Halfway House Essay

The crisis of identity and breakdown of communication in human relations and resultant tragic effect of boredom and despair constitute the theme of Rakesh’s play, Aadhe Adhure, which is by far is best play, devastatingly exposing the fragmented personalities and broken images in a disintegrated society. †Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€ N. Choudhuri, (Hindi Drama, Contemporary Indian Literature) Mohan Rakesh’s  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Halfway House†Ã‚  can be viewed as an exploration of meaning and identity in the turmoil of changing social and familial structures. Although the play seeks to construct the search for identity within the unfulfilling, incomplete nature of bourgeois existence as a universal non-gendered experience along Existential lines as its primary concern, it eventually deals with many questions on a broader socio-economic context on Realist lines. In the Prologue itself, the theme of exploration of identity is introduced, when ‘the Man in a Black Suit’ exclaims,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Who am I? †Ã‚  Immediately the declaration takes an Existential tangent as the fruitlessness of such a search for meaning is asserted with the speaker claiming,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"This is a question I have given up trying to face.   He establishes the absurdity of identity by calling himself  Ã¢â‚¬Å"amorphous†Ã‚  and  Ã¢â‚¬Å"undefined†, as someone who like all of us puts on a new mask and gives a new meaning to himself for different occasions –  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The fact is that there is something of me in each one of you and that is why, whether on or off stage, I have no separate identity. †He then asserts that no matter what the circumstance, what the situation and the gender, man’s search for identity and meaning in life would always remain an absurd, indescribable, undefined and irrational oddity. Even the characters of the play are seen to engage in a constant search of meaning and identity in life. In his essay,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Uncertain circumstances, Undefined Individuals: A study of Halfway House†, S. G. Bhanegaonkar points out that modern psychology does not regard escapism as a symbol of weakness but as a sensitive individual’s desire to search for meaning which he does not find in the conditions he is placed in; and hence, the characters of ‘Halfway House’  can too be seen as being in a relentless quest for identity that transcends the turmoil of their fragmented existence. It is in sync with R. L. Nigam’s theory, of the main characters of play being involved in a  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœself-made’  phenomenon of  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœthe soul’s search for an alternate sanctuary’  in the absence of the sanctuary of home which‘stood for a source of solace and moral stay to the individual in moments of crises. ’ The search for identity and meaning in Halfway House is best articulated through the character of Savitri who seeks fulfilment and reason in marital bliss – â€Å"Why does one get married? In order to fulfil a need†¦. an inner†¦. oid, if you like; to be self sufficient†¦. complete. †Ã‚  Since her own husbands fails to fulfil this inner emptiness, Savitri seeks marital happiness beyond conjugal relations in men who possess the qualities she had always aspired for in Mahendranath. Dilip Kumar Basu observes,â€Å"The desire to look for â€Å"completeness† in the â€Å"other† may look like Everyman’s essential and unreasolvable problem, and may vaguely place her in the centre of an Absurdist drama where the search may be considered tragic/ridiculous.   Although the concept of Savitri seeking meaning in life being defined in terms of her relations with men seems problematic in itself, the play tries to trick us into the generalisation that this is nothing but an existentialist quest for meaning in life. She is reported to be overwhelmed by Juneja’s power, affluence and sense of reason. Shivjeet’s intellectual prowess, his university degree and numerous trips abroad enamoured her. Jagmohan’s understanding nature, sense of humour, modernism, elite lifestyle and masculine pride held immense appeal for her. She was supposed to be attracted to her now son-in-law, Manoj too, as his influential status had charmed her sufficiently. Savitri moves from one man to another in search of the perfect partner. The play tries to portray this search as an illusion, an Absurdist attempt by denying Savitri the happiness she is looking for and making her realise that all men are the same and they all of them as in Kirti Jain’s wordsâ€Å"want to evade responsibility and to exploit her. † Mahendranath is shown to search for a new identity and reason behind his existence through his relationship with Juneja. The economic crisis and his losing the identity of being the bread-earner of the family had altered his position in the house into a non-entity and affected his mind and heart adversely  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. silent acceptance, perpetual snubs, constant insults, is all that I deserve after so many years. †Ã‚  He greatly resents his loss of control and influence in the family and is immensely unhappy to be regarded  Ã¢â‚¬Å"only as a stamp of respectability to be used only when the need arises. † Under such circumstances of changed power equations, Mahendranath earches for meaning in new relations build on a sense of understanding and mutual respect, as is the case with Juneja. From Savitri’s perpetual insults and accusations and its subsequent repercussions in giving him an inferiority complex, Juneja’s friendship offered Mahendranath the alternate sanctuary of solace and comfort in the midst of an emotional and economic crisis within the family. He began to define himself in terms of his non-utility and unsuccessfulness, and thereby sought solace in temporary acts of rebellion involving leaving the house and seeking meaning and mental peace in his companionship with Juneja. Moreover due to his own lack of conviction and inability to take independent decisions, Mahendranath looked for identity assertion through psychological dependence on others and in the early years of his marriage through a patriarchal control and restriction of Savitri’s autonomy. The fact that Mahendranath finally returns in the end using his own judgement, abandoning Juneja’s advice, establishes the futility of his search and once again, reiterates the Absurdist stance the play tries to partially incorporate. Ashok and Kinni explore the dynamics of identity on their own in their own world so as to escape from the fearful existence of their wrangling parents. Ashok searches for his identity in an amorphous world, detached from reality and need, in the realm of idleness, impulsivity and romance. For no apparent reason at all, he quits his job at Air Freeze and instead spends his time either in lazing around uselessly or in courting a girl working in the Udyog Centre. The everyday animosity between his parents distorts his sense of ‘home’ and thereby he looks for meaning and identity in an alternate world free of the pressure of shouldering family responsibility and of the tensions within the family. Even the talk he has with Binni about the  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœair’  in the house echoes these sentiments about the search for meaning. The youngest character Kinni on the other hand, searches for an identity through her emerging adolescent sexuality and awareness of this sexuality, in the absence of a secure support mechanism at home, both economically and emotionally. Given the emotional instability in her house and the complete negligence with which she was treated, Kinni sought to define herself in terms of her rebelliousness, growing sexual knowledge, stubbornness, ill-mannerisms and arrogance. In the last scene, Kinni trying to get out when the door is locked from inside and others trying to get in when she locks it from inside is again symbolic of a futile quest for identity and meaning in life, for even her defiance and obstinacy fails to make things any different for the little girl. Binny too is shown to be in a relentless and shifting quest for a sanctuary, an identity. She elopes with Manoj not in an impulse of love and romantic urge but in search of an abode away from home where she presumed she would find peace and protection. But however, when she experiences her husband’s strict conservatism and fails to find any meaning   in Manoj’s restrictive control within their conjugal relation, she looks for answers in a sense of defiance –  Ã¢â‚¬Å"He likes my hair long, so I want to cut it. He doesn’t like me to work, so I want a job. †Ã‚  But this again proves futile as she realises she is unable to execute her rebellious tendencies against the sub-ordination by her husband. Ultimately, she just returns to her maternal home in search for that mysteriousâ€Å"something†Ã‚  in their house that is the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"cause of all her trouble†Ã‚  and that which refuses to desert her. However, Binni is never shown to exactly unravel this mystery  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœcause’  thereby manifesting the absurdity of the entire process of finding meaning in life. However, when their search for meaning in life and the subsequent despair and suffering is regarded only along existential lines, it thus forecloses the possibility of ever addressing the cause of the dilemma. All the characters’ quest for an identity beyond the home, the search for an alternate sanctuary besides being analysed as a technique of Absurdist Theatre can also be seen in terms of the alienation that comes with urbanization, the breakdown of joint family and the new emerging power-plays and conflicts within the nuclear family with no viable support system outside. The fact that Savitri never explores the arena of identity as an independent individual woman, a single working woman; but instead always defines herself in terms of fulfilment in her various relations with different men raises important questions about the status of women as an autonomous individual in society. To quote R. L. Nigam,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The one solution which could have lead to joy and fulfilment, and was available to her all the time, would need for its success, a regenerated society in whose value-system personal fulfilment and interpersonal responsibilities have been harmonised. In the present social scenario, that solution would not work. † Morever, Mahendranath and Savitri not finding meaning in their relationship can also be seen as the virtual breakdown of marriage as an institution. In our fast-changing society and in the face of belated individualism of its members, the values and regards on which family and marriage have so far rested are fast losing their meaning and significance. Assertion of personal rights and freedoms within a group-unit (family) which necessarily involves inter-personal adjustments produces a situation of crisis because there are no principles to guide these adjustments, which necessarily involves inter-personal adjustments produces a situation of crisis because there are no principles to guide these adjustments which, in present context cannot be thought of in terms of surrender of one or the other party. All relations in the family need to be redefined with new structures of familial division of labour and the rise of the working women. As O. P. Sharma Prakash puts it,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Halfway House is the crisis of dignity of the individual. Modern man demands individual dignity as well as honour of is choice†¦.. It represents the modern sensibility in all its intensity, form and dimensions. †Ã‚  The fact that Manoj blames  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœsomething’  in Binni’s maternal house as the cause of all trouble and then prevents her from working establishes that the‘something’  is in reference to her mother’s promiscuity which leads him to infer that letting women out of the house would always come with the threat of her infidelity. Moreover, Mohan Rakesh’s juxtaposition of a monogamous husband with a woman whose defining feature is her promiscuity ironically at a time when the  Ã¢â‚¬ËœHindu Marriage Act (1955)’came into force outlawing polygamy to protect the rights of Hindu women reflects the extent of male anxiety generated by women’s emancipation, whose right to work meant the dissolution of the public-private dichotomy necessary for the maintenance of the family as a private sphere. This anxiety is further elaborated in terms of portraying Kinni as an uncared neglected kid, who returns to a home without the mother and feels lonely and alienated. Mahendranath’s despair too needs to be identified not just in terms of the emotional crisis that he faces with the breakdown of familial relations and absence of mutual respect, but also the economic crisis which ultimately appears as the root of all problems. Mahendranath loses his position in family, when the roles of provider and receiver are changed, when economic equations of earner and acceptor are altered and redefined in terms of sex and gender. Their current poverty seems to be the result of typical-middle class lifestyle of living beyond one’s means, and the search or identities only arises when existing identities run into conflict with changing economic denominations of labour division within the family itself. Thus, Mahendranath’s yearning for meaning in life has new economic arrangements within the familial space and sheer inability to solve the economic crisis, triggering it. Even Ashok’s arrogance and refusal to submit to influential people, Dilip Kumar Basu feels can be analysed in the backdrop of  Ã¢â‚¬Å"1969 youth revolts in Paris, and things happening in our country.   The young man’s indifference to work is thus to be constructed as a larger question of youth rebellion and mobilisation, than just mere laziness and irresponsibility or a mere existentialist search for identity. Hence, in conclusion, it can be said that although Mohan Rakesh’sâ€Å"Halfway House†Ã‚  deals extensively with the question of identity and meaning in life, to situate it solely in an Existentialist dimension and accord it the distinction of being the primary concern of the play, would unfairly downplay many other socio-economic themes that the play encompasses.

