The Science of Shopping

Caution! An anxietytriggers in your brain signaling the entry of new arrivals in the mall, an outcry for shoppers all around to come to the mall and buy the latest stuff designer/manufacturers have to offer claiming it is only a limited stock variety. The customer scout out the shop which is the most crowded considering it has the best to offer, he/she move in start sweeping by the items, trying to find what reflects your style and communicates your attitude towards the observers. The customers perceive what your fellow shoppers are purchasing or showing interest in and compare their selection with your choice and taste. Thesis statement: The purchasing behavior in the united states in America and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The different ways of how they purchase and make their decisions while buying things. What modes they use? Body: The most common trend in the United States is that most of the people go out and window shop. They waste their time doing nothing, just hang out with friends and family and go through most of the shops and end up buying in small quantities. Most of the American society believes in online shopping. Then why do the women in Saudi Arabia have to stay in some constraints while going out for shopping? Thus in the Saudi Arabia the buying behavior of the female gender is totally different when it comes to clothes. They have to stay within the constraints they are living in. According to Norton â€Å"the mall is a favorite subject for the laments of cultural conservatives and others critical of the culture of consumption. † (Norton, 105) However in America there are no such limits. People can buy whatever they want. They have no constraints. Therefore this is the main difference in the buying behavior of both the countries. One can see people of different buying behavior, different race, and different cultures in the shopping malls. Do the people in Saudi Arabia believe in window shopping? Or do they prefer window shopping? For the people of Saudi Arabia window shopping is wastage of time. KSA shopping style is more related to direct item shopping, the customer shops what the customer want and leave, spend time skipping shops, but as soon as the customer get what he wants he leave. Thus in America the uying behavior is rational. The main focus of the American buyer is the features and benefits of the product. Therefore the retailer has to keep in mind different things. As the mall is a public place and people from different parts of the world come there, so it becomes offensive for the public, if the retailer or any customer brings up or says anything which offends any race or culture. According to Norton â€Å"Controversial displays, by stores or customers or the plethora of organizations and agencies that present themselves in the open spaces of the mall, are not permitted. (Norton, 105) Thus they should be careful while putting anything on display keeping in mind that the mall is a public place and there are some limits and boundaries they should keep in mind. Conclusion: The purchasing of behavior totally depends on our culture and belief system. The sellers and retailers display things according to the want and culture of different people. They study their behavior and make alternations accordingly. It is the consumer who tells the seller or retailer how to attract them. The make and provide products for every gender and age of the society. KSA shopping has displays of the most expensive and fancy stuff hanging as a customer grabber. They even put up gold plated items in display to grab the customer by need or greed. USA shopping has displays with new arrivals as well as old running stock, their display of attention gathering is purely based on shoppers intention, whether they want to buy it or not,. The retailer can’t force a customer to shop at your place. This shopping trend shows well known respectable brands have the most sales because of trust.

Faculty Member Participation in Decision-making of Universities Essay

Decisions encapsulate and encompass the people and system that make up any institution or organization. The decisions and those making them reflect one another to give an accurate and precise notion of how they want to be perceived generally. In this effect, those that are not accounted for in the decision making process are not reflected in the notion of perception by society. Therefore, I am proposing that the faculty member must be given ample respect and opportunity in the decisions of the university. This proposal shall thus center its attention at the teaching staff members of University of Nottingham in Australia and king Saud University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The main issue that is a stake here is the value and importance of including the decisions of a member of a teaching staff in the overall decisions in the university. The underlying implication here is to ask whether or not the decision of a faculty staff member will be beneficial or detrimental to the university. Moreover, pragmatically speaking, the decision process of any university must take into consideration the ideas and contributions of every staff and school official due to the fact that each of them knows what is happening in the university from their own point of view and at the same time, they will also be affected by the decisions they make. The decision that does not include other related aspects that can be attributed to it such as those that a faculty staff member can bring in making decisions will not be as encompassing as it should be. It is therefore a privilege to make this study and be able to promulgate this stand of revolutionizing the decision making process in the university so that it may truly encapsulate the very nature and purpose of what it really means to make the decisions. And at the same time, this research will draw the spotlight to where darkness has already made its niche; the unheard voices of the teaching staff members. Relevant Theories and Literature People say that making decisions is like speaking prose because they do it all the time knowingly and unknowingly. It is thus hardly surprising that the topic of decision making involves many disciplines, from mathematics to statistics, through economics and political science, to sociology and psychology (Kahneman and Tversky, 2000). Still, there are even some who liken and compare the nature of decision making to that of the game of chess analyzing the complex and multiple implications that it entails (Katsenelinboigen, 1997). While on the other hand, there are those who rely on statistical and mathematical facts administering decision theory (Berger, 1980). The responsibility of decision making and taking decisions are considered the essence of the administrative process as emphasized by Simon (AL Masri, 1989) since it forms an important part of the positions needed by humanitarian institutions including higher educational institutions. Academic sections in university faculties of different specialties are considered a means for satisfying universities basic objectives as 80% of administrative decisions are taken at the level of departments (Athuhaibti, 1981). The academic department, as seen by Anderson, is the academic unit that involves specialists in research, teaching and other academic aspects. Decision making in the administrative sphere consists of three basic pillars. The first one is about the availability of a human person in a position that has its special circumstances. Secondly, it also important to think in those circumstances to find an outlet to them. And lastly, it is vital to think right to be able to ensure an effective outlet or a suitable alternative. In another aspect, if this is seen from a statistical perspective, the decision making aspect of every problem can actually be formalized through an explicit specification covering the available decisions, the items of cost and gain involved in making the decisions and the relevant probability distributions (De Groot, 2004). Therefore, it is of great importance and of considerable value that a teaching staff member in a university’s department to be given the amount of respect in sharing the responsibilities in making the important decisions with regard to the university whether it is in a large scale level or in a small scale level. Such a person must be heard and be given significant attention for the very reason that the person who can make the best, most practical and most meaningful decisions are the very persons who are affected by the issues at hand and also the very persons for whom the decision will be made in the first place. How can anyone make a concrete and feasible decision if the very person making the decision does not even fully understand and feel the root and effects of the very decision itself? Moreover, it must be absolutely imperative that superiors deal with their subordinates under the bases of psycho humanitarian manners. What is essential to comprehend here is the fact that every person must be treated as a human being and not just a mere willing tool carrying out tasks. People must never be treated as a mere object disregarding their moral feelings and existence who are just as affected by the environment and the natural surroundings like everyone else regardless of their race, gender, color, ethnicity, educational attainment, and nationality. As a result, leadership should pay attention to the needs of their subordinates in a serious way. Thus, another essential thing is the value of loyalty. Loyalty here is not lopsided where in one side shall receive all the benefits while the other lifts the burdens of responsibility. The subordinates must be loyal to their leaders, and in the same way, the leaders must be loyal and even responsible for their subordinates. At the end of the day, both sides must work as one and realize that loyalty and responsibility does not only come through carrying out decisions, but more importantly, it is about the successful dialogue and participation in decision making by all. The subject matter of this study shall delve into the necessity and the relevancy of the involvement of the teaching staff members in the decision making process in the administrative arena qualifying and valuing their decision making contributions and capabilities not only for the betterment of the university but for the growth and development of the teaching staff members as well. This will then give credence and moral boosting performance and efficiency to their respective academic fields. This will further create more new and viable ideas that are usually unnoticed and ignored due to the massiveness of certain issues that are encountered in the decision making process. In addition, this will greatly lessen the burden of responsibility and the pressure of infallibility carried by the higher officials. Some institutions and organizations find the decision making process to be so relatively important that computer-based decision support systems have been invented to assist decision makers in considering the implications of various courses of thinking and help reduce risk in human errors (Flyvbjerg, 2006) Study Methodology This research shall depend in studying the subject and issues at hand through an analytical descriptive method. The research method will follow any deduction that takes this phenomenon from psychological and educational aspects as it is in present time for the purpose of diagnosing, revealing and identifying the relationships among its components or among educational, psychological or social aspects (Al-Ghanem, 1988). The focal point in this research method is seeing the interconnectedness and most importantly, the interdependence of every aspect and relationship that the faculty staff member has with the university. Empirical Work With regard to the empirical data that needs to be collected for this research, the primary source to look with respect to this proposal is the system of the university itself. This comprises of knowing who makes the decisions and how these people make them. The university structural hierarchy will give an ample specification of the decision making process in the university. Moreover, the opinions of the faculty staff members and school officials in relation to the decision making process will be a good foundation for this research. It is also of considerable value in tackling this issue by understanding the location and type of universities that will be assesses as well as the country or culture of the faculty staff members and school officials who will be involved. This research will concentrate on two universities as mentioned. The advantage of this is that the research will have a vast and diverse analysis on the matter and will not be limited by the boundaries that are set by the geographical location. The disadvantage of this research might be seen in the inconsistency in any information gathered. This may arise because of location of the universities and also the willingness of people to give truthful and relevant information. It is expected that this research may cause hesitancy to certain people due to the delicate issue it is asserting. Study Importance The importance of this study arises from the fact that it is going to: 1. Highlight the necessity of opening new horizons to a teaching staff member concerning the optimal method of participating in decision making so as to be an active member in promoting administrative work, which in turn also serves as an academic work done by the member himself. 2. Help the teaching staff member in employing and enhancing his various abilities and techniques in fields widening their knowledge aside from teaching, i. e. getting him outside the closed circle of academic work as well. 3. This study will transform and alter the terms of knowing the participation of a teaching staff member in decision making in University of Nottingham and King Saud University. 4. Add new information and recommendations that help and benefit in increasing the effective participation of a teaching staff member in decision making in those two universities. Study Objectives This study aims to identify teaching staff members’ points of view or perception regarding their participation in making decisions in University of Nottingham and King Saud University and in a way that is more defined; this current study aims at the following: 1. Identifying the extent of teaching staff members’ participation or contribution in university decision making in University of Nottingham and King Saud University. 2. Knowing the extent of difference in the points of view of the subjects of the study sample concerning participation in decision making with the difference of study variables. 3. Identifying the degree of importance of teaching staff member in university decision making by perceiving it through three dimensional studies: the academic dimension, the administrative dimension and the financial dimension. 4. Diagnose the obstacles that can lead a teaching staff member not to participate in making university decisions. Let it therefore be stated that this study tries to state out the motives and value of the teaching staff members in participating in decision making process at the level of the University of Nottingham in Australia and king Saud University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as the factors that hamper or hinder their participation in an effective and beneficial way. Study Questions: The researcher will discuss his study questions with respect to the objectives mentioned above, therefore, the study will revolve around the following four questions: Question (1) How far or to what extent can a teaching staff member of the University of Nottingham participate in the university’s decision making process from the point of view of the study sample individuals? Question (2) How far or to what extent can a teaching staff member of the King Saud University participate in the university’s decision making process from the point of view of the study sample individuals? Question (3) Are there any statistical differences among the points on view of the study sample subjects concerning the participation extent in university decision making in accordance with demographic variables (gender, nationality, academic degree and experience)? Question (4) Does the degree of extent of a teaching staff member’s participation in university decision making differs towards the three dimensional study: â€Å"the academic dimension, the administrative dimension and the financial dimension† with the demographic variables: â€Å"gender, nationality and the difference in job (administrative and non administrative)? Question (5) What are the obstacles or hindrances that lead the teaching staff member from refraining or from being prevented to participate in university decision making from the points of view of study sample individuals? Conclusion I am therefore optimistic that this research can revolutionize or change the traditional way of how faculty staff members, school officials and universities think and interact in their own school communities. This research can further foster dialogue with regard to the conflicts that may arise between faculty staff members and school officials. This research can also bring about beneficial and better improvements to the university as a whole through having a comprehensive decision making process. This research makes an original contribution in the issue at hand because of the diversity in the information and subjects that are discussed which are not limited to only one culture, system or location thereby filling the gaps of other related researches that have narrowly focused in a limited subject and area. Finally, this research can expand to improving educational systems as a whole and also foster a developmental analysis on faculty staff member or school officials as indivudals. References: 1. Al-Masri, Ahmad Mohammad. (1989) Communications, Decisions and their Effectiveness in Administration, Dubai, Dar Al-Kalam. 2. Berger, James O. (1980) Statistical Decision Theory and Bayesian Analysis. 2nd ed. Springer Series in Statistics. 3. Best John, translated by Abdullaziz Ghanem Al-Ghanem and revised by Adel Izziddin Al-Ashwal. (1988) Educational Research Methods. Al-Kuwait Institution for Scientific Development, The Directorate of writing, translation and publishing, Al-Kuwait. 4. De Groot, Morris. (2004) Optimal Statistical Decisions. Wiley Classics Library. 5. Flyvbjerg, Bent. (2006) From Nobel Prize to Project Management: Getting Risks Right. Project Management Journal, vol. 37, no. 3, August 2006, pp. 5-15. 6. Kahneman, Daniel and Tversky, Amos. (2000) Choice, Values, Frames. The Cambridge University Press. 7. Katsenelinboigen, Aron. (1997) The Concept of Indeterminism and Its Applications: Economics, Social Systems, Ethics, Artificial Intelligence, and Aesthetics Praeger: Westport, Connecticut.

