The Israel-Palestine Conflict Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Israel-Palestine Conflict - Research Paper Example Generations upon generations of civilians have lived and died amidst this protracted war, victims of and witnesses to the seemingly limitless capacity of human beings for violence. The struggle for peace is indeed an aspiration that the whole world shares – and yet, history is rich with examples that tell us that peace without justice is an unsustainable project. The atrocities perpetrated in the context of the conflict must be accounted for, and there must be redress for the injustices wrought to the nameless and faceless victims. However, justice is not a one-size thing that fits all propositions. Efforts towards its introduction in a region as divided ethnically as Kosovo need to include clear-cut and streamlined efforts to address horizontal inequalities – defined by Stewart (137) as â€Å"inequalities among groups with shared identities – identities formed by religion, ethnic ties or racial affiliations, or other salient ways that bind groups of people toge ther†. Certainly, this includes looking at the broad and multiplex power dynamics that underlie these identities and become the basis for the conferral or denial of economic, political or social privilege. This is of course exacerbated when set against the backdrop of a conflict economy. Kamphuis (185) describes a conflict economy as one â€Å"that leads to the breakup of administrative and social institutions, the flight of human capital through migration, and the destruction of infrastructure for education and health care† – the clear contextual backdrop of the Israel-Palestine crisis. There are also political complexities that come into play. Writers like Danny Rubinstein write that Palestinian nationalism is on the wane and that â€Å"about twelve thousand Palestinians from East Jerusalem have received Israeli citizenship† (1). But almost on a daily basis, we are besieged by news report on intensified â€Å"terrorist† attacks by Palestinian figh ters. Indeed, it is hard to make a clinical assessment of the situation. I argue that investigating the extent to which horizontal inequalities were addressed may be done using the multiple dimensions of justice enumerated by Hellsten (79) as analytical tools or criteria – (1) justice as the establishment of public safety and individual security, securing the lives of civilians from acts of violence; (2) justice as reconciliation and redress for past grievances, embracing the concept of restorative justice; (3) distributive and social justice, which focuses on social and economic well-being on a more long term period, and (4) political justice, involving participation and inclusion is governance. This means that all these imperatives must be addressed and dealt with, rather than one criterion alone and sacrificing the rest, e.g. reconciliation at the expense of resource redistribution, economic growth at the expense of political participation, governance, without rectifying i ndividual criminal responsibility. In countries fraught with sharply-drawn ethnic lines where political and economic privileges are denied or granted on the basis of ethnicity, satisfaction of the requirements of these dimensions of justice cannot take place without addressing horizontal inequalities. In a similar vein, aspiring to address horizontal inequa

Hilift Pty Ltd Essay Example for Free

Hilift Pty Ltd Essay Hilift Pty Ltd (Hilift) owns an industrial crane. Hilift employs two crane operators, Elwyn and Osman, who each work 4 hour shifts. In May 2008 the owner/builder of a new apartment block hires Hilift’s crane and operators for two weeks to lift building materials to the upper floors of their building. At the end of the first shift on the 10 May, Elwyn notifies the manager of Hilift that the crane is not performing properly and that it needs looking at. The manager contacts the company who does repairs and maintenance work on the crane, EFL Engineering, and asks for an engineer to be sent out immediately. EFL says that no-one is available for two hours. The manager of Hilift decides to allow Osman to begin his shift before the engineer arrives, since to stop work will delay construction. Osman is halfway through hoisting his first load when a cable in the crane snaps and the crane swings out of control, smashing into a lower floor of the building. Two construction workers in the building are injured. One has both legs crushed and they have to be amputated. The other worker will be hospitalised for a long time with serious injuries but will make a full recovery. The building is damaged by the accident and will cost $75,000 to repair. The construction of the building is delayed by three months because of the accident, and for this period the expected income from tenants is lost. Osman is deeply traumatized by these events and cannot bring himself to drive a crane again. After a period of six months without employment, during which he receives psychiatric treatment, Osman takes lower paid work as a general construction worker. A subsequent inspection of the crane finds that the fault in the cable would have been discovered if an engineer had inspected the crane after El wyn’s shift had ended. To replace this cable would have taken six hours. Advise Hilift as to whether, and to what extent, the company will be liable in tort for the harm that has occurred. Facts: Hilift Pty Ltd owns industrial crane May 2008: hired to lift building materials to upper floor of new apartment block Hilift is aware crane is not performing properly Hilift contacts repairs company Hilift allows Osman to work before crane is looked at  Cable in crane snaps Causes $75 000 of property damage and delays construction by 3 months Osman is traumatized, cannot drive crane again Fault in cable would have been discovered by engineer Advise Hilift as to whether, and to what extent, the company will be liable in tort for the harm that has occurred. Consider: Osman, Construction Worker 1, Construction Worker 2 and the building owner using IRAC. Issue: Is the company liable in tort for the harm that has occurred to Osman, Construction Worker 1, Construction Worker 2 and the building manager and to what extent? Rule Tort of Negligence: The respondent in a civil claim of negligence will only be liable to the applicant/plaintiff by way of damages if the following elements are established on the balance of probabilities: 1. That a duty of care was owed by the respondent to the plaintiff in the relevant situation; Here you would cite cases if relevant – specific tests/standards etc. 2. That the respondent breached that duty of care owed to the plaintiff; and Again, cite case authority and any applicable standards – e.g. â€Å"reasonable person† 3. That the plaintiff has suffered some injury or damage as a result of that breach. Case authority – e.g. the injury must be reasonably foreseeable. Apply – Osman 1. Duty of care? Hilift reasonably ought to have been able to foresee, and clearly did know, that there would be risk that the crane would malfunction or break which would likely cause physical or psychological harm to the crane operator, if he did not wait for the maintenance / repairs company. This is supported by the fact that the other operator, Elwyn, notifies the manager of Hilift after his shift recommending that the crane needs to be looked at. This is also supported by the fact that the manager contacts the maintenance company: if he did not perceive there to be a risk, why did he contact the maintenance company and request a consultation immediately? While a person is not generally liable in tort for psychological harm, this is a special case under the pure mental illness exception, whereby the plaintiff, Osman, witnessed the two construction workers being severely injured Neighbour principle: Established a duty of care between employer and employee in Wilson Clide Coal Co LTG v English (1 938): employers owe employees a duty of care to provide a safe working environment, and Paris v Stepney Borough Council (1951). 2. Breach? Standard of care: the â€Å"reasonable man† definitely would have believed there to be a real and foreseeable risk that the plaintiff might be injured if the crane malfunctioned or broke The â€Å"reasonable man† would have waited the two hours for an engineer from EFL Engineering to check the crane. The â€Å"reasonable man† would have exercised a much greater standard of care, particularly as the crane was lifting building materials to upper floors and the consequences if the crane malfunctioned were very serious. 3. Damage? Osman was â€Å"deeply traumatized† and cannot drive a crane again He received psychiatric treatment and would eventually take lower paid work. Causation: if Hilift had waited for EFL Engineering, the cable would not have snapped and would not have caused Osman’s psychological injury. (â€Å"But for† test) Foreseeability: Hilift ought to have foreseen that if he did not wait for the EFL Engineering consult, that the crane could malfunction and this malfunction would be likely to cause injury or death to others and consequently cause a severe risk of physical or psychological harm to the  crane operator. Conclusion Osman Hilift would be liable in tort for the psychiatric injury to Osman, but is unlikely to be liable in tort for the compensation for Osman’s reduced salary after the accident because established in Kyogie shire Council v Francis (1989) that it is not permissible for the court to award damages to compensate the injured for profits they may have earned if not for the negligent conduct. Apply – Construction worker 1 (Amputee) 1. Duty of care? Hilift reasonably ought to have known that there would be a (not insignificant) risk that the crane would malfunction or break, which would, in turn, be likely to cause severe damage or injury to workmen below. Supported by Hilift’s contact with the maintenance company: if he did not perceive there to be a risk, why did he contact the maintenance company and request a consultation â€Å"immediately†? Neighbour principle: Established a duty of care between employer and employee in Wilson Clide Coal Co Ltd v English (1938): employers owe employees a duty of care to provide a safe working environment, and Paris v Stepney Borough Council (1951). 2. Breach? See â€Å"Breach† in Apply – Osman The likely seriousness of the consequences of Hilift continuing construction without waiting for the engineer were extremely serious as the crane was handing heavy materials at a high altitude, which suggests Hilift ought to have exercised a higher standard of care. 3. Damage? The snapping of the cable caused direct, severe injury to the construction worker, requiring amputation of both legs. Causation: If Hilift had waited for EFL Engineering, the fault in the cable would have been detected and fixed, and the construction worker would not need to be amputated. Foreseeability: Hilift ought to have foreseen that if he did not wait for the EFL Engineering consultant, the crane could malfunction and this would be likely to cause severe injury or death to construction workers working on lower floors. Conclusion – Construction Worker 1 Hilift would be liable in tort to pay compensation for the costs incurred by Construction Worker 1 due to that hospitalisation and forced amputation of both legs, and possibly even â€Å"consequential mental harm† depending on the mental health of Construction Worker 1. Apply – Construction Worker 2 1. Duty of care? see â€Å"Duty of care† in Apply – Construction Worker 1* 2. Breach? Standard of care: the â€Å"reasonable man† definitely would have believed there to be a real and foreseeable risk that the plaintiff might be injured if the crane malfunctioned or broke. The â€Å"reasonable man† would have waited the two hours for an engineer from EFL Engineering to check the crane. The â€Å"reasonable man† would have exercised a much greater standard of care, particularly as the crane was lifting building materials to upper floors and the likely seriousness of the consequences if the crane malfunctioned. 3. Damage? The snapping of the cable hospitalised Construction Worker 2 for an extended period of time and serious injuries. Causation: If Hilift had waited for EFL Engineering, the fault in the cable would have been detected and fixed, and the construction worker would not need to be hospitalised. Foreseeability: Hilift ought to have foreseen that if they did not wait for the EFL Engineering consultation, the crane could malfunction and this would be likely to cause severe injury or death to construction workers working on lower floors. Conclusion – Construction Worker 2 Hilift would be liable in tort for compensation for the costs incurred by Construction Worker 2 for the hospitalisation due to Hilift’s negligent inaction by allowing Osman to continue work on a faulty crane. Apply – Building Manager 1. Duty of care? Hilift ought to have foreseen that if the crane was faulty, it would likely cause damage to the building Duty of care: professional persons (Hilift) owing a duty to client (building owner) established in Hill v Van Erp (1997). Analogous situation: manufacturers (Hilift) owing a duty to eventual consumer (building owner) established in Donohue v Stevenson (1932). 2. Breach? Standard of care: the â€Å"reasonable man† definitely would have believed there to be a real and foreseeable risk that the building would be damaged if the crane malfunctioned while handing heavy building materials. The â€Å"reasonable man† would have waited the two hours for an engineer from the EFL Engineering to check the crane. 3. Damage? The building will cost $75 000 to repair Construction is delayed by three months; expected income from tenants during this period is lost. Causation: If Hilift had waited for EFL Engineering, the fault in the cable would have been detected and fixed, and the building would not need to be repaired, nor will construction be delayed 3 months. Foreseeability: Hilift ought to have foreseen that if he did not wait for the EFL Engineering consultation, the crane could malfunction and this would be likely to cause damage to the building. Conclusion – Building Manager Hilift would be liable in tort for the compensation of $75, 000 for the  building repair, but precedent suggests the company will not be liable for compensation for the expected profits the building owner lost due to the three month delay. This was established in Kyogle Shire Council v Francis (1989).