Communication in the Workplace

Communication is a vital process in organizations and companies in today’s world. It has been defined as an activity that entails transmitting information through interexchange of views or messages by behavior, signals, writing, visuals, and speech. The process of communication requires a sender, the message to be sent, and a receiver. However, it is mandatory for the receiver to be aware of the sender’s intention to communicate. This means that a sender can be able to communicate with a receiver across vast distances (Wilson 2010). Normally, the communication the process is complete after it is clear that the receiver understood the message as intended by the sender. Communicative commonality is integral to effective communication between communicating parties. Effective communication is not only needed inside an organization but also when dealing with external stakeholders. It enables organization to achieve competitive edge considering the fact that it through it that an organization remains responsive to consumer needs (Jones & George 2007). On the contrary, poor communication disrupts almost everything in an organization. There are a number of barriers to effective communication (Huczynski & Buchanan 2010). This paper intends to highlight the barriers and how three organizations (Professional Sports, Bernard Mathews, and NHS trust Hospital) have been able to handle the barriers to ensure effective communication. Barriers to Effective Communication Barriers to communication are factors that might hinder effective communication between parties in the workplace. According to Antony and MacVicar (2011), this includes language barriers, cultural barriers, organizational barriers, personal barriers, and interpersonal barriers. Other barriers to effective communication include information technology and power. Professional sports organizations in Greece, Bernard Mathews, and NHS trust hospital have had to deal with at least of the barriers. The three have employed different strategies to deal with them hence their continued success (Mullins 2005). NHS Trust Hospital Poor communication has hindered hospitals to serve customers in the desired manner. There are a number of factors that have contributed to the problem. According to Smith and Preston (1996), the nature of jobs executed by doctors and nurses has contributed to poor communication. Nurses and doctors jobs are in most cases stressful leading to their informal communication among them. It is also common to find practitioners being less polite when addressing one another. Lack of understanding of one another’s role and knowledge has also contributed to the poor communication in NHS hospital (Smith & Preston 1996). Gender differences have also been a barrier to effective communication with stereotypes being the main cause. Men practitioners seem to have less respect for female practitioners hence conflicts in communication. Research has shown that professionalism and status is also a major cause of poor communication in NHS hospital. More experienced nurses and doctors seemed to have fewer problems in building relationships and communicating effectively. This is as compared to less experienced doctors and nurses who experience a lot of problems communicating. Members of the same group in the hospital also find it easy to communicate. Smith and Preston (1996) argues that this ostensibly because of similar language, sense of belonging, and similar training. NHS has tried to deal with the barriers through the application of a number of strategies. For instance, it has tried to create good relationships among practitioners. This has been done to ensure they are able to communicate with one another with ease. It has also employed training and teaching communication programs to enhance to encourage good communication among practitioners. It is clear that nurses and doctors in the organization have found it hard to get along with one another as a result of different training (Smith & Preston 1996). It has also been suggested that the organization should implement good communication systems to aid practitioners in communication. The world has been experiencing technological advancements on a daily basis. The hospital needs to capitalize on this to be able to improve communications (Smith & Preston 1996). Bernard Mathews Farms Bernard Mathews Farms is also one of the organizations that have suffered as a result of poor or ineffective communication. Noise has been one of the major barriers to the organization’s effective communication. Specifically, the organization was affected by the noise created by the media. To be more precise, press articles published negative information about the Bernard Mathews that led to the public have a negative attitude towards it. On the other hand, the organization failed to communicate to its stakeholders or respond to the allegation in a timely to be able to set the record straight. In the essence, this left the public confused on the matter leading to the organization losing its credibility. This also led to the company losing a competitive edge on the market. Employees were also demotivated seeing their company’s name being tarnished in the media. As a result, it necessitated the need for the management to come up with strong strategies on how to enhance communication with its stakeholders (Bernard Matthews 2011). The company was committed to improving its communication not only with internal stakeholders but also external ones. Internal stakeholders include directors, managers, and employees. The company has been able to communicate effectively with its internal stakeholders through the production of multilingual weekly newsletter to all employees. This has been done to ensure employees are well aware of what is happening in the organization. The same information is made available on its intranet site. Employees can also log in to be able to access new information. Similarly, the company also provides conducts face to face meeting aimed at informing managers on the progress of the company as well as new initiatives (Bernard Matthews 2011). The company has also employed different strategies to be able to communicate with external stakeholders. This includes customers, regulatory bodies, suppliers, the community, and the government. Essentially, the company was committed to winning back the trust of its stakeholders to survive the market. One way through which this was achieved is advertising. The company has been able to use the television to advertise its products to ensure they stick in the minds of its customers. It has also made a follow to ascertain the impact of the advertisements. It is through this strategy that the company is able to explain to its customers the benefits of consuming its products. Ultimately, this also gives it the opportunity to address the negative publicity as it is able to inform stakeholders on what is really happening (Bernard Matthews 2011). Social media and the internet has also been used by the company to be able to reach out to its stakeholders. For example, the company has four websites that serve different audiences. This includes a corporate website, consumer sites, Foodservice site, and a campaigning site. It has been able to use the same to market its products as well as make its new initiatives known to stakeholders. The company has also used the media and public relations to communicate circuitously with its consumers (Bernard Matthews 2011). Professional Sport. Professional sport organizations have also faced many barriers that impede effective communication. Specifically, coaches have found it problematic to communicate effectively with their players during games. This can be attributed to them having limited time. Coaches find it hard to communicate with players as a result of the limited time they might have to transmit instructions. They have tried their best to handle the same. However, limited time remains a great obstacle (Athanasios 2005). Language has also created a barrier to effective communication in the company. Professional sports teams are normally composed of players from different countries. As such, coaches might find it problematic to communicate with them. Ability of perception and attitude also hinder effective communication. It is common knowledge that players might decode messages differently hence some may not be able to get the right information. The negative attitude among players has also created a great barrier to communication considering the fact this affects communication not only to their superiors but also other players (Athanasios 2005). There are also external factors that have hindered communication in professional sports in Canada. External factors are those that are not directly related to the players or their coach but still affect communication. For example, spectators, sports officials, and opponents also act as barriers to effective communications. This can be attributed to the noise they make during sports events (Athanasios 2005). Coaches try to ensure effective communication by asking their players to be calm and remain focused. They also try to minimize the negative influence created by outside factors. Coaches have also dealt with the problem of languages through naturalization of players. Equally, they have also ensured that their messages are short and clear to ensure every individual perceives or understands them in the desired manner. Team cohesion, fatigue, and team environment affect their attitude towards one another. Coaches have tried to deal with this through ensuring team members have enough rest and spend more time with one another (Athanasios 2005). Conclusion Communication is very essential for organizations. It is imperative for the management in different organizations to ensure effective communication for better performances. There are a number of barriers that hinder effective communication including personal barriers, language barriers, physical barriers, and gender barriers. Professional Sports, Bernard Mathews, and NHS trust Hospital have faced some of these barriers and have tried their level best to handle them to ensure their success. Communication in the Workplace Communication and its many assets are very important. In order to be successful in anything we need to have effective communication. Although effective communication is very important in today’s world we will have issues with ineffective communication, also known as barriers. To communicate you need to have a sender, receiver and a message. It is important to relay any message with accuracy, with errors we then begin to have barriers causing ineffective communication. Technology is another factor that can be helpful but needs to be used properly. In my organization we use autocratic, democratic, paternalistic and laissez-faire. We are all about rights as well as delegating things to the appropriate parties. In my opinion having a combination of all management styles is important and makes it easier when you need to adjust to the different situations. Every situation and work day (involving who you work with) can be different. You make need to be more of a laissez-faire or paternalistic manager when you work with someone who needs direction at work. In my work facility we share knowledge and anything we need, thoroughly through emails, verbally and our communication book; which in our communication book you can find a lot of different information with dates, times, descriptions, etc. The more through we are the more likely we have communicated effectively even though the receiver or receivers may not be there. To communicate effectively there are five main techniques that can help you to improve. First off there is brainstorming; when you brain storm you are just throwing ideas out there in order to get any ideas together. There are also workplace tours which can also be known as a form of training. By doing tours you can allow others to see how another spectrum does things and learn how to improve or find new ways of doing things. Stakeholder surveys and stakeholder meetings are ways of getting groups together to generate more ideas. Put simply there is the expression â€Å"two heads is better than one†. Lastly there is formal suggestion system which in turns means you are workings together to figure out what these ideas mean and if they will have any value to what you need currently. Even though we have effective communication you are still going to have ineffective communication. This can be a variety of things. The first one which can cause a vast variety of issues is our main demographics like; age, cultural background, race, gender and language. There is also noise barriers which can cause you to miss-understand or interpret your sender (person giving message) wrong. You could also be ignoring parts of the message you will be receiving and only hearing the parts you would like to hear. Communication through technology has many of these same factors. Technology can be both effective and ineffective with all of its aspects. First we have speed which with online communication and cell phones you receive the date almost instantly. Accessibility in today’s world with the internet and our vast variety of resources we can find just about anything we would like. In health care accessibility can become an issue if information is accessed by an unauthorized individual which is a violation of HIPPA. When a breach becomes known you are required by law to notify the correct officials and take the necessary steps to correct the problem. Efficiency has a lot to do with speed. You can send something as simple as an email or text to get your message to the receiver. Written communication means there is a â€Å"hard copy† of the given information you can access. As for the news it can be accessed online or via the T. V. giving you more information. In health care we need to be able to keep up with the change and communication is vital. One simple mistake can make a world of difference especially in a hospital setting. You want to take the appropriate steps to improving and ways to alter or avoid having issues with ineffective communication. As you can see communication and management are vital in today’s success. You want to communicate effectively and work on improving and getting rid of any ineffective communication issues you may have. Make sure you are using the appropriate management style for the given situations and communicate your message thoroughly to your receiver. ReferencesMcManus, K. (1998). A project management system for innovation. Journal for Quality and participation, 21(5), 60. Management Study Guide. Roles of Communication barriers in ineffective communication. Retrieved from: www.managementstudyguide.com/role-of-communication-barriers-in-ineffective-communication.htm Nelson, L. (2012). Ehow Learning. How Technology Impact Communication in the Workplace Communication and its many assets are very important. In order to be successful in anything we need to have effective communication. Although effective communication is very important in today’s world we will have issues with ineffective communication, also known as barriers. To communicate you need to have a sender, receiver and a message. It is important to relay any message with accuracy, with errors we then begin to have barriers causing ineffective communication. Technology is another factor that can be helpful but needs to be used properly. In my organization we use autocratic, democratic, paternalistic and laissez-faire. We are all about rights as well as delegating things to the appropriate parties. In my opinion having a combination of all management styles is important and makes it easier when you need to adjust to the different situations. Every situation and work day (involving who you work with) can be different. You make need to be more of a laissez-faire or paternalistic manager when you work with someone who needs direction at work. In my work facility we share knowledge and anything we need, thoroughly through emails, verbally and our communication book; which in our communication book you can find a lot of different information with dates, times, descriptions, etc. The more through we are the more likely we have communicated effectively even though the receiver or receivers may not be there. To communicate effectively there are five main techniques that can help you to improve. First off there is brainstorming; when you brain storm you are just throwing ideas out there in order to get any ideas together. There are also workplace tours which can also be known as a form of training. By doing tours you can allow others to see how another spectrum does things and learn how to improve or find new ways of doing things. Stakeholder surveys and stakeholder meetings are ways of getting groups together to generate more ideas. Put simply there is the expression â€Å"two heads is better than one†. Lastly there is formal suggestion system which in turns means you are workings together to figure out what these ideas mean and if they will have any value to what you need currently. Even though we have effective communication you are still going to have ineffective communication. This can be a variety of things. The first one which can cause a vast variety of issues is our main demographics like; age, cultural background, race, gender and language. There is also noise barriers which can cause you to miss-understand or interpret your sender (person giving message) wrong. You could also be ignoring parts of the message you will be receiving and only hearing the parts you would like to hear. Communication through technology has many of these same factors. Technology can be both effective and ineffective with all of its aspects. First we have speed which with online communication and cell phones you receive the date almost instantly. Accessibility in today’s world with the internet and our vast variety of resources we can find just about anything we would like. In health care accessibility can become an issue if information is accessed by an unauthorized individual which is a violation of HIPPA. When a breach becomes known you are required by law to notify the correct officials and take the necessary steps to correct the problem. Efficiency has a lot to do with speed. You can send something as simple as an email or text to get your message to the receiver. Written communication means there is a â€Å"hard copy† of the given information you can access. As for the news it can be accessed online or via the T. V. giving you more information. In health care we need to be able to keep up with the change and communication is vital. One simple mistake can make a world of difference especially in a hospital setting. You want to take the appropriate steps to improving and ways to alter or avoid having issues with ineffective communication. As you can see communication and management are vital in today’s success. You want to communicate effectively and work on improving and getting rid of any ineffective communication issues you may have. Make sure you are using the appropriate management style for the given situations and communicate your message thoroughly to your receiver. ReferencesMcManus, K. (1998). A project management system for innovation. Journal for Quality and participation, 21(5), 60. Management Study Guide. Roles of Communication barriers in ineffective communication. Retrieved from: www.managementstudyguide.com/role-of-communication-barriers-in-ineffective-communication.htm Nelson, L. (2012). Ehow Learning. How Technology Impact