Children’s Play and Their Physical Health Essay

Play among children is a vital essentiality as it leads to social, cognitive and physical development among them during their childhood development. Therefore play among children is a normal routine that emerges during this period of growth. They get to involve themselves in humorous activities i. e. various games like hide and seek hide, foot ball, computer games, and several others which seem to be of interest to them. Through this they are able to enhance their physical health appropriately in the below ways. Through physical play like football and athletics children are able to reduce the prevalence of obesity thus they are able to grow being physically fit and healthly. Also it is through play that Children develop creativity that is derived from imagination, physical cognation and dexterity. Physical exposure of children to play is an essential element of growth and development as it reduces risks of a child to heart diseases later in life. Physical fitness of children is built up as they tend to develop strong muscles through the activities of playing such as playing on the ground play equipment, climbing trees, tugs of wars e. t. c thus making them stable. Play also impacts on Bone strengthening and development especially through ground playing activities such as running, basketball, tennis, rope jumping and hopscotch. Cardio respiratory fitness among children is increased though aerobic activities e. . running, hopping, , dancing, skipping, swimming, bicycling e. t. c Play requires a lot of energy thus children participating need to acquire strength for the activities, therefore a balanced diet is important to enhance their capability to get involved and develop physical health growth. Therefore children play should be emphasized and greatly encouraged through their whole process of development by their parents, teachers, relatives, leaders e. t. c

Field Trip Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Field Trip - Essay Example It plays an important part in the conservation of the Indian tiger. Open from the middle of November till mid of June, visitors can stay at Dhikala, which is located inside the Corbett National Park. Jeeps can be hired from Ramnagar, which travel to the Park and Dhikala. Buses also travel to Dhikala from the Ramnagar station. Alternately the route from Delhi - Moradabad, through Kashipur and finally Ramnagar, Corbett can be taken. The estimated distance is 280km, and the journey approximately takes 7 hours. [Jim Corbett National Park, 2002]. The reserve encompasses a total area of 1318.54 sq km. The area is divided into the Jim Corbett National Park, which constitutes about 520 sq km of the core area. The buffer region, covering 797.72 sq km of the total area is the reserve forest region. Elephant Safaris are the best way to explore the huge area of the reserve. Jim Corbett tiger reserve and National park geologically falls in the Outer and Shivalik foothills of the Himalayas. The park was known as the Ramganga National Park, after the tributary of Ganga that flows through the reserve from East till West, post India's independence in 1947. It was renamed as Jim Corbett National Park in 1956, to commemorate the memory of Jim Corbett. The "Project Tiger," conservation project to save the Indian Tiger and its habitat, was launched in 1973 from this park. The special attract Project Tiger The special attraction of the park is the Bengal Tiger, which is an endangered species. In fact the name of the park - Corbett, is after the famous hunter and naturalist Jim Corbett, who was known for the initiatives he took to save the tiger from extinction. "Project Tiger" was started with support from the World Wide Fund for Nature by Indian conservationist. The main objective was to protect the tiger from extinction. Corbett with its thick forest cover and plenty of "food" for the tigers - the number of animal species present and also replenished by the Ramganga acted as an apt destination for a natural habitat of the endangered species. [Riley 208] Geology The Chinji Stage and Kamlial Stage are the two types of geological formations that can be found in the Jim Corbett National Park. Red and maroon shades sandstones, sandstones of grey, purple and grey hues comprise the geological formations of the Park. The Chinji stage that characterizes the uppermost stage of the lower Siwalik geological formations consists of bright colored sandstones. The sandstones of the area are characterized by intercalations of siltstones. Geologists have estimated these to date back to the Miocene (varying between upper and mid) age. [Negi 50 - 51] The Garhwal group's lowermost formation is Rudraprayag. Black and grey colored slates and cherts; grey quartzite; compact, medium grained, grayish white and white quartzite comprise the Rudraprayag formation. Over the Rudraprayag formations are the Lameri formation. Divided into Lameri A, Lameri B and Lameri C these are mainly dolomite bands, slates and phyllites.

Primary Source Annotation Assignment about women history in USA Essay

Primary Source Annotation Assignment about women history in USA - Essay Example In his defense of what he considers a woman’s practice, he establishes the origin of man-midwifery as a â€Å"fashion first set by the court prostitute of Paris† in December 1663. He urges the Bostonians not to accept the practice of man-midwifery and instead urges women to advertise themselves in the papers as practitioners of the art. The fact that Gregory finds it important to offer such a strong defense in favor of women is a statement that women in the colonial era were not regarded as qualified enough to perform â€Å"obstetric art† (15). He also alludes to the fact that most husbands, wives, and daughters were not at ease with male mid-wives as â€Å"the husband’s monopoly over his wife ceased† (9). The statement clearly shows that man-midwifery was associated with moral decadence and extramarital relations. Several aspects of women in the colonial era emerge Gregory’s paper. First, the fact that it is a man championing the rights of women to monopolize the practice of midwifery means that women at the time were not in a position to argue for themselves. This could be as a result of lack of training and education. Gregory applauds efforts from Paris where an institution was established to train women on midwifery practices. He suggests that such an institution should be established in Boston. The growing custom of man-midwifery or accoucheurs was seen as a â€Å"war against women [which was] prosecuted with the same vigor [in Boston] as in England† (11). This shows that even as early as 1840, women were still struggling to be recognized as an important part of the society. Those who supported women to take up the midwifery roles sought to embrace the long standing tradition that was established in England and Europe as a whole. At first Gregory points to instances where women in the past have taken the task of helping fellow women deliver. He associates the

Arsson in the united states Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Arsson in the united states - Essay Example Juveniles have been reported to be arrested with arson as well. Arsonists attacks those buildings in which nobody lives and poor neighborhoods are no exceptions to the same finding. The article pinpoints the role that there should be of the municipal and community members and leadership regimes as to how to keep arsonists away and incidences of arson must be reduced drastically has also been raised. With that, there is a mention of the increase in church arsons for the last ten years or so. The article presents a analysis of 1996-98 data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) which emphasizes the point that the per dollar loss due to arson fires were a bit higher than the average of all fires that erupted within the United States, however the death figures and injuries were way lower than the ones expected in such circumstances. The article fathoms that the general public thinks of arson as an insurance gimmick and that companies play with it to benefit their own selves. But it is a significant point to understand here that arsonists play havoc with life and property all this while and this is indeed an alarming thing to come to terms with. Also the fact that arson fires peak at some specific days of the year raises an eyebrow or two. The authorities at the helm of affairs must ensure that proper and adequate steps are taken to guarantee that the general public remain safe and hazard-free when certain events come up. These events include the Halloween’s, New Year’s, the July 4 Independence Day and so on. The article also speaks of the 1999 instance when six firefighters from the Worcester Fire Department had to give up their life when they were in the middle of a rescue operation in a cold storage warehouse. In the end, the article highlights the role of the fire departments and government agencies and as to how they are taking certain

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 66

Essay Example As a function of this dynamic, this brief analysis will seek to discuss the ways in which non-state combatants are viewed within the modern context, the ways in which the letter of the law of the Geneva Convention’s framework necessarily deals with such individuals, and the outlook for the future that will likely exist with relation to a more widespread inclusion of non-state combatants within the umbrella of human protection and recognition that the Geneva Convention necessarily affords. With respect to the first topic, one need not look far in order to recognize the way in which al Qaeda most certainly fulfills the role of a non-state combatant within the current geo-political model (Zelikow 6). As such, countries such as the United States have had more than a difficult time determining in what ways captured al Qaeda fighters should be dealt with. Due to the fact that al Qaeda fighters are intrinsically related to terrorism and the non-state struggle of radical Islamic ideology, nations that capture their fighters do not have clear options for which to deal with these individuals. For the most part, rehabilitation is not an option. In the same way, keeping them confined without trial is openly problematic (Yoo 141). Likewise, trying them under martial or civilian court systems prove to be highly problematic due to the fact that by doing so, the state in question (prosecution) would have to engender the defendants with a degree of rights and privileges that are inco nsistent with the forces they represent or the jurisdiction that they ultimately engaged in the act of violence/theater of war. With regards to the way in which the Geneva Convention deals with such individuals as have been described, the fact of the matter is that it does not. Naturally, if a codicil to the Geneva Convention had been included that specified the way in which states could and should deal with non-state actors and members of

Child Prostitution in India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Child Prostitution in India - Essay Example This paper is a critical evaluation of child prostitution in India as well as ways through which the dilemma can be resolved. Child Prostitution in India India is categorized as one of the most highly populated countries in the world, with majority of its citizens suffering from abject poverty. Statistics indicate that more than 300 million out of the total population of approximately 944 580 000 people are living below poverty line, as per early 1990’s reports (Shephered 62). This ratio has definitely increased based on the fact that the total population has increased significantly to hit the 1 billion mark, making it the second most populous country after China. Out of this population, 25% is believed to be living in urban areas, which is a recipe for the establishment of informal residential areas that are unsafe and unhealthy for bringing up children. Due to these factors, families have been trying all methods to make ends meet and this has resulted to numerous cases of ch ild abuse, who are introduced to child labor and prostitution at a tender age (Sahni 12). Child prostitution may be defined as the involvement of children below the age of 18, depending on the legal definition of an adult in a country or society. It is prohibited in most of the countries around the world, even in those that legalize prostitution but there is a tendency in India whereby the locals are comfortable and in fact, some sources indicate that parents, who are supposed to offer protection to these children, are the main perpetrators of this heinous activity (Sahni 39). The girl child is given little significance in most of Indian societies who view them as sex tools such that they are even sexually abused by immediate members of the family such as the father, brothers among others. Some sources indicate that this habit begins in the marital bed, where couples incorporate their children in their sexual activities and sometimes, they are ‘loaned’ to neighbors for the same purposes. Mothers are said to use masturbation as a technique to send their female children to sleep and to enhance masculinity in boys, which is according to observers (DeMause 21). By the time they reach the age of 5 or 6, these children are already aware of their sexuality and thereby will go ahead to practice what they have been experiencing at the hands of their parents. On the other hand, child prostitution in India has been observed as being motivated by cultural and religious practices by the society rather than poverty as with other third world countries. An example is the tradition whereby young girls are offered as sacrifices to gods, in a practice known as Devdasi and which is widely accepted in majority of Indian cultures. Once these girls are relocated to the temples, they become what are widely referred to as religious prostitutes, who sleep around with different priests (Gathia 51). However, this kind of prostitution is different as it does not have the comm ercial aspect in it. This is to imply that these girls are not compensated for their services and as such, they are more of sex slaves as they are not allowed to make their own decisions on how to control their sexual activities especially choosing preferred clients. Despite the banning of this tradition in 1982, the society has continued to practice it, insisting that observing the restriction would amount to

