Strategic Management vs Leadership - 3605 Words

Strategic Leadership vs. Strategic Management: Untying The Gordian Knot Robert M. Murphy, Ph.D. Professor of Management United States Army War College DISCLAIMER This views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect the policy or position of the United States War College, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, or any agency of the U.S. government. Note from the Author This paper is a work in progress. The purpose of this paper is to elicit comments from fellow scholars and practitioners as to the soundness of the concepts put forth in this paper. The Problem By now most of us are getting tired of the endless attempts to distinguish between the concepts of†¦show more content†¦In the case of language, instead of using a conceptual framework as the basis of understanding various concepts, old words are given new meaning while new words are developed to describe old theories or practices. I fully realize the evolving nature of the field of management and leadership, but at the rate we are going, those two words will lose their meaning due to the looseness of their usage. As an example, the following is a series of definitions taken from various textbooks used in the United States. Management Definitions. †¢ A set of activities directed at an organization’s resources human, financial, physical, and information) with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner. (Griffin, 1999) The coordination of human, material, technological, and financial resources needed for an organization to achieve its goals. (Hess and Siciliano, 1996) The process of getting things done through the efforts of others. (Mondy and Premeaux, 1995) The process of designing maintaining an environment in which individuals work together in-groups to accomplish efficiently selected aims. (Weihrich and Koontz, 1993) †¢ †¢ †¢ As stated above, these are actual textbooks used in today’s classrooms in the United States and probably around the world. Although my intent is not to discredit any of the authors’s of these texts, I do want to point out the discrepancies that exist among the experts in the field. In my opinion, Griffin includesShow MoreRelatedLeading Organizational Change Essay1144 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Process vs. Content 1 Week 2 - Process vs. Content Amanda Anderson LDR-625-1634-Leading Organizational Change- March 16, 2015 Robert Miller Process vs. Content 2 Working with children takes a certain level of adaptability in itself, but, working with children in a company that has absolutely no structure is a framework for disaster. However, planning for a process or a process-driven change interventionRead MoreWhy Talent Management Is The Key Items For Win The War For Talent1626 Words   |  7 PagesStrategic Issues to be addressed to â€Å"win the war for talent† Talent management is the core to â€Å"win the war for talent†. It is more than just recruitment and selection of people for a company. At strategic level, it is also about decisions and its human capital implications. Given below are broad areas which need to be managed and addressed in order to have an effective talent management. †¢ Talent Strategy and Planning - The challenge is in clearly determining the strategic objectives, businessRead MoreQuestion case study Essay681 Words   |  3 Pagesfactors driving the evolution and this timing and circumstances that would make it successful. 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The internet organizations have had to use less capital planning whereas the traditional organizations needs to the use of high capital. This paper will discuss the organizational structures as well as identify two management or leadership challenges in each of the two business types. Traditional Retailer vs. Online Retailer Read MoreIrhr Study Notes1386 Words   |  6 PagesHINT 1 – Hofstedes cultural dimensions – know them – in textbook HINT 2 – Porter’s five forces model – know model – in textbook HINT 3 – Contingency Factors HINT 4 – Differences between content and process theory (motivation) HINT 5 – Know one leadership theory really well (Look on blackboard for topics not covered today – worksheets are provided) Topic 1: The environment and organisational culture Four external factors impacting managerial decisions in the specific environment: 1.

The Death of American Values - 827 Words

In his essay â€Å"A fire in the basement† Bob Herbert gives many examples that ultimately ask â€Å"what has happened to the American values of freedom, justice, opportunity and equality that separated us from other nations?† Herbert says that our society no longer cares to uphold these once fundamental values. Herbert declares that, â€Å"If I had one wish for this country it would be for leadership that would arouse the consciousness of the masses to the deceit and injustice all around them†(402) It’s obvious that Herbert is distraught by the current condition of our nation’s value system. And I must agree that we have lost sight of what really matters in today’s society and that we need a leader who will lead the people of this nation out of the†¦show more content†¦Herbert no long has this optimistic feeling as he travels the country, and neither do I. The general feeling I get of this nation is decline, we have been under the i mpression that we are the greatest country on earth for so long; that it took us too long to realize what a detrimental turn our nation had taken. The transition was gradual enough that we didn’t notice till it was completed and the wealthy took over with only one goal: keep the wealthy, wealthy. â€Å"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have too much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little†(399). Herbert uses this quotation by Franklin Roosevelt to show that the United States as a country is losing its way. He goes on to describe the disparage of wealth and income in the United States with the image of a group of homeless men huddling to keep warm, across the street there is a very high end shopping center offering chocolate for $62 a pound and selling fountain pens for $102,000. Herbert compares today’s CEO’s earning salaries 400 to 500 times the income of the average workers to the barons and serfs of the Gilded Age. Herbert is appalled by the condition of this country, and the fact that for many young Americans the only opportunity for a better life includes riskingShow MoreRelatedEssay On The Death Of American Values In Service1060 Words   |  5 PagesThe Death of American Values in Service Back in 1966, the United States established that tipping services should have a set minimum wage; it was held at 50% of the current minimum wage at the time. In 1991, when minimum wage was $4.25, tipping wage was at $2.13, and (Stuart 2) the wage has not changed since. 