H-D Strategic Audit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

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Cender, Race, Health - Essay Example Q2: The author vehemently criticises the discriminative behaviour towards the minority groups and communities living in the contemporary American social set up and declares it strictly against the provisions of the statute of law and constitution as well. He submits the very fact that inappropriate health opportunities have drastically affected the health and life expectancy of the racial groups in minority, particularly the African Americans, who have been undergoing the hatred and antipathy of the white majority since the colonial era of nineteenth century, which has eclipsed the overall health statistics of the US population. Q3: The chapter under-study wide opened new horizons of information regarding the social norms, mores, values and traditions existing in the US culture. The level of hatred in the minds of the white Americans against the African Americans is really surprising. It is really astonishing to note that the country that pretends to be the torchbearer of human rights, maintains such humiliating and nefarious cultural traits in it. Health of the individuals is of especial concern particularly in the advanced and civilized countries of western world, but the prejudiced behaviour against the African Americans and non-Hispanic whites serves as black mark on the very face of the USA. Anyway, many things like social stratification and class conflict, described by the author with reference to the American society, is not very much surprising. Q4: The issues raised by the author in the article contain reality in them. I personally experienced the circumstances, when the black community had to tolerate so many unpleasant events while interaction with their environment consisted of white-skinned majority, yet they never gave up struggle for winning equal status, identical with the any stratum or racial group of US society. I have witnessed the wonderful command of the black

Researching crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Researching crime - Essay Example The requirement for juvenile crime preclusion is noted as juvenile offenders do not go well with the criminal justice system. As part of the society, we must be seeking techniques and looking for ways that can help in the involvement of preventing youthful crime. This would denote that we ought to know what and at which period of their life leads to the start of criminal life which would effect in juvenile offenders culminating into the criminal justice system that will tag for their remaining life. The research question the researcher would be studying is: ‘The contributing aspect to the start of criminal behavior in the adolescent –neighborhood disadvantage, childhood mistreatment and lack of supervision in adolescents’. The component of the research will be focusing on youthful criminal behavior. The possible implication of this study is to develop the understanding to the deterrence according to the feature that leads to the beginning of youthful delinquencies. It is pertinent to the youth mentoring programs, public agencies and criminal justice research in improving all-purpose policies for the provision of society services for youth as well as independent units like family members in their participation of prior to and after a start of criminal behavior. The researcher would only anticipate that the outcome of this study would reach the pertinent party who would witness to implementing society awareness operation, policies to help family members along with adolescents, as well as youth services which operates mentoring programs for the adolescent. The objective of this study is to offer a suggestion to the factors of upbringing mistreatment, neighborhood difficulty and lack of monitoring in youth for prevention along with intervention measures to the beginning of youthful criminal behaviors which can be taken, researched and developed. It is renowned that the avoidance of youthful delinquencies entails a range of policies that is