Problem Solving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Problem Solving - Essay Example Employees demanded for pay rise and the newly appointed managing director (MD), promised to solve the issue by the end of the year after consulting the board of directors (BOD). However, the BOD did not meet and the MD instructed the public relations (PR) office to relay the information to the employees. The PR officer then walked from office to office at lunch break to inform the employees whom most of them had gone for lunch in various places. The PR then promised to return to the various offices after lunchtime but unfortunately tripped on the stairs and had to be hospitalized. The MD had also gone for a meeting with the state’s health department. The employees who were eagerly waiting for the MD’s message got impatient and called for a strike. Although the strike was called off the next day, a few people were injured and most of them threatened to pursue charges on the management. Several factors affect communication in our organization. Authority structure in the o rganization is so bureaucratic such that there are a number of procedures to be followed before delivering information. An employee follows very long procedures before booking an appointment with the MD. Most of the computers used are old-fashioned and not support some applications hence making it had to interact. Some of the softwares used in the hospital do not support the hospital’s operations. Professionalism also plays a major role in influencing the hospital’s communication system. Doctors and other paramedics take themselves to be superior to other non-paramedics claiming that the institution being a health facility, is only important for them. Listening is one of the most important skills that comprise a larger percentage of an effective communication in an organization (Ellis, 2009, p.15-18). Good listening includes showing interest to the information being communicated by avoiding interruptions. Listening reduces mistakes while undertaking tasks given in an o rganization. Additionally, while speaking either in the office or in seminar, one should first allow others to speak, gather information by taking notes, and carefully think about others opinion. Before answering any question, acknowledge what other employees had talked about. Respond to the issues raised tactfully and plainly while giving practical examples and state your opinions on why you are disagreeing with others opinion. Moreover, a manager or an employee of an organization should always prepare before going for a forum, departmental meetings, taking phone calls, going for a media interview, writing a formal letter to other employees or internal memos. An employee should put down in writing any question to be asked or an explanation that is required from him. Additionally, an employee should dress well to give him confidence of addressing others and prepare himself physiologically for forums. Early preparation boosts interaction with other employees. Communication overload i s one of the barriers of effective communication in an organization. Communication overload may render information meaningless and it includes long and repetitive talking hours in meetings and forums. It may also mean sending meaningless or less important mails to employees .The distance between the sender such as the MD with the employees especially branch managers. Language barriers and cultural differences may hinder relay of information. An employee may communicate in a language

M2S Evolution of the problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

M2S Evolution of the problem - Essay Example Most people do not understand how they can pay the insurance premiums on their own. Here, organizations come in with the desire that each and everyone are taxed to pay the insurance premiums. The decision is usually made by the board or the government in some countries. With a half done bureaucracy, the board comes up with policies that each employee must adhere. Pilzer (2005) argues that one should apply for his own individual /family health insurance policy as soon as possible .if one has a health savings account, one is allowed to withdraw money tax free to pay health insurance premiums. Another problem is when an employer offer s a high deductable amount which affects the employees. The employers come up with a figure without consulting the employees. The health care insurance on the other hand has its advantages. Without the scheme many people could not afford treatment from good private hospitals in the world today. Presently whether poor or rich, a person can access proper medical care. This can be made better if people are allowed to call their own insurance company and get the policy. The problem in many organizations is that one is forced to an insurance

Academic Honesty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Academic Honesty - Essay Example Dishonesty among students can be suppressed to ease implementation of academic policy program me. It is the mandate of one who receives a scholarship to out-source information and seek for guidance in all his undertakings. It is through this that he will get adequate knowledge on the ongoing programmed policies. Honesty adherence reflects one’s commitment to willingly and readily work under any management. Ignorance of the outlaid policies is not in any way a defense mechanism to evade punishment. Lecturers expect students to produce their own assignments and highly avoid duplication of their colleagues’ work (Kirkland, 2009). A well formulated honesty policy depicts a fine image of the institution to the external human race. The school managerial team would come up with several guidelines to emerge to an academic honesty policy statement. It should be strictly adhered to and its violation be considered un- invulnerable. The motive behind the formulation of an academic honesty policy would vastly be to eliminate the negative students’ behaviors in which failure to instantly deal with them lead to adverse results. This eventually portrays a dull picture of the institution to the outsiders. The criteria used in its formulation has to side with both the institution as well as the students. (That is, it favors all the parties assisting in its formulation). This is through ensuring that the organization of an Academic Honesty Committee involves both the students’ council and the institute’s legitimate decipherable team. The standards of this honesty policy should not limit the students to receiving of the assistance they seek. It should subject students to discipline as soon as they violate the set standards. In it, lecturers outline procedures, which the students follow and avoid being dishonest (Choong & Brown, 2007). There are also the measures to be taken and applied as one must face the consequences of his mistake. However, students should anticipate for a better follow up of the policy and ensure they operate within its basics as they look forward to both positive and negative reinforcement. Instructors assertively apply disciplinary measures on the policy breakers and hence help to bring down resistance to the policy. It is worth noting that, the st udents are ready and satisfied when a certain set sequence of dealing with policy violators is administered on them (Choong & Brown, 2007). This is due to the reason that the students’ council is involved in the giving out of ideas in the formulation of this policy. This then makes them not to resist to any action their instructors administer on them. Punishment should be applied to the violators and is done best by reporting to the body chosen to give authorization to the policy. The committee looks forward to a positive adherence of students presumed to be alluding to the so-called policy. The disciplinary measures to be applied must be made known to them and it is the obligation of the council to substantiate the norms required of students. They edify them through various ways such as prevention, confrontation and lastly by reporting. In prevention, there is prior knowledge of the honesty policy, which the lecturers partially give to the students during their admissions to the various campuses. Such information gives the scholar a hint on the institution’s programs (Kirkland, 2009). The three are also ways of evading academic dishonesty. Academic wise, the instructors set assignments, which first oblige an open discussion and later assign them some exceptional responsibilities to partake. When student get involved in

Equipment and Books Essay Example for Free

Equipment and Books Essay Use of persons name Specific dedication for person to know why he being recognized Public display of all awards Follow-ups Timely Manner If motivation is properly handled, employees will always be happy and the organization will retain their staff for longer time periods. Educational workplaces require books and equipment such as computers, laboratory equipments, and agricultural equipments for all staff and students. If equipment is not adequate, the staff may be strained and this may cause unnecessary delays in lectures and work. Some workplaces may lack current books because of proper funding and this may pose a major challenge to the staff. Cultural Differences Educational workplaces often are filled with people from different cultures. Cultural beliefs influence human behaviors to a great extent and as cultures differ it often makes it difficult to design an environment that is conducive to performance and satisfaction. An example would be a colleague who believes that women should not expose their faces. This cultural diversity will often make it difficult for women to associate with individuals who may find difficulty in relating to them. Cultural differences influences the following in educational workplaces Mode of dressing Food served; some people eat snakes and frogs while to others don’t Associations in the institution Language used Team work In any workplace, teamwork poses challenges to many people. This is because of attitudes, values beliefs and behavior. Some individuals may have bad attitude which may affect the goal being sought after by the team, thus affecting other group members. Others may exhibit behaviors that one may not wish to associate with. In order to find compatibility, educational workplaces should have working teamwork members who encourage all individuals to associate with others without consideration of their culture. Team work may result in positive consequences for competing teams and these instances may follow: Team members becoming more close and displaying greater loyalty from its members and some members who are close in rank may bury some of their internal differences. Team climate changes from informal, casual, playful and work and task oriented members as well, while concerns for member’s psychological needs decline while concern for task accomplishment is increased. Leadership patterns tend to change from more democratic toward more autocratic while the team becomes more willing to tolerate autocratic leadership Each team becomes more structured and organized Each team demands more loyalty and conformity from its members in order to be able to present a â€Å"solid front† What happens between competing team? Each team begins to see the other teams as the enemy, rather than merely a neutral object. Each team begins to experience distortions of perception and tends to perceive only the best outcomes while denying weakness and allows competing teams to perceive only negative assumptions of the other team members while denying their strengths, as each team is likely to develop a negative stereotype of the other such as saying, â€Å"They don’t play fair like we do. † Hostility toward the other team increases while interaction and communication with the other team decreases, thus it becomes easier to maintain negative stereotypes and more difficult to correct perceptual distortions. If the teams are forced into interaction, for example, or if they are forced to listen to representatives pleading their own and the other’s causes, in reference to some task that each team, they are likely to listen more closely to their own representative and not to listen to the representative of the another’s team member, except to find fault with his presentation, in other words, team members tend to listen only for that which supports their own position and stereotype. What happens to the winner? Winners retains their confidence and may become even more cohesive Winner tends to release more tension and become more casual and playful. Winner lean towards higher intra-groups and display more cooperation and concern for other member’s needs. Winners can become complacent and feel that winning has confirmed a positive stereotype and as the negative stereotypes of the â€Å"enemy† team, there is little basis for reevaluating perceptions or reexamining team operations, in order to learn how to improve them. What happens to the loser? If the situation permits some ambiguity in the decision (if judges have rendered it as a close game), there is a strong tendency for the loser to deny or distort the reality of losing and instead, the loser will find psychological escapes such as (the judges were biased) or (the judges did not really explain the rules of the game, clearly) or possibly they may think (if luck had not been against us at the one key point, we would have won,† and so on. If loss is accepted, the losing team tends to splinter and as unresolved conflicts come to surface, fights may breaks out. A losing team member is more tense and may be ready to work harder and may be desperate to find someone or something to blame their loss on. They may blame the team leader, the judges who decided against them or even the rules or the game. (The â€Å"lean and hungry† state). A losing member may look for inter-group cooperation, have little concern for other team member’s needs or huge concern for recouping, by working harder. A losing team member often learn a lot about themselves while working as a team, because positive and negative stereotypes of the other team are upset by their own loss, forcing a reevaluation of perceptions as a consequence and a losing member is more likely to reorganize their ideas and accept their loss more realistically. J. FUNDS In a workplace, funding a project that is viewed as personal is not easy. For example, funding research by one lecturer may be very difficult, although the outcome may benefit the institution and again, some projects may be very expensive and even the institution may not have the capacity to fund the project, therefore they may need external funding. Workplace funds may also be misused by staff members.

