Friday, September 6, 2019
Nisei Daughter Essay Example for Free
Nisei Daughter Essay Second Generation Daughter Even with all the mental anguish and struggle, an elemental instinct bound us to this soil. Here we were born; here we wanted to live. We had tasted of its freedom and learned of its brave hopes for democracy. It was too late, much too late for us to turn back. â⬠Monica Soneââ¬â¢s Nisei Daughter is a compelling story of the life of a Japanese American growing up and discovering who she is in the World War II era United States. Niseiâ⬠, meaning, ââ¬Å"second generationâ⬠, is a Japanese term used to specify the children born to Japanese people in a new country (who are called Issei). Monica Sone was born an American Citizen, but her parents ââ¬âas well as other Isseiââ¬â were not deemed to be American citizens until post World War II. This essentially important difference between Issei and Nisei seemingly forced an ultimatum to Nisei people; to be Japanese or to be American. Nisei were often criticized by their families for their absent role of Japanese customary behavior, and were criticized by Americans because they werenââ¬â¢t able to assimilate into American lifestyle. Nisei Daughter is a story about a Japanese American girl constructing her own self-identity in an environment where there is much confusion amongst Nesei people who are torn between two cultures. [ 1 ]. Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter (Canada: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1953), 124 [ 2 ]. Wikipedia, Nisei (Published from Wikipedia at: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Nisei ,2013), Article Introduction
Organizational Behavior Apple vs Scania Essay Example for Free
Organizational Behavior Apple vs Scania Essay Organizational Behavior is a field of Study which investigates the impact that individuals groups and structure have on organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving organization effectiveness. (Huczynsky, 2010) The way people behave individually or collectively in order to reach a common goal. Organizational behavior includes in it such issues as organizational design, culture, Group decision making, teamwork and leadership. (Dictionary of Business and Management, 2009) In this report two companies Apple and Scania are compared to each other in terms of their organizational behavior such as: design, culture, structure leadership and etc. The report is written based on the two key studies provided in the assessment and via additional sources and researches. The report starts with brief information about the background of the companies. Further the companies are compared by applying theories such as: Continuum leadership theory of Tannenbaum and Schmidt, Abraham Maslowââ¬â¢s theory of hierarchy of needs, Managerial grid Leadership theory of Blake and Mouton, and etc. The team-work approaches in both of the companies are highly focused, discussed and followed by recommendations. Companiesââ¬â¢ background. ââ¬ËA truly magical and revolutionary product. What this device does is extraordinary. It is the best browsing experience youââ¬â¢ve ever hadâ⬠¦ It is unbelievably greatâ⬠¦ A way better than laptop, way better than a Smartphone.ââ¬â¢ Steve Jobs 2010 We could not even imagine how our phones and computers would look like today. The bulky and considered luxury machines are now innovated and updated devices owned by every single person and even few by each. One of the major roles in evolution of IT technology during all these years has the multinational American company called Apple. Established in 1976, the company was initially named Apple computer, Inc, but later on in 2007 it was renamed into just Apple. The companyââ¬â¢s products are known as iPad, iPod, iPhone and Macintosh Computers or simply Mac Books. Apple has a very strong global market position as it has penetrated worldââ¬â¢s biggest markets. According to the data provided in 2011, Apple has 46,600 full time employees around the world and 2,800 temporary full time employees and companyââ¬â¢s sales are getting higher seasonally. Meanwhile Apple is considered to be a very successful company with a very high performance quality of its employees. (M. A. Lusted, 2012) Another Successful company taken its origin in Sweden and founded in 1891 is Scania. Scania is one of the largest and best Swedish heavy truck and bus Manufacture Company with globally recognized reputation. Scaniaââ¬â¢s products are created just the way their customers wish including in it Maximum use and minimum harm to the environment. Scaniaââ¬â¢s products are designed to consume less energy, less raw materials and chemicals in order to have as lower impact on environment as possible. Along with its reputation Scania makes high profits operating in more than 100 countries worldwide and employing 35,000 people worldwide. (Scania web, 2012) Analysis based on theories. According to the case study