Discussion #3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Discussion #3 - Essay Example ket by expanding its operation in a number of countries outside America, even to far flung continents such as Africa where it has a formidable market share in the fast food sector (Luthans & Hodgetts, 2012). McDonald’s Corp employs the franchising market strategy to expand its operations globally. Franchising involves the company offering subsidiary firms the rights to use the Macdonald’s brand/trademark name or business model to offer products and services exactly similar to those offered by the parent company in exchange for some discount on sales and the payment of royalties for using the company’s brand name (Luthans & Hodgetts, 2012). Thus, with the use of this strategy, the company has outlets in over one hundred and twenty countries with a total of twenty-five thousand outlets. McDonald’s Corp considered the idea of franchising as the best alternative for penetrating the global markets because franchising is a relatively cheaper technique of expanding operations globally, compared to penetrating into the international markets with the firm’s own capital, which is more risky and uncertain given the global competitiveness of the industry. Therefor e, company considered this strategy as a prudent idea because franchisees (the local firms) fully understand the market dynamics influencing their respective countries and regions thus, are better positioned to tackle any eventuality arising as a result of rolling out new products or services in that market (Luthans & Hodgetts, 2012). However, earlier on the firm had employed licencing as a marketing strategy for expansion when it awarded a licence to Ray Kroc in the year 1954. It is this licencing deal that gave birth to the most lucrative McDonald’s Corp business outside the United States of America because within the first two years of the deal, the company managed to establish more than seven hundred McDonald’s outlets in Canada; the largest number of outlets in any nation outside USA (Luthans &

SHAME OF THE NATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

SHAME OF THE NATION - Essay Example Nowadays it is used to think that democratic views and principles of equality play an overwhelming role throughout the world. However, an outstanding author and public activist Jonathan Kozol makes the emphasis that even the most democratic country, the USA, still has numerous examples of racial inequality.Making school segregation as an extremely significant problem in contemporary America, Jonathan Kozol and other numerous authors proclaim the necessity to solve it and develop democratic values as those, which lead to national prosperity and global piece. From the beginning of the 90s of the XXth century the process of school segregation has increased in a great extent. As a contemporary researcher mentions, "In 1992 nine schools in the Twin Cities area had a majority of students of color. By 2006, that number had increased to 248" (Magnusson 3). Another author also supports and proves the opinion of segregation turning back: "Resegregation, which took hold in the early 1990s after three Supreme Court decisions from 1991 to 1995 limiting desegregation orders, is continuing to grow in all parts of the country for both African Americans and Latinos.." (Orfield and Lee 5). Geographically, as the majority of researchers mention, the process of new segregation mostly occupies the territory of American South and West, since the structure of population introduces high concentration of immigrants there. Being closely connected to general economical aspects, school segregation contains the problems of poverty and discrimination, based on the social status. Undoubtedly, schools for White Americans introduce more conveniences and additional abilities for wealthier population, while schools for poor immigrants do not have the same level of treatment. According to contemporary online sources, "Schools in low-income communities remain highly unequal in terms of funding, qualified teachers, and curriculum..Schools with high levels of poverty have weaker staff, fewer high-ac hieving peers, health and nutrition problems, residential instability, single-parent households, high exposure to crime and gangs.." (Hawkins et al.). As Kozol mentions about suburban computer classes for the non-white, where "according to one student, "we sit there and talk about what we would be doing if we had computers" (Kozol 171). Therefore, racial segregation is closely connected with personal wealthy and social status, which people have today. Jonathan Kozol, being a true teacher and having the ability to investigate the problem of school segregation directly from his own experience, makes the emphasis on unequal status in urban public schools. Considering the differences between education in mega polices and suburbs, Kozol mentions: "in the fall of 2002 that only between a quarter and a third of children in the district had received even a single year of preschool and that less than five percent had been provided with the two years of pre-K instruction that are common in mo st affluent communities" (Kozol 51). Showing that only white suburban have the opportunity to get preschool education, Kozol demonstrates that racial minorities, in fact, have minimum chances to receive a successful formal education. Analyzing factual consequences of current segregation, Kozol and other authors mention considerably difficulties, which segregated students have with the precise process of their education. For instance, poor conditions and unattractive appearance of segregated schools usually cause stressful feeling and the lack of desire to study there. Efficiency-deprived schemes of studying, often overcrowding also

Ethical Treatment of Prisoners Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethical Treatment of Prisoners - Research Paper Example Correctional officers have no powers related to enforcement of law but they are law representatives inside the prison facility. Smith states, â€Å"In the prison, correctional officers monitor prisoner behavior, maintain order, delegate jobs or responsibilities for prisoners, and supervise transportation for prisoners who are moved to other locations†. They not only take care of the individual who have been sent to the jails by the courts but also they look after those individuals who have been waiting for the trials in the prisons. Therefore, we can say that the role of correctional officers inside the prison facility is of critical importance. Along with the importance of correctional officers in prisons and jails, there also exists a negative viewpoint regarding the treatment provided by the correctional officers to the inmates. The benefits that the inmates receive from the state such as health care, prenatal care, mental health care, free housing, free food, and free educ ation are viewed somewhat unethical in the today’s world. Some of these benefits even do not apply to the people living in the non-correctional settings. There are some reasons why these benefits are considered unethical or unjustified. Let us first discuss how inmates have been lead to suicide or more crime because of the treatment that they receive from the correctional officers and then we will discuss some of those reasons, which make the state benefits provided to the inmates unethical and unjustified. Reasons for Increased Suicides and Crimes among Inmates There are many reasons, which act as the root cause for the increased level of suicides and crimes among the criminals. Let us discuss some of those reasons in some detail: Behavior of Correctional Officers One of the major reasons behind increased rate of crimes and suicides among the inmates has been the behavior of some of the correctional officers. Some officers do not treat the prisoners politely, which injects t he sense of revenge in the minds of the criminals. Inmates expect good behavior from the correctional officers but when they do not get what they expect from the officers, they become more aggressive and violent. The harsh and unkind treatment of some of the correctional officers also plays an important role in creating negative feelings in the minds of the inmates. It is the nature of any criminal to show the feelings of aggression if he or she is mistreated either by other prisoners or by correctional officers. Therefore, it is very important for the correctional officers to control the behaviors and actions of the criminals in an appropriate way in order to control crime rate in the country. Role of State Benefits in Increased Crimes The benefits, which are provided by the state to the inmates, also play a considerable role in increasing the number of crimes and suicides among the inmates. Those benefits are provided to the inmates only in the correctional settings. The benefits such as free housing and free education are not provided to the criminals in the non-correctional facilities, so when the inmates come out of the prisons, their free education facility ends up which creates frustration among the inmates. Some of the inmates want to continue with the free education and free housing facilities even after the punishments ends and when they do not find a proper opportunity to get those benefits in the non-corre

Black People and Civil War Essay Example for Free

Black People and Civil War Essay ?Introduction: In this essay I am going to compose a piece of text which will involve the tension of Segregation. In the 1930s, although 50% of the population of Southern towns were black, they had no vote and could not marry whites. Also in the 1930’s, many black people lived in the southern states. During that time, racism reached its highest point. For instance, the whites treated the blacks very poorly because they thought that the blacks were lower than them. Therefore, the blacks had to fight for the right to be treated equally. As a result, black people had to face the Jim Crow Laws and the Ku Klux Klan. In my own opinion I think that the 1930 was a turbulent time for race relations in America. Paragraph 1: The first racism incident that I have spotted out and chosen to write about in my essay is when the Wallace’s’ poured kerosene over Mr Berry and his nephews and lit them on fire. One of the nephews died, the other one is alive but has the same condition as Mr Berry. The reason why the Wallace’s poured kerosene over the Berry’s was because they caught them flirting with a white woman which wasn’t allowed back then. In fact, it was not even true! The Berry’s didn’t even flirt with her. They lied about it. The quote that goes with this event was when mama (Cassies’ mum) said to her kids, â€Å"The Wallaces did that, children. They poured kerosene over Mr Berry and his nephews and lit them afire. † â€Å"Everyone knows they did it, and the Wallaces even laugh about it, but nothing was ever done. † At this right moment I feel disgusted and baffled that people could actually do this in the 1930s. The sympathy for the Wallace’s has decreased because setting fire to someone is arson and that makes Mr Wallace and his clique an arsonist. Also it makes us feel that the Wallaces are black-hearted and atrocious people, because who would want to set a person on fire? Then laugh about it. The sympathy for the Berrys has definitely increased because of what happened to both Mr Berry and his two nephews is utterly excruciating and the fact that there is no reason behind why the Wallaces did it, makes the reader feel more sorrowful for them. On the other hand in the book it says, â€Å"Disfigured man lying in the darkness† In that quote you can see how dreadful his injuries were. He was even camouflaging with the darkness; see that is real bad? Paragraph 2: The second racism incident that I found very crucial was when Cassie bumped into Lillian Jean Simms by accident but Lillian Jean still DEMANDED for a sorry and for Cassie to get on her knees instantly. As well as this was racism, it was also bullying in some kind of way because Cassie didn’t want to get on her Knees but she still got forced. â€Å"Kicking at the sidewalk, my head bowed. It was then that I bumped into Lillian Jean Simms. † Cassie really didn’t mean to bump into Lillian Jean at all but she took it over the top reacted to the bump by saying, â€Å"why don’t you watch were you’re going? † â€Å"Well apologize† â€Å"That ain’t enough. Get down in the road† This right here is what you call racism. Cassie didn’t intend to bump into Lillian Jean, it was just an accident but because Cassie is black they didn’t care at all. Cassie even got pushed around by Mr Simms. Mr Simms was even sticking up for his daughter even though she was in the wrong. Lillian Jeans’ father was saying to Cassie that when Lillian tells you that you should get off the sidewalk, you get off it. The sympathy towards Lillian Jean Simms has totally decreased because what she did was just too dramatic and it was just a ‘bump’. In my opinion Cassie did not have to go on her knees because she didn’t deliberately bump into her; all that should have been done was an apology to Lillian. My sympathy towards Cassie has increased more. The reason why I said this was because she was intimidated and forced to get on her knees even though she had already shed a tear; they didn’t care, they just wanted an apology from her. Conclusion: To sum up I think that Racism is totally unacceptable and utterly inglorious. In this novel I think that Taylor was trying to put across the fact of what the black people had to go through in the 1930s every day of their lives, and how their wouldn’t even be an us our even a peaceful world if racism was still occurring. I also think that Taylor is trying to compare today’s life to the 1930s and too see how much the black people suffered.