Medea By Euripides And Macbeth English Literature Essay

Medea By Euripides And Macbeth English Literature Essay Introduction Medea by Euripides and Macbeth by William Shakespeare are plays renowned for their portrayal of frightening female characters; Medea and Lady Macbeth. Such female characters are particularly controversial as they contradict the social expectations of women. Society constantly attempts to mold women into soft, gentle and compassionate beings. Due to such a stereotype whereby women are perceived as weak, Euripides Medea and Shakespeares Lady Macbeth are found to be quiet overly intriguing characters. Strong, fierce, angry and evil women were not heard of when such plays were written. Medea and Lady Macbeth are both prominent female characters of classic literature. Medea is the protagonist of the Euripides play Medea whilst Macbeths Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeares most memorable female characters. There is a myth that lingers upon mankind suggesting that females are gentle, caring, weak beings and because the depiction of Lady Macbeth and Medea are quite the contrary, it is debatable whether they are in fact credible characters. To be credible means to be believable, comprehensible and encompass human characteristics such as strengths and weaknesses. This allows the audience to empathize with the characters and create a shared sense of humanity with them. If it is argued that Lady Macbeth and Medea are possibly melodramatic characters, suggesting that they are exaggerated, two dimensional and hence commit evil purely out of malevolence then such an accusation undermines the quality of the plays. Melodramatic works may temporally thrill an audience however they offer little insight to the human condition and encounter no lasting, intellectually satisfying impact. Consequently the question asked is, are Lady Macbeth and Medea credible characters? Whether or not Lady Macbeth and Medea can be appreciated as believable by the audience is absolutely vital to the plays achievement; if they were simply seen as evil, the plays would be regarded as melodramatic and hence fail to be literature of depth and quality. However, if the audience is given an insight into the human condition and is therefore able understand the motives behind evil deeds and the ways in which such actions impact the characters; the play will succeed in being credible and effective. Moreover, the success of each work as literature depends on the key characters being fully rounded and believable. The intention of this essay is to examine the two plays in order to prove that Lady Macbeth and Medea are indeed credible characters. How are Lady Macbeth and Medea presented? The opening scenes of the Euripides Medea commence with the plays protagonist offstage. A strong sense of anticipation is developed as Nurse and Tutor discuss the dilemma whereby Jason has betrayed his loyal wife. The audience is subsequently introduced to Medeas despair; she is heard off stage bewailing her situation, If only I were dead  [1]  . The way in which Euripides employs sound without having Medea visually appear onstage, contributes to the plays elements of stagecraft whilst emphasizing Medeas heartbroken tone of voice and allowing the audience to focus on her speech. Medea gains the audiences empathy early in the play due to such a passionate initial depiction. Lady Macbeth however, is initially revealed to the audience later in Shakespeares Macbeth. She first appears onstage whilst reading her husbands letter; she is excited, anxious and thrilled at the prospect of Macbeth becoming King. Love is the fundamental basis to Lady Macbeth and Medeas disposition. They adore their husbands profoundly, and it is this sense of devotion which adds to their characters credibility. Throughout the entire play, Lady Macbeth is an utterly loyal wife. She is ambitious for Macbeth and hence on no account indicates a quest for personal glory. Lady Macbeth goes to great lengths in order to ensure Macbeths rapid succession to the throne; she is clearly his dearest partner of greatness.  [2]  In fact, it is her devotion for Macbeth which leads to her pursuit for evil. At first Lady Macbeth encourages her husband to sin; she is responsible for influencing his demeanor. Next she develops a strategy in order to murder King Duncan and prepares the murder scene for Macbeth, before taking part in the crime herself. Such actions were evidently driven by Lady Macbeths immense affection for her husband. Medea is also absolutely faithful to her husband and similarly assists him to achieve heroi c status in regards to the capture of the Golden Fleece. Despite such loyalty on Medeas behalf, Jason betrays her for a royal bed; this initial predicament causes a different side to Medeas character to be unleashed and destruction to commence. It was Jasons sense of betrayal following Medeas unquestioning love which leads to her being involved with evil; she creates a scheme to murder her husbands mistress before killing her own children. Once both women are on the pathway of evil they begin to manipulate their husbands with remarkable effectiveness. When Lady Macbeths husband hesitates to murder Duncan the king of Scotland, she gives a chillingly disturbing statement emphasizing her sense of determination and pride, she would have dashed the brains out  [1]  of her own baby rather than go back on her word. She then attempts to undermine his manhood by referring to him as a coward  [2]  in order to influence his decision. Medea manipulates her husband Jason correspondingly. She engages in ruse, pretending to sympathize with her husband in order to bring him into her confidence, First Ill send a slave to Jason, asking him to come to me; and then Ill give him a soft talk.  [3]  Medea utilizes gifts in an attempt to break the ice between Jason, Glauce and herself. Ostensibly, the gifts are intended to convince him that the children stay in Corinth; little do Jason and Glauce know that the coronet and dress ar e in fact poisoned and will cause death to whoever touches them. Evidently, both women use their manipulative ability in order to skillfully persuade their husbands. Lady Macbeth and Medea at times appears totally given over to evil. The aggression of these female characters is particularly striking as it defies prevailing social expectations of how women. Women are generally tender human beings however Lady Macbeth and Medea exemplify vindictiveness and determination; general characteristics of man. Our first impression of Medea allows us to bond with her; she is terribly devastated at Jasons betrayal and the way in which she bemoans in her home is truly credible. As time elapses our impression of Medea alters as we gradually observe layers of her malevolence shed to reveal a tormented human soul. It is universally accepted that women are compassionate and soft hearted due to their motherly nature however Medea is stunningly said to be stone and iron; determined to kill her sons despite their desperate cry for salvage. It is very difficult to comprehend how a mother could murder her children; subsequently Medea is portrayed as evil. Although she never felt a sense of guilt for her wicked actions, Medea hesitated slightly before committing infanticide, I cant do it  [1]  she cried. Medea looks to her sense of pride for strength, Are my enemies to laugh at me? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I must steel myself  [2]  , subsequently she swiftly gets over such dither and proceeds with the killings of her two sons. Witnessing Jason suffer brought Medea great satisfaction that prevailed over her own remorse at killing them, But my pains a fair price, to take away your smile  [3]  . Although the audience is thoroughly informed of Medeas brutal past, it was still very shocking and unexpect ed when she kills her children. At this particular moment in the play, the bond between Medea and the audience begins to diminish. Despite experiencing hardships and being emotionally torn, the audience cannot look past the brutality of such a scene. In the early scenes of Shakespeares Macbeth, Lady Macbeth appears to be stronger and more ruthless than her husband. The fact that she is in control of all evilness suggests that her sense of evil is inevitable. Despite the many attempts to reach evil, Lady Macbeth recognizes the need to mask her womanliness in order to find assistance for her plans. Evidence of such is how she yearns for her female essence to be to be replaced with poison, Unsex mecome to my womans breasts and take my milk for gall  [1]  she cries. This statement is an extracted portion from Lady Macbeths soliloquy whereby she calls on the dark spirits. She clearly acknowledges her femininity and the fact that she lacks the complete capacity for evil; she is unable to kill Duncan herself in spite of being exceedingly driven towards brutality. If one is truly evil there is no need to be unsexed. This particular speech also serves to highlight Lady Macbeths great level of passion and the extraordinary lengths she would go to ensure Macbeths speedy succession to King. It is understood that Lady Macbeth is familiar with religion and holds some religious conception. She realizes that she is contemplating a sin against God by wanting her femininity to be removed and consequently wants to be hidden from heaven  [2]  . This opens room to note that a cosmology which posits heaven above all also allows for hell, for guilt, for punishment. Although Lady Macbeth is aware that she will be punished for calling upon the dark spirits, she disregards such knowledge and sins. This form of negligence and ignorance indicates Lady Macbeths desperate desire. At this moment in the play, the audience scowl at her sense of hypocrisy. Why do they follow an evil pathway? Medea is human, however she is also related to the gods and worships Queen Hecate. Obviously elements of fantasy propel her story however she appears before the audience as a woman and must be understood as one. Clearly Medeas love for Jason was all consuming; she was willing to do anything and everything for her beloved. Such passion is evident from Medeas complete obedience; she abides by her husbands every word. As previously mentioned, all of the plays events proceed from the initial dilemma whereby a heartless husband betrays his obedient wife; this is why Medea results to her evil ways. She feels shamed, trampled on and unappreciated as she had supported and did great deal for him, for example she fled her home country and family to live with her lover. Medea even murdered her own brother for Jason. In addition to such, she persuades the daughters of a King to murder their father. Medeas deeds were unselfish and self sacrificing which is why Jasons betrayal drove her wild. To many it is incomprehensible for women to be driven by such an extent of ambition, love and betrayal as to call upon evil. However, Medea was harshly betrayed by the man who was her whole life  [1]  ; the audience can understand this motive for calling upon evil and desiring revenge. Jason lacked the decency to simply stop for a moment before wedding his young bride to recall all the extraordinary deeds Medea had done for him, actions she took for his benefit alone and which he could never express enough gratitude for. Such a degree of unfaithfulness evidently shreds Medea to pieces. The audience observes Medeas character evolve before their very eyes. Such is understood through the employment of soliloquies which are an essential element of stagecraft. Soliloquies are speeches made to oneself which allow the audience to hear the inner thoughts of a character. This permits the audience to be drawn into the characters mind and build a bond with the character. Soliloquies are of particular importance in Medea as they give the audience an insight into the way in which Medeas temperament evolves. It is Medeas self directed speeches which allow the audience to understand her state of mind and comprehend her thoughts as time elapses. Our first impression of Medea is that she is absolutely distraught and suicidal, If only I was dead  [1]  . This is an understandable and human response to such devastating rejection. The audience can relate to being betrayed and can hence understand why Medea later turns to evil; this adds to the credibility of her character. As time progresses her strength and passion drives her to mad; the first time Medea appears on stage she is not shaken with weeping, but cool and self-possessed.  [2]  If it were not for her soliloquies prior to her appearance such as, Oh, how I hate living! I want to end my life, leave it behind, and die  [3]  , the audience could not possibly understand or acknowledge her suicidal state of mind. Later Medea goes on to use her manipulative cleverness to avenge Jasons disloyalty with a series of murders, I have in mind so many paths of death for them  [4]  . Prior to such a statement Medea was begging Creon in order to allow her and her sons to stay the country for one more night. If it were not for the preceding soliloquy it would not be understood that Medea had manipulated Creon. The soliloquy reveals her true feelings; she will strike dead  [1]  her enemies. Medea is a descendant of the Sun god and is capable of passions of far greater intensity than mere mortals. Her only desire was to watch Jason suffer and she was willing to do absolutely anything to achieve just that. Medea is a proud woman, consequently when Jason trampled over such pride, compressing her ego and self concept, she was to avenge him, you were mistaken if you thought you could dishonor my bed and live a pleasant life and laugh at me  [2]  . Medeas fury bubbled and boiled to the severe extent whereby it began to take over her heart, mind and body. She is completely overwhelmed with anger and willing to even harm herself in order to wipe the smile off his face, my pains a fair price, to take away your smile  [3]  she says. Medea successfully devastates Jason by killing her own flesh and blood, her two sons despite the heartache it would cause her, simply to torment him. The way in which Medea gradually follows an evil pathway rather than undergoing a sudden tran sition of character makes her believable. Lady Macbeths love for Macbeth is also all consuming however not of the intensity of Medeas. She was also keen on doing everything and anything for the sake of her beloved. After Macbeth is informed of the prophecy he becomes rapt withal  [4]  and consequently his dearest partner of greatness  [1]  becomes determined to secure his position as King. Lady Macbeth begins to take control; she analyses Macbeths personality and considers him too straight forward and honest to be involved with evil, Yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full othmilk of human kindness, Tcatch the nearest way  [2]  . Lady Macbeth was immensely spellbound by the prophecy, she desired it sooner rather than later; she saw that her husband was ambitious to be king. Lady Macbeth notices that Macbeth requires her strong words to prompt him; subsequently she uses her influence to encourage him. Lady Macbeths evil desires escalate from this moment onwards. As time progresses she begins to take further control and eventually plans King Duncans murder. She employs a metaphor of hypocrisy, look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent undert  [3]  which is used in order to disguise her intentions of harming King Duncan. This particular metaphor is extremely prominent as it reveals a great deal of Lady Macbeths character. The audience begins to observe her strength of spirit and identify her opposite outlook to Macbeth. In addition Lady Macbeths willingness to be associated with evil is emphasized in this statement. The fact that Lady Macbeth becomes furious and challenges her husbands courage and honor when he has serious second thoughts about killing Duncan, indicates that she is indeed more brutal than he at this stage of the play. Lady Macbeth prepares the murder scene but was unable to kill Duncan herself claiming that the King resembled my father  [4]  as he slept. This exemplifies that she is not as ruthless as she appears and that she is rather vulnerable and compassionate. This particular statement adds to the credibility of Lady Macbeths character. It helps define that although one might carry out evil actions, certain things dear to them will expose their vulnerability. Lady Macbeth returns with bloody hands after smearing the chamberlains with blood in order to disguise herself and Macbeth of the deed. At the time the image of her bloody hands has no affect on her and she bluntly says, a little water clears us of the deed.  [1]  However in time, the memory of her bloody hands, which is a significant part of stagecraft symbolizing guilt, haunts and torments Lady Macbeths mind. As previously mentioned Lady Macbeth is aware of God and believes in heaven and hell. She acknowledges that she has sinned; consequently her guilty conscience begins to disturb her sleep. In time Lady Macbeth begins to experience the regular occurrence of sleepwalking. Whilst sleepwalking, she rubs her hands in a washing motion which modern psychology would regard as an obsessive compulsive disorder; she is unable to wash the guilt off her hands. Whilst performing the hand washing routine Lady Macbeth soliloquizes; Wash your hands; put on your nightgown; look not so paleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whats done cannot be undone.  [2]  This further emphasizes her extent of her anguish. Soliloquies are a prominent element in regards to understanding and appreciating Lady Macbeths change of thought and attitude throughout the duration of the play. They help reveal the severe extent of her distress and disturbance. Along with soliloquies, symbolism is another form of stagecraft which is evident in the play; evidently Lady Macbeths sleepwalking is a sign of her great level of guilt. It is particularly ironic how earlier in the play Lady Macbeth calls upon darkness in order to hide her deed, Come, thick night  [1]  and how she now fears the dark; she has light by her continually  [2]  . Lady Macbeths sense of guilt and vulnerability towards the end of the play allows the audience to empathize and connect with her. In demonstrating such human qualities, her credibility was enhanced as unlike Medea, her actions did affect her conscience. The audience is able to relate to Lady Macbeths sense of guilt and therefore appreciate her credibility. Her guilty conscience a ffects her terribly, drives her to contemplate death and eventually commit suicide. The way in which Lady Macbeth gradually breaks down physically and mentally, demonstrates her human essence and hence makes her character credible and realistic to the audience. What is their involvement with evil? The audience is introduced to action from the moment the plays commence. The opening scenes of Macbeth introduce the audience to the prospect of Macbeth being king. Our first impression of Lady Macbeth is that she is a loving wife and excited and happy for him; the atmosphere is blissful. On the hand, the opening scenes of Medea introduce the audience to an atmosphere of misery. Jason has betrayed his wife for a royal bed and we first see Medea as distressed and a heartbroken woman. The audience is later informed of Medeas past; we understand that she has previously committed acts of evil including murder however such actions were driven by her love for Jason. On the other hand, the audience is not informed of Lady Macbeths past; it is presumed that she has had no prior involvement of evil. Medea has committed several murders before the play commences. She has killed her brother and whilst in her home town, Colchis, Medea used her devilish ways to manipulate the daughters of the local king and rival Pelias, into slaughtering their own father. From such details it understood that Medea is capable of committing horrifying deeds and that it was her love for Jason which ultimately suppressed her sense of evil throughout the course of their marriage. Consequently it was expected that once Jason hurt her Medea, she would revert to her violent demeanor and resort to greater brutality than that of which she had encountered out of love for him. After being rejected, Medea lays out a cunning plan pursuing a violent rampage in order to torment Jason. She manipulates Jason into trusting her and sends her sons off with a supposed gift for Jasons new bride. The gifts have been poisoned and princess Glauce endures a horrible death, The stuff was eating her flesh. Her eyes, her face, w ere one grotesque disfigurement; down from her head dripped blood mingled with flame; her flesh, attacked by the invisible fangs of poison, melted from the bare bone, like gum-drops from pine-trees bark- a ghastly sight.  [1]  When Medea gloats, Youll give me double pleasure if their death was horrible,  [2]  she is close to being considered melodramatic however we see enough of her humanity to prevent her from becoming theatrical. This statement highlights how deeply Jasons betrayal scarred his loyal wife. Although Medea fails to be struck by guilt after committing infanticide, she evidently wavers before killing her own children which illustrates her sense of humanity; she is not a cold hearted murder. Lady Macbeth only calls upon evil after she was informed of her husbands prophecy. Similarly to the way in which Medea reached out to evil out of love for Jason during their marriage, Lady Macbeth called upon evil with her husbands best interests at heart. She was ambitious for him to be King and desired to share such a royal status with him. Lady Macbeth begins her pursuit for evil by using her influence to manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan; she ultimately becomes her husbands backbone encouraging the involvement of evil. Unlike Medea, Lady Macbeth didnt waver when sinning however her bad actions impacted on her and eventually her conscience and sense of guilt drove her to her own grave. The way in which Lady Macbeth is unable to endure guilt emphasises her weaknesses as a human being, thereby reinforcing her credibility. Conclusion In conclusion, at particular moments in the play Euripides Medea and Shakespeares Macbeth appear close to being melodramatic whereby the audience questions, Are Lady Macbeth and Medea credible characters? Eventually the audience sees the womens sense of humanity whereby it is clear that both Medea and Lady Macbeth are indeed credible. Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeares most renowned and fearsome female characters; however after deeply analysing her character, one cannot restrain himself from feeling empathy for her. It is understood that although she reaches out to evil and commits terrible acts, Lady Macbeths sense of faith, guilty conscience and feminine essence restrains her from being a killer with no conscience; she is a criminal whose actions and guilt deeply affect her. It is her sense of humanity and weakness which ultimately leads to her destruction. This disregards her as a frightening character and emphasizes her credibility. Medea is also said to be a frightening female character. Although her actions were horrifying and savage, Medeas conscience and vulnerability allows her to waver before killing her children; a truly evil character would not waver before committing evil. Medea was heartbroken, scared, bruised and battered which was her ultimate drive for destruction. Consequently, the audience also empathizes with Medea after understanding and acknowledging her sense of humanity and connects with her emotions. Thus, despite the fact that Lady Macbeth and Medeas female roles go against the ordinary depiction of women, they are by no means melodramatic evil characters. If Lady Macbeth and Medea were melodramatically evil, the audience will feel that the plays are unconvincing thereby unjustly diminishing the playwrights achievements.