provided by Robins S and Jude T.A, the hierarchy did not work in most of the companies, but it is effective in case of Apple. Was that because Steve Jobs was a unique leader who could manage the whole company by his consistent innovative ideas? At the very beginning, Apple had a relatively flat and informal structure, but later on when Jobs was back into company in 1997, it was totally changed. If before the employees and managers gathered on Friday for a beer to discuss some issues and express their ideas and even complain, after the market became more saturated with competitors, Apple was focused on changing its structure to be able to compete, keep brand and control costs. Since than company improved and became a major part of the digital world. As a result of all these, the companyââ¬â¢s plans and strategy was no longer discussed through the entire company and Jobs was the only generator of ideas proving the complete hierarchy. (Debra L. Nelson, James Campbell Quick, PH.D, 2011) Unlike Apple, Scania tens to rely less on hierarchy having a more flat company structure based on independent groups performances with the high concern on human factors and environmental issues. For example, Scania successfully uses the Sociothechnical systems theory where manager controls the environmental factors that influence the companyââ¬â¢s internal operations and coordinates the social and technical subsystems. (Ricky W. Griffin, Gregory Moorhead, 2010) According to the Tannenbaum and Schmidtââ¬â¢s continuum theory of leadership behavior (1958, 1973) leaders should evaluate the situation before the implementation of a particular leadership styles. The continuum leadership behaviorââ¬â¢s model theory is based on earlier studies focusing on the distinction of task versus employee or human orientations and demonstrates two types of leadership styles across the continuum: boss-centered (task) and subordinate-centered (relationship).( Borkowski, 2011). In the Appleââ¬â¢s situation, the decision maker or the decision ââ¬Ësellerââ¬â¢ was Steve Jobs. During the all time when Jobs was the CEO of Apple, he was often called ââ¬Ëdictatorââ¬â¢ or ââ¬Ëdespotââ¬â¢. Jobs never asked anyone for feedback. However he could always instruct and simplify the capabilities of the complicated devices understandable only by its creators, he thought going around and asking his employees about the confusing functions of his product is useless. Instead, jobs played the device by, took notes of his reactions and considered it as the only necessary feedback required. (Leander Kahney, 2009) Whereas in Scania the entire company relies on customer feedback and development of stuff ideas so, if Apple has the structure where every single employee is responsible only for his part of job and has no chance to play any important role in making decisions, Scania has the structure there employees split into the groups brainstorm together on a certain idea or problem and together pick the optimal solutions. (Scania web, 2012) Based on all this we can assume that Apple is Boss-centered structured company and Scania is a more Subordinate-centered structured company. Figure 1.1 below demonstrates the locations of both Apple and Scania on a sample Continuum leadership behaviorââ¬â¢s graph. According to the graph, where Apple is closely fitted in the total boss-centered area and Scania is fitted closer to the subordinate-centered area, the two companies are totally different in their structure and leadership, but at the same time both companies are successful and globally recognized and are in their maturity state today. In another words, Apple has an Autocratic leader, where he dictates and forces his employees or even threatens them to get the result his way, unlike Scania that has democratic leader who encourages participation in decision making and considers otherââ¬â¢s feelings and seeks to satisfy most of parties.(Hungeryager and Heekman, 1967) Here comes the question: Despite the hierarchy and autocratic leadership in Apple and flat structured and democratic system in Scania, how come they both being so different be able to achieve goals having high employee performance? The best answer for this question would probably be the motivation which is present in both companies but caused by different factors. Humanity would not reach any level of development without the motivation. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) introduced a theory focused on psychological need of employees divided into 5 levels forming a pyramid, and he believed that person needs all 5 to feel satisfied with his job. (Essentials of Management, 2009). Hierarchy: ââ¬ËCommon, pyramid-like organization where one person is in charge of a functional area with one or more subordinates handling the sub-functions. In an hierarchical organization (whether business, military, political, or religious) higher levels imply greater superiority and domination than the lower ones, and the chain of command extends straight from the top to the bottomââ¬â¢. (Business Dictionary web, 2012) (Image extracted from googleimage.com) While applying the following theory on Apple, it is obvious that the employees in the company are approximately on the 4th level depending on their job position. But in general, with the reputation that Apple has worldwide everyone would be proud to be employed by such a company and motivated by the financial aspect. In fact, the way the pyramid narrows towards up, the same way, the number of people with those facilities narrows down. Even in case of Scania, though the employees might be satisfied with their job and status, they might be also distracted by family or any other personal issues which could make them feel de-motivated. Adamââ¬â¢s Equity theory states that, employees attempt to achieve some equity between input and output, and if there is a difference between input and output, such as output less than input, the employees performance quality tends to be lower due to his/her job dissatisfaction. In another words, all contributions should be fairly rewarded. Going back t o Apple can assume that there is a perfect balance between output and input. Having high salary makes the employees feel right about not taking any part in making decisions; in fact they might feel more relaxed for not having big responsibilities. But in Scania, while taking part in discussions and decision making, employees feel more important, motivated but on the other hand they feel more responsibility pressure because in negative outcomes they all will have to share the loses. Looking at it more general, the only fact that might motivate the employees in both companies is the money. Due to the economic downturn which caused high rate of unemployment, the fact that one has a job, already makes him/her feel satisfied, but not for long. Once people get used to their job and salary they start getting bored and de-motivated. According to Guardian 2012, ââ¬Ëmany of those who worked for Apple, feels cut off from the real world, suspended in a cultural vacuum inside the walls of the companyââ¬â¢. The lack of communication with cooperatives, socializing and team-working leads to employeesââ¬â¢ dissatisfaction. To avoid such errors, Scania depending on foreign labor, in order to keep high productivity level, created a humanization program which was to apply a new group assembly approach. The program was all about team-work and group decisions called Saab-Scania. The groups consisted of 5-12 people and were given the power to make decisions within the given limits. Along with production groups Scania formed development groups each composed of foreman, industrial engineers and representatives. Such groups were responsible for innovating and developing the new working methods favorable for the employees. As a result, such team-working approach saved productivity time, increased productsââ¬â¢ quality and raised job satisfaction of the employees, so since this experiment Scania finds its success in team-working structure. (A.. Rashid, 1982) Coming back to apple, one could only add, that high productivity and quality with the lack of team-working, is being reached only by having continues innovations and strong brand position, simply strong marketing. Further analyzing the case of apple we can add that, a huge multinational company where everyone is responsible only for his bit of work, simply being a tiny replaceable detail of a mechanism, and where the main responsibility is on CEO, team-working is not that important as long as the companyââ¬â¢s goals are being reached. The Managerial Grid or the grid theory now called as Leadership theory of Blake and Mouton states that there are two types of managers: concern for production and concern for people , and the perfect manager would be the who could exhibits both people and production concern. The leadership grid is graded from 1 to 9 from both axes identifying 5 main types of leaders: country club management, team management, middle-of-the-road management, impoverished management and authority management. (Miller, 2012) The grid looks as follow: Relying on the leadership grid, we can assume that Apple with the autocratic approach and higher concern on production and lower on people, is classified as a company with the Authority-Compliance Management leadership and Scania, deserving to be placed on the other side of the grid is a company with Team-management leadership, having high concern on people rather than on production. The modern team system of Scania is highly relied on cluster managers. The cluster manager is the manager who has overall responsibility for the team consisting of 20-25 employees. Each cluster consists of people with different experience and skills and trained before becoming fully operative. Often there are also small temporary teams. Thought the cluster has a manager, the