Leadership styles and the behaviour styles

Leadership styles and the behaviour styles Leadership is the behavior of an individual when he/she is directing the activities of a group towards a common purpose.  [1]  A leader is seen as someone who sets the paths in an effort to influence people to adhere to those paths. Leadership is an action and not just a position. It can be shown via different people in various situations. A person is not born to be a leader but cultured through the upbringing and environment. A leaders personal characteristics are also vital for the developments and motivations of the organizations. True leaders such as the teachers who illustrated that leadership is an action (teaching and leading the students) and not a position. Touching the lives and affecting the outcome of many different expectations, a teacher is the epitome of a leader. A leader has his or her own style of motivating the people in the organizations. A leader must find the best skills in order to provide directions, motivations and purposes. Effective leaders are flexible. Organizational Leadership Model The effective leadership influence is not the same for everyone. It depends on their ranks in the organization and abilities which are required in leaders. The three basic leadership roles identified: initiation, speech, and management. 1. Initiation Initiation refers to planned decision making on policy formulation or structural change. These vital decisions are the determinants of the organizations culture and mission. 2. Speech Strategic decisions and methods designed for implementation within the establishment. It includes adjusting or adding on to the present structure towards new policy demands. 3. Management Management is putting into practice the policies and measures that are available to maintain the operations of the organization efficiently. These three kinds of Leadership are naturally executed at diverse ranks in the company with different abilities and skills. The top level management would initiate new policies that involve a change in the businesss structure or understanding the companys mission. An understanding of the entire organization, culture, mission, vision and how it correlates with the external parties is mandatory for these top level individuals. They represent the organization and what the business stands for. Understanding the policy decisions and practicing them to the existing organization via utterance or speech is usually made by the intermediate-level managers. They must uphold a two-way point of reference by taking orders from the above management and adapting them for the lower groups of people in the organization. Type of Leadership Process Typical Organizational Level Cognitive (Knowledge) Affective (Emotion) Initiation: Change, creation and elimination of structure Top echelons System perspective Charisma Speech: supplementing and piecing out of structure Intermediate levels: pivotal roles Subsystem perspective: two-way orientation Integration of primary and secondary relations: human relation skills Management: use of existing structure Lower levels Technical knowledge and understanding of system of rules Concern with equity in use of rewards and sanctions EXHIBIT 16.1 Three Leadership Patterns, Their Location in the Organization, and Their Skill Requirements  [2]   The companys policies and procedures will be administered by the Lower-level supervisors. These personnel must possess both the technical knowledge and a clear perception of the organizations rules in order to be successful. They have to continually deal with issues such as equity, rewards and punishments in leading others. Therefore, leadership plays a crucial role in an organization because the it has direct impact on the effectiveness of the organizations. Leadership is when a person manipulates others to perform a task at their own will which they would not normally do. Leadership is a vital process to an organization and it can be deliberated on three different stages; i.e. the individual, group and organization. Analysis at the individual stage: the leadership studies have paid attention on the successful leader personalities. Behaviors of both formal and informal leaders are focused at the group level. The effectiveness of an organization is decided by the relations between the leader, follower and circumstances. The studies have caused an emergence of different theories of leadership, namely situational and contingency. In Search for Leadership The requirements in selecting and training efficient leaders were emphasized during the World War I and the quarter century between World War l and World War II; numerous studies were made to examine the personal characteristics of good leaders. These studies are usually referred as characteristic studies since the primary goal was to classify the traits and personal characteristics of successful leaders. The diverse methods used to study these leadership traits could possibly be the reason in the irregularities of the results. The manner of studies was not consistent in identifying the leaders. A majority of the studies was in comparing efficient with inefficient leaders or leaders with non-leaders. Some were identified by external observers, others selected by the group by way of recommendation or voting, nominated by observers such as teachers while some were chosen because they are already in leadership positions. The studies conducted were in conflict as to the way they deliberated on the traits. Some traits were measured by mental tests; others relied on viewers to spot the traits they have seen while some depended on the persons to report their own personality traits. The trait studies were quite unsatisfactory as a whole especially since they had hoped to develop an accurate measure of leadership effectiveness. The spotlight on the leadership research moved because of the flimsy results, to contingency studies which investigated more than just traits of a leader. Numerous traits formed an important divergence in leadership effectiveness and they interrelated with other conditional variables to stimulate the effectiveness of the leader. Physical Behaviors Physical attributes including height, weight, health and appearance are also examined in the studies. It was concluded that there is a relationship between the above features and leadership. Apparently leaders have the tendency to be taller, heavier, better fitness, greater physique, higher energy output and more attractive in appearance. However, these types of results were not always reliable and consistent. The results neither are too weak in general and not consistent to be effective in selecting leaders nor are they helpful for training functions since not much can be made to alter most of these physical traits. Intellect It was generally agreed that leaders are more intellectual than non-leaders and the relationship was shown in the various studies. The relationship could probably begin from the reality that leadership functions depend mostly on success in problem solving. Leadership roles such as initiation, speech and management necessitate great mental ability. In general, it is safe to assume that leaders seems to be more intelligent than non-leaders but the relationships are small. Many other variables other than intellect inspire leadership effectiveness. It was also suggested that leaders should not be too intelligent than the group because associates who are notably brilliant than others are rarely chosen as leaders since the other members tend to snub them. Individuals with high IQs are inclined to have different sets of vocabulary, networks and aspirations that would create communication and inter-relations problems. Leaders do extremely well generally at school/college/university and score better grades. It is important for effective leadership to know how to do things. Thus general and practical knowledge are essential for leaders to make better decisions. Characteristic Traits Only a partial of the characteristic traits seem to be related to leadership and most are not especially convincing. It was suggested that the average leader is more social, has greater initiative, is more persistent, smart in getting things done, highly self-confident, cooperative, adaptable to situations and possesses excellent communication skills.  [3]  Leaders were found to be more emotionally mature than non-leaders in the personality integration or emotional adjustment. It can be concluded that personal characteristics are related to leadership. Effective leadership does not depend on a mixture of personality traits only because situational variables are also important since they always decide whether a character was associated with effective leadership either positively or negatively. Therefore, it can deduced that effective leadership depends on the leaders characteristics, his subordinates and the nature of the task at hand. Many leadership styles were based on studies of leaders behaviors. The finest researches on the styles of leadership are made together at the same time; i.e. The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. Researchers acknowledged two leader behaviors that were similar although the investigations were conducted separately. As a result, a two dimensional aspects of leadership have been to used to form the Managerial Grid  [4]  . Authoritarian, Democratic, and Laissez-faire  [5]  Leadership Due to the diverse political systems in the US and Germany before World War II, studies of leadership have been inspired which evaluated three styles of leadership: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez faire. In the democratic leadership style, decisions were made by vote of majority; equal participation encouraged; criticism and punishment minimal. In the autocratic leader, the leader made all the decisions and others must follow the set procedures strictly. In the laissez-faire leader, there was minimal actual leadership and others were permitted to work and play as usual without proper directives. Initiating Structure and Consideration The two leadership factors were initiating structure and consideration which include leadership behaviors in organizing and defining the tasks to be performed and goal achievements. A leader who assigns people to do specific jobs, expected workers to follow set routines and meet deadlines. The consideration factor is friendliness, showing trust, exhibiting warmth and concern for followers. Production-Centered and Employee-Centered Leader Behaviors Production centered behaviors were akin to initiating structure in which leaders would establish targets, gave directives, checked on operations and planned the group Employees work. Centered behaviors were similar to the considerations dimension in which the leader would develop a caring personal relationship with the subordinates and encouraged a two-way communication with them. The relationship between production-centered and employee centered behaviors are found to be independent scopes of leadership. A leader with strong production orientation does not mean that he is disinterested in the employees. Managerial Grid  [6]   Robert Blake and Jane Mouton had created a framework which relates task accomplishment to concern for people called the Managerial Grid. They both assumed that concern for production and concern for people would produce the most effective leadership style. There are leaders primarily more concerned with accomplishing the production and task not concerned about people. This person wants the job done and schedule followed at all costs. There is also individual who is not concerned whether the group produces anything but concerned more about the personal needs and interests of the team members. Ideally, leaders should be concerned about meeting schedules in order to get the work done and simultaneously are concerned about the team members interest and feelings too. The Managerial Grid  [7]  is popular among managers. It is extensively used by organisations as part of their training program to assess leadership style. However, the effectiveness of the Managerial Grid is not consistently supported. The factors which are considered in determining leadership styles interact in complicated ways which resulted in various leadership styles. SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP In assessing leadership effectiveness, there are many factors that must be combined. A situational leadership model developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard considers three variables: (1) guidance and direction provided by the leaders (task behavior) (2)emotional support given by the leader (relationship behavior) (3) the maturity level exhibited in performing the task As a result, four potential leadership styles have been created using a combination of the above factors : S1: Telling Give instructions and supervise performance closely. Suited for followers who are unwilling but of low maturity. S2: Selling Decide and provide opportunity for explanation. Appropriate for followers who are not able but willing. S3: Participating Sharing ideas in making decisions. Suited for followers who are able but not willing. S4: Delegating Responsibility handed over for decisions and performance. Appropriate for groups who are able and willing. Contingency Theory of Leadership Fiedler studied the interaction of leadership style and situation. He identified and developed ways to measure leadership orientation of the leader and situational factors which influence leadership. Leader Orientation Two types of leaders were identified, i.e. relationship-oriented or task-oriented. Leaders who are relationship-oriented tend to look at others as coworkers and look upon interpersonal relations as a requirement towards accomplishing the task. However, for task-oriented leaders, they react strongly against people whom they could not get along with in performing a task. Situational favorableness (1) relationships between leader and member can be good or bad; (2) the task is relatively well planned or not; and (3) the leaders authority is relatively strong or weak. The task structure becomes the second most important situational variable based on evaluation of four aspects of the task structure. Clarity: whether requirements of the tasks are stated clearly, Multiplicity: which the problems encounter can be solved. Verifiability: which the correctness of the decisions can be ascertained. Specificity: which there are generally more solutions involved in performing the task. Group