism! What kind of a country would it be without the symbol of patriotism?We would be a stray! On top of that, countries are supposed to be united! Patriotism keeps countries together like a family. Being patriotic helps us recollect those who have lost their lives battling and fighting for the rights we own today. Just think, â€Å"What if I had family who fought and lost their life fighting for me? † Think back in history, even during the civil war when to regions of the U. S. were bludgeoning each other for the right of freedom of slavery. One of the most famous Generals, Stonewall Jackson, was killed fighting for his region.Patriotism is what held him up to lead up to his death. He was confident and patriotism motivated him. Or what about Major General Howe who lost his life in the Battle of Bunker Hill? He also was physically and emotionally motivated by patriotis m. Okay, I think that I have specified my hypothesis. The answer to the question, is patriotism still important, is strictly, yes! Patriotism plays a major role in modern society and is one of the main components in our political office. All I know is, I love my country like hot fudge on ice cream!

Literature Review on Customer Relationship Essay

The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry that mostly depends on the availability of leisure time and disposable income. â€Å"CRM†, or Customer Relationship Management, is one of the most important topics in the business world. Its attributes and consequences cannot be disaffirmed. Without proper customer relationship management, there is no way you can build interest and acquire and retain customers to the business, in order to be profitable. CRM features an embryonic reputation and it is getting among the most popular educational as well as useful subjects in the industrial area. Due to the competing atmosphere, it has turn into a niche with regard to a company’s overall performance. Still there is certainly restricted investigation which shows the relationship between CRM and hotels’ overall performance. Consequently this particular research is a try to give a worth conceptual model which describes the actual speculative linkages between CRM and hotel’s performance. This particular research just not explains the connection among CRM and hotel performance, but in addition describes the actual mediation part of promoting/marketing abilities in the relationship. â€Å"CRM is never done, it is an ongoing effort.† The essence of a customer-focused environment is a preliminary indication of how the hotel industry can truly benefit from a strategic and focused approach to CRM. Hotel companies have in evidence had recourse to elements of CRM for a variety of strategic and tactical reasons. It is argued that the success of a strategy depends not only on the ability of a company to identify and understand what its target customers genuinely need and want, but also on the company’s ability to deliver enhanced value in terms of these specific needs and wants (Diana Luck and Geoff Lancaster ,2013). In order to remain competitive, hospitality and tourism companies must adopt the knowledge management approach (Ruhanen & Cooper, 2004). As customers become more experienced at finding the best deals for hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and tourist destinations, the hospitality and tourism organizations face increasingly intense worldwide competition. Considering  the severe competition and the nature of the industry, employees and managers have to acquire more knowledge, in order to consistently provide the best deals and service to customers. What is more, customers’ preferences can be various and changeable, requiring employees and managers to understand the changes and continue to provide the best experience (Hallin & Marnburg, 2008). However, the question often posed is: What kind of knowledge should be obtained in order to gain competitive advantage (Ruhanen & Cooper, 2004). One of the basic and most common sources of failure for CRM implementations is a missing customer strategy â€Å"as the creation of a unique and valuable position involving a different set of activities†. A robust customer strategy is based on customer segmentation is one of the first steps necessary when implementing a sound CRM solution (Gillies et al.2002). Human beings have had the urge to select and choose what to them can satisfy their desires since creation and will continue to have this desire because of their changing nature. This tendency makes them explore what to them is the best in terms of quality when purchasing, especially in the area of service consumption. This is supported by Palmer’s assertion that: â€Å"customers have always been concerned about quality and that the proliferation of competitive market for a lot of services has also made customers become more selective in the services they choose†. This attitude means that service providers must be innovative in their service provision and delivery. The Hotel Industry is also experiencing increased globalization, competition, higher customer turnover, growing customer acquisition costs and rising customer expectations, meaning that hotels’ performance and competitiveness is significantly dependent on their ability to satisfy customers efficiently and effectively. To enhance profitability and guest loyalty, hotels must nowadays focus on implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies/techniques that aim to seek, gather and store the right information, validate and share it throughout the entire organization and then use it throughout all organizational levels for creating personalized and unique guests’ experiences (Nana Yaw Asabere and Vida Doku, IJAIEM, Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013). To retain customers, the relationship with customers has to be managed in a long-term and trusting manner for mutual benefits. Thus, the adoption of CRM should enhance the hotels’ performance through increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty, declining customer acquisition costs and increasing profitability by customers who are willing to pay a premium for better services (Piccoli et al., 2003). Although CRM is imperative for organizational survival, its implementation has resulted in mixed outcomes (King and Burgess, 2008), which is customer oriented believing that customer loyalty increases organization’s profitability. Therefore, Performance is improved since CRM involves the ongoing process development of market intelligence for building and maintaining a profit-maximizing portfolio of customer relationship (see Zablah et al., 2004). Thus, the hotels are expected to use strategy that focused on customers in order to sustain their competitive advantage. For these hotels, the use of the financial measures is not only short-term oriented but also inadequate to capture the customer perspective of performance (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). Customer-related performance measures are therefore needed to quantify customer relationships (Shoemaker and Lewis, 1999) and to differentiate customers who are worthy of the CRM efforts (Noone et al., 2003). All participating hotels have practices in place to manage customer relationships. The most commonly cited goal for CRM is guest retention. Evaluation and control are perceived as very important activities not only to create value for the customers, but also to track the performance of the guest contact departments and the customers’ evaluations of the hotel/restaurant experiences (Ada S. Lo, Hong Kong, 2010). Freeland (2002) suggests that organization must address four critical strategies and understand the key interplay with them: * Identifying the customer * Selecting the most appropriate channel to reach the customer * Receiving the effects on the brands value * Determining the most appropriate CRM capabilities (Wolfgang Emperger, 2004) The use of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application to create a business strategy is an excellent way to increase customer loyalty and customer retention. By personalizing a customer’s stay, a hotel can ensure that customers will come back again and again simply by remembering their favorite beverage, pillow or other preferred amenity (Nick Nikolis, Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2066799).

Review on the readings below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Review on the readings below - Essay Example At full capacity of its pipeline, Azerbaijan’s revenues rose to $20 billion, growing by a third every year (De Waal 171). In 1994, the government signed a $10 billion contract with nine foreign companies, which created the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC). From these contracts, Azerbaijan used oil to become a politically visible country. Until present times, Caspian energy remains a strategic tool in the political decisions and foreign affairs of the U.S. in the region. Thomas de Waal is a British journalist and a writer on the Caucasus. He is a valid source on the Caspian issues because he has written several books and articles on them. What is most interesting in the chapter is how oil has become the center of political battlefield in Azerbaijan. The familiarity with such issues is only in the Middle East, but it is clear that the South Caucasus also presented the same political-economic nexus. The chapter is relevant to the course because it shows how widespread the oil war is, both economically and politically. Chapter 7 narrates the rise of modern Georgia, its Rose Revolution and other internal and regional conflicts. The Rose Revolution of November 2003 aimed to establish a democratic society and to enhance human rights and living conditions. At the same time, it wanted to decrease corruption and improve the national economy. Corruption was most prominent in 1999, under President Eduard Shevardnadze. Dismal economic conditions lasted until 2003. The Rose Revolution was initiated by the military to generate political and economic changes. However, conflicts continued afterwards because of the failure of the new government in addressing reforms and the remaining tension between Georgia and Russia. Chapter 7 provides a good example of a government that was changed from within through military intervention and not through any other popular

The process of globalisation and its impacts on international business Essay

The process of globalisation and its impacts on international business activities - Essay Example ocess is further understood in the 20th century colonialism in Africa and Latin America, where the capitalists seek to extend their dominion and individualism ideas to the ‘new’ worlds. During this epoch, new economies emerged through the adoption of capitalistic model of governance, which catapulted the Western European countries to financial glory in the early 19th century. Mann (2006) summarises in his book that the process of Globalization was deeply founded in imperialism. Economies opened up for accrual in the First World realms at the cost of exploitation of the Third World nations. In this phase, the outlook of Globalization relied on the leadership fashion of the rulers of that time. The leadership mentality enabled the imperialists distinctively segregate people based on social strata, enabling them further exploit the Third World countries. The raw materials from these nations were extracted and utilised in military and administrative developments by the First World countries; this way, the economies continued to flourish whereas the poor nations were hard-pressed more to paucity. The next stage of Globalization centred on inter-imperial business actions. The joint trade between the European states, the United States of America and more recently, Japan founded a chain of groups on regional echelon, collectively with the governing powers. The economic alliances gave rise to collaborations and competitions in the business realm, leading to a faceoff for market share control by the multinationals. The coalition also bolstered the exploitation of the Third World markets more effective (McCarthy, 2012). Foreign trade forms a fundamental part of Globalization. Transfer of supplies on an international scale is closely interlaced with the different orders of the social ladder and the commercial markets. The nature of the relationship helps the facade of Globalization attain a class disposition (Gilbertson, 2009). As much as the morphology of

The qualities of the hero and antihero Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The qualities of the hero and antihero - Essay Example Playing the hero, Indiana Jones is an idealist. He starts a principled journey against the powerful Nazis and their leader Adolf Hitler in search of the Ark of the Pledge. Indy stands up to bad guys, Nazi thugs, who are determined to acquire the ark. He sacrificed himself against great odds. For instance he compromised his distress of snake in order to acquire the ark. Indiana role as a hero also demonstrates when he rescues Marion and reclaims the ark from Belloq and the Dietrich. Jones is always pro-active and makes effective decisions. For instance, when he surrenders rather than destroy the ark, an important historical artifact, now in the possession of Belloq. Indiana always succeeded in his goals, which is a true definition of a hero. He managed to keep the agreement out of the reach of the Nazis. Playing the role of an anti-hero in the movie Payback, Mel Gibson (Porter) is a realist. Porter is a criminal: a killer, a thief, a thug, a gambler, a cheater, and a liar. He murdered many, including Resnick and Philip. Self-interest drives him as shown when he narrated; he had $70,000 robbed from him, and that is what he desires to get back The heroism in him demonstrates through the vengeance mentality. He stands up to authority in tracking the money that had passed into the hands of "the Outfit". In order to reach Resnick, the Porter first dealt with Arthur Stegman, the Chinese trios, crime bosses from the Outfit, and the unethical police detectives Leary an d Hicks. Most notably as an antihero, Porter eventually fails in his goal of reclaiming the money. Harrison Ford depicted as Indiana Jones is evidently a masculine character. Indiana shows heroism through the enormous resources he possesses for the use of the gun, fists and whip when relevant. Indiana also demonstrates the character of a rebel. In a general view, Indiana