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Nurses must have the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver care that is congruent with the patient’sRead More The Benefits of Capital Punishment Essay1044 Words   |  5 Pagesput to death (Crime and Punishment in American History, 1993, p 317). Many Americans today still feel that capital punishment is a fair and necessary method of punishing their most violent criminals. One argument for the death penalty is the deterrent effect. In a 1985 study, published by economist Stephen K. Layson at the University of North Carolina, he found that every execution of a murderer deters, on average, 18 murders. The stud y also demonstrated that raising the number of death sentencesRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller1628 Words   |  7 PagesArthur Miller wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning play Death of a Salesman in 1949. The play inflated the myth of the American Dream of prosperity and recognition, that hard work and integrity brings, but the play compels the world to see the ugly truth that capitalism and the materialistic world distort honesty and moral ethics. The play is a guide toward contemporary themes foreseen of the twentieth century, which are veiled with greed, power, and betrayal. Miller’s influence with the play spreadRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1125 Words   |  5 Pagesinterpretation on the 1920s America, in particular the demoralization of the American dream in an era of unrivaled material excess. This novel is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and it relates to the determination of the American dream. Desire for the American dream created a loss or moral values through corruption, affairs and being wasteful. Throughout the novel, the essence of corruption is conveyed in the American dream through the desire of wealth. Gatsby works for his wealth to attainRead MoreCorrupting the American Dream in The Great Gatsby† by F. Scott Fitzgerald869 Words   |  4 Pagescorruption to the American dream. The American dream embodies the idea of self-sufficient, honest and intelligent individual with a happy successful life. It is also the idea of the pursuit of happiness but Daisy Buchanan a wealthy aristocrat goes after the empty pursuit of pleasure, portraying her character as a disillusionment of the American dream and how much it lost its good values. The wealthy are blinded by all their money, such as the Buchanan’s who forget the real idea of the American dream leadingRead MoreF. 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This remarkable increase shows people aware of their terminal illness feel that death is the best option for their life . (Euthanasia). With the death of so many

Christian Worldview free essay sample

Just like the Christian Worldview, scientific methods help us explain what is happening around us in our world. This idea usually works in relation to asking questions and followed by observing, performing experiments, and reporting. Scientific methods are techniques associated with phenomenas in exploring new ideas and knowledge. The steps in the scientific method consists of observation and description of a phenomena or a phenomena group, doing background research related to the subject, constructing a hypotheses, testing the hypotheses by doing an experiment, analyzing data and drawing a conclusion, and communicating results.The scientific method always begins with a question related to what is being studied. How, when where, why, which, and what are usually common words in scientific method use. In order for the scientific method to answer the question it must be about something that you can measure, and should be in a numerical value. The background research aspect is important in determining the topic of concern or interest. This step should be thoroughly investigated so that the findings can be easily proven with the help of the research.Next, is predicting a hypotheses or possible answer to the problem or the question based off of the information gathered. The experiment stage follows in developing a procedure to the methods presented. A detailed materials list should be included and the outcome should be measurable. Next, should be the collection and the analysis of the results. Confirmation of the results should take place by retesting and should include tables, graphs and photographs. Finally a concluding statement should be added that accepts or rejects the hypotheses. Question #2Pitman (2003), suggests that the strength of scientific method is found not so much in its ability to detect truth, but in its ability to detect error. It is also important to note that no scientific experiment ever leads to knowing the absolute truth of a theory. In principle, there could always be a new experiment which could falsify it. This method also has the ability in ruling out the hypotheses that are wrong indefinitely. The scientific method is an extremely powerful learning tool in that it detects error and so narrows the possibilities where truth may be found.If truth exists in any field of thought or learning, the scientific method can be used as a guide to help one approach this truth. The nature of scientific method lends itself to an acceptance of continual change in knowledge. Scientific knowledge concerns the shared realm of objective truth where demonstrable evidence can be displayed and communicated to other people, leading to a public assessment of whether observed facts fit the prediction of some theory. If the world does not remain the same at all times then there is no possible truth that can be detected.This goes the same for scientific methods in that if the material being tested is changing often, then there is no way we can discover any truth about anything. The steps in the scientific methods have a clear way of coming close to the truth no matter what the material may be. These methods are a concise plan in discovering the truth by plugging in the information needed with the abilities of observing, researching, testing, analyzing, and concluding. Question #3 Other ways in seeking truth and knowledge can be obtained in the Holy Bible.As you the Bible you will grow in the knowledge of God through your own personal adventures that you have with Him in your own daily walk, doing along with learning from others. The belief is that God wants us to understand what is going on by knowing what He is doing and why He is doing it. The Bible tells us ask and then you will receive, seek and then you will find, and knock and then the door will open. All three of these conditions that you have to do you will have to initiate yourself.In doing the initiation process, one will find the knowledge that is needed as people seek after it. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10) These two versus of fear of the Lord is the beginning of being able to receive knowledge and wisdom from God. Basically, God says that if you do not have a fear of Him then He will not release His knowledge to you.The Bible also tells us that all knowledge and wisdom comes directly from God and that He actually wants to release this knowledge to us. Question #4 According to Maslow (1975) we must remember that knowledge of ones own deep nature is also simultaneously knowledge of human nature in general. Human nature is every time we fall in love, fight with our spouse, get upset about something, or having emotions in church we are, in part, behaving as humans with our unique evolved nature which is human nature. Our thoughts , feelings and behavior are shared, to a large extent; by all men or women, despite large cultural differences. Depending, on the individual, human nature will positively or negatively influence the way a person goes about seeking knowledge and truth. A persons human nature can be influenced by their environment, how they were raised, and the people who they surround themselves with. When we are able to incorporate all of these perspectives of human nature, then, we are able to seek knowledge and truth based on our life experiences and our backgrounds.