Kate Chopins novella, The Awakening Essay -- English Literature

Kate Chopin's novella, The Awakening In Kate Chopin's novella, The Awakening, the reader is introduced into a society that is strictly male-dominated where women fill in the stereotypical role of watching the children, cooking, cleaning and keeping up appearances. Writers often highlight the values of a certain society by introducing a character who is alienated from their culture by a trait such as gender, race or creed. In Chopin's Awakening, the reader meets Edna Pontellier, a married woman who attempts to overcome her "fate", to avoid the stereotypical role of a woman in her era, and in doing so she reveals the surrounding society's assumption and moral values about women of Edna's time. Edna helps to reveal the assumptions of her society. The people surrounding her each day, particularly women, assume their roles as "housewives"; while the men are free to leave the house, go out at night, gamble, drink and work. Edna surprises her associates when she takes up painting, which represents a working job and independence for Edna. Leonce does not appreciate this. The reader sees how he assumes what she should be doing from this quote on page 57: "Mr.Pontellier had been a rather courteous husband so long as he met a certain tacit submissiveness in his wife. But her new and unexpected line of conduct completely bewildered him. ... Then her absolute disregard for her duties as a wife angered him." Leonce says himself, "It seems to me the utmost folly for a woman at the head of a household, and the mother of children, to spend in an atelier [meaning a studio for painting] days which would be better employed contriving for the comfort of her family." This quote is rather symbolic as it uses the word "emplo... ...men surrounding her succumb to in life. By defying these "laws" Edna makes clear the morals that all the other women value; the satisfaction of their husband, the acceptance of society, and the conformity to stereotypical roles of a woman. In The Awakening, Edna is used as a tool to emphasize the surrounding society's assumptions of a woman and the morals that they value. Often, a character is set apart from their culture for this sole purpose, to stress a point the author wants to make. In this case, Chopin wants to show the reader how male dominated society has been, how quickly women succumb to their "roles", and how easily people can be shaped to consider a different and all too meaningless set of morals. Edna is strategically alienated in the novella so as the reader can discover society's assumptions and moral values of the era and up until today.

Leadership in the 21st Century: Contrasting Views of Leadership and Their Utility for My Practice

HML 1001: Leadership of change S. McGowan. June 2008 Leadership in the 21st Century: Contrasting Views of Leadership and their Utility for My Practice Introduction In this paper I will examine two modern views of leadership. The leadership models I have decided to review are Servant-Leadership and Discretionary Leadership and my aim is to describe them, explore some of their similarities and differences and consider their usefulness for my own practice. Servant-Leadership Robert K Greenleaf defined Servant-Leadership in1970 in his essay ‘The Servant as Leader’ (Greenleaf, 1970). Greenleaf attributes the inspiration for his idea to the novel ‘Journey to the East’ by Herman Hesse (1932), where the central character Leo; servant to a party of travellers, proves ultimately to be the vital member of the group, whose mission fails without him. The servant-leadership theory is based on a model of empowerment and contrasts sharply with models of leadership that are based on power. Instead of concentrating on the acquisition of power and control, servant-leaders focus on helping people to grow and fulfil their potential. Greenleaf states: the servant-leader is servant first†¦ It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions’. (Greenleaf 1970) The servant-leadership theory advocates the role of leader as serv ing rather than controlling. By serving the needs of their workforce, clients and communities servant-leaders can harness the full force of an empowered group. Servant-leadership models promote a sense of community and an holistic approach to work and, ultimately, society. Steven R Covey, vice chairman of Franklin Covey, the world’s largest management and leadership development organisation, described four roles of leadership in his keynote speech to the Greenleaf Centre’s (www. greenleaf. org) 1999 conference (Covey 1999). These are: (i)Setting an Example: Leaders must work hard, contribute and model integrity, humility and the values of servant-leadership. Integrity breeds confidence and generates followers. ii)Pathfinding: Creating a vision that involves and inspires, and that through empowerment, mobilises the efforts of others. This way, strategic planning is values based and derived from an understanding of people’s needs. This is in stark contrast to power models, which espouse individualistic missions and goals for organisations to be ‘herded’ towards. (iii)Alignment: Aligning the systems and struct ures of an organisation to serve the agreed task and vision. Values need to be ‘institutionalised’ and language and action must be consistent. iv)Empowerment: This is what Covey describes as the ‘fruit’ of the first three roles: When you have a common vision and value system, and you have put into place structures and systems reinforcing that vision, when you have institutionalised that kind of moral authority – its like lifeblood feeding the culture, the feelings of people, the norms, the mores – feeding it constantly†¦You can†¦release the enormous human creativity, the human ingenuity, the resourcefulness, the intelligence of people to the accomplishment of those purposes. Everything connects together: the quality of the relationships, the common purpose and values. You find that people will organize themselves. They’ll manage themselves. People are drawn to doing their own best thing and accomplishing that worthy purpose, that vision. That’s empowerment! (Covey 1999) Max DePree has famously defined leadership as ‘a serious meddling in other people’s lives’ (DePree 2002). DePree is concerned with the interdependence of members of organisations and has argued that leadership can’t be just about the individual: When we think about the people with whom we work, people on whom we depend, we can see that without each individual, we are not going to go very far as a group. By ourselves, we suffer serious limitations. Together we can be something wonderful. (DePree 1990) DePree coined the term ‘Fiduciary Leadership’; one of the three things he believes to be vital to servant-leadership. Fiduciary leadership describes a model of leadership based on trust and reliance. With this model, leadership is a set of opportunities and accountabilities bestowed (temporarily) by followers, in the trust of the leader. Central to this concept is the idea that the ‘led’ are consenting to be led and this idea lies at the heart of democratic society. In the 18th Century Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Anglo–Irish statesman and political philosopher wrote: It is the love of the people; it is their attachment to their government, from the sense of the deep stake they have in such a glorious institution, which gives you both your army and your navy, and infuses into both that liberal obedience, without which your army would be a base rabble, and your navy nothing but rotten timber. Burke1775) With regard to fiduciary leadership Burke said: All persons possessing any portion of power ought to be strongly and awfully impressed with an idea that they act in trust. (Burke1790) And DePree says: Leadership is not a position†¦promotion has never made anyone a leader. Leadership is a fiduciary calling. Inherent in this calling is the knowledge that hope plays a critical part in the lives of fo llowers. Fiduciary leaders design, build and then then serve inclusive communities by liberating human spirit and potential’ (Depree 2002) Here again, then, the themes of leaders serving and harnessing human potential in organisations that are communities. Depree’s second ‘necessity’ vital to servant-leadership is broadenning the definition of leadership competence. He describes five areas of compertence: Firstly, defining and expressing reality for an organisation; second, vision and strategy; third, enabling creative people; fourth, transforming – by learning, risking and changing – and finally, unleashing the potential of all members of an organisation. Depree’s referrence to ‘transforming’ is important. Servant-leadership and fiduciary leadership are both examples of Transformational Leadership (Burns 1978). Transformational leadership is concerned with bringing about progress and accomplishing success through communication, influence and empowerment, as opposed to Transactional approaches, which favour activities such as resource management, and management by policy, proceedure and control. Transactional leaders prefer systematic approaches, organisational hierarchy, straightforward objectives and tried and tested techniques. They manage efficiently but are in danger of producing mediocrity and suffocating innovation and creativity (Fairholm 1991). Transformational leaders reject the rigidity of transactionalists, arguing that ideas such as Scientific Management (Taylor, 1910), with their focus on controlling the minute details of the means of production are restrictive , dehumanising, alienating (Marx, 1959) and, ultimately outdated. Conversely, the transformational model can be criticised as inefficient, wasteful and lacking focus and direction. The third of Depree’s three neccesities for servant-leadership is a clear moral purpose. He argues that leadership requires moral purpose to give it meaning, measures and a worthwhile goal. Keen on lists, DePree desribes six ‘signs’ of moral purpose. These are: (i)An acceptance of Human Authenticity: Organisations comprise individuals with a ‘cornucopia of gifts and talents’ and not just their ascribed roles or inherent characteristics. (ii)Rights: All are entitled to the right to belong; to ownership; to opportunity; to inclusion; to a covonatal relationship as ‘members’ of the organisation. iii)Truth: Consistent, multifaceted honesty is crucial to moral leadership (iv)Vulnerability: An absence of ego and openness to criticism. Willing to listen to others, to experiment, to make mistakes and to learn from them. (v)Equitable Distribution of Results: Distributing ‘profits’ fairly is a necessary and motivating feature of an org anisation that demands high levels of contribution from its members. Results or profits can be financial or else less tangiable outputs. (vi)Personal Restraint: Vulgar displays of power, wealth and status are offensive and demotivating to others. Ultimately, then, the servant-leadership theory regards leadership as a moral calling. Greenleaf’s leadership theory also has its basis in morality and latterly he concerned himself with the question of managing change in society, citing examples of immoral, senseless and destructive problems in the world. His view was that the system to deliver the necessary change would be the one that works best – in his view servant-leadership: The difference [between leader first and servant-leader] manifests itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? (Greenleaf, 1970). To read Greenleaf and his followers, one might conclude that servant-leaders are essentially ordinary people drawn naturally, perhaps randomly, from the servant ‘classes’. People with philanthropic and selfless natures, who assume leadership positions only to spread their good deeds more widely. Interfering (DePree 1993) ‘do-gooders’ best suited to social and charitable enterprises! However servant leadership places as much emphasis on leadership as it does on servitude, even if the servant has to come first. Powerful servant-leaders can be found at the head of many serious, succesful, profit making organisations (e. g. Herb Kelleher, CEO South West Airlines, Jack Lowe, chairman of TDI Industries and Rich McClure, president of UniGroup Inc. [all US]) and, most recently, servant-leadership is the leadership philosophy espoused by newly elected