The Secret Language of Leadership Steve Denning

The Secret Language of Leadership Steve Denning Selected in 2000 as one of the worlds ten most admired knowledge leader, Steve Denning is an award winner for the books  «The secret language of leadership » and  «the leaders guide to storytelling ». He studied law and psychology in Sydney University and then went to Oxford in the UK for a law postgraduate degree. He worked in organization in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia and was until 2000 the program director Knowledge Management at the World Bank. In the book the Secret Language of Leadership, the steps that have to be achieved to become a successful leader are to get the attention, to stimulate desire, to reinforce the reason and to continue the conversation. To reach those, a leader has to use six enablers that will be describing in our analysis of the language of Leadership: key enablers. Articulating a clear, inspiring goal Stephen Denning starts his explanation of the key enablers of the language of Leadership by a quote o George Bernard Shaw: This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.† This quote shows us the importance we give on the recognition of the actions we can do or the goal we can reach. We will now analyze how important it is to articulate a clear, inspiring goal. Stephen Denning illustrate the chapter, Articulating a clear, inspiring goal, of his book; with the example of the company Apple. Steve Jobs the creator of Apple had created chaos in his company because even if he is a brilliant person he was not an inexperience chairman.   A new CEO took his place in 1983, John Sculley, who was a star manager of other big companies as Pepsi. Even if Sculley did a good job on stabilizing the corporation and rationnalized the products, the Apple staff was no supporting him. Sculley wanted to implement a shift in Apple life by producing low cost computers like Dell, but the staff was not interested in becoming just another computer company. They wanted to follow Steve Jobs goal of creating cool, innovative electronic products, a purpose that for themselves was worthwhile in itself. John Sculley was forced out in 1993, his instrumental goals were not embraced and he was not successful on inspiring Apple staff to pursue new goals energetically and enthusiastically. What the staff wanted was to pursue Apple original purpose, which was more seductive for them as they came into this company for those values. Michael Spindler, Sculleys successors met the same fate. Steve Jobs came back as the CEO of Apple, and he didnt try to change the company purpose, which he settled many years before. We now know the success of Apple, Steve Jobs became a great CEO and he spread the world with his initiate focus, which was designing cool, innovative electronic products. Apple is a success story and Steve Jobs is often associate to this success, even when he has medical trouble it has an important impact on Apple stock exchange. Steve Jobs is so link to Apple that every launching of his product and every keynote he does make a huge buzz. In my opinion and especially in the market of new technologies when a company his created with a new concept, a brand new idea, a new way to work and projection in the future; the people who mean to work for those values are so convince that it is what you have to reach that they wont consider any other proposition.   Sculley and Spindler did not take into consideration what was Apple staff considerations and first goals; it is why we ask them to quit the company. It is complicated to change the main purpose of a business and the common goals and ideas of a whole staff when there are extremely committed to it. Before making changes in a company you have to define a clear vision and history of what people working in are sensitive and committed to. 1. Articulating a Worthwhile purpose In this part, Stephen Denning set up the problematic of the importance of enduring enthusiasm. He is wondering why Steve Jobs could generate enduring enthusiasm while John Sculley couldnt. Stephen Denning take the example of two kids playing piano, one child loves it, its a joy for her to play, it fills her life with meaning and she wins prizes. Her joy of playing is even more important that the prizes or recognition she could get. An other child is forced by her parents to play, she has a natural aptitude for music but do not enjoy it so much. Those two girls have a different view on this activity, the first one feels energized and enthusiastic and the second one is bored. Stephen Denning link this example with the practice of sharing knowledge in the organization, which is called knowledge management. Some people within the organization commit their working lives to making the best knowledge available to those who need it. They are honest and open to others. The source of their own personal growth is from the knowledge they spread within the organization, the benefits for them is the inherent value of sharing knowledge itself. Some people are practicing knowledge management on their own, it is to bring more money into the company, but for those who want to share their knowledge, they will find reward in the essential fact that the knowledge will be share. Stephen Denning says: A principal difference between these two different ways of viewing an activity is that when the activity generates sustained enthusiasm, the activity is being pursued for its own sake, not merely to achieve some instrumental or external good such as money, status, prestige, power, or winning. The perceived inherent worth of the activity being undertaken is foundational.† For Stephen Denning the enthusiasm toward an activity is important, because if you are enthusiastic for an activity, you will be for the own sake of this activity and not for some other instrumental goals. I totally agree with this vision, as I consider than even if you can be successful for an activity you dont really like, you wont have the same interest and implication to that activity that if youre really enthusiastic about it. When you are a leader your are face to certain situation that if you are not enthusiastic about what you are doing it will be difficult for you to find solutions or it will take you more time to do it, or you will not act you should do. The enthusiasm you could have for an activity can have influence on the people you are working with. The have feelings and can perceive if you are running for instrumental goals or if you find happiness on the own sake of an activity. It is an element to recognize basic leaders to outstanding ones. In some situation, Stephen Denning   take the example of prisoners in a concentration camps, people can find psychic energy to create meaning for their lives.   The people who are able to find inherent value in whatever they are doing are sometimes called â€Å"autotelic personalities†: they have the capacity to be intrinsically motivated by almost any activity. It is a great advantage of being able to find value in what you are doing and to be motivated in whatever you do, but I am sceptical on the degree of enthusiasm of those people. I agree in the fact that you can motivate yourself for some activities that you are not really into it, but I think their might be a difference in the level of implication and enthusiasm for activities that really fit to you and you personality and vision that the one which are not. Stephen Denning define the characteristics of activities that can generate sustained enthusiasm: The participants in the activity can see themselves making progress toward something that is good for its own sake, additional effort is a joy and not a burden. The participants experience their own personal growth and development as part of the activity. A balance between ability level and challenge—the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult—is also conducive to enthusiasm. The participants see themselves as contributing to, raising the sights of, and enhancing the efforts of other people pursuing the same activity. Ideally, the activity should bring some positive instrumental benefits: income, status, prestige. But even without that, it should at least be without negative instrumental effects. If those four elements are in place, there are chances that enthusiasm can be sustained. We can also notice that the primacy of goals pursued for their own sake in transformational leadership does not mean that instrumental benefits are unimportant. In practice, instrumental benefits reinforce the pursuit of goals for their own sake. Instrumental goals are complementary to enthusiasm and the pursued of goals by their own sake. But you have to remember that even if instrumental benefits are important, if you placed them first, enthusiasm is likely to die. You always have to consider the inherent value of the activity. For Stephen Denning: â€Å"One central aspect of the language of transformational leadership is therefore to articulate goals and activities in terms that can be viewed by participants as worthwhile in themselves, not merely pursued because they lead to instrumental benefits.† This is a fundamental quote that resume the importance of articulating a clear, inspiring goal. Those facts are true for leaders, but it is also true for corporations, they are most inspiring when they pursue large goals that are worthwhile in themselves. In this book, we find the example of Toyota, their goal is to: â€Å"to enrich society through the building of cars and trucks.† Also the example of Johnson Johnson who defines the companys responsibilities as first, to the consumers and medical professionals using its products, second, to employees and managers, third to the communities where its people work and live, and fourth and last, to its stockholders. Or Costco, their goal is to provide its members quality goods at low markups. Transformational leaders present their goals as larger than any particular task or organization or time-bound objective.   Stephen Denning take the example in politics: â€Å"Thus Abraham Lincoln can be assassinated, but his vision of a nation pursuing a new birth of freedom lives on. John F. Kennedy can be shot, but his vision of changing race relations in the United States is implemented by his successor. Martin Luther King Jr. can be murdered, but a whole nation continues the work that he started.† It is true that Goals that are articulated as worthwhile in themselves enhance the possibility of sustained enthusiasm, and hence the possibility of transformational leadership. But, articulating the goal as worthwhile in itself doesnt mean that listeners will necessarily see it in this way. Enthusiasm and finding reward in the activity your are pursuing is important, you find more energy and capabilities of reaching your goals and you know that when an activity is pursued for its own sake, the activity never ends. You are so convinced of the meaning and the importance of the activity that you want to reach a level of excellence, the activity will have no limits. It is what give us excitement when we are doing something we are convinced to do. In my opinion to be a good leader you should look for those feelings and excitement in an activity that will fulfill you needs. Or if you want to become a good leader it is the way you have to perceive an activity, you have to tend to those attempt. We are now going to see the importance of setting priorities among goals. 2. Setting Priorities Among Goals Leader fails a lot because they dont have a clear and inspiring goal or have too many of them. Leadership is such a demanding activity that any one individual can probably pursue no more than a couple of significant change ideas at any one time. It is essential to set priorities. Selecting a goal, or at most several goals, and then persevering is a requirement for success as a transformational leader. Stephen Denning take the example of Ronal Reagan, who was a single mindedness leader and politician.   He success was mainly based on a relatively small number of goals : defeating the Soviet Union and reducing taxes and the size of government. What I learn for the chapter tow of the part two of   The secret language of Leadership, is the importance of commitment and enthusiasm toward an activity in order to embrace inspiring goals that will be define clearly and focus on some   domains, in order to make the activity a success. The leaders own story Committing to the goal Stephen Denning starts this third chapter by pointing out the fact that Abraham Lincoln did not begin his presidency as a transformational leader. By definition, transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms individuals. It is often associated with ethics and involves long-term goals. Transformational leadership focuses on the process by which the leader engages with followers, and together create a connection that raises each of them to higher levels of motivation and morality. A transformational leader must be attentive to follower needs and motivation, and tries to help followers reach their full potential. It requires long term strategic planning, clear objectives, a clear vision, the efficiency of systems and processes According to B.M. Bass, one of the leading theorists on transformational leadership, the leader transforms and motivates followers by: making them more aware of the importance of task outcomes, inducing them to transcend their own self-interest for the sake of the organization or team, and activating their higher order needs. Transformational leadership is concerned both with the performance of followers as well as developing them to their full potential. What make Stephen Denning says that Abraham Lincoln did not begin his presidency as a transformational leader is that he was explicit in declaring that he had no intent to abolish slavery to his earlier speeches. Its explicit goal was to preserve the Union at that time, which mad sense as there was no consensus for abolishing slavery. But soon, in 1862, nearly 2 years after the beginning of his presidency, he came to the view that the Union could not be preserved without abolishing slavery. Stephen Denning says: â€Å"Privately, he continued to argue that his goal remained the pragmatic one of preserving the Union. But publicly, Lincoln became a leader in a moral cause.† In December 1862 Abraham Lincoln made a speech to the Congress: We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We—even we here—hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just—a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.† This speech symbolize the moment when Lincoln became a transformational leader, he justified his action on instrumental and legal grounds. This new vision, based on moral grounds, Lincoln showed that it was something worthwhile in itself. With this changes Lincoln is proclaiming a new Union who want to restrain slavery, who will fulfill the promise of liberty. We can say that Lincoln is a transformational leader after this participation in the Congress in December 1862 because he stimulates people to want to do something different, inspiring them to higher levels of aspiration. Abraham Lincoln gives a new vision of what the United States should sand for: â€Å"government of the people, by the people, for the people† Stephen Denning came to the point of studying politicians as leaders. 