Leadership Styles free essay sample

Nursing Armon Copeland Chamberlain College of Nursing 351: Transitions to Professional Nursing Spring Term 2011 Introduction Leadership in the 21st century has been redefined. As leaders we provide the voucher and guidance to begin the journey, while the managers are the ones who drive the team to the destination. Leadership is something you know when you see it, but is very challenging to describe. Leadership development in the nursing profession is important because it directly impacts the care that is delivered to patients. It is critical that the entire senior leadership have the self-same vision or mental image of what the organization intends to aim for as structure, management and organization in terms of changes for a solid foundation. Leadership Leadership is a blend of personal characteristics, abilities, strategies, and circumstances that enable a leader to influence individuals and organizations to accomplish a goal. Although there is no single formula for becoming a successful leader, some common elements include self- confidence, courage, a clear vision of the goal and how to reach it, the ability to clearly communicate the goal as well as strong personal commitment, and the ability to inspire trust and respect among followers. We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership Styles or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Leadership differs from management in that leadership is a combination of personal qualities and abilities whereas management is a process. Leaders are more likely to be effective when they use the management process to achieve goals. Managers are more effective when their actions demonstrate leadership qualities; thereby earning the respect and trust of those they manage (Hamilton, 1996). Styles of Leadership Transformational and Transactional leadership styles are two very different methods of leadership in the nursing profession. This paper will compare and contrast these two leadership styles and support that transformational leadership style encourages quality care, job fulfillment and improved patient outcomes. The traditional authoritarian style of leadership the top-down directive approach has largely been replaced with a more democratic and/or participative style, which involves such collaborative behaviors as consulting, discussing, cooperating, or negotiating. No one style is effective for all situations, however, so flexibility is important. For example, an authoritarian approach may be the most effective in dealing with acute situations when decisions must be made and implemented quickly. Rapid technological growth, increased diversity in the workforce, and growing complexity within organizations has led to changes in the way effective leadership is defined. Leadership researchers and theorists define good leadership as future-oriented rather than present-oriented and as fostering followers commitment and ability to contribute creatively to organizations (Eagly, 2007). Political scientist James McGregor Burns (1978) described this type of leadership as transformational leadership. Transformational leaders establish themselves as role models by gaining followers trust and confidence. They establish the organizations goals, plan how to achieve the goals, and innovate. As Eagly (2007) explains, Transformational leaders mentor and empower their subordinates and encourage them to develop their potential and thus to contribute more effectively to their organization. Researchers also describe a more conservative type of leadership as transactional leadership, in which leaders establish exchange relationships with their frontline employees. After clarifying objectives and subordinates responsibilities, transactional leaders reward those who meet objectives and correct them when they fail to meet objectives. The word politics is a loaded term, heavy with images of shady characters in smoke-filled rooms, wheeling, dealing, and often stealing. But politics is really a neutral term. According to Policy and Politics for Nurses, Politics means influencing, specifically, influences the allocation of scarce resources. Politics is a process by which one influences the decisions of others and exerts control over situations and events. It is a means to an end (Mason et al. , 2002). Becoming influential is something that can be learned, and it has as much to do with attitude as with behavior. Both aspects are necessary (Sullivan, 2004). Becoming influential includes such skills as understanding power and how to use it, communicating effectively, understanding the political process, and dealing with difficult people and situations. Conclusion Work hard, play by the rules, be nice, be polite, hold yourself accountable and you will get ahead. Our mothers were right, up to a point. Taking that advice, you do get ahead and your hard work is rewarded until you hit the glass ceiling. Or, as one physician called it, the gauze ceiling. Being the best at what you do is not enough to break through the gauze ceiling into positions of leadership. Its not enough to have clinical skills; you need political skills as well. Leaders make a difference in their world by influencing others to support the leaders vision or cause. To mak e a difference, you need political skills. Everything is political in the work environment, professional organization, community, and government. References Hamilton PM. (1996). Realities of Contemporary Nursing, 2nd ed. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley. Eagley AH. (2007). Female leadership advantage and disadvantage: Resolving the contradictions. Psychology of Women Quarterly 31:1–12. Mason DJ, Leavitt JK, Chaffee MW. (2002). Policy and Politics in Nursing and Healthcare, 4th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders/Elsevier. Sullivan EJ. (2004). Becoming Influential: A Guide for Nurses. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Leadership styles free essay sample â€Å"The most effective executives use a collection of distinct leadership styles, each in right measure, at just the right time. Such flexibility is tough to put into action, but it pays off in performance. And better yet, it can be learned† (Daniel Goleman). The objective of this paper is to understand the concept that lies behind leadership styles, to analyze their significance and their impact, which illuminates and contributes toward the success of organization and reflects on employee work related attitudes and behaviors. It is an attempt to highlight the core concepts of these styles that a leader must need to know and demonstrates one may use these styles according to the situational demand. Introduction Leaders are regularly involved with other people to decide how they will achieve organization’s vision. They need to motivate, influence, and coerce people so that they can achieve the organizational goals and objectives (Kotter, 2001). In response to changes scholars of leadership emphasized