President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, who has called for servant-leadership as his primary presidential leadership vision (Hyun-kyung, 2008): Military leaders or professional politicians will be unable to manage the economy any longer mainly because they were born to wield power, instead of serving citizens. These leaders attempt to rule the country, while managers serve their customers. As a result, the boss is destined to wane, while servant leaders achieve mutually beneficial goals for the community. (Myung-bak, 2002) If we look more closely, then, servant-leadership, far from rejecting the idea that some people are natural leaders, actually shares many ideas with ‘trait’ models of leadership. Trait theories date back to the first half of the twentieth century and Weber’s thory of leadership-charisma (Webber 1947) is a good example. Trait theorists argue that leaders neither emerge naturally as a result of a personal ‘epiphany’, nor are they created by experience or training, but that they are born. Born leaders are the result of natural selection (Darwin 1859). Nicholson (2000) describes how evolutionary psychology has produced ‘alpha-males’: hard wired individuals with natural leadership qualities driven, by high levels of testosterone, to seek an optimal seratonin buz by taking charge and achieving personal success. Grrrrr! Foremost among these natural leadership qualites is charisma. Charismatic Leadership (House 1977, Burns 1978) concerns itself with the impact of charisma on the leader/follower relationship and the effect of charismatic leadership on the motivation and morale of followers. Charisma is regarded as an inate quality, a charm that compells others to follow. Freud described charisma as an ability to realise compliance from others (Freud 1922). Charismatic leaders are heroic, energetic and driven by dissatisfaction with the status quo. Although generally seen as a transactional model, charismatic leadership, when paired with a moral basis, is far from inconsistent with servant-leadership. In fact, many of the qualities required of the servant-leader such as vision, integrity and empowering others can be regarded as extremely attractive and thus charismatic qualites. Indeed Jesus Christ, cited by many servant-leadership disciples as the ultimatate servant-leader, was undoubtedly a charismatic leader. Discretionary Leadership In contrast to servant-leadership – which, whilst advocating a different moral basis for leadership, retains traditional ideas of hierarchy and organisational structure – discretionary or ‘shared’ leadership theory recognises the need for a number of leaders with different viewpoints and responsibilities to coexist and cooperate in organisations. Discretionary leadership has emerged as a model suitable for complex modern day organisations (Kakabadse, 2000) with complex environments, contexts, and structures or, as Hunt put it, ‘macro-variables’ (Hunt 1981). Modern organisations are frequently network based, where the sum of a wide and diverse set of functions and departments combine to form a ‘virtual’ whole. Discretionary leadership places high value on an organisations’ ability to respond effectively to multiple agendas and stakeholders in a variety of situations simultaneously: a challenge that would be impossible to meet with conventional hierarchical organisations where leadership authority is held by a small number of senior managers. In essence, modern complex organisations need to coordinate the actions of a broad group of employees who adopt leadership behaviours, when and as required, to tackle the issues they face. Discretion would seem to be a two way process with this model: Senior leaders still define the degree of leadership authority that is delegated at their discretion, whilst employees are expected to adopt leadership roles, when necessary, at their discretion. Not completely un-hierarchical, but certainly less paternal and more organic than traditional models of leadership. Thus roles are defined in terms of the breadth of their discretion. At one extreme, some employees will have minimal discretion and be expected to carry out their duties in strict accordance with prescribed procedures – a model akin to that of production line workers in a scientific management system (Taylor 1910). At the other extreme, the CEO of an organisation has ultimate discretion. Between these two extremes it is vital that the quantity and quality of available leadership is commensurate with the needs of the organisation. Discretionary leadership, it is argued, is not only a suitable model for complex network-based organisations, but also the model of leadership that will naturally emerge in response to the pace and pressure of organisational change in the twenty-first century: The nature of role discretionary boundaries is increasingly determined by personal views concerning the challenges leaders face and the nature of those with whom they interact†¦Thus, the idiosyncratic nature of the organisation, the peculiarities of each leader role and the characteristics of each individual occupying such a role, are critical considerations in determining role boundaries and parameters. Kakabadse & Kakabadse, 1999) Organisations that require/generate substantial numbers of discretionary leaders will, by definition, include a multitude of visions and ideologies. Achieving cohesion is the vital key for this group model of leadership to be effective. This is achieved by those in charge skilfully conducting multiple conversations (or ‘polylogue’ – Kakabadse, 2005); by discretionary leaders reflectively understanding their roles and relationships and acting responsibly, and by promoting a shared philosophy, core vision and value system. Kouzmin has described this as the role of the ‘organisational architect’: The focus [for Contemporary leaders] has shifted increasingly to the role of the ‘organisational architect’. The principal contributing skill of architects is an ability to design and develop organisations; skills that require considerable creative insights and technical knowledge about how to analyse, design and stimulate complex, increasingly globalising, social and communication networks supported by rapidly advancing IT. Kouzmin et al. , 2007) With this model, leadership is not simply about goal-oriented control and coordination. Leaders need to properly understand the context in which actions are exercised and the appropriate mobilisation of others (Kakabadse, 2005). The modern organisation will be flatter, less hierarchical and based more on networks. It will be founded on interdependency, communication and the flow of ideas (supported by ever more sophisticated information techn ologies) rather than command and control models. With discretionary leadership employees will be incentivised to produce value by being fully and intelligently involved in the overall purpose of their organisation rather than alienated in the way that Marx (1959) has criticised scientific management (Taylor 1910). However, discretionary leadership also has its critics. Variations and tensions among workers in leadership roles can lead to negativity, whilst success is highly dependent on cohesion and the quality of interactions; both notoriously hard to control in network-based organisations: Where discretionary role analysis highlights variation of experience, capability, values, personality, behaviours, and the exercise of choice among the leaders of the organisation, tension and conflict become endemic with potentially disastrous implications for individuals and the organisation. (Finklestein and Hambrick, 1996) Globalisation, fast moving technological development, the increased recognition and value of social capital, multi-faceted demands and accountabilities, and the need to respond simultaneously and effectively to a number of agendas, means that organisations need different leadership models in the twenty-first century. Models of leadership that might have been appropriate to the manufacturing industries of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries now seem increasingly inappropriate to the educated, informed, skilled and sophisticated workforce of the present day, whether working in manufacturing or (more probably) in paper-based organisations or the service sector. It can, therefore, be argued that discretionary leadership is the ideal solution for the future, but only in a carefully esigned and managed system that maturely accepts the inherent will and ability to lead that is both needed and to be found within many key members of complex organisations. The utility of these ideas for me The leadership theories that I have chosen to examine might be considered to have much in common and it might seem that more radical alternatives could have been examined in order to better illustrate the contrast between theories. I have however chosen to focus on these models because of their resonance with my own i deas about leadership and their utility for a modern health service. I would also refute the view that servant leadership and discretionary leadership are very similar. Yes, they are both progressive, placing as they do an emphasis on employee empowerment and the importance of shared values and vision. However, servant leadership takes a rather traditional and paternalistic view of the structure of organisations and those destined to lead them, whilst discretionary leadership is based on a much more sophisticated understanding of the structural configuration of modern organisations. Personally, I have found utility in each of these models. As service lead for a new specialist mental health service, I am acutely aware of the complexity of modern day organisations as described by Hunt (1981) and Kakabadse (2000) in their explorations of discretionary leadership. The multifarious environmental, contextual and structural variables of the NHS epitomise the challenges recognised by advocates of this model. The NHS is also increasingly network based and is certainly the sum of a wide and diverse set of functions. For my own service, the ability to respond effectively to multiple agendas and stakeholders in a variety of situations simultaneously is vital. Our structure, although not completely without hierarchy, is relatively flat. The largest group of employees in my service are senior, professionally qualified practitioners including nurses, doctors, psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists. Each of these practitioners is responsible not only to me but also to their professional bodies and, as such, have a substantial degree of authority devolved to them, and broad freedoms to act and make decisions. The need to coordinate the actions of this broad group of employees is central to my role as service lead, as is the need for these well-paid individuals to accept and adopt leadership behaviours, when and as required, without undue recourse to management advice or consent. Discretionary leadership theory also recognises the need for a number of leaders with different viewpoints and responsibilities to coexist and co-operate in organisations. This is extremely pertinent to modern mental health services, which are both multi-disciplinary and multi-agency. With multi-disciplinary teams, each different discipline ideally brings unique professional skills and ideologies to the service, which are then combined to produce a multi-dimensional ‘whole’ befitting of a service aimed at meeting the holistic needs of diverse individuals. For me, the achievement of cohesion is certainly the vital key to realising this ideal and Kakabadse’s (2005) notion of ‘polylogue’ resonates with me. Similarly, modern mental health services exist as components of broader networks that transcend the traditional boundaries of the NHS. In order to run an effective service I need to manage interfaces with a wide and diverse range of partner agencies and stakeholders that include GPs and other referrers, social care agencies, specialist providers, the criminal justice system, drug services, community and faith groups, and service users and their carers. Pollywollydollylogue! Central to the achievement of cohesion in my service has been the promotion of a shared philosophy, vision and value system and Kouzmin’s (2007) concept of the ‘organisational architect’ appeals to me in this sense, with its emphasis on leaders’ responsibility