1. Politicians as Leaders We often think of our politicians as leaders. But they are more oriented on the acquisition and retention of political office rather than being worried about people moral values and inspiring them to change. But if they do care, they usually survive in the world of politics. A successful politicians is one who is willing to fight, to attack the establish order, who is flexible. And who is able to preserve a public image of being honest, compassionate, moral and devout. Stephen Denning notice that: â€Å" Retaining power is principally about listening to the electorate. â€Å"If you want to get elected, learn to speak,† said Tom Daschle, former Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate. â€Å"If you want to stay elected, learn to listen.† It is difficult to understand the commitment to change of politicians and also ambiguous, because you are not 100% sure of what drive them to the commitment of their goals. Stephen Denning says that we should not be surprised of the lack of leadership in politics because nothing in the terminology of politics suggests that the people are electing â€Å"leaders†. Also that politicians have qualities like containing conflicts, guiding forces of change by giving direction, value and purpose but that it is not necessarily the qualities of a transformational leader. I agree with the fact that politicians have qualities and that it is not the sign of a transformational leader. But when you choose to elect a politician, you would like him to manage your country and maybe to make yourself more aware of the importance of task outcomes, for your own self-interest, you might want his politician to be concern of developing the population to its full potential. But it is that in reality that does not happen that much, or will we know it and we would live in a perfect world or close to the excellence ! 2. CEOs as Leaders Stephen Denning takes the example of Alan Klapmeier in Cirrus Design, a manufacturer of private aircraft. Alan wanted to introduce a new innovation that would change the industry, but its board of directors stopped him because they just completes a market research highlighting that this product elicited the least interest. Later Klapmeier convinced his board of directors, the innovation was introduced and it became a success. The decisive issue for the board of directors was not if the innovation was worthwhile but it was the institutional preoccupation. Stephen Denning says: â€Å" If a firm can focus its efforts on activities valuable in themselves where it has, or can develop, an edge over its competitors, social responsibility can become not a drag on the firms profitability but rather a strategic business opportunity. Companies can do well while doing good.† He also highlight the fact that is easier to pursue an inherently worthwhile purpose in a privately held corporation rather than in a publicly held corporation as their business tend to be faire-weather corporate citizens, they are under continuing pressure to grow and do whatever is profitable. Furthermore, pursuing goals that are both worthwhile and profitable doesnt remove the inherent tensions between the pursuit of worthwhile activities and the goal of enhancing the bottom line. We can see that it is not easy for a CEO to be a leader, it depends of the environment, the context; it is why a leader as to be flexible and can adapt easily to the environment. We can also say that in publicly own companies they have the same tools as private own companies so they can try harder to pursue an inherently worthwhile purpose by develop a challenging and attractive vision, together with the employees and translate it to actions, express confidence, decisiveness and optimism about the vision and its implementation, realize the vision through small planned steps for its full implementation. But we also have to balances with the fact that objectives are not the same in private and publicly own companies. Speaking to the CEO (NB: people of power will be called CEO) Leadership is here approached through change. The main question rose by the author is â€Å"How to communicate disruptive new ideas to people with great power†. This implies the question of the HOW of course, which is one of the Management science and research main concerns but there is also here a dimension not that often developed, its the communication with people having power. We often hear how to be a leader and get your team and â€Å"N-1† to do things but it is not that often that the target of power people (CEO) is approached. The key idea expressed here is â€Å"understanding†. The author emphasis on the human part of every individual and on the importance of the context. He thinks the person as an individual but part of a global scheme. To lead correctly you have to explore deeper and learn about personal individual. What are their preferences, hopes, manners, fears The idea here is to understand how people work inside, what trigger them. Because if you can understand the deeper needs of an individual you cant then easily figure out the proper way to communicate with him. You have then greater chances for him to listen to you and then to believe you. 1. Garry Williams and Robert Miller theory The author then develops a theory by Gary Williams and Robert Miller. They have agreed on 3 main leaders categories (80%): the charismatic, the skeptics and the followers, and they. then talk about thinkers and controllers (20%) Leaders needs: For charismatic: the boldness of idea should be featured For skeptical: need to hear the message from a person he trusts For risk averse follower: need to be reassured other people do it do Controller and thinkers: need details Trust Issue: The question of trust is developed. They distinguish here in the game of trust two different parties: the people in the inner circle of trust of the leader and the others. Inner Circle Not yet †trusted† Has the CEOs attention Sponsors the interaction Can be perceived as an opponent Can be perceived as irrelevant If so wont be listened to When aware of that, the challenges are easier to identify. The problem is here to focus on the CEOs interests and to make him believe in the idea you want to present to him by making it a part of himself. Committing to change The author uses here a powerful expression â€Å"Commitment mind, body and soul†. He explains here that to him the only way for a leader to succeed is to commit fully to an objective. The leader is here expected to â€Å"see intensively even obsessively, to feel it†. Being committed 100% is crucial for the leaders effectiveness, but the real problem is not to get him to convince the other but to get him passionate about the goal and get it to become a part of him. Because if strongly and intimately convinced he will be able to take the goal/company or team to a higher level. The leaders feelings stressed out? Feelings are often considered in Leadership theories, how to connect with people to make them do what is needed for the common goal (often the company)? But what I think is extremely interesting here is the consideration made to the leaders feelings. The question is not how to deal with the teams feelings but to analyze what thrive the leaders and how they handle their emotions. The Author here develops a little paragraph on how stressful it can be for a leader to become a leader. The two mains reasons to this stress would be : Steve Denning then points out the famous and classical world Leaders such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Kennedy who so intimately convinced had to pay the price of their life for their causes. To conclude this discussion I found important to highlight the phrase p79 telling that â€Å"its an opportunity to lift their game to a new level† because to me it sums up very well the basic structure of leadership that is to say the dimension of a vision. 2. Howell Raines leadership tale Steve Denning choose to introduce this chapter with a story: â€Å"The Howell Rainess leadership tale†. He tells us more about Howell Raines, former executive editor of the New York Times and the kind of leader he is and how he lived and tried to implement is change strategy. To sum up, Raines wanted the times to be the first on the news, with bigger and more original stories covered by what he called â€Å"overwhelming force†. He was familiar with the firm and the staff and had strong backing from his boss. One of the first thing is did was to use his right of fire and hire to create the dream team he had in mind. He did implemented change and got the Times to win a Pulitzer but after 19 months he was dismissed because of one of his reporter accused of plagiarism. The underlying reason was a bit different though, he was told to have â€Å"lost the newsroom†. What happened here is that despite his vision and that he strongly believed in what he intended to implement, he had failed to win â€Å"the hearts and minds â€Å"of his staff. He did not listened to his people enough and was perceived as very intimidating and aggressive. He did not succeed in taking other with him in his change strategy mainly because he underestimated his change strategy and its interaction with the staff. New audience: The author here develops the concept of audience evolution. Communication and management as we know it now is pretty recent in human history. â€Å"Once upon a time† people were not considering work like they are now. They had no specific expectations except earning money and would not even think work as a way of making them feel better, important and individually considered. There are 3 notions I will highlight that I think are crucial to understand this change of audience expectations: Quest for happiness: Nowadays we are in what I call the endless happiness quest, everyone wants and have to be happy by any means, and it of course includes work. People have more skills, are more educated and therefore expect more. They want something in return. New relation to authority figures: Another important thing that changes a lot the way the audience is acting is that we nowadays have a new relation towards authority, in private spheres (Family with your parents) and public spheres (at work with your boss). This is very important to keep in mind to understand why the audience acts in a certain way and what it expects. Expansion of diversity: We are dealing with more and more differences between people: â€Å"gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, life style, age group and geographical location† Understand that new audience: The problem is that dealing with different people means that you wont reach them with the same tools. What is the common point to every single individual? We are humans. And what is common to every human being? Emotions. Whatever we do, wherever we come from we are driven by emotions, whether we try to hide them or we work with them we are all emotional. This is what the leader has to use: Emotions. He has to keep in mind that we are all different, have different goals, ambitions, perspectives and needs but a way to get us to understand the other and get involve in change or in a project is to use our emotions, the one that thrives us to go to â€Å"another level†. The author emphasis a 2 dimensions individual with a surface and a deeper world. To make something of someone you have to go to the deeper world, and for this you have first to get to know the individual personal story. They question. They explore. They intuit. They wander. They mingle. They live in it. They listen. They watch.† Its a matter of imaginatively reaching out and getting inside the subjective world of the people who need to change and getting a sense of what it is like living in that world, so that the leaders feel its logic and power and order and compelling harmony† Finding and encouraging New leaders Steve Denning develops an idea that I find particularly interesting it is that leaders cant work alone. No matter how charismatic and how committed he is to his vision an idea he will need the others to make change happen. He speaks about middle hierarchy and calls them â€Å"evangelizers†. He then makes a parallel with Raines story and how he failed involving his staff in his change strategy. He ends that chapter with the concept of Narrative intelligence required for understanding the story of the change idea and the audiences story†. 3.Steve Denning vision of leadership Why Do People Change Their Minds? Stephen Denning explains us that there are 3 ways for people to change their mind: by actual experience, by observed experience, and by symbolic learning. Actual Experience: The way we are living and experiencing things around us can change the way we think about them, mostly because of the feelings we have when experiencing those things. When you feel a strong emotion doing something, you trend to pay attention to it and to remember it more easily and longer than when you dont feel anything. Observed Experience: Actual experience is not the only way to learn from experiences, observing events can have the same emotional effect as real-life experiencing. In the public arena, 9/11 changed the way many people viewed terrorism. Symbolic Learning: Most of the time the learning of an idea communicated symbolically is not as powerful as an experience but it can have similar physiological reactions. In the author case, the combination of direct experience, observed experience, and symbolic learning led to his spending a large part of his life devoted to international development. 