Leadership in the Field of Criminal Justice Term Paper

Leadership in the Field of Criminal Justice - Term Paper Example The following questions will be asked, discussed, and analyzed: What does it take to become an authentic leader who people want to follow, does every manager need to be a leader, why is leadership portrayed in terms of how managers manage people, why is leadership portrayed in terms of how managers manage people, how can you be said to lead people when you have the authority to tell them what to do, and what does it take to become an authentic leader who people want to follow?   Although the answers to each of these questions vary with relation to the individual, form of management, particular leadership style, and setting in which it is put into practice, broad and overarching implications can be drawn from the applications of the answers to the above questions as will be demonstrated in this brief analysis.  As the report declares the terms have clear connotation and denotation in written and spoken language, when they are put into practice and a firm definition of which one le ads to another can be a bit troublesome.   For this purpose, this brief analysis will work to scrutinize leadership and management as they relate to the field of criminal justice.   It is additionally important to note that each of the questions that this analysis will work to scrutinize have strong interconnected dependence and relationships between one another whereby by answering and analyzing one of the questions parallels and strong inference as well as development can be drawn on the other questions which are analyzed.

Audit Consultant Essay Example for Free

Audit Consultant Essay The Science of Scientific Writing If the reader is to grasp what the writer means, the writer must understand what the reader needs George D. Gopen and Judith A. Swan* *George D. Gopen is associate professor of English and Director of Writing Programs at Duke University. He holds a Ph. D. in English from Harvard University and a J. D. from Harvard Law School. Judith A. Swan teaches scientific writing at Princeton University. Her Ph. D. , which is in biochemistry, was earned at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Address for Gopen: 307 Allen Building, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706 Science is often hard to read. Most people assume that its difficulties are born out of necessity, out of the extreme complexity of scientific concepts, data and analysis. We argue here that complexity of thought need not lead to impenetrability of expression; we demonstrate a number of rhetorical principles that can produce clarity in communication without oversimplifying scientific issues. The results are substantive, not merely cosmetic: Improving the quality of writing actually improves the quality of thought. The fundamental purpose of scientific discourse is not the mere presentation of information and thought, but rather its actual communication. It does not matter how pleased an author might be to have converted all the right data into sentences and paragraphs; it matters only whether a large majority of the reading audience accurately perceives what the author had in mind. Therefore, in order to understand how best to improve writing, we would do well to understand better how readers go about reading. Such an understanding has recently become available through work done in the fields of rhetoric, linguistics and cognitive psychology. It has helped to produce a methodology based on the concept of reader expectations. Writing with the Reader in Mind: Expectation and Context Readers do not simply read; they interpret. Any piece of prose, no matter how short, may mean in 10 (or more) different ways to 10 different readers. This methodology of reader expectations is founded on the recognition that readers make many of their most important interpretive decisions about the substance of prose based on clues they receive from its structure. This interplay between substance and structure can be demonstrated by something as basic as a simple table. Let us say that in tracking the temperature of a liquid over a period of time, an investigator takes measurements every three minutes and records a list of temperatures. Those data could be presented by a number of written structures. Here are two possibilities: t(time)=15’, T(temperature)=32? , t=0’, T=25? ; t=6’, T=29? ; t=3’, T=27? ; t=12’, T=32? ; t=9’; T=31? time (min) 0 3 6 9 12 15 temperature(? C) 25 27 29 31 32 32 Precisely the same information appears in both formats, yet most readers find the second easier to interpret. It may be that the very familiarity of the tabular structure makes it easier to use. But, more significantly, the structure of the second table provides the reader with an easily perceived context (time) in which the significant piece of information (temperature) can be interpreted. The contextual material appears on the left in a pattern that produces an expectation of regularity; the interesting results appear on the right in a less obvious pattern, the discovery of which is the point of the table. If the two sides of this simple table are reversed, it becomes much harder to read. temperature(? C) 25 27 29 31 32 32 time(min) 0 3 6 9 12 15. Since we read from left to right, we prefer the context on the left, where it can more effectively familiarize the reader. We prefer the new, important information on the right, since its job is to intrigue the reader. Information is interpreted more easily and more uniformly if it is placed where most readers expect to find it. These needs and expectations of readers affect the interpretation not only of tables and illustrations but also of prose itself. Readers have relatively fixed expectations about where in the structure of prose they will encounter particular items of its substance. If writers can become consciously aware of these locations, they can better control the degrees of recognition and emphasis a reader will give to the various pieces of information being presented. Good writers