that effective leadership emerges from inspiring, motivating, and mentoring followers thus it provides interpersonal exchanges in organization by leaders and their followers (Graen Uhl-Bien, 1995; Spillane Camburn, 2006). We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership styles or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The significance of leadership styles and their impact play a vital role in shaping employees behavior. Leaders perform different roles in an organization so that they may guide their followers in a desired direction and hence they adopt different styles to cope up with the change, diversity, motivating and influencing their employees at the same time. To get better understanding of the core leadership styles we need to explore its origin and historical background. Most of researchers agreed that major leadership theories are espoused either on the trait based approach, leadership styles or contingent factors while discussing leadership and leaders. This review is based on leadership literature that mainly focuses on leadership styles and contingency (situational) theories. Leadership styles approach is originated from Ohio State University that began in 1945(Warrick, 1981). Chief contributors were Hemphill, Stogdill, Coons, Fleishman, Harris, and Burtt. The significant findings revealed consideration and initiating structures as important dimensions of leadership behavior in formal organizations. Later on University of Michigan followed former studies and found similar results. They investigated relationship between supervisory behavior and employee productivity and satisfaction. Past investigations and other theories in leadership resulted in identification of four leadership styles such as autocratic, laissez faire, human relation, and democratic leaders. Each of the style was explained by the dimensions of high and low performance. Later on a transitional theory between leadership styles theories and contingency theories named as Managerial Grid was developed by Blake and Mouton (Robert Rogers Blake Mouton, 1978). They described two basic aspects in leadership as concern for production and for the people too. That Managerial grid was comprised of five basic styles rated on it separately. They concluded that leadership styles research was so inconsistent in conceptualization of different styles and that their research provided a consistent approach (Robert R Blake Mouton, 1981) . Their research suggested that if a leader continuously changed styles, employees would be constantly confused in their attempts to predict and adjust to their leader’s behavior. So after getting deep understanding about the typical styles researchers formulated contingency approach that suggested different situations need different approaches to leadership styles. Burns gave another two important aspects named as Transformational and Transactional leadership styles. In his research he explained these two dimensions of leadership styles and argues that the leaders who use transformational style are tend to be very supportive and they engage their employees to improve their performance to provide better results and individually gave them feedback for such improvement. Transactional leaders usually involve their employees in the process to encourage and to give  mutual support in the form of rewards etc (Burns, 1978). Later on these concepts were refined and researchers built arguments to favor the importance of one style on another. According to Goleman, leadership styles can be distinguished such as coercive, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and coaching. He argued that these executives used these styles, but out of these six; four are having positive effect on climate and hence affect organization and employee’s performance too. He then defined each of these styles in correspondence to their impact on organization’s performance and employee’s behavior (Goleman, 2000). The significance of leadership styles and their impact play a vital role in shaping employees behavior, and it is known by few leaders who really understand the influence of their leadership style on their employees (Warrick, 1981). Effective leaders may use more than one style to delegate and that is based on the situation and demand that counts for it. Leaders set strategy, they create vision and mission; they build entire culture in that way. The styles appear to have a direct impact on the working atmosphere of a company, division, or team, and in return on its financial performance. If that impact is fruitful enough then organization easily attain its objective in a collective way. Past research indicates that leaders with the best results don’t rely on only one leadership style; they use multiple styles according to their needs and consequences (Goleman, 2000). Each of the leadership style describes different quality, characteristic, philosophy, and consequences associated with it. Organizational culture and leadership are thought to be highly related aspects of organizational life, because they serve similar functions, operate in similar ways, and have reciprocal influences on each other (Schein 2004; Schneider 1987; Trice and Beyer 1993). Researchers have identified six basic styles of leadership that influences the behavior of their employees. Each of the style has a distinct impact on employee’s behavior and hence affects organizational performance. Warrick defines the same by distinguishing it in to four categories of leaders such as autocratic, laissez faire, human relations, and democratic leaders. Other focused on transformational and transactional styles. Each of the style has its distinctive impact on employees’ behavior and determines specific consequences (Goleman, 2007; Warrick 1981). Significance of leadership styles Styles refer to the emphasis a person places on performance and people. Leadership styles can be identified through specific style characteristics (Warrick, 1981). Leadership style can be judged by the specific behaviors of leaders, and this behavior is adopted by the leader for many functions in organization (Casimir, 2001). They should be adapted to the particular demands of the situation, the particular requirements of the people involved and the particular challenges faced by organization. There are no doubt variables other than leadership styles that affect employees’ performance and satisfaction but understanding about leadership styles is quite significant to lead people better and in a dynamic way (Warrick, 1981). Leadership styles have strong relation with employees’ performance and hence create results in the form of positive outcomes if used intelligently. As per researchers, supportive and participative styles of leaders have a positive impact on satisfaction and performance of employees (Berson Avolio, 2004; Mondy, 2009). Whereas, instrumental styles of leadership (transactional and autocratic leadership) are found to be less associated with employees’ satisfaction (Bass Avolio, 1990). Leaders prepare organizations for change and diversity and help them to cope so they need to adopt the best style that fulfills their need of change and to compete globally. Leader’s styles may affect employee’s performance either in a positive or negative way by being supportive, fair, and encouraging, or unsupportive, inconsistent, and critical. Leadership styles can be identified by their specific characteristics, as per their leadership philosophy and by management skills in each of the leadership style that is distinct from one another (Warrick, 1981). As per researcher’s view the leaders who mastered authoritative, democratic affiliative and coaching styles they can create best business climate and performance (Goleman, 2007). Study of few executive styles and their impact on employees and organization Autocratic Style According to Warrick the leaders who have this style mainly focus on the high performance of the organization but they put low emphasis on people. Employee involvement is not considered trustworthy by those leaders. They rely on authoritative control, power, and manipulation to get the job done. Such kind of leaders assumes about the people as if they are lazy and undependable. So leader having that style is commanding and believes on strict control as he uses close supervision but employees feel stressed and uncomfortable while working under such kind of supervision (Van Vugt, Jepson, Hart, De Cremer, 2004). But under such command and control quality of work increases and hence productivity increases too. People are rewarded for the job well done through appraisals and punished for making mistakes. Laissez Faire Style These are the leaders who put low focus on the performance as well as they don’t pay attention to employees’ performance. They assume that it’s hard to control people so they try to resolve things by having view in mind that leader’s job is to get things done and that is more than enough for them. They keep low profile and try to stay out of trouble. It has lack of credibility, lowest employee productivity and low performance of organization is the consequence of this style. This leadership style is found to be positively related with role conflict, ambiguity, and conflicts with coworkers (Skogstad, Einarsen, Torsheim, Aasland, Hetland, 2007). The employees under such leaders are less creative and less confident about their skills. Such leaders avoid making decisions as much as possible (Warrick, 1981). Democratic Style They put high emphasis on the performance of organization and they involve their employee deliberately in achieving organizational goals and objectives and align these objectives that meet requirement of employee’s interest and their performance as well (Foels, Driskell, Mullen, Salas, 2000). They strive for creating an ideal environment and for well-organized and challenging workplace, they get the job done by motivating, empowering, managing groups and individuals to meet organizational as well as their personal objectives (Warrick, 1981). This style draws on people’s knowledge and skills, and creates a group commitment to the resulting goals. It works best when the direction the organization should take is unclear, and the leader needs to tap the collective wisdom of the group. Mr. Goleman warns that this consensus-building approach can be disastrous in times of crisis, when urgent events demand quick decisions. Coercive Style Coercive style demands immediate compliance. Leaders who have this style are normally authoritative. There is no welcome for any new ideas from employees. These leaders force their employees to get their tasks done by all means no matter whether they like it or nor but they are compelled to do it forcefully. It is the least effective style in most of the situations. Apparently it seems that it has only drawbacks but there can be certain situation when it becomes effective too if used masterfully. This style works when employees are given less value and can be replaced easily or when a kick start is required to turn around or for change (Barker, 2001). Authoritative Style Vibrant enthusiasm and clear vision are the hall marks of this style. The authoritative style is to be considered as the most effective one driving up the every aspect of the climate of an organization. The authoritative leader is visionary; he encourages and motivates his subordinates by making clear how much importance employee’s work carry and how it contributes toward the performance of the organization. People like to work with those leaders who give them importance and value in that way. It enhances the commitment level of employees to greater extent (Goleman, 2000). The employees feel encouraged and privileged. Because of the positive influence on subordinates it works for every situation if it suits to fulfill organization’s requirements. Affiliative Style This style emphasizes the importance of team work, and creates harmony in a group by connecting people to each other. Mr. Goleman argues this approach is particularly valuable â€Å"when trying to heighten team harmony, increase morale, improve communication or repair broken trust in an organization. † But he warns against using it alone, since its emphasis on group praise can allow poor performance to go uncorrected. Affiliative leaders are natural relationship builders as they try to create harmony and sense of belongingness by giving their feedback on regular basis to their employees that enhances the sense of recognition among employees. But then leader should see that extreme praise is not good all the times and it loses its sound impact too so he should employ this style intelligently with the combination of some other style (Fullan Ballew, 2001; Goleman, Boyatzis, McKee, 2002). Pacesetting Style As per researcher’s view it is the style in which leader try to foster high performance and sets high standards. This type of leader wants to get things done through excellence. It destroys the climate sometimes as well. Employee may feel that their leader don’t trust them as work becomes so much task oriented and less flexible. He or she is â€Å"obsessive about doing things better and faster, and asks the same of everyone. † But Mr. Goleman warns this style should be used sparingly, because it can undercut morale and make people feel as if they are failing. This style can be considered as leading by example and personal heroics. It is very effective for short span of time but can demoralize employees if used for longer time period (Spreier, Fontaine, Malloy, 2006). Coaching Style Coaching leaders are the ones who give courage to employees to get to know about their strengths and weaknesses and tie them to their personal and aspiration motives. It is very useful for longer professional development and mentoring purposes. Leaders drive their employees to rectify their mistakes in a constructive way. They are good at delegating effectively. They set agreements and challenging goals along with