effectiveness Relationship-oriented leaders perform excellently well in situations where concern for the team members is apparently necessary in order to motivate them to perform well. People naturally prefer leaders who care about them and their welfare. However, task-oriented leaders are clearly more effective in impossible situations. Path-Goal Model Directive leadership: subordinates are told what to be expected. Specific guide, standards and work schedules are provided to ensure that task are performed as expected. Supportive leadership: subordinates are treated equally and show concern for their needs and well-being; develop pleasant interpersonal relationships among the group members. Achievement-oriented leadership: challenging goals are set and subordinates are expected to perform at their highest level, improvement in performance always. Participative leadership: subordinates are consulted on suggestions and ideas in making decisions. Situational factors Characteristics of the followers and environmental factors which affect leadership style are called situational factors. Significant characteristics of the followers which have been identified as determinants of leadership style are: (1). Followers with internal locus of control believe that they are rewarded for their own effort. Meanwhile, followers with external locus of control believe that external forces have a control on their rewards. (2). Authoritarianism: an individuals willingness to accept the influence of others. (3). Abilities: The followers ability and experience influence a leader whether they are able to work with an achievement oriented leader or a supportive leader who are patient enough to provide encouragement and instruction. The path-goal model recognises three environmental factors which effect leadership styles: the nature of the task to be performed, the existing organisations authority system the organisational norms and dynamics The above factors may influence the effectiveness of various styles of leadership in a many ways. Normative Decision-Making Model of Leadership Based on the contingency theory of leadership, this leadership model does not assume any leadership style as appropriate for all situations. Leaders must develop a range of leadership styles and take on the most appropriate style depending on the situation. Leaders are required to know in which circumstances they need to consult others and vice versa. Even though the leader may be the chairman of the group, he is just one of the group members and does not try to influence the group to adopt a particular solution. Criteria for selecting a leadership style. Two criteria used for assessing the efficiency of a leadership style are quality and acceptance. The quality of the decisions made refers to the accurateness of the actions taken and the extent which some objectives are achieved. The quality of decisions depends on accurate and relevant information Conferring with other group members often provides additional information. Diagnostic decision rules. In order to save time and minimize costs, some managers choose the lead autocratically. If the aim was to further the subordinates personal development, the participative style is selected. In some strategies, the manager decides alone. At times, the manager decides on his own after earlier consultations with his subordinates. Comparing the leadership models. All situational leadership models emphasize on the effect of external factors on a particular leadership style. Different leadership styles suggest styles that are determined by various situational factors. The models focus on different methods, which are situational factors and criteria for selecting the best style: task-oriented versus relationship-oriented. The normative decision-making model ascertains three leadership styles, namely autocratic, consultative, and participative. In each model, situational factors which influence the effectiveness of leadership are somewhat different. A significant reason which contributes to this is that normative decision- making model likens leadership to decision making and considers only this aspect of the leadership function. The model also uses different criteria for evaluating leadership effectiveness. DETERMINANTS OF LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS Although identifying what makes an effective leader seems like a simple task, however, individuals who are in leadership positions are often faced with a dilemma on deciding which leadership pattern to practice. Choosing a Leadership Style Choosing the most appropriate leadership style to adopt depends largely on the context of the organisation. A successful leader must be capable of assessing the situational forces in the organisation and respond accordingly to the needs. The forces include the organisation culture, business goals as well as the organisations strategic plans. Effective leaders must understand themselves, the group, company and social environment. Strategies for Improving Leadership One of the main variable to improve leadership relates largely to the organisations reward system. Leaders should not overlook his capacity to reward his followers accordingly since followers will respond otherwise. For instance, the managers of high- performing groups generally are compensated according to their achievements. Considerate leaders manage to create satisfaction among their performing subordinates while at the same time, changes in the behavior of the leaders could be caused by the performance of the subordinates. Constraints on leader behavior. Leaders have limited opportunities to influence others. Leadership effectiveness is inhibited by a variety of factors. For example, the managerial decisions are planned ahead due to factors such as organisational structure, state and federal law, technological specifications and innovations as well as the absence of other alternatives. Many other organisational factors can impose limitations on the leaders capability to communicate with subordinates or reinforce their behavior towards achieving the organisational purpose. For example, organisational policies, nature of task, skills and abilities of available resources and other external factors may impede the capacities of organisational leaders. External factors. In terms of external factors, leaders are constrained by factors that they have no control on such as state and federal laws. Other external factors include the world economy and global issues. Irrespective of their leadership style, leaders with unskilled resources will face great challenges in leading. The availability of skilled followers is subjected to the external labor market. Organizational policies. The organization may limit a leaders effectiveness by hampering the amount of communication between leaders and followers. The existing company policies may also pose restrictions on the ability of leaders to reward or punish followers. Group factors. Leaders may find it hard to penetrate or influence group members who are highly unified. This will create difficulty for leaders to demonstrate his true capabilities in performing tasks for the organisation. Individual skills and abilities. The leaders own skills and abilities may become their constraints because leaders can only possess limited expertise, energy, and power. Some situations may need greater amount of skills, experience and capabilities compared to what the leader may possibly have. Substitutes for leadership. Leadership is an extremely important function. It has an enormous influence on the value of organizations, especially in a business environment. However, in complex situations, we may not know exactly which leadership behaviour will be the most effective to adopt. In addition, certain situations warrant that leadership may be unnecessary subordinates. SUMMARY 1. Leadership is the increasing influence which occurs when an individual manipulates others to do tasks voluntarily which they would not do otherwise. The basic leadership roles include initiation of policy and structure, speech, and management. Leadership is required within organizations to provide direction to employees towards a common organisational objective. 2. The studies of leadership were mainly studies on traits that tried to identify the characteristics of effective leaders. The studies focused mainly on physical traits, intellect and characteristic. The results were usually weak and inconsistent although some personal characteristics were always related to leadership. Most studies concluded that apart from behaviour characteristics and traits of the leader, the nature of subordinates and the type of task to be performed were as equally important to determine success. 3. Another approach to studying leadership set on leader behaviors; i.e. how leaders actually behave. One of the studies compared three leadership styles: authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire. Democratic leadership produced the greatest satisfaction among subordinates while autocratic leadership style encouraged high level of productivity in the organisation. 4. Research conducted simultaneously at two different universities identified two groups of similar leadership behaviors. At The Ohio State University, researchers identified these two leader behaviors as initiating structure and consideration. At the University of Michigan, the similar two factors were called production-centered and employee-centered. These two leader behaviors seem to relate leadership functions which are essential to the effectiveness of a group. A matrix named Managerial Grid had been formed based on these two factors. The Managerial Grid correlates the concern for production and the concern for people in identifying leadership effectives. 5. As a result of unsuccessful researches conducted to identify superior leadership behaviors, four situational theories of leadership were developed instead. Theories have suggested that the effective of leadership style depends largely upon situational factors, especially nature of the group and the task to be performed. 6. A situational leadership model that matches various combinations of task and relationship behaviors with maturity of the subordinates. As the number of followers increases, the appropriate leadership style that should be employed would be telling, selling, participating and delegating. 7. Three situational variables are used to assess the most appropriate leadership style. The variables are the relationship between leader and members (good or bad), the task (structured or unstructured) and the strength of the leaders power. Based on findings, the most effective leadership style when these three variables created an extremely favorable or unfavorable situation is task-oriented leadership. However, a leader with a high concern for interpersonal relationships is most effective when there were intermediate levels of favorableness. 8. The path goal model theory is derived from expectancy theory. It suggests that effective leaders must clarify the paths to attract followers. Based on this theory, the directive, supportive, achievement-oriented and participative leadership styles emerged. The most appropriate leadership style is dependent on two types of situational factors: characteristics of followers as well as the internal/external environment. Three significant characteristics of follower are the locus of control (internal or external), authoritarianism and personal capabilities. The three environmental attributes are nature of the task to be performed, the existing organisational authority system and norms and dynamics of members. 9. The three leadership styles identified are autocratic, consultative and group decision making. Determining which style is most appropriate depends largely on several factors such as considerations whether adequate information is made available to the leader when making decision alone, whether the goals of the organisation are acceptable by the subordinates, orwhether the followers accept decisions made without their involvement. 10. Members of the group also has a reciprocal influence on the leader. Group member can influence the behavior of their leaders by responding selectively to specific leader behaviors. The power and influence of a leader can also be limited due to certain external factors such as policies of the organisation, norms of the group members as well as the skills and abilities of followers. POSITIONING ON LEADERSHIP CRISIS Many leadership theories have been in existence as more people tries to determine the most effective leadership style available. Arthur G. Jago (1982)  [8]  had proposed a framework that organizes leadership theories based on each theorys focus and approach. However, effective leadership also depends on specific situations. There are various kinds of behavior that leaders can display to its followers. The two leader behaviors that have been consistently identified are called production-centered and consideration-centered activities. A person can change his or her behaviour without being forced based on the amount of influence exerted by another individual. I concur with A. Ange on the presence of leadership crisis but I also foresee the resolutions taken and are still being taken to resolve the problem. Many organizations are spending money in sending their employees to be groomed and trained for future growth of the company whereby they are exposed to different methods of management and how to be great leaders. Leaders are born to leaders but in some circumstances, situations and environments also play a huge role in creating a leader. Leaders come and go and new ones are always on the threshold to take over the empty space. The qualities of the leaders and their leadership styles vary but they are vital in the development and motivation processes of the organizations. There is a crisis in good leadership but it is not at a critical point. Big organizations would have everything in place for the future growth of the company and would have in line the replacements for all aspects of the management. Even is small to medium sized organizations have planned their management line-ups for the future. The ongoing programs and trainings that are conducted by organizations to produce capable leaders and groom them further showed that companies are aware of the could be crisis and had taken steps to overcome the situation. Yes, there is a crisis but the severity of the crisis is not huge enough to cause panics throughout the organizations.