for designing and developing organisations with shared vision and effective communication networks. This concept of shared vision is also found in servant-leadership. Covey (1999) emphasised the need for leaders to create a vision that involves and inspires, and that mobilises the efforts of others, and Depree’s (2002) third neccesity for servant-leadership was a clear moral purpose, arguing that leadership requires moral purpose to give it meaning. It is not surprising that such sentiments should find esonnance in the NHS, or any other care sector organisation that has its base in social morality, and we are reminded of Bevan’s vision for a national health service, available to everyone and free at the point of access, sixty years ago: The collective principle asserts that†¦ no society can legitimately call itself civilized if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means. (Bevan 1952) Interestingly, ‘moral purpose’ has played a significant role in influencing the development of my specialist field, Early Intervention in Psychosis (EI P), in this country. The introduction of this new model of mental health service has been extensively driven by a ‘bottom up’ approach that has witnessed the emergence of a ‘social movement’ for mental health reform (Bate et al, 2004): A diverse group of proponents, including statutory and non-statutory agencies, clinicians, service users and carer groups who are impatient for service reform and find commonality with the civil rights movement, equal rights for women campaigners and Gay Pride. Despite its diversity, this mental health social movement is connected by a shared view that that the suffering associated with the poor outcomes experienced by people with serious mental health problems is unnecessary, and largely a product of inadequate and ineffective services. It is argued that the kind of radical, transformational change required for mental health modernisation will not be achieved by top down, programmatic, transactional leadership approaches, but must be complemented by a grass roots desire for bold, sustainable change. Harnessing this shared sense of moral purpose has proved crucial to achieving cohesion in our complex service and is constantly and intentionally reinforced through team meetings, training and supervision. DePree’s (2002) notion of ‘fiduciary leadership’ also resonates and the sense that my position is one of responsibility and accountability both to and for a group of staff remains important for me. Having emerged from the ‘ranks’, my painfully slow rise to mediocrity might be seen as a good example of Greenleaf’s model, where individuals accept leadership, with modest reluctance, as a means to better serve others. In reality, my pathway has been determined by a combination of bossiness, laziness and poverty, fueled by a growing sense of moral purpose and by a personal philosophy that ‘it is better to lead, than be led by a w*nker’. I am, however, genuinely drawn to many of the core values of the servant-leader model: I believe that as leader I must work hard, contribute and model the values of the service. I believe that language and action must be consistent and that integrity breeds trust and confidence. I am keen to drive progress through experimentation and risk-taking but recognise interdependence with work colleagues and that change and improvement will only be delivered by harnessing human potential, empowering staff and clients, and by helping people to grow and fulfil their potential. In a service where ‘recovery’ is the product (or ‘profit’) it is vital that everybody’s contribution is acknowledged and people are fairly rewarded. Inevitably our system rewards some more than others and the recent introduction of ‘Agenda for Change’, the new NHS pay structure, has arguably made this harder. Never the less, I strongly agree with the need for personal restraint (DePree, 2002) in a system with such a wide range of pay scales. There is nothing more offensive than a highly paid NHS manager in an expensive sports car, no matter how severe their mid-life crisis. I do also recognise the reasonable criticisms of servant-leadership when presented as a purely transformational approach. Traditional transactional activities such as resource management, policy and proceedure are also necessary in a twenty-first century health service and some control remains necessary if outcomes are to be realised efficiently. Balancing these requirements with empowering models is the key, in my view, to enabling innovation and creativity whilst avoiding mediocrity and waste. Finally, as a big, hairy bossy-boots, I would need to declare some sympathy for the trait theorists. I think that I do have some natural in-built leadership qualities, as well as plenty of testosterone, and I enjoy seratonin as much as the next man (or woman)! Learning Points Foremost among the learning points stemming from this assignment for me was the relevance and usefulness of this subject to my work and this has been explored in the previous section. Also, I was surprised at just how large in both breadth and depth this subject is. Theories on leadership can be traced as far back as the ancient Greeks and Romans, with a massive expansion of interest dating back to the nineteenth century, culminating in a veritable explosion from the middle of the twentieth century onwards. And leadership theories stem from a wide spectrum of fields including industrial, religious, military, financial, educational, political and organisational. I have learned that no one model fully explains everything or is pertinent to all situations, and that leadership models, like history, are open to interpretation and reflective of the dominant culture of a particular place or time. Theories seem to exist, like most things, on a continuum, with poles that represent unworkable extremes such as dictatorship and anarchy. In between lie a spectrum of models that will have different levels of utility according to the presenting circumstances. I have reflected that there are times when strong, authoritarian leadership is necessary (such as wartime or when trying to organise a multi-agency conference! ) and there are times when more subtle influence is required. Coming from a health service management perspective, this assignment has reinforced my view, as illustrated by Covey’s (1999) description of servant leadership, that clinicians in caring roles have to want to perform well and that managers can’t force workers to ‘care’ – any more than the north wind could force the man to remove his cloak in Aesop’s sixth century BC fable of the wind and the sun: Kindness, gentleness, and persuasion win where force fails. (Aesop, 6BC) I have also learned to recognise that different, coexisting parts of the same organisation can be working to different leadership models simultaneously. For example, in our organisation, the IT and catering departments might be run along the lines of scientific management, the finance department (and in particular the director of finance) employ authoritarian transactional control, whilst our clinicians require engaging and empowering approaches to optimise their creativity and output. The CEO, as ‘organisational architect’ needs considerable skill to hold all of this together and I have learned that complex organisations like ours can only function when discretionary leadership roles are promoted. When thinking about the different types of leadership required in the NHS, I was also led to consider the problems that occur when leadership style conflicts with leadership need and there are many examples of organisational problems stemming from this kind of dichotomy. Similarly, problems occur when the ‘espoused’ (Argyris, 1974) theory of leadership differs from the theory in action. The starkest example of this, perhaps, would be Adolph Hitler, who espoused to be the natural leader (‘Ubermensch’ – Nietzsche, 1883) of national socialists but was in fact a nasty dictator. Speaking of dictatorship, in studying for this assignment I found myself naturally drawn to models of leadership that reflect my own values and beliefs and that vindicate my own approach. At the same time I found it useful to see these ideas in their broader context and contrasted with alternatives. I have become increasingly aware of the social, political, philosophical and spiritual dimensions of leadership theory and was struck by the strong link between Christianity and servant-leadership, with many of its exponents being unashamed god-botherers with evangelical tendencies. This led me to reflect on the way leadership theories have been influenced by dominant cultural models over time, and how we have seen a transition from authoritarian ‘old testament’ models of leadership at the start of the industrial revolution, to the scientific and evolutionary models of the twentieth century and, finally, to models based on the modern Christian/Humanistic values of empowerment. In the NHS we have witnessed a shift from leadership models based on power and status (Consultants, Medical Superintendents etc. to models based on emulating the business models and management control of business/industry, to the discretionary models of leadership that are increasingly found in large, complex, network-based NHS organisations. It remains to be seen whether the NHS will continue this evolutionary journey or, as some fear, pendulum back to models based on the divine power and status of medical leads and general managers. Conclusion This essay asked us to consider leadership requirements for the twenty-first century and I would be inclined to agree with Greenleaf’s (1970) axiomatic proposition that the system needed to deliver the necessary change would be the one that works best. For Greenleaf that was servant-leadership. Importantly Greenleaf identifies the requirement for leadership to deliver the ‘necessary change’, and this examination of leadership theories has shown me how the management of change is central to the purpose of leadership and how successfully managing change is a defining characteristic of leadership (Pedler et al, 2004). Pedler describes this in a way that both resonates with me and promotes simultaneously the ideas of discretionary leadership, servant leadership and transactional progress: Major change usually involves large numbers of people, and there are usually many agendas present concerning what the change should be, what it is for and how it is achieved. Listening to and balancing these views and concerns, whilst continuing to move forward is one of the hallmarks of good leadership. (Pedler et al, 2004) With regard to whether a different kind of leadership is required for the twenty-first century, I think that it can be concluded that different scenarios demand different models of leadership. Kakabadse (1999) argues that discretionary leadership will naturally emerge in response to the pace and pressure of organisational change in the twenty-first century. For me, the model of leadership needed in the twenty-first century, will be the one that best reflects the cultural norms and values of the century. For modern NHS organisations, I am inclined to agree with the discretionary leadership theorists that flexible, interdependent, multi-layered leadership based on shared values, relationships, communication and the flow of ideas is required. Gooding supports the view that the requirements of the twenty-first century will undoubtedly be different to those of the preceding centuries: The manager will become much more of a coach, positioned alongside rather than above his team, working with them, acknowledging their concerns, ideas and aspirations. (Gooding, 2005). According to Gooding, the ‘command and control’ culture is dying and the personality profile of successful managers will change, emphasising empathy and sensitivity. However, despite many examples of successful servant-leaders, I remain to be convinced that these models will soon be adopted in the ‘for-profit’ sector, where macho, transactional behaviour is still valued and rewarded: ‘You’re fired! ’ (Alan Sugar, 2008) References Aesop, (6BC). A Selection Of Aesop’s Fables From A New Translation For Modern Readers (1953), Wolverhampton College of Art Argyris, C and Schon D (1974). Theory in Practice, Jossey Bass Bate, P, Robert, G & Bevan, H (2004). The next phase of healthcare improvement: what can we learn from social movements? Quality and Safety in Health Care,13, p62 Bevan, A (1952). In Place of Fear, New York: Simon and Schuster Burke, E (1775). Speech on Conciliation with America, March 22, 1775, Department of Alfa-informatica, University of Groningen Burke, E (1790). Reflections on the Revolution in France and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event in a Letter Intended to be Sent to a Gentleman in Paris, Pall Mall (London): Dodsley Burns, JM (1978). Leadership, New York: Harper Row Covey, S R (1999). Servant leadership and Community Leadership in the Twenty-first Century in Spears LC and Lawrence M (2002) Focus on Leadership: Servant-Leadership for the 21st Century, Wiley Darwin, C (1859). On the Origin Of Species, London: John Murray DePree, M (1990). Leadership is an Art, Dell Depree, M (2002). Servant Leadership: Three Things Necessary in Spears LC and Lawrence M (2002) Focus on Leadership: Servant-Leadership for the 21st Century, Wiley Fairholm, GW (1991). Values Leadership: Towards a NewPhilosophy of Leadership, London: Praeger Finklestein, S and Hambrick, DC (1996). Strategic Leadership: Top Executives and their Effects on Organisations. New York: West Publishing Agency Freud, S (1922). Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. London: International Psychological Press Gooding, V (2005). What will Tomorrow’s Organisation Look Like? In Leadership and Management in the 21st Century: Business Challenges of the Future (ed. ) Cooper, CL (2005). Oxford University Press Greenleaf, RK (1970). The Servant as Leader. In (eds. ) Zimmerli, WC, Richter, K and Holzinger, M (2007. ) Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance, Berlin: Springer Hesse, H (1932). Journey to the East (Die Morganlandfahrt), Samuel Fisher House, RJ (1977). A 1976 Theory of Charismatic Leadership. In Leadership: The Cutting Edge, (eds. ) JG Hunt and LL Larson. Carbondale. IL: Southern Illinois University Press Hunt, JG et al. (1981). A Multiple Influence Model of Leadership. Report for the US Army Research Institute. Carbondale. IL: Southern Illinois University Press Hyun-kyung, K (2008) Will Servant Leadership Work in Next Government? In Korean Times, 30/01/08 Kakabadse, A & Kakabadse, N (1999). Essence of Leadership. London: International Thompson Kakabadse, A (2000). From Individual to Team to Cadre: Tracking Leadership for the Third Millennium. Journal of Strategic Change, Vol. 9 pp. 5-16. Kakabadse, A (2005). Discretionary Leadership: From Control/Coordination to Value Co-Creation Through Polylogue. In Leadership and Management in the 21st Century: Business Challenges of the Future (ed. ) Cooper, CL (2005). Oxford University Press Kouzmin, A Kakabadse, A & Kakabadse, N (2007). Leadership and Ethics in a Managerialist Context. In Public Governance and Leadership: Political and Managerial Problems in Making Public Governance Changes the Driver for Re-Constituting Leadership (ed) Koch, R and Dixon, J. Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universitats-Verlag Marx, K (1959). Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, Moscow: Progress Publishers Myung-bak, L (2002). Having Hope Among Continued Frustration, Nicholson, N (2000). Managing the Human Animal. London: Texere Nietzsche, F (1883) Also Sprach Zarathustra, Cherrnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner Pedler, M Burgoyn, J and Boydell T (2004). A Manager’s Guide to Leadership. Glasgow: McGraw Hill Sugar, A (2008). The Apprentice, BBC TV Taylor, FW (1911). The Principles of Scientific Management. New York: Harper Weber, M (1947). The Theory of Social and Economic Organisation. Henderson, AM and Parsons, T, New York: Free Press

Job Satisfaction and Employee Motivation

Content Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 *Literature Review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ *2 *Empirica*l case†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ *†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. *. *7* Google†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ *. *. *. *7 *Discussion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. *. *.. * *Conclusion & Recommendation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. *11 *References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. *13 A Critical analysis of work-motivation: a case study based on Google Inc. Introduction; _â€Å"Motivating people is easy but motivating people to work to the best of their abilities and directing their efforts to the goals of the organisation are the real issues and that is certainly not always easy† Mullins, L. J (Management and organisational behaviour, Pg 406, 5th Ed)_ This paper gives an understanding of the term _â€Å"Motivation†_. The term is used almost every day of our lives but not everyone know what it takes to actually practise motivating. In this case, I would be explaining in details what motivation is all about, the objectives of motivating an individual in a certain way and how the overall performance is affected. I would also be testing some motivational theories in an empirical case (Google). Here, I hope to identify the working style at Google; the nature of work, employees and the environment, what motivates and de-motivates employees and engineers at work. Organisations claim that their biggest asset or their major sources of competitive advantage are their employees but most organisations do not know how to motivate their employees. Research has shown that different organisations apply different style of motivation. We would analyse these empirical cases with the motivational theories discussed in the literature review and also analyse key motivational factors associated with our empirical case. This would lead to my conclusion and recommendation on how to effectively motivate employee to increase productivity and performance. A Review on Motivation and its theories Work motivation and employee satisfaction plays a more central role in the field of management theoretically and practically and it is indeed one of the most important factors affecting employee behaviour and performance. Managers attach great importance to this concept of management in organisational settings as an effective motivational practice on employee(s) lead to organisational effectiveness in different levels. The next question we can ask ourselves is â€Å"what is motivation? † The concept of motivation refers to internal factors that impel actions and external factors that can act as inducements to those actions Locke, E. A & Latham, G. P. (2004). This has being the universal definition of motivation but certain authors and researchers have aimed at giving the simplest definition to this concept. Mullins, L. J defines motivation â€Å"as the direction and persistence of action† (Pg 406, 5th Ed). Mullins went further to suggest that motivation is concerned, basically, with why people behave in a certain way, why people choose a particular course of action in preference to others and why they continue with a chosen action, often over a long period and in the face of difficulties and problems (pg 406, 5th ed). Atkinson defines motivation â€Å"as different factors that combine at a particular time to influence the duration, vigour, and persistence of an individual’s behaviour in a given situation (pp2, 1964). The three aspects of human actions which can be affected by motivation are intensity (effort), direction (choice) and duration (persistence) and coupled with experience and ability leads to effective performance Jindal-Snape & Snape, J. B (2006). Motivation, as a concept of management is vast in nature and indeed permeates many of the sub-field that compose the study of management e. . leadership, teams, performance management, managerial ethics, decision making and organisation change Steers, R. M & Mowday, T. R & Shapiro, D. L (2004) and this is the reason why this topic has attracted attentions from different authors and researchers in the past years. This has also led to the proposition of theories to support this managerial concept i. e. motivation. These theories are ref erred to as motivational theories. There are so many theories on motivation, each acting as a competitor to the other on attempt to best explain the nature of motivation. Within the vast number of theories, some are built on economic knowledge with a psychological understanding (Maslow, 1943) etc. Mullins, L. J suggests that all these theories are at least partially true and all help explain the behaviour of certain people at certain times but however, the search for a generalized theory on motivation at work appears to be in vain (Pg 414, 5th Ed). It is indeed because of the fact that there are no generalized or single solutions as to what motivates people or individual in organisation, that there are different theories on motivation. These theories are then divided into those concerned with identifying the needs toward which behaviour(s) is directed – content theory and those that are concerned with the dynamic, mental processes that lead to individuals following certain goals rather than others – process theory Jindal-Snape & Snape (2006). Abraham Maslow proposed the most influential and widely recognised theory of motivation. The Maslow theory of needs (1943) is the one of the widely discussed theories of motivation having proposed the hierarchy of needs. He proposed that individuals are wanting beings, who always want more and what they want depends on what they already have and these needs are arranged according to its importance in levels, hence the hierarchy of needs {draw:frame} Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943) Jindal-Snape and Snape (2006) suggests that according to this hierarchy, each need can act as a motivator, provided all needs lower in the hierarchy are satisfied and a satisfied need no longer act as a strong motivator. This goes to explain why individuals/employees who are not satisfied at their current position would be motivated to put in more efforts until their needs are satisfied. Maslow argued that the first three needs on the list represent deficiency needs that people must master before they can develop into a healthy personality, while the last two represent the growth needs that relate to individual achievements and development of human potentials Steers, R. M et al (2006). Mullins evaluated Maslow’s theory of needs by suggesting that individuals advance up the hierarchy as each lower-level needs becomes satisfied and therefore, managers must pay attention to the next higher level of needs in other to motivate employees if there is a change in behaviour (Pg 418, 5th ed). Abraham Maslow’s theory (1943) attracted criticism Wahba, A & Bridgewell, L (1976) for the existence of a definite hierarchy of need. In 1972, Clayton Alderfer modified Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model. He summarized the hierarchy of needs into a framework of three different classes of needs known as ERG Jindal-Snape & Snape (2006). Existence needs, which include nutritional and material requirements. At work places, working conditions and pay/wages fall into this type of need Relatedness needs, which are met through relationship with family and friends and at work places, relationship with fellow colleagues and managers. Growth needs which reflect desire for personal psychological development Fincham and Rhodes suggest that Clayton Alderfer (1972) theory differs in number of important respects to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (pg 198, 4th Ed). They went further to say that while Maslow proposed a progression up the hierarchy, Alderfer argued that it was better to think in terms of a continuum, from concrete (existence needs) to least concrete (growth needs) and it is possible to move along it in either directions (pg 198, 4th Ed). This means that if an individual’s need e. g. growth needs seem difficult to fulfil, that creates a frustration regression that forces a shift to another need e. g. relatedness needs. Jindal-Snape and Snape suggested that ERG theory differs from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in that it does not assume that a need is only activated if it is deficient and two needs could operate at the same time in motivational practice. Fredrick Herzberg (1966) was accredited as the founder of the second, highly influential theory