the continuous guidelines and feedback. This style helps a lot in cultivating employee’s abilities (Spreier et al. , 2006). It works better when employees are aware of their strength and weaknesses and want to seek more for outstanding performance as they feel that their leader have a lot of trust and faith on them so they like to face challenges and become more determined to take up well. Transactional and Transformational Leadership Styles Transactional leaders are those who are engaged with their employees in such a way that includes rewards and mutual support to incorporate outstanding performance of employees. It has two basic components one is contingent rewards and the other one is active and passive management by exception. One aspect shows that they attach rewards with the good and satisfactory performance to influence employees whereas active management by exception follows quick response to the mistakes and failures to meet the standards. Management by exception in passive means that these leaders wait until the problem resolved by itself and if it doesn’t get resolved and becomes severe they intervene at that time to resolve it (Bass, Avolio, Jung, Berson, 2003). Some of other researchers formulated their own measures of transactional and transformational leadership styles (Alimo-Metcalfe Alban-Metcalfe, 2005). Transformational Leaders have a great role in the success of an organization. Transformational leaders commit such behavior and practices that improves employee’s satisfaction with leader and employees perceptions about leader’s effectiveness(Howell Shamir, 2005; Judge Piccolo, 2004). The leaders who adopt this style gain the trust of his followers. They empower their employees and set targets, goals to produce effective outcomes in way that enhances employees’ capabilities too. Researchers exhibit four important dimensions of this style such as idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual simulation and individualized Consideration. All of these dimensions play a vital role in generating positive influence on employee performance and his commitment that leads to organizational performance (Avolio Bass, 2002). This style is very effective if rapid changes are occurring in organization thus it is having positive influence on employee’s performance sets a better direction for both employees and organization. From the above detailed discussion we may have a quick glimpse of these styles which relate to the organization performance and those as well which impacts on employee’s performance. Here few of them are summarized. Leadership styles Autocratic Democratic Laissez Faire Transformational Transactional Coaching Employees’ performance Less focused More focused Less focused More focused More focused More focused Organizations’ performance More Focused More focused Less focused More focused Less focused More focused Here a conceptual model is developed. It is a simple framework which represents effective styles that are positively linked with the employees’ performance and are thought to have sound impact on organization’s productivity. Figure 1: A Conceptual Model of Leadership Styles and Their positive influence This model depicts the influence of key leadership styles on employee’s behavior. Implication of this model can be useful, if significant styles are to be explored which a leader may adopt to see sustainable performance and positive outcomes in an organization. An effective leader chooses the style according to the demand of the typical situation. He may shift from one style to another but that move should not be frequent as it can create difficulty in employee’s understanding about their leader’s attitude. Effective leaders are capable of using all leadership styles and they know when and where to use the appropriate one. Leader motivates his followers towards a common goal and then provides those required resources to accomplish that goal and inspires them to improve their knowledge, skills and abilities (Vigoda-Gadot, 2007). Literature illuminates the significance of leadership styles, the relationship of the leaders’ behavior and its effect on employees’ motivation toward the work are correlated with each other. If this relationship (among employees and their leader) is significant and directed positively then it contributes to the healthy organizational commitment (Bass Avolio, 1994; Rai Sinha, 2000). Organizational culture transforms well if there is sound collaboration and exchange of thoughts exists between supervisors and their subordinates. Researchers found that leadership styles have an impact on organizational culture as leader defines the cultural norms and values within the organization(Bass Riggio, 2006). When employees receive continuous feedback, motivation the feel recognized they contribute in the development of organization. Leaders consider the problems of subordinates and suggest the possible solutions, which motivate subordinates and enhance their commitment towards organizational goals and in turn help to increase organizational outcomes (Walumbwa, Lawler, Avolio, 2007). Discussion, reflection and implications Leader-follower relationship integrates together to produce desirable outcomes in an organization. The nature of such relationships and interactions is followed by the styles of the leaders which they pursue to achieve organizational goals and objectives in a meaningful way (Ahlquist Levi, 2011). Awareness about leadership styles and their outcomes is very important for successful leadership. With my trivial effort I tried to explore these styles by examining their pros cons and focused on those which are positively associated with employees and organizational performance. A style that facilitates trust and respect helps the leader to switch between skills with the changing situations. Warrick favors the argument that style projects special emphasis on performance and people which can be expressed in number of ways in different situations. Researchers proposed that situational factors contribute to the effectiveness of a certain type of leadership over the others. So these styles need to be utilized sensibly. Scholars of leadership suggested that effective leadership emerges from the behavior which a leader adopts as per given circumstances. Potential benefits of such behaviors can be attained by developing insight of leadership styles from diversified groups (Ayman Korabik, 2010). Leaders may need different styles and they may switch between different styles flexibly. They are sensitive to the impact they have on others. Goleman argued that the leaders who have mastered on authoritative, democratic, affiliative, and coaching styles have best climate in the organization and enhance the performance level of employees and organization and then he puts more influence to expand leaders’ own style repertory (Goleman, 2007). Some others favored transformational leadership style as the most authentic one and argued that it is positively related