are intuitively aware of these expectations; that is why their prose has what we call shape. This underlying concept of reader expectation is perhaps most immediately evident at the level of the largest units of discourse. (A unit of discourse is defined as anything with a beginning and an end: a clause, a sentence, a section, an article, etc. ) A research article, for example, is generally divided into recognizable sections, sometimes labeled Introduction, Experimental Methods, Results and Discussion. When the sections are confusedwhen too much experimental detail is found in the Results section, or when discussion and results interminglereaders are often equally confused. In smaller units of discourse the functional divisions are not so explicitly labeled, but readers have definite expectations all the same, and they search for certain information in particular places. If these structural expectations are continually violated, readers are forced to divert energy from understanding the content of a passage to unraveling its structure. As the complexity of the context increases moderately, the possibility of misinterpretation or noninterpretation increases dramatically. We present here some results of applying this methodology to research reports in the scientific literature. We have taken several passages from research articles (either published or accepted for publication) and have suggested ways of rewriting them by applying principles derived from the study of reader expectations. We have not sought to transform the passages into plain English for the use of the general public; we have neither decreased the jargon nor diluted the science. We have striven not for simplification but for clarification. Reader Expectations for the Structure of Prose Here is our first example of scientific prose, in its original form: The smallest of the URF’s (URFA6L), a 207-nucleotide (nt) reading frame overlapping out of phase the NH2-terminal portion of the adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) subunit 6 gene has been identified as the animal equivalent of the recently discovered yeast H+-ATPase subunit 8 gene. The functional significance of the other URF’s has been, on the contrary, elusive. Recently, however, immunoprecipitation experiments with antibodies to purified, rotenone-sensitive NADH-ubiquinone oxido-reductase [hereafter referred to as respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenase or complex I] from bovine heart, as well as enzyme fractionation studies, have indicated that six human URF’s (that is, URF1, URF2, URF3, URF4, URF4L, and URF5, hereafter referred to as ND1, ND2, ND3, ND4, ND4L, and ND5) encode subunits of complex I. This is a large complex that also contains many subunits synthesized in the cytoplasm. * [*The full paragraph includes one more sentence: Support for such functional identification of the URF products has come from the finding that the purified rotenone-sensitive NADH dehydrogenase from Neurospora crassa contains several subunits synthesized within the mitochondria, and from the observation that the stopper mutant of Neurospora crassa, whose mtDNA lacks two genes homologous to URF2 and URF3, has no functional complex I. We have omitted this sentence both because the passage is long enough as is and because it raises no additional structural issues. ] Ask any ten people why this paragraph is hard to read, and nine are sure to mention the technical vocabulary; several will also suggest that it requires specialized background knowledge. Those problems turn out to be only a small part of the difficulty. Here is the passage again, with the difficult words temporarily lifted: The smallest of the URF’s, and [A], has been identified as a [B] subunit 8 gene. The functional significance of the other URF’s has been, on the contrary, elusive. Recently, however, [C] experiments, as well as [D] studies, have indicated that six human URF’s [1-6] encode subunits of Complex I. This is a large complex that also contains many subunits synthesized in the cytoplasm. It may now be easier to survive the journey through the prose, but the passage is still difficult. Any number of questions present themselves: What has the first sentence of the passage to do with the last sentence? Does the third sentence contradict what we have been told in the second sentence? Is the functional significance of URF’s still elusive? Will this passage lead us to further discussion about URF’s, or about Complex I, or both? Information is interpreted more easily and more  uniformly if it is placed where most readers expect to find it. Knowing a little about the subject matter does not clear up all the confusion. The intended audience of this passage would probably possess at least two items of essential technical information: first, URF stands for Uninterrupted Reading Frame, which describes a segment of DNA organized in such a way that it could encode a protein, although no such protein product has yet been identified; second, both APTase and NADH oxido-reductase are enzyme complexes central to energy metabolism. Although this information may provide some sense of comfort, it does little to answer the interpretive questions that need answering. It seems the reader is hindered by more than just the scientific jargon. To get at the problem, we need to articulate something about how readers go about reading. We proceed to the first of several reader expectations. Subject-Verb Separation Look again at the first sentence of the passage cited above. It is relatively long, 42 words; but that turns out not to be the main cause of its burdensome complexity. Long sentences need not be difficult to read; they are only difficult to write. We have seen sentences of over 100 words that flow easily and persuasively toward their clearly demarcated destination. Those well-wrought serpents all had something in common: Their structure presented information to readers in the order the readers needed and expected it. Beginning with the exciting material and ending with a lack of luster often leaves