employees have the sense of belonging to a team and having major role in it. A centered team-working structure helps the company to keep strong Company-oriented company culture. ââ¬ËNo one must be able to say that is not my concern, I am not responsible for thatââ¬â¢ said the senior manager of the company. Although Apple cannot boast with its tem-work management Leadership as Scania, it motivates the employees providing the opportunity to get promoted from an intern into a manager. The trainings provided free by Apple itself makes the process much easier for the employees. In addition, small competitions such as answering the most difficult question of the customers are followed by rewards. Another important fact is that, Apple provides large job opportunity to young students employing them, full-time, part-time or making them student representatives at their schools. (Apple Inc.ââ¬â¢s Ethical Success and Challenges web, 2011) Conclusion While summing it all but, it is right to mention that, while comparing the companies and analyzing their organizational behaviors the total difference of the companies has been identified. Apple is a multinational autocratic company having high concern on production and lower concern on people, despite this it is able to motivate the employees by rewards, bonuses and promotion opportunities demonstrating itself as a creative company challenging for innovations with the strong belief in its successful bright future and seeking for the genus employees from young generation, to take part in those innovations. The case of Apple has proved that, the employees are not pressurized by dictator, as it is expected in an Authority-Manager company, but inspired to work with such unique leaders. Scania, along with its rich Swedish culture totally relays on the team-working manager Leadership with the ability to balance both concern for people and production and giving the employees the chance to feel themselves part of a whole mechanism. The management in Scania believes that, every employee in the company despite the job position should feel the responsibility and share it with the collogues and feel that he/she does not work for someone, but works together with everyone. Fortunately, for Scania being further from hierarchy unlike Apple, adds advantages in terms of organizational behavior, proving the democratic structure of the company, whereas Apple proves to be really a unique company for being able to success with deep hierarchy in it. Recommendations Thought Apple is satisfied with its production and the company in whole, it should also pay attention to its employees by providing them some other activities to make them feel as a team. For example, Apple could create groups or teams responsible not for the main operations of the organization, but side operations or project such as charity, where the employees could take part in decision making process without the involvement of CEO. Another option for Apple could be organizing research teams with team leaders, as employees feel more motivated when they are committed in the changes. Because the managers in Scania are very multinational, the company should pay attention to cultural difference of the employees. It would be very relevant to educate the cluster managers in terms of culture of the other members of the team and than sent them to the Angers plant. Obviously the expansion of company by creating more teams in Scania is advantageous on one hand, but on the other hand it makes the companyââ¬â¢s structure too sophisticated and too massive and moreover, adding a new cluster may reduce the space of other clusters. That is why Clusters should be added within the limitations, or smaller groups should be created as smaller groups make better performance and make faster decisions. References Buchanon D. Huczynsky A. (2010) Organizational behavior, 7th ed. Harlow: Pearson/FT Prentice Hall Oxford, 2009, Dictionary of Business and Management, Oxford University Press, 5th ed. New York Leander Kahney (2009). Inside Steves Brain. US: penguin Group Debra L. Nelson, James Campbell Quick (2011). Organizational Behavior: Science, the Real World, and You. PhD Ricky W. Griffin, Gregory Moorhead (2010). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. 10th ed. US: South-western Nancy Borkowski (2011). Organizational Behavior in Health Care. 2nd ed. LLC: Jones and Barlett Publishers Andrew Durbin (2009). Essentials of Management. US: South-western. Anwar Rashid (1982). organizational Behavior. 2nd ed. Canada: Methuen. 76-78 Katherine Miller (2012). Organizational Communication and Approaches and Processes. 6th ed. US: Wadsworth. M. A. Lusted (2012). Apple: The Company and its Visionary Founder, Steve Jobs. USA: ABDO. 9-22 A. Preston (2012). The Apple Revolution: Steve Jobs, the Counter Culture, and How the Crazy Ones Took Over the World by Luke Dormehl ââ¬â review. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/aug/10/apple-revolution-luke-dormehl-review. Last accessed 18th Dec 2012. Scania official web site. (2012). H istory. Available: http://www.scania.co.uk/about-scania/history/. Last accessed 22nd Dec 2012