1. Changing minds through direct or observed learning: The more immediately people are involved in an actual or observed experience, the more meaningful the learning will be, and the more impact they will have. Direct or observed learning in a business environment can be: acting, conversations, visits, role-playing, simulations, prototyping, training, Advantages of experiential learning (direct or observed): Emotions are involved Participants make up their own opinion (durability of the change) Experiential learning is more effective than passive learning Limits of experiential learning: Leaders dont always have the power to change peoples actual experiences Most of the leaders falls on the use of language as a way to change peoples mind 2. Persuading people to change through language Methods of persuading people change their minds Abstract Narrative Direct and explicit Appeal to reason through detailed evidence and arguments Narratives in which the object is to have the listener live the story as fully and movingly as possible Indirect and implicit Appeals to intuition, through cues, signs, heuristics and manipul The Secret Language of Leadership Steve Denning The Secret Language of Leadership Steve Denning Selected in 2000 as one of the worlds ten most admired knowledge leader, Steve Denning is an award winner for the books  «The secret language of leadership » and  «the leaders guide to storytelling ». He studied law and psychology in Sydney University and then went to Oxford in the UK for a law postgraduate degree. He worked in organization in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia and was until 2000 the program director Knowledge Management at the World Bank. In the book the Secret Language of Leadership, the steps that have to be achieved to become a successful leader are to get the attention, to stimulate desire, to reinforce the reason and to continue the conversation. To reach those, a leader has to use six enablers that will be describing in our analysis of the language of Leadership: key enablers. Articulating a clear, inspiring goal Stephen Denning starts his explanation of the key enablers of the language of Leadership by a quote o George Bernard Shaw: This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.† This quote shows us the importance we give on the recognition of the actions we can do or the goal we can reach. We will now analyze how important it is to articulate a clear, inspiring goal. Stephen Denning illustrate the chapter, Articulating a clear, inspiring goal, of his book; with the example of the company Apple. Steve Jobs the creator of Apple had created chaos in his company because even if he is a brilliant person he was not an inexperience chairman.   A new CEO took his place in 1983, John Sculley, who was a star manager of other big companies as Pepsi. Even if Sculley did a good job on stabilizing the corporation and rationnalized the products, the Apple staff was no supporting him. Sculley wanted to implement a shift in Apple life by producing low cost computers like Dell, but the staff was not interested in becoming just another computer company. They wanted to follow Steve Jobs goal of creating cool, innovative electronic products, a purpose that for themselves was worthwhile in itself. John Sculley was forced out in 1993, his instrumental goals were not embraced and he was not successful on inspiring Apple staff to pursue new goals energetically and enthusiastically. What the staff wanted was to pursue Apple original purpose, which was more seductive for them as they came into this company for those values. Michael Spindler, Sculleys successors met the same fate. Steve Jobs came back as the CEO of Apple, and he didnt try to change the company purpose, which he settled many years before. We now know the success of Apple, Steve Jobs became a great CEO and he spread the world with his initiate focus, which was designing cool, innovative electronic products. Apple is a success story and Steve Jobs is often associate to this success, even when he has medical trouble it has an important impact on Apple stock exchange. Steve Jobs is so link to Apple that every launching of his product and every keynote he does make a huge buzz. In my opinion and especially in the market of new technologies when a company his created with a new concept, a brand new idea, a new way to work and projection in the future; the people who mean to work for those values are so convince that it is what you have to reach that they wont consider any other proposition.   Sculley and Spindler did not take into consideration what was Apple staff considerations and first goals; it is why we ask them to quit the company. It is complicated to change the main purpose of a business and the common goals and ideas of a whole staff when there are extremely committed to it. Before making changes in a company you have to define a clear vision and history of what people working in are sensitive and committed to. 1. Articulating a Worthwhile purpose In this part, Stephen Denning set up the problematic of the importance of enduring enthusiasm. He is wondering why Steve Jobs could generate enduring enthusiasm while John Sculley couldnt. Stephen Denning take the example of two kids playing piano, one child loves it, its a joy for her to play, it fills her life with meaning and she wins prizes. Her joy of playing is even more important that the prizes or recognition she could get. An other child is forced by her parents to play, she has a natural aptitude for music but do not enjoy it so much. Those two girls have a different view on this activity, the first one feels energized and enthusiastic and the second one is bored. Stephen Denning link this example with the practice of sharing knowledge in the organization, which is called knowledge management. Some people within the organization commit their working lives to making the best knowledge available to those who need it. They are honest and open to others. The source of their own personal growth is from the knowledge they spread within the organization, the benefits for them is the inherent value of sharing knowledge itself. Some people are practicing knowledge management on their own, it is to bring more money into the company, but for those who want to share their knowledge, they will find reward in the essential fact that the knowledge will be share. Stephen Denning says: A principal difference between these two different ways of viewing an activity is that when the activity generates sustained enthusiasm, the activity is being pursued for its own sake, not merely to achieve some instrumental or external good such as money, status, prestige, power, or winning. The perceived inherent worth of the activity being undertaken is foundational.† For Stephen Denning the enthusiasm toward an activity is important, because if you are enthusiastic for an activity, you will be for the own sake of this activity and not for some other instrumental goals. I totally agree with this vision, as I consider than even if you can be successful for an activity you dont really like, you wont have the same interest and implication to that activity that if youre really enthusiastic about it. When you are a leader your are face to certain situation that if you are not enthusiastic about what you are doing it will be difficult for you to find solutions or it will take you more time to do it, or you will not act you should do. The enthusiasm you could have for an activity can have influence on the people you are working with. The have feelings and can perceive if you are running for instrumental goals or if you find happiness on the own sake of an activity. It is an element to recognize basic leaders to outstanding ones. In some situation, Stephen Denning   take the example of prisoners in a concentration camps, people can find psychic energy to create meaning for their lives.   The people who are able to find inherent value in whatever they are doing are sometimes called â€Å"autotelic personalities†: they have the capacity to be intrinsically motivated by almost any activity. It is a great advantage of being able to find value in what you are doing and to be motivated in whatever you do, but I am sceptical on the degree of enthusiasm of those people. I agree in the fact that you can motivate yourself for some activities that you are not really into it, but I think their might be a difference in the level of implication and enthusiasm for activities that really fit to you and you personality and vision that the one which are not. Stephen Denning define the characteristics of activities that can generate sustained enthusiasm: The participants in the activity can see themselves making progress toward something that is good for its own sake, additional effort is a joy and not a burden. The participants experience their own personal growth and development as part of the activity. A balance between ability level and challenge—the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult—is also conducive to enthusiasm. The participants see themselves as contributing to, raising the sights of, and enhancing the efforts of other people pursuing the same activity. Ideally, the activity should bring some positive instrumental benefits: income, status, prestige. But even without that, it should at least be without negative instrumental effects. If those four elements are in place, there are chances that enthusiasm can be sustained. We can also notice that the primacy of goals pursued for their own sake in transformational leadership does not mean that instrumental benefits are unimportant. In practice, instrumental benefits reinforce the pursuit of goals for their own sake. Instrumental goals are complementary to enthusiasm and the pursued of goals by their own sake. But you have to remember that even if instrumental benefits are important, if you placed them first, enthusiasm is likely to die. You always have to consider the inherent value of the activity. For Stephen Denning: â€Å"One central aspect of the language of transformational leadership is therefore to articulate goals and activities in terms that can be viewed by participants as worthwhile in themselves, not merely pursued because they lead to instrumental benefits.† This is a fundamental quote that resume the importance of articulating a clear, inspiring goal. Those facts are true for leaders, but it is also true for corporations, they are most inspiring when they pursue large goals that are worthwhile in themselves. In this book, we find the example of Toyota, their goal is to: â€Å"to enrich society through the building of cars and trucks.† Also the example of Johnson Johnson who defines the companys responsibilities as first, to the consumers and medical professionals using its products, second, to employees and managers, third to the communities where its people work and live, and fourth and last, to its stockholders. Or Costco, their goal is to provide its members quality goods at low markups. Transformational leaders present their goals as larger than any particular task or organization or time-bound objective.   Stephen Denning take the example in politics: â€Å"Thus Abraham Lincoln can be assassinated, but his vision of a nation pursuing a new birth of freedom lives on. John F. Kennedy can be shot, but his vision of changing race relations in the United States is implemented by his successor. Martin Luther King Jr. can be murdered, but a whole nation continues the work that he started.† It is true that Goals that are articulated as worthwhile in themselves enhance the possibility of sustained enthusiasm, and hence the possibility of transformational leadership. But, articulating the goal as worthwhile in itself doesnt mean that listeners will necessarily see it in this way. Enthusiasm and finding reward in the activity your are pursuing is important, you find more energy and capabilities of reaching your goals and you know that when an activity is pursued for its own sake, the activity never ends. You are so convinced of the meaning and the importance of the activity that you want to reach a level of excellence, the activity will have no limits. It is what give us excitement when we are doing something we are convinced to do. In my opinion to be a good leader you should look for those feelings and excitement in an activity that will fulfill you needs. Or if you want to become a good leader it is the way you have to perceive an activity, you have to tend to those attempt. We are now going to see the importance of setting priorities among goals. 2. Setting Priorities Among Goals Leader fails a lot because they dont have a clear and inspiring goal or have too many of them. Leadership is such a demanding activity that any one individual can probably pursue no more than a couple of significant change ideas at any one time. It is essential to set priorities. Selecting a goal, or at most several goals, and then persevering is a requirement for success as a transformational leader. Stephen Denning take the example of Ronal Reagan, who was a single mindedness leader and politician.   He success was mainly based on a relatively small number of goals : defeating the Soviet Union and reducing taxes and the size of government. What I learn for the chapter tow of the part two of   The secret language of Leadership, is the importance of commitment and enthusiasm toward an activity in order to embrace inspiring goals that will be define clearly and focus on some   domains, in order to make the activity a success. The leaders own story Committing to the goal Stephen Denning starts this third chapter by pointing out the fact that Abraham Lincoln did not begin his presidency as a transformational leader. By definition, transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms individuals. It is often associated with ethics and involves long-term goals. Transformational leadership focuses on the process by which the leader engages with followers, and together create a connection that raises each of them to higher levels of motivation and morality. A transformational leader must be attentive to follower needs and motivation, and tries to help followers reach their full potential. It requires long term strategic planning, clear objectives, a clear vision, the efficiency of systems and processes According to B.M. Bass, one of the leading theorists on transformational leadership, the leader transforms and motivates followers by: making them more aware of the importance of task outcomes, inducing them to transcend their own self-interest for the sake of the organization or team, and activating their higher order needs. Transformational leadership is concerned both with the performance of followers as well as developing them to their full potential. What make Stephen Denning says that Abraham Lincoln did not begin his presidency as a transformational leader is that he was explicit in declaring that he had no intent to abolish slavery to his earlier speeches. Its explicit goal was to preserve the Union at that time, which mad sense as there was no consensus for abolishing slavery. But soon, in 1862, nearly 2 years after the beginning of his presidency, he came to the view that the Union could not be preserved without abolishing slavery. Stephen Denning says: â€Å"Privately, he continued to argue that his goal remained the pragmatic one of preserving the Union. But publicly, Lincoln became a leader in a moral cause.† In December 1862 Abraham Lincoln made a speech to the Congress: We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We—even we here—hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just—a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.† This speech symbolize the moment when Lincoln became a transformational leader, he justified his action on instrumental and legal grounds. This new vision, based on moral grounds, Lincoln showed that it was something worthwhile in itself. With this changes Lincoln is proclaiming a new Union who want to restrain slavery, who will fulfill the promise of liberty. We can say that Lincoln is a transformational leader after this participation in the Congress in December 1862 because he stimulates people to want to do something different, inspiring them to higher levels of aspiration. Abraham Lincoln gives a new vision of what the United States should sand for: â€Å"government of the people, by the people, for the people† Stephen Denning came to the point of studying politicians as leaders. 