Analysis of Heart of Darkness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Heart of Darkness - Essay Example Referred to as the â€Å"dark continent†, Africa was one of the world’s ‘dark places’ that the Europeans had colonized by the 1890s. It is perceived in other the places (Africa, England and Brussels) that Conrad describes as depressing, dark areas. Darkness symbolizes the unknown, gaining power because we are afraid to find out what it is hiding from us (for example, in Section 2, Part II, when Marlow’s steamer enters an oppressive fog bank resulting in blurring and distortion of vision, the men aboard it are terrified when they hear a high-pitched scream followed by a clamor of savage voices; their terror emanates from their knowledge that danger is lurking somewhere in the foggy darkness, but they are unable to see it or gauge its potency (http://www.novelguide.com/heartofdarkness/index.html). It is the metaphoric meaning of darkness that is more prevalent throughout the novel. Conrad refers to darkness as the human inability to see beyond another individual’s personal faà §ade, and the inability to understand the feelings of that individual, both of which lead to inability to establish any sort of mutual understanding or sympathetic interaction with that person. Darkness is compelling and alluring. Unknown danger has always been a magnet that has drawn humans to dare and explore it. In the context of the novel, darkness conceals unknown dangers in Africa that Europeans dare to tackle for the rewards it would bring. To the company men, the reward is material wealth represented by ivory; to Marlow, the African darkness conceals adventure, this being the main reason he traveled to that place due to a map he came across (Section 1, Part I), depicting the region as unexplored land (http://www.novelguide.com/heartofdarkness/index.html). Darkness is used as a cloak to conceal acts of savagery. Conrad suggests that such a cloak of darkness can camouflage savage acts that would be impossible to contemplate in European civilization. For example, Kurtz

International Business Management Master Essay

International Business Management Master - Essay Example "Passenger revenue" is initially recorded as a liability for sales in advance of carriage, with revenue from ticket sales recognised at the time that the Company provides the transportation. In respect of unused ticket revenue recognised, estimations are needed based on historical trends regarding liability for tickets sold but not yet processed, the timing and amount of tickets used for travel on other airlines and the amount of tickets sold that will not be used. These are used to determine the timing and amount of unused ticket revenue recognised. Changes to these estimation methods could have a material effect on the presentation of the financial results. Periodic evaluations are performed of the estimated liability for tickets sold but not yet processed. Any adjustments, which can be significant, are included in results of operations for the periods in which the evaluations are completed. These adjustments relate primarily to differences between the statistical estimation of cer tain revenue transactions and the related sales price as well as refunds, exchanges, interline transactions and other items for which final settlement occurs in periods subsequent to the sale of the related tickets at amounts other The Company's "cargo" business is operated as a contribution centre. ... This allows the maximisation the use of its scheduled route network to provide a worldwide cargo service. The management group utilises trucks to feed cargo to its major hubs in Europe and the United States. "Revenue" is recognised when the transportation service is provided. Passenger ticket and cargo waybill sales, net of discounts, are recorded as current liabilities in the 'sales in advance of carriage' account until recognised as revenue. Unused tickets are recognised as revenue using estimates regarding the timing of recognition based on the terms and conditions of the ticket and historical trends. Other revenue is recognised at the time the service is provided. Commission costs are recognised at the same time as the revenue to which they relate and are charged to cost of sales. "Employee benefits", including pensions and other post-retirement benefits (principally post-retirement healthcare benefits) are presented in these financial statements in accordance with IAS 19 - 'Employee Benefits'. For the Group's defined benefit plans, post-retirement obligations are measured at discounted present value whilst plan assets are measured at fair value at the balance sheet date. The cost of current service costs are recognised in the income statement so as to recognise the cost of providing the benefit on a straight line basis over the service lives of the employees using the projected unit credit method. Past service costs are recognised when the benefit has been given. The financing cost and expected return on plan assets are recognised within financing costs in the periods in which they arise. The accumulated effect of changes in estimates, changes in

Summarizing Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summarizing - Article Example The article also deals with the idea of government subsidies in funding research projects and comes up with the finding that government subsidies often harm the poor and the middle classes more than they help them. The practice of providing subsidies is more often than not, according to the writer, justified using the rhetoric of unemployment and the need to provide more work to American companies. This is not however, what the character Dave argues for. He looks at the negligible difference that a fall in demand in the American market would create in the world market and puts into perspective the influence that tariffs imposed by the government could have on producing more jobs. He looks at the problems with introducing a tariff against foreign-produced goods as Ed says (Protection). The idea of free trade that Dave argues for is more often than not refuted by proponents of government intervention citing the reason of ‘fair trade’. This implies the ability of firms with in a country to be protected against the onslaught of foreign companies that may have more money and power (Edge). However, providing subsidies may not push down the price of goods in the local economy. They would not benefit the local consumer. Apart from this, there is also no data available to substantiate the argument that local businesses would be at an advantage as their cost of production may still be higher than that of the foreign company. To increase the tariff to an extent where the foreign firms would not be able to compete would take jobs away from the American market rather than boost the economy. The difference in price would be transferred on to the local consumers. Dave also warns about the possibility of other countries imposing equally large taxes on American firms. This would lead to greater problems in the long run for the American economy and its people. There is also the possibility of there being lobbies that affect the government’s decisions. Much of the tariffs that are imposed on products are based on the political power and influence that local firms have rather than the economic wisdom of the decision. The people who suffer amidst all of this are the taxpayers. The idea of free trade involves the assumption that what is required by a particular consumer would be provided by the market according to the laws of demand and supply (Rothbard â€Å"Free Market†). The idea of free trade is then in direct conflict with the ideas of protectionism which let certain elements have an advantage based on the support of the government. This is unsustainable in a free market in a globalized setup as it would lead to the kind of problems that are detailed above. The existence of two systems in conflict with each other can only prove to be disastrous in the long run. The adverse impact of such a policy can be seen in the economic slump that is experienced by Japan at this point of time (Rothbard â€Å"Protectionism and the Destruction of Prosperity†). The policies that are created according to such ideologies more often than not end up harming large sections of the taxpaying population in the country. The article illustrates the problems with the kind of funding that is provided by the government to private concerns. The essay suggests that they end up benefitting certain individuals while causing greater harm to the middle classes. The money that they pay is used for such funding; however, the benefits are reaped by the richest sections of

Isolation and Loneliness in Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Isolation and Loneliness in Of Mice and Men Essay In the novel Of Mice and Men the theme of loneliness and isolation can hardly be ignored as there are elements of them in key moments in the story. Isolation and loneliness plays a huge role in the story and some of the points that make this book a very gripping read, they also put things across that most of us would not have imagined in the first place. George and Lennie play the biggest part to the themes of loneliness and isolation. When they first arrive at the ranch everybody is very surprised to see two itinerant workers travelling around together. The night before George and Lennie come to the ranch they are sitting by the brush they say to each other Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world They dont belong no placeBut not us! Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you. George and Lennies dream of themselves owning a ranch together and having a house with two separate bedrooms for each other, this in the day the book was written was very strange because people keep themselves to themselves and travel on their own they would do almost anything to share a room with somebody just for the company. But George and Lennie arent lonely and they want their own space away from other people. All of the other workers are not afraid to tell George and Lennie that they find it strange that two workers are travelling together and Lennie can only speak when George lets him. The ranch owner tells George that he will keep an eye on them because George may be trying to take something from George, for example his money. This is a perfect example of how people thought about workers travelling together. A good point about having friends on the ranch is if you get in a fight you have someone to stick up for you. An example of this is when Curley starts to hit Lennie he does nothing until George tells him that he can hit back and so he does and Curley gets what he probably deserves. The friendship that George and Lennie has is very important especially to Lennie because most other people would not be able to put up with him being a pest and causing them to loose their previous job in weed due to Lennie doing something stupid. If it was not for these two friends looking out for each other Lennie would probably been killed a lot earlier on in the story and not by George. Curleys wife is also a great example of loneliness and isolation on the ranch. Steinbeck does not give her a name. That makes her feel unimportant and she is not wanted, even though she plays a big part in the novel about the themes of dreams and in a way stops Lennie and George from getting their own dream of their own ranch. She is the only woman on a ranch full of men. This means that there is an immediate sense of loneliness because if any of the workers are caught flirting with her there will be trouble because Curleys dad is the ranch owner and he can get the workers sacked if his son tells him to, so Curleys wife has to stay in her house all day and the only person she can really talk to is Curley. Towards the end of the novel when Curleys wife is talking to Lennie in the barn it is the first time in the whole novel when she actually has a full conversation with anybody. She opens up to Lennie and tells him things that she has never told anyone else before, probably because she has nobody else to talk to. She really lets her hair down and tells him all sorts of things like she tells him that she does not like to only have to talk to Candy because she does not like him and that he is not a nice person. The only reason why she married him was so that she can escape her previous life at home. She also says Think I dont like to talk to somebody ever once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time. On the ranch Candy is another perfect example of loneliness and isolation. Because he is old and disabled the other workers have a different attitude to him. His equivalent to a friend on the ranch was hi old dog. Because his dog was old and no longer useful so they kill it. Candy hopes they shoot him when he gets unable to do any work. At the very end of the novel when Lennie has killed Curleys wife and Curley is hunting him down. George is the one to kill Lennie because they were friends and he wanted no body else to shoot him. This shows friendship even when Lennie has done something very bad up until his last moment George can still find it in his heart to be kind to Lennie.