us disappointed and destroys our sense of momentum. The first sentence of our example passage does just the opposite: it burdens and obstructs the reader, because of an all-too-common structural defect. Note that the grammatical subject (the smallest) is separated from its verb (has been identified) by 23 words, more than half the sentence. Readers expect a grammatical subject to be followed immediately by the verb. Anything of length that intervenes between subject and verb is read as an interruption, and therefore as something of lesser importance. The reader’s expectation stems from a pressing need for syntactic resolution, fulfilled only by the arrival of the verb. Without the verb, we do not know what the subject is doing, or what the sentence is all about. As a result, the reader focuses attention on the arrival of the verb and resists recognizing anything in the interrupting material as being of primary importance. The longer the interruption lasts, the more likely it becomes that the interruptive material actually contains important information; but its structural location will continue to brand it as merely interruptive. Unfortunately, the reader will not discover its true value until too late-until the sentence has ended without having produced anything of much value outside of that subject-verb interruption. In this first sentence of the paragraph, the relative importance of the intervening material is difficult to evaluate. The material might conceivably be quite significant, in which case the writer should have positioned it to reveal that importance. Here is one way to incorporate it into the sentence structure: The smallest of the URF’s is URFA6L, a 207-nucleotide (nt) reading frame overlapping out of phase the NH2-terminal portion of the adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) subunit 6 gene; it has been identified as the animal equivalent of the recently discovered yeast H+-ATPase subunit 8 gene. On the other hand, the intervening material might be a mere aside that diverts attention from more important ideas; in that case the writer should have deleted it, allowing the prose to drive more directly toward its significant point: The smallest of the URF’s (URFA6L) has been identified as the animal equivalent of the recently discovered yeast H+-ATPase subunit 8 gene. Only the author could tell us which of these revisions more accurately reflects his intentions. These revisions lead us to a second set of reader expectations. Each unit of discourse, no matter what the size, is expected to serve a single function, to make a single point. In the case of a sentence, the point is expected to appear in a specific place reserved for emphasis. The Stress Position It is a linguistic commonplace that readers naturally emphasize the material that arrives at the end of a sentence. We refer to that location as a stress position. If a writer is consciously aware of this tendency, she can arrange for the emphatic information to appear at the moment the reader is naturally exerting the greatest reading emphasis. As a result, the chances greatly increase that reader and writer will perceive the same material as being worthy of primary emphasis. The very structure of the sentence thus helps persuade the reader of the relative values of the sentence’s contents. The inclination to direct more energy to that which arrives last in a sentence seems to correspond to the way we work at tasks through time. We tend to take something like a mental breath as we begin to read each new sentence, thereby summoning the tension with which we pay attention to the unfolding of the syntax. As we recognize that the sentence is drawing toward its conclusion, we begin to exhale that mental breath. The exhalation produces a sense of emphasis. Moreover, we delight in being rewarded at the end of a labor with something that makes the ongoing effort worthwhile. Beginning with the exciting material and ending with a lack of luster often leaves us disappointed and destroys our sense of momentum. We do not start with the strawberry shortcake and work our way up to the broccoli. When the writer puts the emphatic material of a sentence in any place other than the stress position, one of two things can happen; both are bad. First, the reader might find the stress position occupied by material that clearly is not worthy of emphasis. In this case, the reader must discern, without any additional structural clue, what else in the sentence may be the most likely candidate for emphasis. There are no secondary structural indications to fall back upon. In sentences that are long, dense or sophisticated, chances soar that the reader will not interpret the prose precisely as the writer intended. The second possibility is even worse: The reader may find the stress position occupied by something that does appear capable of receiving emphasis, even though the writer did not intend to give it any stress. In that case, the reader is highly likely to emphasize this imposter material, and the writer will have lost an important opportunity to influence the reader’s interpretive process. The stress position can change in size from sentence to sentence. Sometimes it consists of a single word; sometimes it extends to several lines. The definitive factor is this: The stress position coincides with the moment of syntactic closure. A reader has reached the beginning of the stress position when she knows there is nothing left in the clause or sentence but the material presently being read. Thus a whole list, numbered and indented, can occupy the stress position of a sentence if it has been clearly announced as being all that remains of that sentence. Each member of that list, in turn, may have its own internal stress position, since each member may produce its own syntactic closure. Within a sentence, secondary stress positions can be formed by the appearance of a properly used colon or semicolon; by grammatical convention, the material preceding these punctuation marks must be able to stand by itself as a complete sentence. Thus, sentences