with organizational culture and proposed that it contributes towards the development of strong culture (Schimmoeller, 2010). A few also favored democratic style as well when leader is uncertain to take corrective action and seeks help from able employees. So there is no final outcome that one may conclude any specific style to be considered as the best one. Different styles are best for different situations so an effective leader must know how to switch between styles in changing and diverse environment in order to attain best favorable outcomes for organization and people who work for it. Managers should recognize the impact of different leadership styles as these may affect organizational politics and eventually, formal performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (Vigoda-Gadot, 2007). Further quantitative research can be conducted to measure the impact of each of the style to get more empirical exploration regarding organization’s performance. It is very critical to adopt a unique way of leading in dynamic environment. Effective leaders are those who are not affected by the diversity, they formulate their own ways as per their need to establish cohesiveness among their employees and organization to get desirable outcomes and hence become role model for others. History tells us about so many leaders who set example for others but I consider prophet PBUH’s style as the best leadership style a true practice of HRD ever in the history and in future as well.a

How to Get Your Lesson Plans Done More Quickly

How to Get Your Lesson Plans Done More Quickly Every week teachers spend countless hours scouring the internet for the perfect lesson plan or searching for some inspiration that will lead them to create an amazing lesson for their students. Teachers do this because its their road map, it leads them to what their students will be learning and how they will go about teaching them. Lesson plans not only help a teacher run their classroom and help keep the children focused. Without a detailed lesson plan, the substitute teacher would not know what to do with the students. You would think that in order to create an effective lesson plan that is engaging, addresses students learning objectives, incorporates engaging activities and helps to check for student understanding would take days to create. However, educators have been at this for a very long time and have come up a few tips and secrets that help them get their lesson plans done quick. Here are a few teaching strategies to help you get your lesson planning done faster. 1. Start Lesson Planning Backwards Before you even start to plan your lesson think about what your learning objective is. Think about what you want your students to learn and get out of the lesson. Do you want your students to learn how to count by 10s or be able to write an essay using all of their spelling words? Once you figure out what your overall objective is then you can start thinking about what activity you want the students to do. When you start with your end goal of the lesson, it will help make the lesson planning part go much quicker. Here is an example: The objective for my students is to name all of the food groups and be able to give examples for each group. The lesson students will do in order to complete this objective is going to be to sort foods in an activity called sorting groceries. Students will learn about the five food groups first by looking at a food chart then going into small groups and brainstorming what foods go into each food group. Next, they will receive a paper plate and food cards. Their goal is to place the correct food cards on the paper plate with the correct food group. 2. Download Ready-To-Go Lesson Plans Technology has made it very easy and convenient for teachers to be able to go online and print out already made lesson plans. Some sites offer free lesson plans while others you may have to pay a small fee, nonetheless, it is worth every penny. Once you figure out what your learning objective is, then all you have to do is a quick search for a lesson plan that correlates with your end goal. Teacher Pay Teachers is one site that has many already-made lessons (some free, some you have to pay) as well as Discovery Education where all lessons are free. These are just two of the hundreds of sites that offer lesson plans at your convenience. This site  also has plenty of lesson plans on it as well. 3. Collaborate with Your Fellow Teachers One of the best ways to get your lesson planning done quicker is to collaborate with other teachers. There are a few ways that you can do this, one way is for each teacher to plan for a few subjects, then use the others lessons from your fellow teacher for the subjects that you didnt plan for. For example, lets say that you created a lesson plan for social studies and science for the week, and your colleague created plans for language arts and math. You would both give each other your lesson plans so all you really had to do is only plan for two subjects versus four. Another way that you can collaborate with your colleagues is to have the two classes work together for specific subjects. A great example of this comes from a fourth-grade classroom where the teachers in the school would change classrooms for different subjects. This way each teacher only had to plan for one or two subjects versus all of them. Collaboration makes it so much easier on the teacher and not to mention the students love to work with different students from other classrooms as well. Its a win-win situation for everybody. 4. Theres an App for That Have you ever heard of the expression Theres an app for that? Well, there is an app to help you get your lesson plans done quicker. It is called Planboard and One Note and Lesson Planning to name a few. These are just three of the many apps that are on the market to help teachers create, organize and map out their lesson planning from the convenience of their fingertips. Long gone are the days of handwriting or typing out each and every lesson that you plan on doing, nowadays all you have to do is tap your finger on a screen a few times and you will have your lesson plans done. Well, its not that easy but you get the point. Apps have made it easier for teachers to get their plans done faster. 5. Think Outside of the Box Whoever says that you had to do all of the work yourself? Try thinking outside of the box and have your students help you, invite a guest speaker or go on a field trip. Learning doesnt have to be just creating a lesson plan and following it, it can be whatever it is you want it to be. Here are a few more teacher-tested ideas for thinking outside of the box. Digital field trip.Put on a play.Have students create an activity. In order to be effective, lesson planning does not have to be exhausting and so detailed that you plan out each and every scenario. As long as you list your objectives, create an engaging activity, and know how you will assess your students that is enough.