What Love & Logic Means to Effective Parenting Essay Example for Free

What Love Logic Means to Effective Parenting Essay What parents want is to cherish their kids, have fun with them, and enjoy a less stressful family life. There is never a shortage of advice from friends, family and even well-meaning strangers when becoming a parent. Nothing can ever truly prepare parents for the actual experience of raising children. We all want to be great parents and we all want to do the right thing, but in addition to balancing all the advice we’re given against our own upbringing and instincts, we still struggle. As parents we set the rules and expect our children to obey them†¦. In other words: What I say goes-or else. Previous generations took a much more punitive and fear-based approach to parenting, which feeds the illusion that our parents and grandparents didn’t have to do much to earn respect; it was simply an automatic response by their children. The truth is much of that discipline was rooted in corporal punishment or fear –inducing experiences that made their children appear to have respect and did indeed impact their behavior. Love and Logic Parenting offers an affective and beneficial way to parenting without resorting to corporal punishment, spanking or hitting our children. It is no longer considered healthy or socially acceptable to paddle children in school, slap children in the face or spank them with a belt when they do something wrong. In fact, those actions are now typically considered child abuse. Respect nowadays needs to be earned through appropriate discipline techniques not fear. By setting clear rules and expectations, explaining the consequences of their actions, and following through and enforcing those consequences fairly and consistently. Modeling, showing a good example, has been proven to affect children positively in every area of life: academic achievement, employment, health habits, peer and romantic relationships, coping, as well as communication and conflict resolution. And just as modeling good behavior is important, it’s also important for a parent to admit when they have made a mistake, particularly when it comes to their kids. If they see an adult own up to having done something wrong, they, too, will learn to take responsibility when they do something wrong. It may be desirable of parents to hang out with their children or teenagers and be more like friends than parent/child. Being a child’s friend can’t be a priority, our job is to be a good parent! This doesn’t mean that parents can’t enjoy activities and good times with their children, but it does mean that rules need to be made, boundaries set, and consequences enforced. At times, parents may not be the most popular person in the house! Sometimes, what’s right for your child and/or family isn’t what your child wants. When it comes to a parent/child relationship, there is an automatic hierarchy: the parent is in charge. In an actual friendship , both parties ideally get equal say. But parent‘s aren’t exactly a friend. Parents are guides, leader, instructors and disciplinarians†¦ and when the work is done, and then they can hang out with their children. All parents want a close, good relationship with their children and to enjoy time with them. As parent’s we get to say when, how and what happens. There may come a point, if parents have been dealing with their child’s serious problems for a prolonged period of time, at which they simply give up hope that things can change for the better. If parents are coping with serious issues like substance abuse, mental illness, eating disorders, truancy, aggression or even rebellion, parents may feel like anything and everything in their power to change the situation has been tried. At no time in history have parents been unsure of their parental role, even the best aren’t sure about whether they are using the best techniques. Society has changed; therefore the children of this genera tion compared to the children of previous generations have changed. Through the years, parenting styles have changed however, one newer parenting program, parenting with Love Logic offers parent’s simple and practical techniques that aren’t as easily found with other parenting programs such as Total Transformation or The Incredible Years Parenting Program. Parenting with Love Logic helps parents and teachers have more fun and less stress while raising children. Most parents do not understand how the techniques our parents and grandparents used so effectively just don’t seem to work with kids today. A lot of parents today are wondering what to do with their kids and frustrated that the old techniques just don’t seem to get the job done anymore. Many conflicting philosophies and books have been written and many of them sound good, but they haven’t seemed to be able to do the job of helping children become respectful, responsible and a joy to be around. Although, many ideas are offered with the best intensions, they center on making sure our kids are comfortable and feeling good about themselves in order to have self-concept. However, through Love Logic parents have discovered that self -confidence is achieved through struggle and achievement, not through someone telling kids that they are number one. Raising children, who are self-confident, motivated, and ready for the real world, can be a win-win approach to parenting. Children will win because they will have learned to solve problems while gaining the confidence they need to meet life’s challenges. Parents will win by establishing healthy control without resorting to anger, threats, nagging or exhausting power struggles. Love Logic teaches parents to â€Å"lock in â€Å"empathy, love, and understanding prior to telling kids what the consequences of their actions are. It teaches parents to hold their kids accountable for their mistakes. When a child is talking back or yelling at you, instead of yelling back or match wits with the child try something new and unexpected, don’t waste energy simply try telling them â€Å"I love you too much to argue, or â€Å"I will talk to you when you when you can talk in a normal tone of voice;† and see what happens. This will surprise the child when they aren’t getting a rise out of you. Children need to be given the opportunity to make choices even if the choices they make are not always right ones, it is a choice that they made, therefore, they have to face the consequences and be held accountable. Provide choices by avoiding power struggles, letting the child make decisions, and help them learn from their mistakes. This helps improve parent/child relationships and builds the child’s self -confidence. Love Logic offers parents the skills required to feel more relaxed, hopeful and positive with their children. Parents will discover that parenting doesn ’t have to be as hard as it seems to be and parents can teach personal responsibility and respect without losing their child’s love. As parent’s, many only have a few years left to prepare our children for a world that requires responsibility and maturity for endurance. Many parents are continually amazed how Love Logic changes lives and how the principles work not only with children, but also parents and adults. It has converted many people’s parenting philosophies. With Parenting with Love Logic parents have a place in guiding their children to healthy and successful lives. Parents are expected to be experts, but parenting is a learning process, especially appropriate and effective parenting. There is a way through parent training that has been shown to be effective at reducing child behavior problems including rebelliousness. Parent programs may seem like common sense but many needs to learn techniques and implement them consistently. The instructions given are important in determining compliance; the way in which a command is given can often greatly influence the child’s understanding of the command. Parents often give orders that are not specific or clear enough to be truly understood by the child and parents often do not give children sufficient time to act in accordance with requests. Techniques that work with Love Logic are forcible statements, choices, compassion, then consequences, diffusing arguments and guiding children to solve their own problems. Enforceable statements are no threats, anger, frustration and no warnings. Parenting programs are offered to help parents in helping raise our children effectively. Love Logic primarily teaches character. The formula is the child makes a mistake, and the adult responds with compassion instead of anger, the child learns from the consequences of their actions. The rules of Love Logic are adults set firm limits in loving ways, without anger, lecture or threats. When a child causes a problem, the adult hands it back in a loving and consistent way. There are three different styles of parenting. Helicopter parenting, where the parent hovers over children and try to save them from the hostile world in which we live. Drill Sergeant parenting, where the parent commands and directs the lives of the children. The Consultant Parent provides the guidance and consultant services for their children. The helicopter parent never allows their children to suffer the natural consequences of their mistakes and choices, constantly bailing them out. This type of parent requires or expects nothing from their child and does not instill accountability in their child. The drill sergeant parent demands that things be done now and tells the child how to think, feel and handle all responsibilities. The consultant parent uses Love Logic techniques, they give messages of personal worth and strength, provide and help explore alternatives and then allows the child to ma ke his or her own decision, provides time frames in which the child may complete responsibilities. Consultant parents model doing a good job, finishing, cleaning up and feeling good about it. They use many actions but very few words, and allow the child to experience life’s natural consequences. Family values were considerably different than those of previous decades, and to a great extent, this was the intention of previous generations. Other than the fact that teenagers have more technology and more material things nowadays, there is no difference in teenagers now as opposed to teenagers in my generation. Teens have been rebellious, prone to experimentation, impulsive, and in great need of acceptance from their peers. This has led them to teenagers making some not so wise choices, both in the previous generations as well as in the current generation. Every generation of parents has worried and wondered if there is any hope for the next generation. Kids and teenagers also have been enthusiastic, generous, energetic, and creative to their schools and communities. Give our children a chance to do something worthwhile, and most of them will step up. All they need is a little guidance and a sense of meaning in their lives. The driving societal changes in the 80’s and 90’s women’s liberation movements, high divorce rates, and the need for mothers to enter the work force played into the hands of those starting families early in the previous decades of the 20th century. All of these influences directly impacted the families we grew up in, and how the next generation would be raised. More often, than not children are growing up in broken homes. The reality is that more children are born to unwed or teenage mothers. I think that the Love Logic program should be offered as a mandatory program for all parents. Through Parenting with Love Logic introspection gives our children the values they deserve, it guides our children to solve their problems; it helps in making our children responsible for their own actions; and our children will love us for holding them accountable; and it offers parents ways to teach our children. Cline, Foster W. Fay, Jim Rev. ed. of: Parenting teens with love logic. c1992. Fay, Jim. Teaching with Love Logic. Golden, CO: The Love and Logic Press, Inc., 1995 School Discipline, Classroom Management Ginott, Haim G. Between parent and teenager. [New York] Macmillan [1969 Glasser, Howard. Transforming the difficult child: the nurtured heart approach. Tucson, Ariz.: Center for the Difficult Child Publications, c1998. Grandin, Temple. Developing talents: Careers for individuals with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Pub., 2004. Grundfast, Kenneth. Ear infections in your child. Hollywood, Fla.: Compact Books, c1987. Haddon, Mark. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. 1st Vintage Contemporaries ed. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 2004. Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbors dog and uncovers secret information about his mother. Hallowell, Edward M. Driven to distraction: recognizing and coping with attention deficit disorder from childhood through adulthood. 1st Touchstone ed. New York: Simon Schuster, 1995. Hamersky, Jean, 1953-. Cartoon cut-ups: teaching figurative language humor. Eau Claire, Wis. : Thinking Publications, c1995. Navigating the Social World. Kajander, Rebecca. Living with ADHD: a practical guide to coping with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: for parents, teachers, physicians, and all those who care for children with ADHD. Minneapolis, Minn. : The Foundation, c1995. Kurcinka, Mary Sheedy, 1953-. Raising your spirited child: a guide for parents whose child is more #intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent, and energetic. Rev. Ed. New York: Harper, 2006. Kurcinka, Mary Sheedy, 1953-. Raising your spirited child workbook. 1st Ed. New York, NY: Harper to The Effects of the Becoming Perennial, c1998. Leftin, Howard I. The family contract: a blueprint for successful parenting. Washington, D.C. : PIA Press, c1990.