can be extended effortlessly to dozens of words, as long as there is a medial syntactic closure for every piece of new, stress-worthy information along the way. One of our revisions of the initial sentence can serve as an example: The smallest of the URF’s is URFA6L, a 207-nucleotide (nt) reading frame overlapping out of phase the NH2-terminal portion of the adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) subunit 6 gene; it has been identified as the animal equivalent of the recently discovered yeast H+-ATPase subunit 8 gene. By using a semicolon, we created a second stress position to accommodate a second piece of information that seemed to require emphasis. We now have three rhetorical principles based on reader expectations: First, grammatical subjects should be followed as soon as possible by their verbs; second, every unit of discourse, no matter the size, should serve a single function or make a single point; and, third, information intended to be emphasized should appear at points of syntactic closure. Using these principles, we can begin to unravel the problems of our example prose. Note the subject-verb separation in the 62-word third sentence of the original passage: Recently, however, immunoprecipitation experiments with antibodies to purified, rotenone-sensitive NADH-ubiquinone oxido-reductase [hereafter referred to as respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenase or complex I] from bovine heart, as well as enzyme fractionation studies, have indicated that six human URF’s (that is, URF1, URF2, URF3, URF4, URF4L, and URF5,  hereafter referred to as ND1, ND2, ND3, ND4, ND4L and ND5) encode subunits of complex I. After encountering the subject (experiments), the reader must wade through 27 words (including three hyphenated compound words, a parenthetical interruption and an as well as phrase) before alighting on the highly uninformative and disappointingly anticlimactic verb (have indicated). Without a moment to recover, the reader is handed a that clause in which the new subject (six human URF’s) is separated from its verb (encode) by yet another 20 words. If we applied the three principles we have developed to the rest of the sentences of the example, we could generate a great many revised versions of each. These revisions might differ significantly from one another in the way their structures indicate to the reader the various weights and balances to be given to the information. Had the author placed all stress-worthy material in stress positions, we as a reading community would have been far more likely to interpret these sentences uniformly. We couch this discussion in terms of likelihood  because we believe that meaning is not inherent in discourse by itself; meaning requires the combined participation of text and reader. All sentences are infinitely interpretable, given an infinite number of interpreters. As communities of readers, however, we tend to work out tacit agreements as to what kinds of meaning are most likely to be extracted from certain articulations. We cannot succeed in making even a single sentence mean one and only one thing; we can only increase the odds that a large majority of readers will tend to interpret our discourse according to our intentions. Such success will follow from authors becoming more consciously aware of the various reader expectations presented here. W e cannot succeed in making even a single sentence mean one and only one thing; we can only increase the odds that a large majority of readers will tend to interpret our discourse according to our intentions. Here is one set of revisionary decisions we made for the example: The smallest of the URF’s, URFA6L, has been identified as the animal equivalent of the recently discovered yeast H+-ATPase subunit 8 gene; but the functional significance of other URF’s has been more elusive. Recently, however, several human URF’s have been shown to encode subunits of rotenone-sensitive NADH-ubiquinone oxido-reductase. This is a large complex that also contains many subunits synthesized in the cytoplasm; it will be referred to hereafter as respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenase or complex I. Six subunits of Complex I were shown by enzyme fractionation studies and immunoprecipitation experiments to be encoded by six human URF’s (URF1, URF2, URF3, URF4, URF4L, and URF5); these URF’s will be referred to subsequently as ND1, ND2, ND3, ND4, ND4L and ND5. Sheer length was neither the problem nor the solution. The revised version is not noticeably shorter than the original; nevertheless, it is significantly easier to interpret. We have indeed deleted certain words, but not on the basis of wordiness or excess length. (See especially the last sentence of our revision. ) When is a sentence too long? The creators of readability formulas would have us believe there exists some fixed number of words (the favorite is 29) past which a sentence is too hard to read. We disagree. We have seen 10-word sentences that are virtually impenetrable  and, as we mentioned above, 100-word sentences that flow effortlessly to their points of resolution. In place of the word-limit concept, we offer the following definition: A sentence is too long when it has more viable candidates for stress positions than there are stress positions available. Without the stress position’s locational clue that its material is intended to be emphasized, readers are left too much to their own devices in deciding just what else in a sentence might be considered important. In revising the example passage, we made certain decisions about what to omit and what to emphasize. We put subjects and verbs together to lessen the reader’s syntactic burdens; we put the material we believed worthy of emphasis in stress positions; and we discarded material for which we could not discern significant connections. In doing so, we have produced a clearer passagebut not one that necessarily reflects the author’s intentions; it reflects only our interpretation of the author’s intentions. The more problematic the structure, the