First Steps in Plotting a Novel

First Steps in Plotting a Novel First Steps in Plotting a Novel First Steps in Plotting a Novel By Maeve Maddox Sterlin writes: My girlfriend says plots are a dime a dozen, but I feel different. I am trying to write my story and I am loaded with themes, but no plot, nothing to drive the themes or story. Can you offer any tips or techniques for devising a plot? In one sense the girlfriend is correct. The writing section of any library houses dozens of books offering ready-made plots. One plot seems to be enough for many action stories: The hero is attempting to stop an assassination or foil plans to destroy the world. Reversals and disasters occur at predictable intervals before the action-packed climax and spectacular successful outcome. Theres nothing wrong with stories like that. We all enjoy them, especially as movies, but theyre not especially memorable. If your ambition is to write a novel that will linger in the readers mind after the last page, plotting requires a less mechanical approach. Many writing teachers describe plot as the skeleton of the novel, but I dont think thats quite the right metaphor. Picturing plot as skeleton suggests that the other elements of the novel can be hung on it or peeled off. I think that creating the right plot involves combining character and story in such a way that the result is a fused whole. Plot, character, story, theme and setting should bond with one another like the molecules in vulcanized rubber. What tips or techniques have I to offer? Only what Im doing myself as I begin my newest fiction project: 1. Read one of the many books about plot, for example 20 Master Plots and how to build them by Ronald B. Tobias. 2. Describe the story you plan to write in one sentence. If you cant say what your book is about in one sentence, you dont have a clear enough idea of what youre trying to do. 3. Decide what the main character wants more than anything else in life. The plot will grow out of this desire. 3. Write a character description of the protagonist that includes appearance, likes, dislikes, fears, childhood trauma, occupation, etc. Plot is behavior. The kind of experiences your character has had in the past will determine how he behaves in the future. What he fears will affect his actions. Plot grows from character. 4. Make a timeline for the events of the novel. This will give your plot anchor points. 5. Make a map that shows where all the action will take place. This will help you gauge distances and figure the length of time necessary to move your characters from one place to another. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'tsThe Difference Between "will" and "shall"Is "Number" Singular or Plural?

Saudi Aramco Procurement Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Saudi Aramco Procurement Process - Essay Example The millennium is characterized with information technology as instrument for world wide business expansion, networking and in engaging with business partners for sustainable operations. Information technology also improved communication processes and hastened responses to corporate needs and systematized all operations. For some institutions and companies, this optimized virtual mechanism for complex procedures by thoroughly mainstreaming transactional contract relations. This means that through technology, corporation evolved into certain level of structural sophistication in centralizing internal mechanism and resolving once complex manual procedures, including assertiveness in the interaction of business decision processes. All this are made possible through the development of systematized digitized system of information technology. This essay will attempt to explicate and illustrate how information technology improved procedural procurement engendered organizational readiness in terms of corporate financial and technological resources as well as of its capacity to respond to external pressure due to competition with trading. Transactional relations of contact and procurement are now even done using the internet. It will also attempt to analyze if hard system model befits Saudi Aramco Company’s procurement procedures. Procurement Procedure is a process on how a contract is obtained. It is a mechanism to control the nature, object, expectations, and delivery of outcome based on agreements. It is a universal mechanisms adopted by companies and institutions that are operating in large scale, or in a multi-enterprise level with expensive capital investments but is constantly confronted with concerns on production technologies adaptation, volatile markets and pervasive regulation (Estache & Atsushi (2008). This situation is true with oil and gas extractive industries where there are standards and control mechanism that should be adopted to systematize its operations. This is considered as complexity management. Managing Information System There is a systematic approach used in managing information systems. This approach is technology-focused, process-sensitive, quantitative and qualitative in application and methodical in analysis, procedures, tools and techniques (Dumitrascu, 2006). This is evident in computerized system designed by infotech experts like Cisco. It helped in knowledge management and in systematizing transactions by increasing it company’s corporate virtual realities, although these require persons equipped with knowledge to ensure that the system will be effectively interactive. This means that the person must be knowledgeable too in maximizing digitized information in documentation as well as in technical system optimization to protect it from overload and techie backlog. Complexity management treats all hard structured and soft unstructured problems. Its system is rational, scientific and logical and itâ₠¬â„¢s developed with the assumption that the world is clear out there and can be customized based on our needs (Dumitrascu, 2006). Complexity management can be done using varied diagrams. This can be Spray Diagram, Systems Maps, Influence Diagrams, Multiple-cause diagrams, Sign graphs, and Control Model Diagram. These are explicated as follows: a. Influence Diagram— also known as relevance  analysis or a decision network illustrated graphical and mathematical representation in decision-making. It was developed in 1970s and is now adopted widely and becoming an alternative to  decision tree which typically suffers from  exponential growth  in number of branches with each variable modeled (Detwarasiti and Shachter, 2005 ; Holtzman,1989). ID is practicable for team decision analysis because it allows incomplete sharing of information among team members to be modeled and solved explicitly. The semantic of