to have evolved after Maslow’s. Unlike Maslow and Alderfer, Herzberg’s work was based on research where he interviewed professionals from different companies, this work he called the Herzberg’s two-factor theory. This theory consists of two factors noted from his interviews. Factors that led to employee dissatisfaction, he called de-motivators or hygiene factors while factors that led to individual/employee satisfaction, he called motivators. Fincham and Rhodes suggest that motivators involved achievements, advancement, recognition, autonomy and other intrinsic aspect of work that represent sources of satisfaction and if absent leads to dissatisfaction while the other concerned with working conditions, salary, job security, company policy, supervisors and interpersonal relations and other sources of extrinsic aspect of work were sources of dissatisfaction (pg 199, 4th ed). Herzberg’s two factor theory are also referred to as intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors and it has being highly influential and practised. Herzberg deserves credit for introducing the field to the role of job design specifically, job enrichment as a key factor in work motivation and job attitudes Steers, M. R et al (2004). Herzberg’s two factor theory are not to be confused as being opposite of each other as Wilson, F. M suggests that the opposite of job satisfaction is no job satisfaction while the opposite of job dissatisfaction is no job dissatisfaction (Pg148, 2nd Ed). Another motivational theorist was David McClelland (1992). He based his work on the personality of individuals Jindal-Snape & Snape (2006). He identified four main motives; The achievement motive, explains our concerns for doing things better than others Power motives, desire to influence others Need for affiliation, desire to establish and have a positive relationships with people around us. Avoidance motives Very often, we hardly recognize the latter one as the top three are the most important. Mullins suggests that the first three motives correspond to Maslow’s self-actualisation, esteem and love needs (Pg 425, 5th ed) while Jindal-Snape & Snape (2006) suggests that although everyone has all needs, the strength of each need for each individual is different. They went further to say that these needs are innate and are developed relatively early in life and they remain unchanged. These motivational theories mentioned above all fall into the content theory of motivation, we have identified and elaborated on them. I would now move ahead to briefly identify some of the process theory of motivation. I will not be going into detail with the process theory of motivation as it wouldn’t be needed for the latter stages of this study. Process theories also called the cognitive theories aim at â€Å"identifying the relationships among the dynamic variable which make up motivation and the actions required to influence behaviour and actions† Mullins, L. J (Management and organisational behaviour, Pg 426, 5th Ed). Mullins suggests that it provides further contribution to our understanding of the complex nature of motivation (Pg 426, 5th Ed). Very few motivational theories fall into the category and some of these theories are Vroom’s Expectancy theory proposed by Vroom. V (1964) and then revised together with Lawler, E. & Porter, L. (1968). Goal setting theory proposed by Locke, E. A (1960s) has emerged as one of the modernised way of motivating employees Wiley (1997). This theory emerged as researchers began to discover that simple act of specifying target for behaviour enhanced task performance Steers, R. M et al (2004). Locke (1968) suggests that the logic of goal setting theory is that an employee’s conscious intentions i. . the goals are primary determinants of task-related motivation since goals are instruments that direct our thoughts and actions. Results of goals/self-regulation research indicate two critical preconditions of a positive goal-performance feedback: acceptance of goals assignment and provisions for performance feedback Wiley (1997). An Empirical Case Having discussed and understood what motivation and the related theories are all about, the next step is to identify how applicable these theories are in a real life situation especially for the purpose of this case study. Jindal-Snape and Snape (2006) suggest that to answer this sort of questions, we first need to consider the nature of the work and the environment, and then the nature of these workers themselves. About Google Google Inc. is an American public corporation. [1]Founded in 1998, Google runs the world’s most popular internet search engine. Its position has earned the organisation huge profits and given it outsize influence over the online world. It is also known for the quirky corporate culture created by its billionaire co-founder, Larry Page and Sergey Brin which includes a chaotic, campus-like atmosphere at its offices, where workers are pampered with free, chef-prepared food and other amenities. My research environment (Google) is highly engineering-driven and we all know that engineers enjoy a lot of trust, creativity and power which is very different from most jobs at a more product-driven company. Firstly, I would be giving a proper definition of what engineering is all about, the nature of engineers and what motivates them. Engineers are people who are qualified, trained professionally to engage in various branches of engineering. Wen, C. K (2007) suggests that engineers are normally assigned to problems and a specific set of goals and constraints; they find technical solution to the problem that satisfies these goals within those constraints and these goals and constraints may be technical, social or business related. Engineers solve practical problems with the aid of technological tools, mathematical and scientific knowledge which they possess. They are often confused with scientist Jindal-Snape & Snape (2006) but in essence, scientist explore nature to discover undiscovered principals while engineers apply these principles coupled with technological knowledge to solve technical problems. In the field of engineering, engineers are generally motivated by two most important factors; innovation and creativity. Engineering involves creativity as it gives engineers the freedom to engage in self-driven tasks. This can act as a very strong intrinsic motivation which it corresponds to Herzberg’s motivator in his two theories (1966). Vere, I. 2009) argues that it is implicit that creativity is integral to design innovation, and that design and the fostering of creativity should be the cornerstone of engineering pedagogy. Further, Vere, I. D suggests that creativity is of paramount importance in the engineering practice as it endows one with the insight and discipline to seek out and address problems from the boundaries of dif ferent engineering disciplines. For engineers, innovation leads to an awareness of self-importance which corresponds to esteem needs on Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy of needs. Innovation and innovativeness leads to recognition Herzberg’s two-factor theory (1966). Innovation leads to advancement which creates challenges as Jindal-Snape & Snape suggest that the rate at which science and technology are advancing provides a different set of challenges and if these engineers were to stay on top of their game, access to up-to-date equipments must be necessary and at hand. Engineers are also highly motivated through feedbacks on their innovation and products, an assured link between their efforts and outcome Jindal-Snape & Snape (2006) and researchers have also shown that this field of occupation are highly motivated by intrinsic factors than extrinsic factors. Having said all this, we would be looking at some secondary empirical data from ex-googlers relating to employees’ satisfaction, problem encountered with aim at exploring and identifying the perception of these engineers regarding the factors that motivate them. I would be discussing ways on how such problems could be minimized, motivational schemes that can be put in place to eliminate such problems. According to a blog [2] posted by an ex-googler stating his reasons why he left the search giants, he states and I quote; â€Å"For one thing, it was unlikely to initially be able to work in an area that one was passionate _about, the products and team where all interesting and exciting to work with but unfortunately, I was unable to be passionate about my particular area. This became less of an issue as time went by but for experienced engineers that have good knowledge and understanding of what they want and what sort of things they enjoy working on, this could lead to job dissatisfaction†. The same engineer and ex-googler as above went further to say that due to sheer size of code base and vast number of Google’s specific tools and frameworks; it also takes very long time to learn how to actually become productive at Google, which can be very annoying, frustrating and de-motivating at times. Another internet blog [3] from an engineer and ex-googler reports his insights about what it was really like working for Google. This particular engineer who now works for Microsoft reports that the lava lamps, organic dinner and free shuttle; hygiene factor (Herzberg’s two-factor theory, 1966) put in place to act as a source of motivation lies a company where employees end up working long hours, don’t enjoy private offices and get paid less. He also highlighted some de-motivators working for Google. _â€Å"Employees are generally in the building working long hours between 10am to 6pm and after that, most engineers spend most of their evening working from home. There are employees whose desks are literally in the hallway. Google does not place any value on past or previous industry experience but puts tremendous values on degrees especially from Stanford. Employees actually get paid less salary compared to the amount of effort put in and the quality of the health insurance is not above standards. Most employees don’t actually get a 20percent project and managers will not remind you to start one†. _ According to another internet source [4], a 20percent project is an allocation of 20percent time to every engineer and employee at Google to work on side projects and indeed great innovation come out from this provision of 20percent time e. g. -mail, Google news etc. Very few internet blogs from ex-googlers show job dissatisfaction at Google while most internet blogs and videos indeed agree that Google is indeed a very unique place to work. Engineers and employees agree that the organisation provides everything they needed to work with and be productive but it’s up to them i. e. the engi neers to take that extra mile. We have understood the theoretical aspect of motivation and we have seen some empirical cases of engineers and ex-googlers. Now, I would be analysing these empirical cases with some of the motivational theories discussed above to form a conclusion. Extrinsic Factors/Hygiene Factors (Herzberg, 1966) These factors provide less or no motivation to employees but the absence of these factors leads to a dissatisfaction in work places. In organisations, managers perceive extrinsic motivation as a motivator but in essence, they are not real motivators, rather they support the mental ability and health of these employees. Such factors include wages, benefits, company policies and administrative rules and regulation governing these employees, interpersonal relations with fellow colleagues, supervisors and subordinates, good working conditions and security. From one of the blogs above, we observed an engineer and ex-googler who was dissatisfied with the nature of the job. He emphasized on long working hours and less salary paid which does not compensate for the long hours of working. Early management theories such as Fredrick W. Taylor’s scientific management theory suggested using financial compensation to impel motivation and job performance Wiley (1997). Wiley also suggested that while controversies persisted, pay or good wages is generally valued by all employees and good wages continues to be ranked among the top five factors that motivate people in their respective jobs. Also, according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943), psychological needs are said to be the first and most important need to be satisfied and