A Postmodernist View Of International Relations Politics Essay

A Postmodernist View Of International Relations Politics Essay Some scholars argue that alternative approaches to IR theory have not made any significant contributions to the theorization of IR. Moreover, these approaches lead our IR theory into disorder and we are left with a lack of direction. However, focusing on Postmodernism, we find it has produced the idea of the power-knowledge relationship to criticize the absolute truth which is proposed by Positivism, and also provides us with different methodologies such as genealogy, text, narrative, discourse, deconstruction and double reading to explain world politics. Besides, Postmodernism has utilized a variety of methods such as deconstruction of text to overcome the theories and concepts that people believe (Der Derian and Shapiro, 1989). In the past international theory has been dominated by four main theories: Realism, Liberalism, Marxism and Constructivism. However, in the last two decades there has been a dramatic change to this picture. A range of new approaches has developed to aid understanding of world politics. In the context of globalization, even Realism seems inadequate to explain issues like the rise of non-state actors, identity politics, transnational social movements and information technology. The new major development is not only underway in the academic discipline of social science but also in the philosophy of social science, in a movement known as Positivism. Thus many alternative ways of thinking about the social sciences have been proposed and since the picture of IR theory has changed a series of alternative approaches has emerged as more relevant to world politics in the twenty first century (Smith S, 2008). Until the late 1980s, most social scientists in International Relations tended to be Positivists. But since then Positivism has been under attack. The assumptions made by Positivism met with dissent as criticism of the IR theories led by Positivism began to emerge (Smith S, 2008). This is the so-called the third debate (Ashley R., 1987; 1990; Walker R. B. J., 1993). It can also be called the Positivism and Post-Positivism debate (Lapid Y., 1989; Jim G., 1990; Smith S., 1995).. The dissent from Positivism prominently contains Feminism, Critical theory, Post-colonialism, Poststructuralism and Postmodernism. Their common idea is that they all see the world as something external to the IR theory (Smith S., 2008).Postmodernism is the term used by sociologists and others to describe a way of thinking that has become pervasive in the Western world in the last twenty-five years. It is an approach to reality that is having a significant effect on architecture, art, education, law, literature, psychotherapy, science, theatre, and the study of history and peoples view of religion (Exploring Christianity-Truth, n.d.). It reached IR theory in the mid-1980s, but can only be said to have really arrived in the past fifteen years (Smith S., 2008).The term Postmodernism first entered the philosophical lexicon in 1979, with the publication of The Postmodern Condition by Jean-Franà §ois Lyotard (Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy, 2005). Other significant writers who have promoted Postmodernism are De Man, Elshtain, Geoffrey Hartman, Harold Bloom, Michel Foucault, J. Hillis Miller, Jacques Derrida, Habermas, Richard Rorty and Rob Walker. Postmodernists who have made important contributions to IR theory are Richard Ashley, James Der Derian, David Campbell and William Connolly. Its origins are found in the philosophies of Nietzsche, Heidegger, Marx and Freud (Exploring Christianity-Truth, n.d.; Smith S., 2008). As cited in Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy (2005), That Postmodernism is indefinable is a truism. However, it can be described as a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum, and hyperreality to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning. Until today there is no fit definition for the Postmodernism because it appears to be so open a theory that not even its advocates can agree upon how to define it (Geuras D., 2002). Some define Postmodernism as distrustful of all authority and dogmatism. Jean-Franà §ois Lyotard defined it as incredulity towards metanarratives and essentialism (1984: xxiv). The following paragraphs will discuss the significant contributions that Postmodernism brings to IR theory and use the methods that Postmodernists provide to deconstruct the Iraq war. 1. Power-Knowledge relationship and the non-existence of absolute truth Postmodernists emphasized the power-knowledge relationship and criticized the notion dominant in rationalist theories and Positivism that knowledge is irrelevant to the working of power; they also opposed the existence of absolute truth. From the rationalists and Positivists perspective, knowledge is not related to power and truth exists. However, Michel Foucault (1977, 1978, 1984, and 1994) totally disagreed with this idea and argued that power in fact produces knowledge. There is a well-known saying from Foucault that All power requires knowledge and all knowledge relies on and reinforces existing power relations. Thus, no truth exists outside power. To paraphrase Foucaults idea, Smith (2008) provided another saying, how can history have a truth if truth has a history? Whilst Marxism, -Sandpoint feminism Critical theory and Freudian psychoanalysis all support the existence of some fundamental truth about the world, Postmodernism still quarrels with direct access to truth. This aspect is stated most clearly by Stanley Grenz (1995) in a Primer on Postmodernism: Postmodernism affirms that whatever we accept as truth and even the way we envision truth are dependent on the community in which we participate . . . There is no absolute truth: rather truth is relative to the community in which we participate (summarized in Dean G., 2002). The Postmodernists use Foucaults approach which is known as genealogy to register and expose the significance of history in the light of this relationship between power and knowledge. Genealogy helps us to realize the process whereby the origins and regimes of truth edge out other discourse and are constructed into the so-called truth. Postmodernism focuses on how fragmental facts dominate others in very concrete ways (see, for example, Edwards P. 1996; Devetak R., 1996, pp.184-188). Postmodernists apply the genealogy approach to doubt the unity and certainty of national identity and explain how the existing appearance of unity and certainty is not natural but artificially constructed (Huang C. C., 2009: pp.138). Richard Devetak (1996) has mentioned that different configurations of power and knowledge give rise to different conceptions of sovereignty, statehood and intervention. Postmodernists always focus on counter-histories, seldom portray the impossible-to-get-to truth, but emphasize the existence of multi-histories, not just the one grand-history (cited in Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). Take the ongoing war in Iraq for example; it could be an interesting field of study for Postmodernists to think about its shifting justifications. The US administrations purpose in making war upon Iraq has shifted from Iraqs disarmament to the spread of democracy. Public support from US citizens is essential throughout the ongoing war in the aftermath of 9/11 and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan and the Philippines), and it is reasonable to explain that the power-knowledge relationship contributes to the absence of outcry from US people. People have no means to access what they do not know about (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). 2. Divergent methodologies on analyzing text In addition to elaborating the power-knowledge relationship, Postmodernists are also concerned with the textual interplay behind power politics (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b; Derrida J., 1976). They believe that the world needs to be understood as a text, and all references to it are interpretative. Postmodernists claim that the best explanation for the text does not exist because the world is plural and explanations must be plural (Luo Li, 2009). All the interpretations of the world are meaningful and equal thus they use many ways to realize the world, and Postmodernists use techniques such as deconstruction and double reading in explaining the text (world) (Smith S., 2001: 240). 