Interest theory of rights, a summary and evaluation

Interest theory of rights, a summary and evaluation Theoretical Foundation of Human Rights: What is the interest theory of rights? Does this theory fail to answer any important questions? â€Å"If the concept of human rights is universal, that is, possesses a validity which is good for all places and for all times, then it is apparent that there is a significant disparity in the way in which these rights are concretised from place to place and from time to time. While the idea of human rights may have a discernible homogeneity, perhaps derived from some kind of natural law theory or social theory, it is nonetheless clear that the implementation of these rights by states lacks a corresponding identity.† (Davidson, 1993:89) Both international relations and moral theories feature prominent debate on the concept and the purpose of human rights yet there appears little by way of consensus with regards to what these rights mean, where the judicial boundaries of action and inaction meet or how to implement the utilitarian principles first adopted by the United Nations in response to the humanitarian horrors witnessed during World War Two. The crux of this theoretical problem resides in the evolution of the concept of human rights – an evolution that has worked in tandem with the evolution of liberal democracy in the West since 1945 when â€Å"Western tradition required, as a response to totalitarianism, a reassertion of individual liberty, and for that liberty to be protected by an international law rather than diplomacy.† (Robertson, 2006:29) By this we mean to say that whereas historical notions of human rights were underpinned by the spectre of the state and the state’s ability to def end persecuted minorities, contemporary notions of human rights have moved beyond the confines of the state and the public sector to incorporate the private citizen and the defence of his or her individual human rights (as opposed to the collective human rights of a people or a state). This is a reflection of the shifting paradigms that have affected liberal democracy at the dawn of the twenty first century where the merging of the public and the private sectors has created a moral, judicial and ideological black hole into which uncertainty and indecision have stepped. The following essay seeks to look at the ways in which this political sense of uncertainty has pervaded the ideological sphere of human rights where according to Saladin Meckled-Garcia and Basak Cali (2005:10-30) the human rights ideal has become ‘lost in translation.’ We propose to look in particular at the ‘interest’ theory of rights, analysing the ways in which it has helped to shed new light on the topic of human rights in general while at the same time highlighting its theoretical flaws. A conclusion will be sought that attempts to underscore the link between rights, indecision and inaction particularly when we view the issue from an international perspective. Before we can begin, though, we need to offer a definition of the interest theory of rights. The interest theory of rights was first proposed by Bentham (1987) who argued that a person has a distinctive human right when others have duties which protect one of that person’s interests. Thus, viewed from the perspective of the interest theory of rights, â€Å"human rights takes their role to be to protect a person’s basic interests.† (Pogge, 2007:186) This constitutes the most fundamental interpretation of human rights within the liberal democratic ideological framework alluded to in the introduction, falling within the theoretical parameters of what Meckled-Garcia and Cali (2005:10) refer to as the ‘normative rights model’ (NRM) which â€Å"identifies features or aspects of our humanity which contribute to our well being and which are vulnerable to the actions of others.† The interest theory of rights therefore seeks to safeguard these features or aspects of our humanity by protecting a citizen’s rights against wrongdoing from another citizen within the same social, political and judicial framework. That it is to say that if, for instance, it is in one’s interests to not to be physically assaulted then, as far as the interest theory is concerned, it is the responsibility of both the individual and the state to ensure that this does not happen lest the basic interests of another individual be impinged upon. Moreover, there is, as Meckled-Garcia and Cali (2005:11) declare, â€Å"no principled difference is made between individual and collective.† This is in direct contrast to international human rights law (IHRL) where only the state can impinge upon the basic human rights of individuals or groups of individuals living within that sovereign state. As a consequence, we can see that the first and most prominent drawback to the interest theory of rights is that there exists such a wide divergence between theory and practice; between the interpretation of the rights and responsibilities of the individual citizen versus the interpretation of the rights and responsibilities of the sovereign state. This is to say that while the interest theory of rights brings to the fore important concepts relating to the synthesis of the values pertaining to liberty, community and mutuality – concepts which Francesca Klug (2000) refers to as values for a ‘godless age’ – it falls of short establishing important criteria with regards to who these rights apply to (the rights holder), who these rights impose duties upon (the duty bearer) and what exactly these duties entail. Therefore, we can see that, rather than seeking to impose values for a godless age, interest theories relating to rights merely help to perpetuate the mi sunderstanding and the misconception of the ideal of human rights so that the definition, interpretation and subsequent implantation of rights remains an ideological and theoretical quagmire (Cali and Meckled-Garcia, 2005:1‑9). As a result, we can deduce that the first and most prominent failure of the interest theory is that it does not address the concept of establishing a universal concept for human rights and that it fails to address the question of what human rights are and how they are best protected. Addressing the moral aspect of human rights at the expense of the broader legal and judicial imperative only ensures additional questions will be raised as to the purpose of rights as a social, cultural and political ideal. We can also declare that the interest theory of rights is, in its bid to politicise every sphere of human relationships and human interaction, wholly incompatible with international human rights law because â€Å"international law, by its nature, contains traits which alter the nature of human rights provisions† (Meckled-Garcia and Cali, 2005:23). That is to say that, as a branch of international law, international human rights law is distinct from domestic law of sovereign states that act as the defining means of arbitrating power between individuals on a state by state basis. Yet, as is the case with all law, human rights law clearly and identifiably differs when the concept is transferred from territory to territory; state to state. Human rights in the United Kingdom are, for instance, an inherently different moral concept from human rights in the United States where the boundaries between the legal and the illegal are set by democratically elected domestic governments. Lik ewise, there are distinct judicial differences between domestic human rights law and international human rights law, certainly in the application and exaction of these laws on a worldwide basis. â€Å"Unlike domestic legal systems, there is no such legislature (making laws for the entire international community) nor is there an executive which enforces the decisions made by the legislature. There are also no comparable judicial institutions which would try violations of law and award a judgement against the offender.† (Rehman, 2002:15) This ongoing discrepancy between the ideal of the interest theory of rights and the practical application of this theory across trans-national borders where there is a discernible lack of international consensus with regards to enforcing decisions renders the interest theory an ideologically weak hypothesis. More importantly, we can see further evidence of how the interest theory fails to answer the question of how best to bridge the theoretical divide between domestic human rights law and international human rights law. We can also find fault in the interest theory of rights when we pause to consider the flip-side of the argument by looking at those rights that are not in the interest rights holder. If, for instance, we consider the legal rights involved in the exchange of property inheritance we can understand the extent to which unwanted goods can be effectively tithed to a person simply because the interest-based law states that it is in the citizen’s best interest to have the property passed down to them. Likewise when we turn our attention to public officials, we can again see the in-built limitations inherent within the interest based right theory. If, for instance, the handing down of custodial sentences was left to solely the best interests of the judge (as opposed to the best interests of the public community whom the judge is supposed to be representing) then the core structures of the criminal justice system would come crashing down with a sense of arbitrary judgement replacing lib eral, democratic rule. It is for this reason that Meckled-Garcia and Cali (2005:24) note that: â€Å"The transformation of a moral right into a legal right, as desirable as it may be, comes at a price. A compromise must be struck with other principles in law.† In this way we can see how the interest theory of human rights represents a paradox whereby in trying to establish a moral imperative to underpin the concept of human rights, the theory has instead given birth to new conceptual confusions with regards to the blurring of the boundaries of the public and the private and the intermeshing of the paradigms of the individual and the state. With this in mind we must now turn our attention towards establishing a conclusion. Conclusion The concept of human rights by nature implies a deep-seated association with the concept of interest with the best interests of the individual being intrinsically linked to the ongoing strive for the â€Å"state of equality and freedom† between individuals that defines the most basic and fundamental theories of human rights (Freeman, 2002:20). Likewise international law by nature implies a deep-seated association with the concept of interest with the best interests of the sovereign state being the primary determining factor behind the most basic and fundamental theories relating to international relations (Brown and Ailey, 2005:63-77). However, in the final analysis, there is an equally deep-seated chasm between the interest theory of rights and the practice of translating western moral imperatives (which have grown exclusively in tandem with the evolution of western liberal democracy) on both a domestic and, especially, on an international scale. There must, ultimately, be a limit to the freedom of the individual and a point at which the best interests of the individual have to be subjugated in favour of the best interests of the state. For as long as this theoretical and practical divide exists, we should presume that the interest based theory of rights will remain rooted in the realms of utopia as opposed to flourishing in the realms of realism. References Bentham, J. (1987) Anarchical Fallacies, in, Waldon, J. (Ed.) Nonsense upon Stilts New York: Methuen Brown, C. and Ailey, K. (2002) Understanding International Relations: Third Edition London: Palgrave Macmillan Cali, B. and Meckled-Garcia, S. (2005) Introduction: Human Rights Legalized: Defining, Interpreting and Implementing an Ideal, in, Meckled-Garcia, S and Cali, B. (Eds.) The Legalization of Human Rights: Multidisciplinary Perspectives London and New York: Routledge Davidson, S. (1993) Human Rights: First Edition Buckingham: The Open University Press Freeman, M. (2002) Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach Cambridge: Polity Press Klug, F. (2000) Values for a Godless Age London: Penguin Meckled-Garcia, S. and Cali, B. (2005) Lost in Translation: International Law and the Human Rights Ideal, in, Meckled-Garcia, S and Cali, B. (Eds.) The Legalization of Human Rights: Multidisciplinary Perspectives London and New York: Routledge Pogge, T.W.M. (2007) Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right Oxford: Oxford University Press Rehman, J. (2002) International Human Rights Law: A Practical Approach London: Longman Robertson, G. (2006) Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice: New Edition London: Penguin

Old Man And The Sea :: essays research papers

This part of the story has to do with Santiago against nature and the sea. In this part of the story, he goes out and fights nature in the form of terrible forces and dangerous creatures, among them, a marlin, sharks and hunger. He starts the story in a small skiff and moves out in a journey to capture a fish after a long losing streak of eighty-four days. Unfortunately his friend must desert him due to this problem and a greater force, his parents. Santiago must go out into the danger alone. For three harsh days and nights he fights a fish of enormous power. This is the second form of nature he must conquer. Earlier in the story, the first part of nature is himself, for which he must fight off his hunger. This is a harsh part of the story. He manages though to get a few bites in the form of flying fish and dolphin of which he would like to have salt on. This part of the story tells of a cold and harsh sea, that is, one that has value and mystery as well as death and danger. It has commercial value as well as the population of life in it. It is dark and treacherous though, and every day there is a challenge. A similar story tells about a tidal pool with life called `Cannery Road'. This part of the story has to deal with figures of Christ. It mainly deals with Santiago as being a figure of Christ and other characters as props, that is, characters which carry out the form of biblical themes. On the day before he leaves when he wakes up, Manolin, his helper, comes to his aid with food and drink. Also a point that might be good is that he has had bad luck with his goal for a great period of time and is sure it will work this time. Later, though, when Santiago needs him for the quest he sets out to do, Manolin deserts him, although he may not have wanted to at this time. In the novel Santiago comes upon a force bigger than his skiff, the marlin which misleads him out far past his intended reach. This is where he starts to lose his strength against something which seems a greater force. Santiago has a struggle of three days, which is significent because