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Rabbit Proof Fence Film Analysis
Rabbit Proof Fence Film Analysis Mahealani Subad When watching films that are based on true stories, the storyline is more sentimental to the audience as they realise that an individuals life is being presented to them. The movie, Rabbit-Proof Fence (Noyce et al. 2003), is based upon the lives of three mixed-race Australian Indigenous girls who were taken from their families and placed in a camp called the Moore River Native Settlement in 1931. Knowing that the interpretation from non-Indigenous people may lead towards the misrepresentations of Indigenous culture, Rabbit-Proof Fence captures the realities of the mistreatment Indigenous people throughout history. The film also captures the identity of indigenous people as the filmmakers took careful consideration into producing the film, such as casting Australian Indigenous actors and being mindful of the storyline they are telling throughout the film. In the beginning of the film, the filmmakers presented brief information about an act made in Australia called the Aborigines Act of 1905 (Noyce et al. 2003). The Aborigines Act 1905 allowed for the government to authorize forcible removal of aboriginal or half-caste children for beneficial reasons such as to provide protection and/or care (Aborigines Act 1905). As the film continues, the three young female protagonists Molly, Daisy, and Gracie are seen interacting with their family speaking in their native language, Marduwangka (Quin 2002). However, the government has authorized for the removal of the girls and are to be placed in Moore River Native Settlement. In the scene where the girls are taken away by their mother and grandmother had a very emotional impact, especially on myself. The emotions on the mother and grandmothers face is heart breaking as they plead for the officer not to take them. However, what made it emotional for myself is seeing the mother trying to run after t he girls when they are driven away from their home, mourning the loss of their children as they lay on the ground crying, while the grandmother shows emotion of remorse and blame as she is seen hitting herself on the head with a rock. The impact of witnessing the government forcibly removing Indigenous children being taken away taken away from their family, it creates a new perspective for an audience to view Indigenous culture as it brought attention to viewers of the realities of the treatment Indigenous people struggled through during this time period. Addition to capturing the realities of the mistreatment Indigenous people experienced, the production of the film made an impression that allowed Indigenous identity to be shown. The films storyline was inspired and based on the novel, Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, written by Doris Pilkington, in which, was based on Pilkingtons mother, Molly Kelly, who had escaped Moore River Native Settlement, along with her sister Daisy and cousin Gracie, who had walked over 40 miles to return home (Quin 2002). As Pilkington published her mothers story and production for the film had began, the screenwriter, Christine Olsen, and director, Phillip Noyce, had done intensive research and work to produce the story of properly. The screen writing process became a collaboration between Olsen and Pilkington, as Olsen traveled to Jigalong with Pilkington who introduced her to Molly and Daisy in attempt to perfect the script in order to tell their story correctly (Quin 2002). As for directing, Olsen wanted Noyce to direct her screenplay as one film in particular that Noyce directed called, Backroads, caught her attention, in which, she stated, [H]e treated the Aboriginal people as people, nothing more, nothing less (Quin 2002). This quote and Olsens research into attempting to perfect the script stood out in my opinion as they took into consideration of how the community of Indigenous people felt when producing this film. Unlike film production such as The Ridiculous Six, in which, insulted Indigenous actors from the misinterpretations of Apache culture (Shilling 20115). Although the film was to be a satirical comedy, the filmmakers ignored the actors concerns for the offensive jokes stating, If you guys are so sensitive, you should leave (Shilling 2015). In producing a film that presents a culture, whether if it is Indigenous culture or not, there must be a collaboration between the filmmakers and a representative of someone from that culture to gain an accurate presentation of the culture. Misrepresentations of cultures can lead into stereotyping the culture as that is what is being portrayed to audiences who have no prior knowledge of the culture being