1. Politicians as Leaders We often think of our politicians as leaders. But they are more oriented on the acquisition and retention of political office rather than being worried about people moral values and inspiring them to change. But if they do care, they usually survive in the world of politics. A successful politicians is one who is willing to fight, to attack the establish order, who is flexible. And who is able to preserve a public image of being honest, compassionate, moral and devout. Stephen Denning notice that: â€Å" Retaining power is principally about listening to the electorate. â€Å"If you want to get elected, learn to speak,† said Tom Daschle, former Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate. â€Å"If you want to stay elected, learn to listen.† It is difficult to understand the commitment to change of politicians and also ambiguous, because you are not 100% sure of what drive them to the commitment of their goals. Stephen Denning says that we should not be surprised of the lack of leadership in politics because nothing in the terminology of politics suggests that the people are electing â€Å"leaders†. Also that politicians have qualities like containing conflicts, guiding forces of change by giving direction, value and purpose but that it is not necessarily the qualities of a transformational leader. I agree with the fact that politicians have qualities and that it is not the sign of a transformational leader. But when you choose to elect a politician, you would like him to manage your country and maybe to make yourself more aware of the importance of task outcomes, for your own self-interest, you might want his politician to be concern of developing the population to its full potential. But it is that in reality that does not happen that much, or will we know it and we would live in a perfect world or close to the excellence ! 2. CEOs as Leaders Stephen Denning takes the example of Alan Klapmeier in Cirrus Design, a manufacturer of private aircraft. Alan wanted to introduce a new innovation that would change the industry, but its board of directors stopped him because they just completes a market research highlighting that this product elicited the least interest. Later Klapmeier convinced his board of directors, the innovation was introduced and it became a success. The decisive issue for the board of directors was not if the innovation was worthwhile but it was the institutional preoccupation. Stephen Denning says: â€Å" If a firm can focus its efforts on activities valuable in themselves where it has, or can develop, an edge over its competitors, social responsibility can become not a drag on the firms profitability but rather a strategic business opportunity. Companies can do well while doing good.† He also highlight the fact that is easier to pursue an inherently worthwhile purpose in a privately held corporation rather than in a publicly held corporation as their business tend to be faire-weather corporate citizens, they are under continuing pressure to grow and do whatever is profitable. Furthermore, pursuing goals that are both worthwhile and profitable doesnt remove the inherent tensions between the pursuit of worthwhile activities and the goal of enhancing the bottom line. We can see that it is not easy for a CEO to be a leader, it depends of the environment, the context; it is why a leader as to be flexible and can adapt easily to the environment. We can also say that in publicly own companies they have the same tools as private own companies so they can try harder to pursue an inherently worthwhile purpose by develop a challenging and attractive vision, together with the employees and translate it to actions, express confidence, decisiveness and optimism about the vision and its implementation, realize the vision through small planned steps for its full implementation. But we also have to balances with the fact that objectives are not the same in private and publicly own companies. Speaking to the CEO (NB: people of power will be called CEO) Leadership is here approached through change. The main question rose by the author is â€Å"How to communicate disruptive new ideas to people with great power†. This implies the question of the HOW of course, which is one of the Management science and research main concerns but there is also here a dimension not that often developed, its the communication with people having power. We often hear how to be a leader and get your team and â€Å"N-1† to do things but it is not that often that the target of power people (CEO) is approached. The key idea expressed here is â€Å"understanding†. The author emphasis on the human part of every individual and on the importance of the context. He thinks the person as an individual but part of a global scheme. To lead correctly you have to explore deeper and learn about personal individual. What are their preferences, hopes, manners, fears The idea here is to understand how people work inside, what trigger them. Because if you can understand the deeper needs of an individual you cant then easily figure out the proper way to communicate with him. You have then greater chances for him to listen to you and then to believe you. 1. Garry Williams and Robert Miller theory The author then develops a theory by Gary Williams and Robert Miller. They have agreed on 3 main leaders categories (80%): the charismatic, the skeptics and the followers, and they. then talk about thinkers and controllers (20%) Leaders needs: For charismatic: the boldness of idea should be featured For skeptical: need to hear the message from a person he trusts For risk averse follower: need to be reassured other people do it do Controller and thinkers: need details Trust Issue: The question of trust is developed. They distinguish here in the game of trust two different parties: the people in the inner circle of trust of the leader and the others. Inner Circle Not yet †trusted† Has the CEOs attention Sponsors the interaction Can be perceived as an opponent Can be perceived as irrelevant If so wont be listened to When aware of that, the challenges are easier to identify. The problem is here to focus on the CEOs interests and to make him believe in the idea you want to present to him by making it a part of himself. Committing to change The author uses here a powerful expression â€Å"Commitment mind, body and soul†. He explains here that to him the only way for a leader to succeed is to commit fully to an objective. The leader is here expected to â€Å"see intensively even obsessively, to feel it†. Being committed 100% is crucial for the leaders effectiveness, but the real problem is not to get him to convince the other but to get him passionate about the goal and get it to become a part of him. Because if strongly and intimately convinced he will be able to take the goal/company or team to a higher level. The leaders feelings stressed out? Feelings are often considered in Leadership theories, how to connect with people to make them do what is needed for the common goal (often the company)? But what I think is extremely interesting here is the consideration made to the leaders feelings. The question is not how to deal with the teams feelings but to analyze what thrive the leaders and how they handle their emotions. The Author here develops a little paragraph on how stressful it can be for a leader to become a leader. The two mains reasons to this stress would be : Steve Denning then points out the famous and classical world Leaders such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Kennedy who so intimately convinced had to pay the price of their life for their causes. To conclude this discussion I found important to highlight the phrase p79 telling that â€Å"its an opportunity to lift their game to a new level† because to me it sums up very well the basic structure of leadership that is to say the dimension of a vision. 2. Howell Raines leadership tale Steve Denning choose to introduce this chapter with a story: â€Å"The Howell Rainess leadership tale†. He tells us more about Howell Raines, former executive editor of the New York Times and the kind of leader he is and how he lived and tried to implement is change strategy. To sum up, Raines wanted the times to be the first on the news, with bigger and more original stories covered by what he called â€Å"overwhelming force†. He was familiar with the firm and the staff and had strong backing from his boss. One of the first thing is did was to use his right of fire and hire to create the dream team he had in mind. He did implemented change and got the Times to win a Pulitzer but after 19 months he was dismissed because of one of his reporter accused of plagiarism. The underlying reason was a bit different though, he was told to have â€Å"lost the newsroom†. What happened here is that despite his vision and that he strongly believed in what he intended to implement, he had failed to win â€Å"the hearts and minds â€Å"of his staff. He did not listened to his people enough and was perceived as very intimidating and aggressive. He did not succeed in taking other with him in his change strategy mainly because he underestimated his change strategy and its interaction with the staff. New audience: The author here develops the concept of audience evolution. Communication and management as we know it now is pretty recent in human history. â€Å"Once upon a time† people were not considering work like they are now. They had no specific expectations except earning money and would not even think work as a way of making them feel better, important and individually considered. There are 3 notions I will highlight that I think are crucial to understand this change of audience expectations: Quest for happiness: Nowadays we are in what I call the endless happiness quest, everyone wants and have to be happy by any means, and it of course includes work. People have more skills, are more educated and therefore expect more. They want something in return. New relation to authority figures: Another important thing that changes a lot the way the audience is acting is that we nowadays have a new relation towards authority, in private spheres (Family with your parents) and public spheres (at work with your boss). This is very important to keep in mind to understand why the audience acts in a certain way and what it expects. Expansion of diversity: We are dealing with more and more differences between people: â€Å"gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, life style, age group and geographical location† Understand that new audience: The problem is that dealing with different people means that you wont reach them with the same tools. What is the common point to every single individual? We are humans. And what is common to every human being? Emotions. Whatever we do, wherever we come from we are driven by emotions, whether we try to hide them or we work with them we are all emotional. This is what the leader has to use: Emotions. He has to keep in mind that we are all different, have different goals, ambitions, perspectives and needs but a way to get us to understand the other and get involve in change or in a project is to use our emotions, the one that thrives us to go to â€Å"another level†. The author emphasis a 2 dimensions individual with a surface and a deeper world. To make something of someone you have to go to the deeper world, and for this you have first to get to know the individual personal story. They question. They explore. They intuit. They wander. They mingle. They live in it. They listen. They watch.† Its a matter of imaginatively reaching out and getting inside the subjective world of the people who need to change and getting a sense of what it is like living in that world, so that the leaders feel its logic and power and order and compelling harmony† Finding and encouraging New leaders Steve Denning develops an idea that I find particularly interesting it is that leaders cant work alone. No matter how charismatic and how committed he is to his vision an idea he will need the others to make change happen. He speaks about middle hierarchy and calls them â€Å"evangelizers†. He then makes a parallel with Raines story and how he failed involving his staff in his change strategy. He ends that chapter with the concept of Narrative intelligence required for understanding the story of the change idea and the audiences story†. 3.Steve Denning vision of leadership Why Do People Change Their Minds? Stephen Denning explains us that there are 3 ways for people to change their mind: by actual experience, by observed experience, and by symbolic learning. Actual Experience: The way we are living and experiencing things around us can change the way we think about them, mostly because of the feelings we have when experiencing those things. When you feel a strong emotion doing something, you trend to pay attention to it and to remember it more easily and longer than when you dont feel anything. Observed Experience: Actual experience is not the only way to learn from experiences, observing events can have the same emotional effect as real-life experiencing. In the public arena, 9/11 changed the way many people viewed terrorism. Symbolic Learning: Most of the time the learning of an idea communicated symbolically is not as powerful as an experience but it can have similar physiological reactions. In the author case, the combination of direct experience, observed experience, and symbolic learning led to his spending a large part of his life devoted to international development. 1. Changing minds through direct or observed learning: The more immediately people are involved in an actual or observed experience, the more meaningful the learning will be, and the more impact they will have. Direct or observed learning in a business environment can be: acting, conversations, visits, role-playing, simulations, prototyping, training, Advantages of experiential learning (direct or observed): Emotions are involved Participants make up their own opinion (durability of the change) Experiential learning is more effective than passive learning Limits of experiential learning: Leaders dont always have the power to change peoples actual experiences Most of the leaders falls on the use of language as a way to change peoples mind 2. Persuading people to change through language Methods of persuading people change their minds Abstract Narrative Direct and explicit Appeal to reason through detailed evidence and arguments Narratives in which the object is to have the listener live the story as fully and movingly as possible Indirect and implicit Appeals to intuition, through cues, signs, heuristics and manipul