Social Captial: Richardo D. Stanton-Salazar and Douglas Foley :: essays research papers

For this critical analysis, the first article I have chosen to evaluate â€Å"A Social Capital Framework for Understanding the Socialization of Racial Minority Children and Youths† by Richardo D. Stanton-Salazar. This article surprised me in various ways and gave me mixed emotions. The author details a network-analytic framework to understand the socialization and schooling experiences of working-class racial minority youth. Stanton-Salazar examined the relationships between youth and institutional agents which plays in the greater multicultural context in which working-class minority youth must negotiate. Stanton-Salazar also provides how students developed cultural strategies to overcome the various obstacles and how they manage to develop sustaining and supportive relationships with institutional agents. Right in the beginning of the article, Stanton-Salazar used a terminology that surprised me. He referred to African American and Latino children as living in â€Å"economically disenfranchised urban communities†. I immediately thought, â€Å"What is that!? It’s just a prettier way of sugar coating the terminology of the truth of where children live†¦in the ghetto!† For some reason, the terminology he used upset me. Why didn’t Stanton-Salazar use vocabulary that the rest of the world is banked to using instead of hiding behind his fancy college degrees? That just bothered me because in reality, there is no nice way of stating the fact and it surely doesn’t help the problem in any way. Moving on, Stanton-Salazar states â€Å"contemporary scholars who study minority children and youth have tried to address the lack of attention to racial variations in socialization, bringing light the developmental challenges this group faces†¦Ã¢â‚¬  If I’m reading the statement correctly, I believe that it’s quite the opposite. I think that society addresses ethnicity first and foremost. The ethnicity of any minority group is the first to obtain any attention and it descends in a downward spiral from there. Continuing with the reading, Stanton-Salazar quotes another individual, Sennett and Cobb, â€Å"the power of institutional agents lies in their ability to give or withhold knowledge† which results in the institutional playing a game of who’s going to be successful in society or fail. People who might withhold information may have something against a student or may think that he/she would benefit from the resource than another student. In reading this statement, it got me thinking about when I was a student in high school. Long story short, I had teachers and counselors hold back information from me that would have been useful to me now.

Organisational dialouge Essay

Question 2: A range of authors (e.g. Gerard and Ellinor 2001; Isaacs 1993, 1999; Schein 1993; Senge 1995) suggest that dialogue can positively transform organizational cultures. Do you agree with this assessment? Why? Why not? Engage with relevant academic literature in developing your argument. Student Name: Nguyen Vu Hoang Dung Student Number: 11477445 In organization people spend 80 percent of their time to communicate (The British Psychological Society 2012). Communication is a key tool to share information, foster different opinions and build alignment and trust. According to Gerard & Teurfs (1995), the process of dialogue is an invitation to create organization cultures through conversations. It acts as a learning environment that shifting individuals to â€Å"a deeper understanding of collaboration in groups, and a new way of sensing their connections to others throughout the organization† (Querubin 2011, p.19). It brings all the ideas together and suspends judgment so people will have a greater chance to understand each other (Brayman, Grey & Stearns 2010). This essay will analyze the role of dialogue in transforming organizational cultures positively and all the benefits it brings. However, it will also examine the challenges of implementing dialogue. Organizational culture includes shared values and beliefs that guide behaviors of all members and determine the way things should be done in the organization (Sergiovanni 1984). Company has its own culture usually indicates higher performance. The role of dialogue is not only to spread the common values and meanings that company wants its employees to follow but also allow everyone to express their own interest. According to Gerard and  Ellinor (2001), the main purpose of dialogue is to produce collective understanding. Firstly, they compared the differences between dialogue and discussion. In discussion, people tend to protect their own thoughts and do not truly concern about other’s opinions and needs. They play as a speaker’s role rather than as a listener. It might leave the remainder out of discussion with frustration, isolation and disrespect. Decisions could be made by the person who has the most power and influence in the group (Gerard and Ellinor 2001). Hence it weakens the aim of enhancing organizational cultures. In contrast, when employees participate in a dialogue, their role as a listener is more important than as a speaker. They desire to hear what others want to say. They try to fit all different perspectives into a common value. Therefore, if issues occur, they listen to deeply understand other’s thoughts and opinions (Gerard and Ellinor 2001). By doing that, employees are getting closer to each other and conflicts are minimized. They help their team or their department to build shared culture. Secondly, Gerard and Ellinor (2001) stated five skills of dialogue including suspension of judgment, listening, reflection, assumption identification and inquiry. They defined the meaning of suspension in dialogue is not to stop one’s judgment about a problem. Instead, they have to aware what their judgments are and â€Å"then holding them lightly so they can still hear what others are saying† (Gerard and Ellinor 2001, p. 7). After listening carefully to other’s ideas, they need to reflect their own assumptions. Therefore, to revising whether those assumptions are linked to the organization or not. If they cannot understand the differences, they must inquire for more information. Hence, this process of dialogue enables each employee to foster different views and converge them together to become one unique aim. Organizational culture is enhanced. In agreement with Gerard and Ellinor, Isaacs (1999) analyzed four principles of dialogue based on Bohm’s research in 1996. They are listening, respecting, suspending and voicing. Firstly, Isaacs had compared listening skill in dialogue to listening to music. He stated a single note of music could not deliver the meaning of the whole song. It is similar to one’s role in a conversation. A single idea is not sufficient to set purposes and  cultures for the whole organization. Hence, dialogue is an excellent practice to give people a chance to listen deeply and get into the nature of the conversation. Secondly, he defined respecting as getting to know more about one person and figure out what sources or circumstances has created their particular thinking. Based on this understanding, people in an organization will pay more respect to each other. The main goal of respecting in dialogue is not to seek decision but to tolerate difference, gap and conflict (Isaacs 1999). The third principle of dialogue, suspending, is determined similar to Gerard and Ellinor (2001). And the last principle Isaacs mentioned is voicing. He suggested people should listen internally so as to select what should say and what should not say in a circumstance. Sometimes keeping silence and listen can achieve the best result. Therefore, the purpose of voicing means people contribute their speech, not only for themselves, but to the whole idea. Overall, these principles are considered having positive effects on organizational learning. They emphasize group and organization achievements rather than an individual accomplishment. In Schein’s study (1993), he described dialogue as â€Å"talking around the campfire† (p. 391). He used â€Å"campfire† as a metaphor to explain how decision is made through dialogue. In the past, people sat around campfire during meeting and shared their own opinions. Arguments would never come up as people just simply expressed their thoughts without any discussion or debate. Through that, they were aware themselves which idea was acceptable and were unacceptable (Schein 1993). This process allowed enough time for each person to listen to a deeper layer of other’s opinions then reflect on their own assumptions. Moreover, Schein introduced the check-in concept. At the beginning of the meeting, each person will respectively contribute his or her ideas, views and feelings to the group as a whole, and therefore, â€Å"has helped to create the group† (Schein 1993, p. 392). Lastly, Schein stressed the limitation of eye contact. This makes people feel ea sier to suspend disagreements and concentrate on listening. Senge (1995) determined dialogue as a facilitator for team learning. Based on his research, team is the key unit to build culture in an organization. By applying dialogue into team learning process, it develops shared vision and  brings result every member truly desires. It also creates teamwork and shares equal leadership to each member in the group. Through sharing a common pool of meaning, culture is positively transforming from individual to group values and beliefs. Although dialogue is proved to have a great effect on organizational culture, there are challenges in implementing it into organization learning system. The first challenge is due to hierarchy level in an organization (Raelin 2012). Dialogue requires equal say and sharing from each member of the organization. However, employees tend to afraid of expressing their true views in front of their managers. They leave decision making to people at higher position. In top-down companies, upper levels of management have full knowledge of desired targets, goals and norms. They have the right and ability to create and change organizational culture. They enforce rules and duties on their employee. They usually do not spend time to listen to individual’s opinion and feeling. Hence, it is very challenging to apply dialogue into this type of business. Furthermore, if the organization involves a cross-culture, that employee come from different culture backgrounds, there is a need for a more lengthy and complicated process of dialogue (Schein 1993). In this type of organization, people use different languages and operate from different mental models. Organization needs to design a dialogue that enables all these people to communicate effectively. Thornhill, Lewis & Saunders (2000) also emphasized there is may be a need to â€Å"re-designing of performance appraisal systems and reward systems† and â€Å"the re-definition of job roles to induce employees into accept the new behavior expected from them† (p. 27). Hence it is costly and time consuming. Finally, dialogue may not be suitable to apply to all organizations cultures in the world. For example, Western culture is different from Eastern culture. As dialogue encourage the limitation of eye contact (Schein 1993), people from the West will consider this as impolite or even disrespectful (Spindler 1990). In addition, in Western countries people prefer confrontation whereas Eastern people prefer to say what they feel most  appropriate in this circumstance or least hurtful to the others (Schein 1993). Therefore, dialogue must be selective so it is suitable for each particular organization. In conclusion, dialogue has played a key role in positively transforming organizational culture. It acts as a learning environment that shifts individual to group thinking. It leads each employee to recognize the essential of collaborating in a group. Querubin (2011) demonstrated that dialogue enables members to â€Å"become open to diversity and lose an â€Å"us vs. them† paradigm so prevalent in task-oriented cultures† (p. 19). Hence, group achievement is more important than individual accomplishment. Moreover, dialogue includes suspending of judgment, listening, respect, reflection, assumption and voicing. Through all these principles, dialogue creates collective understanding and leads all members of the organization to higher commitment. However, the implementation of dialogue still faces several challenges, including hierarchy levels, time consuming and different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, selective approach of dialogue must be considered to apply to specifi c organization. REFERENCES Bohm, D. 1996, On Dialogue. Ed. Lee Nichol, Routledge, London & New York. Brayman, J., Grey, M. & Stearns, M. 2010, Taking Flight to Literacy and Leadership, Rowman & Littlefield, viewed 16 December 2010, Ellinor, L. & Gerard, G. 2001, Dialogue at Work: Skills at Leveraging Collective Understanding, Pegasus Communications, Waltham, MA. Ellinor, L. & Gerard, G. 2001, Dialogue at Work: Skills at Leveraging Collective Understanding, Pegasus Communications, Waltham, MA, pp. 7. Gerard, G. & Teurfs, L. 1995, Dialogue and Organizational Transformation, 1st edn, Sterling & Stone, Inc., San Francisco. Isaacs, W. 1999, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together: A Pioneering Approach to Communicating in Business and in Live, Currency, New York. Querubin, C. 2011, ‘The effect on the organization’, Dialogue: Creating Shared Meaning and Other Benefits for Business, pp. 19, Raelin, J. 2012, ‘Dialogue and deliberation as expressions of democratic leadership in participatory organizational change’, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 25. Schein , E. H. 1993, On dialogue, culture, and organizational learning . Organizational Dynamics, pp 391-392. Senge, P. M. 1995, The spirit of personal mastery, MN: Charthouse International Learning Corporation, Burnsville. Sergiovanni, T. 1984, ‘Leadership and excellence in schooling’, Educational Leadership Journal, vol. 4. Spindler, G. 1993, The American Cultural Dialogue and Its Transmission, Psychology Press, The British Psychological Society 2012, Dialogue: How to create change in organizations through conversation, viewed 14 May 2012, http://www.bps.org.uk/events/dialogue-how-create-change-organisations-through-conversation-1 Thornhill, A., Lewis, M. & Saunders, M. 2000, Managing Change: A Human Resource Strategy Approach, Prentice Hall, London.