portrayed to them. With the film facing the realities of the mistreatment Indigenous people experienced to collaborating with the Indigenous community to present this film, Rabbit-Proof Fence, I believe was a well represented film that brought up an issue within history that many people did not know of. In comparison to Canadian Indigenous people, the Aborigine Act 1905 resembled a law in Canada that allowed the Canadian government to establish the Indian Residential School System to force Indigenous families to send their children to these schools in order to civilize the children into Canadian society (Elias et al. 2012). Although Rabbit-Proof Fence depicted a successful escape made by Molly and her sister from Moore River Settlement, the realities of removing Indigenous children from their families had a traumatic experience. For those who were residential school survivors, they had formed a legacy of alcohol and drug abuse problems, feelings of hopelessness, dependency, isolation, low self-esteem, suicide behaviours, prostitution, gambling, homelessness, sexual abuse, and violence (Elias et al. 2012). Knowledge of the residential schools in Canada are not taught or exposed as it is apart of history that the Canadian government is trying to diminish. For which, in my opinion, the government should require the school curriculum to teach about indigenous studies and the history about them to have future generation know of the real representations of Indigenous people and their culture, instead of learning from stereotypes through different forms of media. Bibliography Aborigines Act 1905 (1906 1964). Aborigines Act 1905 Legislation Find Connect Western Australia. Accessed January 25, 2017. https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/wa/biogs/WE00406b.htm. Elias, Mignone, Hall, Hong, Hart, and Sareen. Trauma and Suicide Behaviour Histories among a Canadian Indigenous Population: An Empirical Exploration of the Potential Role of Canadas Residential School System. Social Science Medicine 74, no. 10 (2012): 1560-569. Noyce, Phillip, Christine Olsen, John Winter, Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Laura Monaghan, Gulpilil, et al. 2003. Rabbit-Proof Fence. [United States]: Miramax Home Entertainment. Pilkington, Doris. Follow the rabbit-proof fence. St. Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, 1996. Quin, Karl. Mollys Story. The Koori History Project. February 17, 2002. Accessed January 25, 2017. http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/resources/film/sunage17feb02.html. Schilling, Vincent. Native Actors Walk Off Set of Adam Sandler Movie After Insults to Women, Elders. Indian Country Media Network. April 23, 2015. Accessed January 29, 2017. https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/culture/arts-entertainment/native-actors-walk-off-set-of-adam-sandler-movie-after-insults-to-women-elders/.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
The Consequences of Drinking and Driving Essay example -- Criminal Jus
The facts are plain and simple, that alcohol and driving do not mix. About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some time in their lives. Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable. To curb this national travesty, concerned Americans need to examine the problems, the effects, and the solutions to drunk driving. First of all, America has had a problem with drunk driving since Ford perfected the assembly line. Alcoholism is a problem in and of itself, but combined with driving can have a wide range of effects. The consequences of this reckless behavior can include a first time DUI or licenses suspension; a small fender bender, or worst of all a deadly crash. Most drivers that have only one or two drinks feel fine, and assume they are in control, which is irresponsible and dangerous. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body's ability to react and impairs judgment. To drive well, you need to be able to have a quick reaction time to avoid accidents. Unfortunately, people continue to drink and drive. However,...
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Conrads Obsession with Voice in Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay
Conrad's Obsession with "Voice" in Heart of Darkness For the moment that was the dominant thought. There was a sense of extreme disappointment, as though I had found out I had been striving after something altogether without a substance. I couldn't have been more disgusted if I had travelled all the way for the sole purpose of talking to Mr. Kurtz. Talking with . . . I flung one shoe overboard, and became aware that that was exactly what I had been looking forward to--a talk with Mr. Kurtz. I made the strange discovery that I had never imagined him as doing, you know, but as discoursing. Marlow in Conrad's Heart of Darkness The above quotation suggests what has been noted frequently in recent years as damnin...