2.1 Deconstruction Postmodernists suggest deconstruction as a method of showing how all discourses and theories depend on artificial stabilities produced by means of seemingly objective and natural oppositions as well as a way to help us realize that there is not only one but always more than one truth behind an event (Smith S., 2008). A good summary of postmodern thinking is given by Os Guinness in Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Where modernism was a manifesto of human self-confidence and self-congratulation, Postmodernism is a confession of modesty, if not despair. There is no truth, only truths. There are no principles, only preferences. There is no grand reason, only reasons. There is no privileged civilization, only a multiple of cultures, beliefs, periods, and styles. There is no grand narrative of human progress, only countless stories of where people and their cultures are now. There is no simple reality or any grand objectivity of universal, detached knowledge, only a ceaseless representation of everything in terms of everything else. In sum, Postmodernismis an extreme form of Relativism. (Cited in Exploring Christianity) People always accept language or concepts constructed with the concept of binary opposition (such as black/ white, public/ private, right/ wrong, male/ female, homosexuality/ heterosexuality) as a matter of course. Constructivists make one of the binary privileged over the other by means of degrading the latter one. For example, in order to diminish white, Constructivists enhance the value of black (Luo Li, 2009). This concept is commonly used in contemporary political systems. When a dominant authority intends to intensify the reliability of a certain interpretation with respect to an event, it puts down the other possible but contrary interpretation.Jacques Derrida, a French Postmodern philosopher, originated the idea of deconstruction (Cky J. Carrigan, 1996). He himself found it difficult to explain the concept, and perhaps the clearest and most succinct definition comes from The Gale Cengage glossary: A method of literary criticismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦characterized by multiple conflicting interpretations of a given work. Deconstructionists consider the impact of the language of a work and suggest that the true meaning of the work is not necessarily the meaning that the author intended. Whilst the approach has been widely criticized and indeed ridiculed, for example by Anthony J. Fejfar (2006a, 2006b), it is an important tool in understanding what a text may be hiding. What Postmodernists try to do is to use deconstruction approaches to seek the truths behind an event that have been forgotten or deleted, and to explore the idea that a text is not a discrete whole but includes several irreconcilable and contradictory meanings; there is always more than one interpretation behind an event. Through the process of deconstruction, several explanations for the first occurrence of war in Iraq are revealed. From the standpoint of the Iraqi government, it was a matter of getting back their territory. For the elite members of an Iraq army group, it seemed a good opportunity for praiseworthy achievement. From an Iraqi generals perspective, it was a good opportunity for promotion. On the other hand, the women of Baghdad who suffered and became homeless may have attributed the terrible war to their fate or to America or may have seen it as a punishment from Allah. English and Egyptian soldiers may have seen different truths behind the war. American Ex President G.H.W. Bush claimed that the purpose of the Gulf war was to prevent the emergence of a dictator like Hitler in Middle East area (Nicholson M., 1998; Yuen H.L., 2006). The deconstruction approach can be used again to seek out more than one truth about the Second Gulf War in 2003. On 5th of February, 2003 United States Secretary of State, Colin Luther Powell proclaimed that the declaration of war was because of Iraqs possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The American government claimed that they were going to destroy the connection between Saddam Husseins Government and Al Qaida terrorists. American Ex President George Bush claimed that the war was inevitable in order to turn Iraq into a democratic nation. Some scholars argued that America intended to plunder Iraqs large oil reserves (Cited in Chui A.T., n.d.). The American administration tends to exclude many other possible interpretations of an event by only presenting the most favorable one with the assistance of the media (Nicholson M., 1998; Yuen H.L., 2006). While G. Bush refers to good and evil and frames the world in such terms, techniques as used during the Cold war, Postmodernists argue that neither term is pure or complete, but only becomes so in contrast to the other (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). Behind any event there is always more than one truth, as with the Gulf War and the 9/11 terrorism attacks on the New York Trade Centre: the reason broadcast to the world by the American administration was not the only one. The American government tends to intensify the reliability of certain interpretations with respect to these two events, and puts down the other possible but contrary interpretation. There are still lots of truths behind these wars that have not been exposed; Postmodernists try to use deconstruction to excavate truths (Nicholson M., 1998; Yuen H.L., 2006). 2.2 Double Reading Double reading is the other means used by Postmodernists to read a text more deeply and realize how there is always more than one reading. After the 1980s, Postmodernists started to use this method to analyze aspects of world politics like the anarchy problematique of dominant IR theory (Ashley R., 1988) and to explain international events such as the Kosovo War, the Gulf War or Nazi issues. Double reading and deconstruction are both methodologies used by Postmodernists to focus on texts and help us to realize that there is no absolute truth. These two ways of elaborating texts are both from Derrida. Derrida used this technique to show how these stabilizations operate by subjecting the text to two readings. The first time of the reading is only a repetition of the dominant concept and text and shows how it achieves its coherence (Smith S., 2008). The second time of reading is trying to read the text deeper and find the obvious contradictions from the first reading. All ideas in the text via the first reading seem natural stabilization; however, utilizing the second reading can help scholars to find some differences. From the double reading approach, people can realize that this way of reading the same text can reveal not only one seemingly natural idea but also can explore the other, contradictory ones. Double reading is a useful, Postmodernist tool to illustrate the shortcomings of the dominant analytical languages. For example, the anarchy problematique- no existence of central government or hegemonic nation in the world- rests on a series of questionable, theoretical suppositions or exclusions, and sovereignty and anarchy are mutually exclusive concepts, which have to be deconstructed (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B. , 2005b). In International Relation Theory, Richard Ashley has performed exactly such a double reading of the concept of anarchy(on the state-level). He first provided the reading of anarchy based on traditional IR theories and then went through the second reading which showed that the seemingly natural opposition between anarchy and sovereignty in the first reading is in fact false opposition. Ashley showed that the truth of the traditional assumptions made about anarchy is arbitrary (Smith S., 2008). While the dominating, orthodox analytical languages of the modernist project analyze the war in Iraq in neo-realistic terms, Postmodernism would use double readings to make visible the assumptions underlying such interpretations (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). Double reading is a useful tool for analyzing the post-war-war (May 2003 onwards) and illustrating that the reality is not as it is perceived by mainstream media (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005a). Postmodernists would also focus on analyzing the different interpretations of current affairs in Iraq and other world affairs. Conclusion Post-Positivism movements including Critical theory, Feminism, Post-colonialism, Poststructuralism and Postmodernism (which are so-called alternative approaches of IR theory) emerged as a reaction to the methodology led by Positivists and rationalists. . Some scholars have argued that Postmodernism does not have anything significant to contribute to the theorization of International Relations. Not only that, it also leads IR theory into chaos. However, the supporting evidence presented in this essay suggests that Postmodernism effectively provides many different ways of explaining and understanding systems of world politics. Postmodernism can be described as a challenge to the prevailing modernity project. It focuses on counter-hegemonic-theories and explains how conclusions perceived as rational only work within certain parameters. Postmodernists criticize the statement proposed by Positivism and Rationalism that power and knowledge are irrelevant. They present the Power-Knowledge relationship to let us understand that power in fact produces knowledge and they also propose the idea that there is no existence of absolute truth. From the Postmodernists perspective, there is always more than one truth existing in an event. Postmodernism also teaches us to employ techniques such as deconstruction and double reading to deconstruct texts and re-consider concepts that are seemingly natural and a matter of course. With regard to the war in Iraq, Postmodernists prefer to portray a wide array of descriptions and explanations than providing just one as the truth. With the world understood as a text, it is important that the textual interplay behind power politics is clearly seen and that we realize that all the references to this text are interpretive. Politicians always provide a reason for the war in Iraq such as It is about democracy and freedom or It is about the abundant oil. Postmodernists do not believe in the existence of only one truth behind the war and try to utilize genealogy, deconstruction and double reading to deeply analyze the text and explore the multiplicity of reasons. Although there are so many controversies surrounding the emergence and existence of Postmodernism, it is absolutely wrong and unfair to say that Postmodernism does not bring any significant contribution to our IR theory. During the past 20 years, Postmodernists have provided intelligent methodologies like double reading and deconstruction that may enable us to better analyze contemporary political issues. Obviously, Postmodernism plays an important role in the theorization of IR especially since economic structures, media, political and diplomatic systems have evolved into completely different forms from what they used to be, and they can no longer be easily analyzed by traditional IR theories.