Why Do Managers Plan?

Why do Managers Plan 1 Why do Managers Plan? Management 301 Distance Learning December 07, 2011 Why do Managers Plan 2 Why do Managers Plan? Strategic Planning This seems like a very cut and dry topic to discuss, but there is no single reason that a manager makes plans in the work environment. I will cover several areas in which managers use planning, and why it is an essential part of accomplishing tasks, and how it streamlines processes necessary for an organization to be successful. First, I will discuss strategic planning: strategic planning can also be referred to as â€Å"charting the course† for a business or organization. A central part of strategic management is performance measurement (Public Administration Review, December 2010). Unlike private sector business organizations, many government and public agencies have developed performance measurements without developing strategic plans. I think that this is primarily due to the infrastructure that is set in place in most government or public agencies, and the amount of red-tape that accompanies government ran agencies. Regarding the private sector, I believe that having a strategic plan to guide managers and leaders in the decision making process allows them to identify alternative steps or measures to take in the event that something in the business process changes that they have no direct control over. Managers who develop a strategic plan also are likely to recognize that the end result cannot be their only concern, but they identify milestones that must be met along the ay, or during the process to use as a measurement tool to determine if they are making positive progress or if they need to examine â€Å"glitches† that will delay or have a negative impact on the business process. One tool to measure performance is a â€Å"Balanced Scorecard†. It is grounded in the idea that the measurement Why do Managers Plan 3 of an organization’s performance ought to take into account the processes and resources needed to produce outcomes, as well as the outcomes themselves. In some ways, its emphasis on inputs and outputs is a step back in performance measurement, but that step is designed to help organizations fulfill the results promised. (Public Administration Review, December 2010). I believe that this is a vital step, if not the first step in planning that will help ensure a business or organization has a set path that will enhance their possibilities of success. Knowledge Management in Organizational Planning is the next area that I want to discuss. When people talk about managers making plans for operations or processes in a business or organization it is likely that they are referring to plans that include forecasts. This type of planning is appropriate if the future of or in the business environment is stable; however, this is not always the case with many businesses because they face business environments that are complex and unstable (Knowledge Management in Organizational Planning, January 1987). With this being the case in most business environments today, the leadership of these businesses continue to pursue planning and forecasting tools and technology that will help them when they are developing strategic and organizational plans. Knowledge management might also be referred to as Management Information Systems (MIS). This is a computer program or network that was developed for management and leadership members to use for the purposes of planning and may have examples of past planning events or projects that the current managers can use to aid them in the planning and decision making process. One significant advantage of this type of system is that it can provide historical data that allows good planning to be done from the beginning, and this might improve the probability of success of a project or production process Why do Managers Plan 4 based on the past lessons learned that are taken into consideration when developing the current plan. The MIS was developed to assist managers in gathering information, generating ideas and alternatives and also for analyzing this information and choosing from among the competing alternatives. This MIS is just another tool to emphasize why managers plan. Another area that planning is important for managers is multi-project planning and resource control. This area is also related to the area of enterprise resource planning (ERP). Both of these areas require the use of business planning tools to make the manager’s job of planning for needed materials and resources much easier to manage through the use of technology and computer programs. One of the most challenging aspects of a manager’s job is to ensure that he/she effectively manages projects or production processes without exhausting the organization’s limited resources (Multiproject Planning and Resource Controls, December 2006). When we talk of managers, I think it is important to realize that managers are in all industries including retail, production, manufacturing, and construction to name a few, and the one common link that they all share is planning. Planning is the bedrock or foundation that managers must establish as a starting point no matter the industry which they work. The important parts of planning that are related to multi-project and ERP management are identifying the resources needed to start and sustain work processes to eliminate loss time due to a shortage of resources, and how the ERP system works together with other internal business systems to enhance the planning of management. An example of this could be that the ERP system interfaces the maintenance projects that are being actively worked with the supply or requisitioning process to ensure that needed resources such as materials and tools are being ordered to meet the project or job requirements. The ERP system Why do Managers Plan 5 can be programmed to recognized or identify items needed based on job number or serial numbers related to specific aspects of the job that were identified during the initial planning phase of the job or project. The items that would be ordered due to this planning would be added to what is commonly referred to as a â€Å"pick-list†. This part of the ERP system is known as the interaction between structure and human action and is called the â€Å"duality of structure, which simply means (in this case) the interaction between the ERP system (usually managed by a materials manager), the ordering of resources (between materials manager and vendors), and communication between the project or production manager and the system (actual input into the system) (business benefits from ERP systems, Staehr, 2008). The ERP systems ability to identify this process in only possible due to the initial planning that was performed by the manager in charge of the projects or processes, and communicated and planned with the materials manager to ensure the system was interfaced to the processes. I have actually used an ERP system called SAP, and these types of systems require a lot of training and â€Å"hands on† work because they can be very complex to use. Another extremely important and relevant planning tool that managers can use is the Production Planning Model. This PPM might also be referred to as Material Requirement Planning (MRP). The MRP is a vital tool for managers who work as maintenance managers, production managers, or operations managers. Managers use the MRP to identify the amount of spare parts that need to be either â€Å"on hand† or quickly procured to ensure there is limited or no equipment down-time due to the lack of parts to make needed repairs for process equipment. It is important that managers who work in these types of environments are the not just the process manager, but the planning manager. I make the Why do Managers Plan 6 previous statement because the manager who develops the operational or process plans should use the equipments historical data to identify operational and down-time trends. They should also use Bills of Materials (BOMs) to identify parts that will be more likely to fail due to the amount of use, or are more susceptible to wear from continuous use in the operation or process. This topic is important to discuss because many plants or facilities might have the capability to manufacture parts in their own machine shops, and this can be a cost savings measure as well as a time saving measure. This is why it is important that the planning manager identify this as a possibility or a preference during the planning phase of the job to be performed. Using MRP helps manufactures and managers determine precisely when and how much material to purchase and process based on a time phased analysis of sales orders, production orders, current inventory, and forecasts (Production planning model, April 2009). MRP determines material requirements based on master production and planning schedules which are used in conjunction with one another to ensure an efficient work process. A primary reason that managers use the production planning model is to reduce the levels of parts or goods on hand. In other words, if proper planning is performed prior to starting the job or production process the manager will be able to determine the parts needed/required from start to completion of the process and save inventory costs by only having the required parts on hand with no excess. Once it is determined how much product will be produced it makes it much easier to determine the amount of parts or spare parts that will be needed. When managers are planning for a production run it is important for them to be aware of any future product orders that might follow closely after the production Why do Managers Plan 7 process or run that they are planning for, so they can consider having more spare parts on hand to aid the planning process of the following project or product run. Good communication among the management team is crucial to the overall success in the planning phase of all work processes. The advantage of using the MRP to assist in the planning stage of projects or production processes is that it allows the planning manager to use historical equipment data, and maintenance data to develop a trend analysis and determine the appropriate amount of parts required during a specific production process. In summary, I have used several different examples to emphasize and support why managers plan. I know that some of the examples that I used to illustrate my points might be broad, and even complex with regards to using ERP and MRP as tools to aid in planning, but I feel they were essential elements for me to use to stress that planning is often difficult and requires the use of technology to properly forecast outcomes etcetera. I have worked as a manager in charge of maintenance planning processes in a manufacturing environment, so I know from firsthand experience the importance of planning. I have used a management information system program (SAP Plant Maintenance Module) to integrate and implement plans and procedures, and it can be very time consuming and complex, but if we had not used a system such as this to help develop plans we would not have been able to effectively perform maintenance procedures and the company could have suffered catastrophic equipment failures. I know that we have probably all heard the old saying that â€Å"failing to plan is like planning to fail†, well in the case of â€Å"Why do Managers Plan? I would have to say that I agree with that old Why do Managers Plan 8 saying, and that managers plan to ensure their efforts are successful, and to ensure the success of the organization as a whole. Why do Managers Plan 9 References: Professional Article: Strategic Planning and Balanced Scorecards: Charting the Course to Policy Destination, Edward T. Jennings, Jr. , University of Kentucky. Public Administration Review, dated: December 2010. Professional Article: Knowledge Management in Organizational Planning, Lynda M. Applegate, Tsung Teng Chen, Benn R. Konsynski, and Jay F. Nunamaker, Jr. Twentieth Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Honolulu, Dated: January 6-9,1987 Multiproject Planning and Resource Controls for Facility Management, E. William East and Liang Y. Liu, dated: December 2006. Understanding the role of managerial agency in business benefits from ERP systems, Lorraine Staehr, La Trobe University, Dated: 2008. Production planning model with simultaneous production of spare parts, P. Cyplik, L. Hadas, and M. Fertsch, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland, Dated: April 2009.