Monday, September 2, 2019
Christianity, Islam and Terrorism :: Threats To World Peace
The ongoing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries of the Middle East and Africa have influenced American public opinion against Muslims. There is a fundamental misconception of what exactly Islam sanctions, encourages, and allows. The tenets of the Islamic faith are, of course, different than those of Christianity, which prevails in America today. However, the two faiths share much in common and there is no rational reason to view Islam as an ââ¬Å"extremistâ⬠faith, any more than Christianity should be viewed that way. How do Christianity and Islam differ, and how are they similar? What common ground can be reached between two cultures that clash so violently? While Islam and Christianity are unique and differ in many ways, the two faiths share similar features, that when analyzed rationally, can unite the two cultures under the banner of understanding. The faith of Islam centers itself in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, just as Christianity does. Old Testament stories appear in the holy book of Islam, the Qurââ¬â¢an, as well as New Testament events. Islam does not dispute the veracity of the Bible, merely adds to it. As a matter of fact, Islam itself claims Old Testament roots. In the Old Testament story of Abraham, Sara, and Hagar, Abraham has two sons ââ¬â Ismaââ¬â¢il (Ishmael) and Isaac. Muslims claim the line of Ismaââ¬â¢il as their ancestor, and the Qurââ¬â¢an states, ââ¬Å"We shall worship Thy Allah and the Allah of thy fathers, of Abraham, Isma'il and Isaac, - the one (True) Allah. To Him we bow (in Islam)." 1 ââ¬Å"Father Abrahamâ⬠is held in high regard in the faith of Islam. It is written in the Holy Qurââ¬â¢an, ââ¬Å"Also mention in the Book (the story of) Abraham: He was a man of Truth, a prophet.â⬠2 Jesus is also frequently mentioned in the Qurââ¬â¢an, not as the son of God, but as a prophet. The miracles He performed are acknowledged as divine acts of God that occurred through him, and it is also acknowledged that he was subject to disbelief at the time. According to the Qurââ¬â¢an, God (or Allah) says to Jesus, ââ¬Å""O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the Holy Spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
IBO Assignment Essay
Background The Case study is an email conversation between two colleagues Jane Epstein & Rick Lazarus. Jane has joined Technico recently and Rick was her colleague and trusted friend from the last company. Jane is discussing with Rick about the new current company and the staff she got there. She individually described the personalities of her staff like Caroline as universally trusted (according to her), Tom as a joker and a natural sales guy, Jack as intellectual and intense, and the most problematic figure for her as well as the organization ââ¬â Andy Zimmerman. He is a person who is intellectually very smart but is very impatient, his intimidating tone is worrying. There were many instances like Janeââ¬â¢s AA, Maureen had made a scheduling error and Andy blasted over her even though Jane, his boss was standing there Jane had an opinion that this reaction was not supposed to happen and could have been dealt with tactfully. Rick on the other hand was of the opinion that Jane was over r eacting and that she had to establish her own authority with him, or Andy would step all over her. Then Jane described about the organization and the staff and also that the senior managers talk about the lack of hierarchy in the organization. Jane thinks she should not comment about theà organization as she had recently joined it. Then she also gave another instance where in a discussion with all the members, Jack was addressing an important concept and then Andy interrupted in between and he expressed all the issues, flaws, and that what Jack was trying to propose made no sense. Jane also later heard Andy reaming all the other AA members. The main personality traits Jane described about him were that Andy was smart, intelligent & efficient but doesnââ¬â¢t has any peculiar positive group traits that would win him any personality contests. He also was nasty to his other AA colleagues. When this came to Caroline, he also blasted over her despite her being the person who made him calm whenever he lost his cool with the others in the staff. Andy expressed his anger by mailing Ca roline about her incompetency in her work and the goof ups she made in a very harsh tone. This mail was shared with Jane and Caroline expressed her grief. Jane could see that Caroline was fed up with her smoothing over role. Sometimes Jane felt that she was playing the role of a kindergarten teacher and not a co-operate manager managing such highly paid people. Now Jane thought of finally confronting Andy and telling him that his behaviour is intimidating the staff in a negative way, his behaviour if continued for some more time would result in the decrease in the productivity of