in other to satisfy this needs, good or satisfactory wage has to be paid to employees to ensure maximum productivity. This same employee identified poor working conditions as another factor that contributed to his dissatisfaction. He brought to our attention that some employees have their office desk literally on the hallway due to the fact that there were less room available. He also made mention of the company’s health insurance which was not up to standard. These factors constitute to employee dissatisfaction and change in behaviour and attitude towards work. This also corresponds with Clayton Alderfer’s (1972) existence needs which include material requirements, good working conditions and substantial pay. For these employees to work effectively and productively, this need has to be satisfied but not as much as their intrinsic needs if there exists any. Extrinsic factors could be a source of motivation for these engineers unlike scientists Jinda-Snape & Snape (2006) where salaries, incentive schemes, prospects for promotion and other extrinsic factors were not considered as motivating factors. Intrinsic factors/Motivators (Herzberg 1966) Motivational factors (Herzberg, 1966) are factors which build strong motivation and create a high job satisfaction for employees and they are directly related to the job content of any employee. Absence or decrease in level of these motivations is sure to affect the level of employee satisfaction. An observation in the internet blog from an ex-googler identifies this factor as a major contributor of his dissatisfaction at Google. He states that he was no allowed to work in an area that he was passionate about, leading to dissatisfaction. Herzberg’s two-factor theory (1966) mentions autonomy or having a responsibility as an employee to undertake personal tasks leads to job satisfaction. This need to work where one is passionate about leads to self development and achievement and this relates to Clayton Alderfer’s (1972) growth need reflecting the desire for one’s personal development. From the internet blog described above, the ex-googler and employee reports that Google does not place value on past experience. I think this statement relates to the need for recognition (Herzberg, 1966) and the need for achievement (David McClelland, 1992). These two needs both represent intrinsic factors that motivate engineers. They want to be recognized for their individual achievements as well as scientist (Jindal-Snape & Snape, 2006). Another intrinsic factor which motivates employees and engineers at Google is the nature of innovation and being innovative. From a video posted on the internet on life at Google, engineers are allocated personal time to engage in self-driven tasks which leads to side projects and occasionally transform into innovations. From the blog above, we observed that an engineer was dissatisfied due to the fact that most employees do not actually get that 20percent project and managers do not remind them to start one. This also relates to Clayton Alderfer’s (1972) growth need and desire for personal development. Analysis of Google key motivational factor Google seems to be aware of what motivates its employee to their best at work, the need to customize and individualize programs for motivation and intrinsic rewards. Individualization defines human beings as unique in different ways and Google accomplishes this individualization by allowing each engineer in the company take one day a week to work on personal related projects. This is the ultimate in individualization because it not only gives the employee the choice of choosing any projects but allows autonomy and independence in management of the project; growth needs (Clayton Alderfer, 1972). Google also identifies what motivates its employee through communicating with them and because of this communication that they are able to motivate employees through intrinsic rewards. Conclusion and recommendations Over the past years, there have been numerous surveys on what motivates employees to do their best work and in other to attain to high levels of performance; employers depend on their employees to perform at levels that positively affect the bottom line Wiley (1997). We have learnt that the various theories of motivation discussed in my literature review have various applications in managerial practices. When applying these theories practically, managers must take into consideration how each employee feel and react to their work. These employee feelings and reaction are based on their personality, characteristics, need pattern and values. It also depends on the job component, nature and role of the job, the autonomy and skills in executing the task. Managers must consider both intrinsic and extrinsic aspect of the task and apply various motivational theories when suitable. When motivating these employees with intrinsic factors, managers and employers must show appreciation and give credit to employees for their work and always praise for a job well-done Wiley (1997). Wiley also suggest that recognition and praise are probably the most powerful and efficient, yet the least costly motivational tool. Another intrinsic motivational tool that managers should apply is autonomy and employee independence. This creates a sense of moral respect for an employee’s action towards their work and creates a huge motivation and job satisfaction. Google managers should allow engineers take on projects that they are passionate about. This freedom to participate on self-driven task would create job satisfaction as human being enjoy what they love doing. Extrinsic factors are related to the content or environment in which the job is executed. Mangers and employers must ensure that employees get satisfactory wage to cater for their psychological needs which is first on the order of hierarchy, ensure that there are good working conditions, provision of tangible rewards and fringe benefits, job security, job re-design and promotion offered to act as source of motivation to employees. Promotion and growth in the organisation and interesting work are longstanding factors that motivate people to do their best work. Employers and managers should communicate with their employees often to identify their personal needs. Employee survey should be used to gain additional information from employees regarding motivational preferences and this is often what they value and lack. Wiley further suggest that if organisations adequately and regularly administer such surveys and consider their results, then perhaps they would gain a great deal on competitive advantage through motivated and productive employees. Reference Alderfer, C. P (1972) Existence, Relatedness and Growth: Human needs in Organisational settings. The Free Press, New York. Atkinson, J. W. (1964) Introduction to motivation. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand Cardona, P & Lawrence, B. S & Espejo, A. (2003) Outcome-based theory of work motivation. Working paper No. 495. University of Navarra, Spain. Delfgaauw, J & Dur, R. (2004) Incentives and workers’ motivation in the public sector. CESIFO working paper No. 1223. Ellers, N & Gilder, D. D & Haslam, S. A. (2004) Motivating individuals and groups at work: A social identity perspective on leadership and group performance. Academy of management review, Vol. 29, No. 3, 459-478 Fincham, R & Rhodes, P. 2005) Principals of organisational behaviour. 4th Edition. Oxford University Press Inc. , New York. Herzberg, F. (1966) Work and the nature of man, World publishing co. , Cleveland, OH. Jindal-Snape, D & Snape, J. B (2006) Motivation of scientists in a government research institute; Scientists’ perception and the role of management. Journal of management decision. Vol: 44 No 10, p p. 1325-1343. Kanfer, R & Ackerman, P. L. (2004) Aging, adult development and work motivation. Academy of management review, Vol. 29, No. 3, 440-458. Locke, E. A & Latham, G. P (2004) What should we do about motivation theory? Six recommendations for the twenty-first century. Academy of Management review, Vol. 29, No. 3, 388-403. Maslow, A. (1943) A theory of human motivation. Psychological review, Vol. 50, No. 4 , pp. 370-96. Maslow, A. H. (1954) Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row. Mullins, L. J (1999) Management and organisational behaviour. 5th Edition. FT Prentice hall Osterloh, M & Frey, B. S (1999) Motivation, Knowledge transfer and organisational form. Institute for empirical research in economics. University of Zurich. Price, D. (2007) A comparative Review of attributes of engineers in senior management roles. A Dissertation submitted to the faculty of engineering and surveying. University of Southern Queensland. Seo, G & Barraett, L. F & Bartunek, J. M (2004) The role of affective experience in work motivation. Academy of Management review, Vol. 29, No. 3, 423-439 Steen, E. V (2006) The limits of authority: Motivation versus Coordination. MIT Sloan school of management. Working paper 4626-06 Steers, R. M & Mowday, R. T & Shapiro, D. L (2004) The future of work motivation theory. Academy of Management review, Vol. 29, No. 3, 379-387. Van Herpen, M & Van Praag, M & Cools, K. 2003) The effects of performance measurement and compensation on motivation; an empirical study. Tinbergen Institute for economic research, Amsterdam. Vere, I. (2009) Developing creative engineers: A design approach to engineering education. ICEPDE, Brighton. UK Wahba, A & Bridgewell, L (1976). â€Å"Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory†. Organizational Behaviour and Human Perfor mance (15): 212–240. Wen, C. K (2007) Is there any difference in CEO characteristics between government, not-for-private, publicly listed sector: Implications for engineers aspiring to become top-senior managers. A Dissertation submitted to the faculty of engineering. University of Southern Queensland. Wilson, F. M. (2004) Organisational behaviour and work: a critical introduction, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press Inc. , New York. Wiley, C. (1997) What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys. International journal of manpower, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 263-80 [1] Company Information (Google), [updated Jan 5th 2010] http://topics. nytimes. com/top/news/business/companies/google_inc/index. html? scp=1&sq=google%20inc&st=Search [2] Ex-googler’s blog, 2008, on leaving Google Available at:

Emma VS Clueless essays

Emma VS Clueless essays The movie Clueless that came out in 1995 was smash hit at the box offices, and while being based on the nineteenth century novel Emma the two stories shared almost identical characteristics despite the time and location that they took place in. At the center of each story is a spoiled young woman. Clueless is centered on a young teen from LA and in the novel Emma; Emma stars a Spoiled young woman in high society nineteenth century England. Both young ladies are from a higher class than most and they both go through a maturing phase in life after a major calamity. Cher and Emma are both very arrogant at times and tend to think of themselves very highly. I think the reason for this is because they were both raised by there fathers, who are over indulgent at times as well as the fact that both of their mothers died while they were still very young. Im sure it is hard to find many personal flaws with yourself while you are provided with everything that you want. In the start of each story both Cher and Emma take mercy on new comers to their social rings. In Clueless a new girl from New York is landed in the middle of Chers school. Cher instantly sees this as one of her projects, she decides that she will take Tai the new girl in and teach her the rules and etiquette of someone of her social rank. Cher and he friend Dee take Tai around school and show her all of the social classes. They point out where she will fit and where she will not. Tai meets a boy that she likes at lunch, but when she shares the good news with her new friends she is scolded because of the boys social standing. Cher says that these Skateboarding hippies are unpolished and will bring Tai down and that no respectable girl actually dates them. The story of Emma is remarkably similar. In Emmas case she takes in Harriet Smith a girl of obvious lower class. When Harriet tells Emma of her new friendships she has made with the ma...