Personal Development Plan for Pragmatist

Introduction: This study report covering various aspects of personal and professional development of the professional student, who is going to practise all the skills and abilities in the real business world at very next step when student completes professional degree course. This report aims to fulfil the requirement the student to be professional in reality presenting the views of student on the basis of research using books, lecture notes understanding and online study material from various websites. It helps a student how to run the cycle of continuous personal and professional improvement and development to compete the globalisation. It suggest the personal development plan using time logs and carry out certain regular exercise to monitor the progress like filling questionnaire, maintain task diary and records, seeking feedback using 360 degree assessment. Professional and personal development support the body of a career and profession progression like a backbone, enabling the person to stand and touch and maintain the highest position in their working area. It can only ensured by continuous learning and observation process. Learning and observation process makes aware the person about his values, abilities, skills, attitude, learning style and hidden talents and how to use it for excellent performance. Professional and personal development and learning process starts with identifying the personality, position and learning style of the person. I would like to presents the views that how a student can be effective leader or manager acquiring professional skills namely time management, meeting, presentation and stress management. Leader/Manager: Successful professional should be effective leader and effective manager to lead positively to grow the profession and goodwill by competing with global challenges. In every organisation, each level of the hierarchical structure have leaders and managers. Managers and leaders are distinct personality with ultimate goal is to achieve organisational goals. A leader and A manager can be identified as per Waston (1983) and Hollingsworth (1999) suggestions with four distinct styles: A leader is a person who emphasis the right way of work focusing on people, sharing goals with them using their skills, inspire them to innovate and develop new style and skill which supports to achieve own as well as organisational objectives. A manager concentrating on the subordinates, system and composition, administer and manage them by controlling them to achieve the strategic objectives set by the management of the organisation. A manager stress on doing the appropriate task by result oriented strategies and systems. The Autocratic Leader/Manager: He does not value the subordinates’ skills and opinions. He has centralised power to ascertain dilemma, makes decisions and tells it to subordinate to execute task. The Semi-Autocratic Leader/Manger: He is partially autocratic, but seek some reflection from the subordinates who are going to practices it and try to convince to follow his decisions. The Democratic Leader/Manager: He just identifies the problems and seeks suggestions and recommendations from the group and then decide the solution. The Laissey-Faire Leader/Manager: He identifies the problems and set boundary within which decision must be fall and pass it to the performing group and make the correct suitable decision being with them. Democratic and Laissey faire leadership style is preferred in this globalisation and dynamic business world. Professional Skills: Time Management: Time is a money once you spent it you will never get back so right job at right time yields better fruits. Evaluation: Ask following questions to yourself: Have you followed your prioritised to-do list? Have you meet the deadlines? What effects on the final result due to incomplete task? Have you got the full participation colleagues and subordinates as per the job assigned? Do you have any spare time for contingency and further planning? If most of the answers is no, then start finding the gaps and lacking to use time effectively. Gap finds because of not exercising following activities. Acquisition: Habit to prepare and analyse the workload and prioritize it daily and weekly by preparing to-do list categorising the task as must do, should do and would like to do. Therefore, flitting will be less. (appendix 1) Set the deadlines and stick to it to complete the task, which helps him to allocate enough time to other task and be stress free as the task finish along with the spare time to plan further or allocate it to any unfinished task or contingency. Identify the best time and do hard and important task within best time. Divide the job into small discrete part and delegate it to the suitable person with all the necessary guidance and information specifying the rewards. It will motivate the subordinates by participation and decrease the workload and stress level of delegator which saves his time and energy. Conduct meetings for monitoring the progress of work as and when necessary. Avoid procrastination and time wasters which ensures needed attention to the work. Do not spent long time for perfection of the job on the cost of other activities. Maintain proper records by backup and filling, which can be used as vital tool while planning next time. Understanding about the assigned job and take responsibility as per the calibre to complete it within deadlines. It helps him to manage stress and utilize time productively. Running successful Meetings: Evaluation: Ask following questions to yourself: Have you met the goals set? Has meeting was enjoyed by the members and equally participated to express their views? Did all the mentioned agenda discussed and come to the solution? Did the meeting follows the time allocation and rules like quorum? Did the minutes recorded properly? Did you have announced the next meeting date and when members get the former meeting details? If most of the answers is no, then start finding the gaps and lacking to run meeting effectively. Gap finds because of not exercising following activities: Acquisition: Set the purpose, time, date, right place with proper infrastructural and refreshment arrangements with meeting start and end time. Prepare agenda mentioning required items with next meeting date. (appendix 2) Inform members about the purpose and agenda of the meeting well in advance. Allot sufficient time to each agenda including hidden agenda and stick to it. Specify the chair person and ensure the opportunity to express opinions. Be sure about the technology and tools used in meeting Arrange minute recording and procedure to sent to the members of the meeting. Set the disciplinary rules to be followed by members during meeting. Ensure the chair person being unbiased and objective having ability to control and negotiate. This way manager can conduct fruitful meeting which enables the organisation to achieve the objectives. The fruitful meeting will increase the morale and productivity of members saves time and efforts by proper attention to each item. Effective Presentation: Evaluation: Ask following questions to yourself: Have you met the goals set? Did your audience enjoyed and gained knowledge presentation? Did it organised in terms of matter, tools used and time bound? Did your body language and communication style attract the audience? Have you allowed audience to participate? If most of the answers is no, then start finding the gaps and lacking to present attractively. Gap finds because of not exercising following activities: Acquisition: Set the time, date, place, topic of presentation. Identify the audience and its expectations Be prepared and rehearse, support the matter with authentic data Be sure about the tools and facilities required Have confident and friendly body language with smiley face Stick to time and spare time for Q/A from audience For effective presentation, nerve control is vital because it fails the presentation no matter how strong paperwork or other skills you have. Stress Management: Evaluation: Ask following questions to yourself: Have you facing any physical or habitual disorder? Is there any financial or family problem which adversely affect your performance? Are you facing problem to deal with technology and people? Have you adjusted yourself in this working environment? Are you aware about your ability, skills, role and responsibilities? If answer of first 3 question is yes, then identify stressors and try to accept it and be free from it by following ways: Acquisition: Prime necessity is to accept the stress problem Identify the stressors and take steps to reduce it and remove it. Have some refreshment activity like change task, eat food, listen music Some concrete steps which may take long time like redesign the task/role/work environment, encourage subordinate involvement, set flexible employee friendly policy, provide social support and share reward Undergo some psychological exercise as per expert opinion like workshops, seminars Conclusion: Each above mentioned skills are interconnected with each other like, proper time management reduce the stress, increase productivity, Participation of employees in meeting and presentation encourage them to take initiatives with high moral. Personal Skill Audit The further step is how I can apply professional skills discussed in previous section to be very profitable and easy going personality. The application can be done in better and accurate way by findings positive and negative points of his personal qualities and skills. Hence, personal skill audit comes into the picture of personal development. Personal skill audit refers to the findings about the personal skills. It can be done by identifying strengths and weaknesses of the person. For that, which learning style the person have must be identified. To identify the learning style of the person, there is some tools like questionnaire and learning surveys by Peter Honey and Alan Mumford(ARPT), David Kolb(VAK), Carl Jugg and Mybers Briggs(type E/I,S/N,T/F,J/P). The student has followed Learning Style Questionnaire by Peter and Alan(appendix 3), on the basis of that the student identified his learning style ‘Pragmatist’: Strengths: Eager to try out ideas, concepts Realistic, and practical, Likes experiments Strive to meet preset goals Works autonomously Go through available options and assess it Weakness: Task oriented, does not value people Impatient ant centralize power work without any precaution tendency to take over others’ task independent working style do not involve the people Pragmatist can develop by exercising the work where person is: Problem and chances to progress is attached with the job Show the practical techniques to do right thing at a time Take chance to try out theories in practice supported by feedback from expert Showing the experts and models to follow them Equipped with techniques and knowledge useful for job Offer opportunity for progression and experiments Focus on practical matters by suggestions, tips Pragmatist find difficulties to improve his skills, where Job is not related to identified important requirement or not any practical gain Learning is far from real practical issues just theoretical concepts without clear guidance People not getting any point just going round and round Political diplomatic personal bias barriers to put thing into practice No proper reward for outstanding performance Some findings helps me to be effective and role demanding personality like using people by delegating task can manage the time and stress fruitfully. Giving values to the people in organisation can ensure high moral and motivation to work. Forecast the possible results of experiments before acting and use if it is beneficial to the organisation and people who practices it. Autocratic way to manage the people is discouraging, so its better to be a democratic or a member of the performing group. Team approach helps me to overcome from impatient and self centric personality by working in team and respecting human values and ability. Once finds out the lacking and gaps , he can use detective skills to find the ways to fill it. And come up with best suitable method by evaluating each available options to him, as very keen to use techniques, apply it to job to make it easy, speedy and accurate and recognise the use of the advance resources applicable in job. Strive to meet the specified goals and act accordingly is the great strength which differentiate his personality. He learn from the trail and error by experimenting various concepts in practice. To delegate the job to subordinates, he shows his skills of persuading presentation of idea and conduct meeting to convince the subordinate to work on it to meet the targets. Like this way, interconnecting his strengths to overcome his weaknesses he can be prove himself as effective personality at work place or anywhere. Thus, I would like to focus on the team work approach, learn to delegate the task and value others being diversified personality. At the end, knowledgeable, team friendly, stress free, happy, open and flexible, initiative and motivating work approach gives ripe fruits to individual and the organisation. Personal Development Plan: As per the discussion in previous sections, now I am going ahead to develop the own personality development plan. Where learning style identified is key to design personal development plan with the professional skills required to gain from the global challenges. In today’s ever-changing world, to be an effective manager core skills