the firm. But in the one-on one meeting she came to know that Andy has got great insights, energy and was smart enough to justify his behaviour. Jane experienced that he behaved as if he was down to earth, but was opposite in the presence of a group. She advised him to overcome his impatience and to slow down and be a little considerate with the staff. Even after being so clear with Andy she noticed that he repeated the same old behaviour in the next group meeting. She now realized that he has no plans of changing at all. Now she is in a dilemma as how to tackle the bullying behaviour and maintain the productivity of the staff. So in this case we have to find the problems and issues of Andyââ¬â¢s behaviour and find the plausible solution for those problems. Analysis: Main Issues: Increasing job dissatisfaction in the team Team work getting affected Professionals carrying their personal issues at workplace Difference in performance among team members Incompatibility in attitude, creating the base for all problems Explanation: Productivity and efficiency are getting affected due to Andyââ¬â¢s attitude problem, and his way of handling things. As Andy continuously bullies employs they get demoralised and were unable to give their 100% to their work because of his fear and negative critics. Caroline despite of being a good worker, needs to be more professional. She needs to differentiate between her professional and personal life, and must prioritize her personal issues so that that they donââ¬â¢t affect her work and professional commitments (work ââ¬âlife balance). Work culture is being affected I a negative way, due to Andy s discouraging attitude, whenever somebody doesnââ¬â¢t performs, he is pissed off, One needs to work as a team ââ¬âwork attitude, bullying and dominating are restraints to growth and team ââ¬âwork. Team morale is going down. As the only feedback the get from Andy is negative Andy is not praising any of the efforts the team is putting in but is sure to highlight the glitches that are coming across the project because of them. The staff members do not know the importance of working in a diverse team and adjust within the team. Plausible solutions: 1 Have a second briefing with Andy and ask him to mellow down a little bit with the staff. Try to talk him out that the staff will cooperate more with him, only if he is a little adjusting and open with them and doesnââ¬â¢t humiliate them in front of others. People go through grey patch and as their senior, he should consider the emotional stance of his staff and try to make them comfortable, so that the staff may also think of trying to give their best even in adverse situations. 2 Have a discussion with the rest of the staff and try to make them understand that Andy is doing this for the betterment of the organization, and in the interest of the team, he wants to bring out the best of them. 3 Send him for personal counselling to tackle his attitude issues with his staff and juniors. 4 Try and change his role if his domain knowledge is applicable in any other role. 5 Also Caroline should also be sent for a personal counselling, as she is going through testing times in her life an d currently she needs as much support as she can get from her team mates for the time being so as to cope up. This supportà will motivate her further to overcome and bounce back. 6 He can be sent for a month or two on a leave or for training for boosting his team work skills. 7 Write a memo that his behaviour is unacceptable, distracts from work and I want to stop. In case, if it happens again then write another memo stating the same problem and hand it over to her boss or her HR manager. 8 She should plan sessions for team dynamics preferably away from the work environment to cultivate a bond of understanding and openness between the team members hence increasing their trust amongst each other. By knowing each other well, it is possible that they would come forward and help each other in adverse conditions. Best possible solution would be to send Andy Zimmerman for a Management Development Program (MDP) so as to tackle his attitude towards his team mates and be an effective manager. Also Caroline should be advised to go through a personal counselling session where she can learn to cope up with her personal issues. Managerial Learnings: Manager should try to create a positive environment within workplace. Manager should try to avoid criticizing anyone in public. Manager should not blame a team member for small faults; instead he or she should try to talk to him regarding the same in private, so that they can improvise their performance. Manger should try not to be a ââ¬Ëcriticââ¬â¢ for his staff, but should appreciate their inputs and hard work. This would not only increase the motivation of his or her employees, but will consequently lead to greater commitment to the organisation. Manager should try to analyse the training required
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