Labyrinth essays

Labyrinth essays Thousands of questions arise when I think of a labyrinth. Of course, I thought that the simplest is - what it is? But, probably, I was wrong. The labyrinth dates back to prehistoric time, and is perceived as sacred space. It had been a part of many cultures, such as Celtic, Mayan, Greek, Cretan, and Native American. The word labyrinth comes from a Latin word, "labrys" which means "double-axe". On one hand labyrinths were built to protect, but on the other what if the person trying to be protected was lost in it. And so is with a double-bladed axe. It can be used to defeat the enemy as long as the other side of it does not defeat the allies. Labyrinths were used to protect different things. Labyrinth is a huge building with lots of rooms, long corridors, with hidden exit and hard-to-find enter. The Egyptians used them to protect riches and even important, bodies. In Cretian mythology, the labyrinth was built by Daedalus for King Minos to protect the people of Crete from a Minotaur. H e was kept inside so he could do the people no harm. Labyrinths can protect, destroy, isolate or hide. They can entertain you for hours, but if you are trapped inside and can find no way out, it ¡s becoming a torture. People still wonder with what purpose labyrinths were created. Were they meant for entertainment, protection, or torture? No one will really ever know for sure. Some people even consider that labyrinths are some kind of radars of other worlds. People also consider labyrinth to be a sacred place for meditations.  ¡What is a labyrinth? It is not a maze made to engage and confuse the mind, but a single path that meanders throughout a usually circular form, leading finally to the center. As the body moves, the mind quiets, freeing the spirit within to lift images and feelings to the conscious mind. Within the safe, gentle container of the labyrinth, release of pain and sorrow, of negative ways of thinking, or of the difficulty of making a...

How To Save Time Writing For Your Blog

How To Save Time Writing For Your Blog You cant invent time. No matter how appealing it sounds, it just isnt going to happen. But what if you could at least make a big dent in your efficiency and productivity? What if you really could save time writing for your blog? The number one thing that I hear over and over again from writers, bloggers, and marketers is that they simply  dont have enough time to write and create their content. Just take a look at this comment from blog reader Chuck Reynolds. He doesnt have the time either. See, youre not alone.   The question were all asking is how do I save time writing? I may not be the foremost expert, but here are a few of the strategies that I use to save time and write more content. There Are Only Three Ways To Save Time Not long ago, I hypothesized that there were only three ways to make a team more productive. Even now, I still believe that these are the only three ways to solve most productivity problems. They are: Add more tools (or in some cases people). Put in more time (or use it better). Eliminate something, and hone in on what matters. You can approach each of these differently, but they really are the only options at hand. Heres how you can apply them to your writing. Heres how to invent time and write more content. #contentmarketingOption 1: Add Better Tools One of the first places that we look for productivity improvements is in tools and talent. These are the tangible options with tangible solutions. With more people in seats, you can easily get more things done. The same goes for tools. It is easy to see why more efficient tools would help your productivity. If you can save a few minutes here and there, you can make more time available for writing, and creating the content that you want to be sharing on your blog. Here are five tools that might help your productivity right now: #1 – Evernote One of my all time favorite writing tools is most definitely Evernote. I use it to keep track of all of my blog post ideas and regularly add notes and outlines to my documents as I come up with new ideas or details for posts. With Evernote, I can easily take my blogging brain on the go, so time and location are never a limitation to my writing process. Heres this blog post in Evernote before it was a real thing. The beautiful thing about a notes application like Evernote (or OneNote, which  writer Julie prefers) is that there is nothing formal about them. They are the perfect place to literally dump your ideas on the page without making anything too final. This makes a good digital notes application the perfect option, as long as you have a system for managing these notes. Another option that you may want to consider is WordPress own SimpleNote. #2 – makes it easy to catalog and organize your blog post ideas. Using the drafts menu on the right side of the page, you can easily view blog posts that are currently in draft mode and unscheduled on the calendar. With an integrated search and filter option, post ideas are right at your fingertips. You can easily store and access your draft blogs posts with . *shameless plug, yes* At our office, we use drafts as the second level of idea cataloging. At least once each month we all get into the conference room and share our post ideas that weve created with the team. The good ones get added to the calendar or placed in the draft menu for another time. #3.  StayFocusd StayFocused is a free  Chrome extension that will help you to stay more focused on your writing by restricting the amount of time you spend on distracting websites. For exampleFacebook. You can decide to limit the amount of time that you spend on the site to 15 minutes per day. Once youve used your time up on the site, youre done for the day and have no excuses to not get back to work. How productive is that?   #4   Omm Writer OmmWriter is a desktop (Mac, Windows, or iPad) application that promises to give you your own private writing room where you can close the door behind you to focus on your writing in peace. Basically, it is an application that consumes the entire screen in an effort to block out the normal distractions that crop up in when youre writing. It provides a very pleasing experience, and can even be set to exclude sound on a desktop-based notifications. *Dont forget about WordPresss own full-screen option for writing you blog content. Its free, and even closer to home. #5 Draft Draft is another full-screen writing tools similar to Omm that works directly in your browser. It is worth mentioning because it almost combines the power of both Evernote and Omm together in one package, making it a simple place to store ideas and even write out entire posts. Save Time While Writing With These 5 Productivity-Boosting Tools Beware! New Tools Arent Always Productive It is important to keep in mind that not all tools will make you more productive. In some cases, they can even add more work, more process, and occasionally more down time. In our own office, we once added a new productivity tool to our office that felt more productive, but over time it slowly faded away because managing it was simply too cumbersome. It could do everything, and was unnecessarily complex. Sometimes, simpler tools are better tools. Option 2: Put In More Time The most basic and reliable method for  getting more done is to simply put in more time. This works, sure, but it may not always be sustainable. Most of us are struggling with time management in the first place, and putting in more time can even lead to writer burnout. The alternative is to make your time more efficient by improving your overall writing process, making your use of time much better. Here are few things you can do. #1 – Change When You Write I like to write first thing in the morning, but I didnt always know that these were some of my best hours for creativity.  For years I wrote most of my content during peak office hours, or even in the evening. I had no idea that I was missing out on some of my most creative thinking periods. By switching my normal writing time to the morning, I avoid common distractions and get things done  before the chaos of the day beings. Try experimenting with your own writing schedule. You might be surprised at what a difference a few small changes can make. #2 – Change How You Prepare To Write A while back when I was writing a new blog post every day, I started the habit of reviewing my post topic before I drove into the office. I would simply grab my iPad and open Evernote with my notes for the post that I was scheduled to write for the day. I ended up adding or  clarifying  a few things in my notes before  committing  the topic idea to  memory. Do everything you can to eliminate inefficiency from your writing process. This simple act would set off a chain reaction in my mind. I would spend the entire drive to work  reviewing  the post idea and coming up with new approaches or  additional  content, making double use of that drive time. The result was an efficient use of time, and a much faster writing process when it finally came time to begin writing.   #3 – Adjust Your Writing Process In the beginning, I used to sit down and write everything as if I was crafting the final draft. I would write (and then re-write) each sentence before finally moving on to my next point. This method was slow, and overly cumbersome, costing me precious time. I finally adjusted my writing workflow and began by creating an extremely rough version of post in a matter of a few minutes. This method allowed me to make progress quickly and get a big picture look at the post before I added final edits. As content creators, we can easily get ourselves in a rut where we follow the process without ever evaluating how we are getting there. By simply stepping back for a wider view, we might be able to eliminate inefficiency and save time writing for our blog. Your Writing Process Itself Is Preventing You From Saving Time While WritingOption 3: Hone In On What Matters The most difficult (and probably the most effective) method for saving time is to simply eliminate some things that you are doing. With less stuff to do, there is more time available for the things that matter. By making tough decisions now and cutting out activities or projects that might be otherwise good projects, you are better able to focus more closely on a few key goals and excel at them.