namely effective time management, running successful meetings, making effective presentation and managing stress tactfully is prime necessity. As per the previous discussion, now I am well aware about my strengths and weaknesses as a pragmatist regarding the achievement of organisational and personal objectives to ensure continuous growth. For deep understanding about my learning style and personal traits, i would like to do SWOT analysis of my personal traits. SMART objectives will help me to use the SWOT beneficially in practice. Using SWOT analysis, I analyse my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the personal skills and traits considering four core competent skills discussed in first section. At the end, I present a personal development plan to use, which suggest the practical way to utilize the personal attributes profitably and draw attractive picture of my personality and organisation as a whole. In section two, I have already identified my strengths and weaknesses to put the things into practice and achieve desired result. Strengths and weaknesses are the own internal favourable and unfavourable points which helps the person to rise up. It can only improved by self observation and improvement. The analysis introduce my following strengths and weaknesses: Strengths: Practical and realistic way to solve the problems by evaluating all the possible alternatives Like to experiment different theories and ideas ascertained using detective skills Set the goals and work autonomously to act upon Weaknesses: Being self centric and impatient under values other people and their ability to perform better Strive to do other’s work without taking into account the personal feelings Work independently without seeking participation of others Not arrive at the possible results and like to experiment proves wrong Being a task oriented does not take care of personal feelings Opportunity and Threat are external forces influencing the personality positively as well as negatively. This has connection with internal forces like strengths and weaknesses of the person to attain personal and organisational objectives as well. As a result of this analysis, now, I know my following would be opportunities and threats: Opportunity: Chance to get and test knowledge in business world. Learn by experiments and arrive at the best suitable practical solution to make easy business complexity Less chance of work error as work independently, evaluating PESTAL factor Chance to use advanced technology in practice Chance to undertake other projects and explore gaps to use it profitable as I have time bound working style Drive all the forces to attain preset goals and emerge with distinct personality Less chance to fail in planning due to practical and realistic work practice considering all the available alternatives Threats: Be frustrate and nervous if goals are not attain within time frame due to impatient attribute. As working autonomously sometimes decisions or analysis may prove wrong Diversified market needs and expectation of global business world Emerging business complexity and customer awareness Now, after performing self appraisal, I have a feasible knowledge of my positive and negative points to be an effective administrator or an effective manager to face the global challenges and create my own value in the organisation and business market as well. At this stage, SMART will help me as powerful tool to overcome my weaknesses and turn them into positive force to touch the sky of business world. S-Specific: On the basis of the weaknesses, i arrived at the solution that although I have practical and realistic work approach, sometimes decisions proves wrong and cannot complete the task within time limit set. This can be improved by adapting team working style emphasising on co-ordination and co-operation with and of colleagues and subordinates in the organisation. Therefore, focus on work delegation and team work is necessary to work within deadlines and try to get optimum using all the available resources. M-Measurable: to delegate the job, it is necessary to design proper job description and draw the skills required to perform it by using various techniques like feedback of the colleagues, looking at other company. Set the system and ways to measure the performance of people and the system laid down to achieve the objectives. So, it ensures active participation with clear understanding of job and achievements. A-Achievable: To do the task within time frame the right job should be assigned to a right person,. For that, I have to value the other person’s ability to perform specific job and assigned him that job with required guidelines and data to perform productively. The meeting and effective presentation of the delegated job to each subordinates and colleagues is necessary to achieve the goals. So here comes the presentation and meeting skills to convey the idea and communicate regarding the role they have to play to drive towards the achievements of objectives. So, here I have to concentrate on my interpersonal skills and getting co-operation and co-ordination with colleagues and subordinates to perform time bound duties. R-Relevant: It should be take care that subordinate have no ambiguity relating to his roles and targets to be met as a team member and organisational goals. Therefore, all the efforts must be towards the achievement of organisational objectives. The roles and targets can be communicate by way of successful meeting and effective presentation by the manager. As it saves time, efforts, money of people and organisation as well. T-Time Defined: If all the things are right doing in right way by the right person, it is also necessary that it should be complete within time defined. Because time is money, and to be successful it should be utilize effectively by allocating sufficient time to each an every activity as per its importance to do. Evidence of Monitoring and Feedback: As per the outcome of the SWOT and SMART, I have to follow the diary and records of the subordinates and colleagues achievements and skills to perform better. Other necessary thing is to is maintain and analyse time log until I follow the proper time schedule as prepared. Periodic performance review by 360 degree assessment which aware me about my improvements and necessity to improve. With all this, unbiased regular self assessment using SWOT helps me to ride the cycle of continuous development. Likewise, I can get measurable, achievable, relevant time bound active participation of the specific subordinates. I am following time log daily as well as weekly when i was explained in class lecture and now at the end of this 9th week I found that I am very much nearer to follow the time schedule set weekly. And I followed daily time log and I achieved time frame in working day not in weekends and I am trying to achieve it. I am taking feedback at workplace using 360 degree assessment when I finished one project and before starting new project and from my family members that how I am successful to meet their expectations. Without such monitoring and feedback one cannot have a clear idea about his improvement and progress. This is the vital axes of the progress chart of personal skill development. Review and Conclusion: At the end of the personal development process, I noticed that above discussed matter draw the conclusion that time management, stress management, running meetings and presentations are supportive pillars of the building effective personality and achieve personal and organisational goals. This is the basic necessity of today’s global dynamic business market and learned customers. This report reveals the successful professional career as an effective manger can be ensured by aligning personal objectives with organisation’s objectives. Reference: Pedler Mike, Burgoyne John and Boydell Tom,(2001), A Manger’s Guide to Self Development, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill,ISBN-0-07-709830-7 www. decs. sa. gov. au(Accessed on 27/10/2009) www. nwlink. com (Accessed on 27/10/2009) Appendix 1 Honey and Mumford Learning Styles Questionnaire This questionnaire is designed to find out your preferred learning style(s). Over the years you have probably developed learning â€Å"habits† that help you benefit more from some experiences than from others. Since you are probably unaware of this, this questionnaire will help you pinpoint your learning preferences so that you are in a better position to select learning experiences that suit your style and having a greater understanding of those that suit the style of others. There is no time limit to this questionnaire. It will probably take you 10-15 minutes. The accuracy of the results depends on how honest you can be. There are no right or wrong answers. If you agree more than you disagree with a statement put a tick by it. If you disagree more than you agree put a cross by it. Be sure to mark each item with either a tick or cross. Scoring And Interpreting The Learning Styles Questionnaire The Questionnaire is scored by awarding one point for each ticked item. There are no points for crossed items. Simply indicate on the lists below which items were ticked by circling the appropriate question number. TOTALS *Activist Reflector * Theorist Pragmatist Learning Styles Questionnaire Profile Based on General Norms for 1302 People Learning Styles – General Descriptions Activists Activists involve themselves fully and without bias in new experiences. They enjoy the here and now and are happy to be dominated by immediate experiences. They are open-minded, not skeptical, and this tends to make them enthusiastic about anything new. Their philosophy is: â€Å"I'll try anything once†. They tend to act first and consider the consequences afterwards. Their days are filled with activity. They tackle problems by brainstorming. As soon as the excitement from one activity has died down they are busy looking for the next. They tend to thrive on the challenge of new experiences but are bored with implementation and longer-term consolidation. They are gregarious people constantly involving themselves with others but in doing so; they seek to centre all activities on themselves. Reflectors 90997322447 Reflectors like to stand back to ponder experiences and observe them from many different perspectives. They collect data, both first hand and from others, and prefer to think about it thoroughly before coming to any conclusion. The thorough collection and analysis of data about experiences and events is what counts so they tend to postpone reaching definitive conclusions for as long as possible. Their philosophy is to be cautious. They are thoughtful people who like to consider all possible angles and implications before making a move. They prefer to take a back seat in meetings and discussions. They enjoy observing other people in action. They listen to others and get the drift of the discussion before making their own points. They tend to adopt a low profile and have a slightly distant, tolerant unruffled air about them. When they act it is part of a wide picture which includes the past as well as the present and others' observations as well as their own. Theorists Theorists adapt and integrate observations into complex but logically sound theories. They think problems through in a vertical, step-by-step logical way. They assimilate disparate facts into coherent theories. They tend to be perfectionists who won't rest easy until things are tidy and fit into a rational scheme. They like to analyse and synthesise. They are keen on basic assumptions, principles, theories models and systems thinking. Their philosophy prizes rationality and logic. â€Å"If it's logical it's good†. Questions they frequently ask are: â€Å"Does it make sense? â€Å"How does this fit with that? † â€Å"What are the basic assumptions? † They tend to be detached, analytical and dedicated to rational objectivity rather than anything subjective or ambiguous. Their approach to problems is consistently logical. This is their â€Å"mental set† and they rigidly reject anything that doesn't fit with it. They prefer to maximise certainty and feel uncomfortable with subjective judgments, lateral thinking and anything flippant. Pragmatists Pragmatists are keen on trying out ideas, theories and techniques to see if they work in practice. They positively search out new ideas and take the first opportunity to experiment with applications. They are the sorts of people who return from management courses brimming with new ideas that they want to try out in practice. They like to get on with things and act quickly and confidently on ideas that attract them. They tend to be impatient with ruminating and open-ended discussions. They are essentially practical, down to earth pile who like making practical decisions and solving problems. They respond to problems and opportunities â€Å"as a challenge†. Their philosophy is: â€Å"There is always a better way† and â€Å"if it works it's good†. In descending order of likelihood, the most common combinations are: 1st Reflector/Theorist 2†³d Theorist/ Pragmatist 3rd Reflector/Pragmatist 4th Activist/Pragmatist Appendix 2 Time Log {draw:frame} Activitists (Do) Immerse themselves fully in new experiences Enjoy here and now Open minded, enthusiastic, flexible Act first, consider consequences later Seek to centre activity around themselves http://www. archives. org. uk/careerdevelopment/continuingprofessionaldevelopment/professionaldevelopmentplan. html http://www. thegateway. org/browse/17801 http://www. excellencegateway. org. uk/page. aspx? o=152477