less likely it becomes that a grand majority of readers will perceive the discourse in exactly the way the author intended. T he information that begins a sentence establishes  for the reader a perspective for viewing the sentence as a unit. It is probable that many of our readersand perhaps even the authorswill disagree with some of our choices. If so, that disagreement underscores our point: The original failed to communicate its ideas and their connections clearly. If we happened to have interpreted the passage as you did, then we can make a different point: No one should have to work as hard as we did to unearth the content of a single passage of this length. The Topic Position To summarize the principles connected with the stress position, we have the proverbial wisdom, Save the best for last. To summarize the principles connected with the other end of the sentence, which we will call the topic position, we have its proverbial contradiction, First things first. In the stress position the reader needs and expects closure and fulfillment; in the topic position the reader needs and expects perspective and context. With so much of reading comprehension affected by what shows up in the topic position, it behooves a writer to control what appears at the beginning of sentences with great care. The information that begins a sentence  establishes for the reader a perspective for viewing the sentence as a unit: Readers expect a unit of discourse to be a story about whoever shows up first. Bees disperse pollen and Pollen is dispersed by bees are two different but equally respectable sentences about the same facts. The first tells us something about bees; the second tells us something about pollen. The passivity of the second sentence does not by itself impair its quality; in fact, Pollen is dispersed by bees is the superior sentence if it appears in a paragraph that intends to tell us a continuing story about pollen. Pollen’s story at that moment is a passive one. Readers also expect the material occupying the topic position to provide them with linkage (looking backward) and context (looking forward). The information in the topic position prepares the reader for upcoming material by connecting it backward to the previous discussion. Although linkage and context can derive from several sources, they stem primarily from material that the reader has already encountered within this particular piece of discourse. We refer to this familiar, previously introduced material as old information. Conversely, material making its first appearance in a discourse is new information. When new information is important enough to receive emphasis, it functions best in the stress position. When old information consistently arrives in the topic position, it helps readers to construct the logical flow of the argument: It focuses attention on one particular strand of the discussion, both harkening backward and leaning forward. In contrast, if the topic position is constantly occupied by material that fails to establish linkage and context, readers will have difficulty perceiving both the connection to the previous sentence and the projected role of the new sentence in the development of the paragraph as a whole. Here is a second example of scientific prose that we shall attempt to improve in subsequent discussion: Large earthquakes along a given fault segment do not occur at random intervals because it takes time to accumulate the strain energy for the rupture. The rates at which tectonic plates move and accumulate strain at their boundaries are approximately uniform. Therefore, in first approximation, one may expect that large ruptures of the same fault segment will occur at approximately constant time intervals. If subsequent main shocks have different amounts of slip across the fault, then the recurrence time may vary, and the basic idea of periodic mainshocks must be modified. For great plate boundary ruptures the length and slip often vary by a factor of 2. Along the southern segment of the San Andreas fault the recurrence interval is 145 years with variations of several decades. The smaller the standard deviation of the average recurrence interval, the more specific could be the long term prediction of a future mainshock. This is the kind of passage that in subtle ways can make readers feel badly about themselves. The individual sentences give the impression of being intelligently fashioned: They are not especially long or convoluted; their vocabulary is appropriately professional but not beyond the ken of educated general readers; and they are free of grammatical and dictional errors. On first reading, however, many of us arrive at the paragraph’s end without a clear sense of where we have been or where we are going. When that happens, we tend to berate ourselves for not having paid close enough attention. In reality, the fault lies not with us, but with the author. We can distill the problem by looking closely at the information in each sentence’s topic position: Large earthquakes The rates Therefore one subsequent mainshocks great plate boundary ruptures the southern segment of the San Andreas fault the smaller the standard deviation Much of this information is making its first appearance in this paragraphin precisely the spot where the reader looks for old, familiar information. As a result, the focus of the story constantly shifts. Given just the material in the topic positions, no two readers would be likely to construct exactly the same story for the paragraph as a whole. If we try to piece together the relationship of each sentence to its neighbors, we notice that certain bits of old information keep reappearing. We hear a good deal about the recurrence time between earthquakes: The first sentence introduces the concept of nonrandom intervals between earthquakes; the second sentence tells us that recurrence rates due to the movement of tectonic plates are more or less uniform; the third sentence adds that the recurrence rates of major earthquakes should also be somewhat predictable; the fourth sentence adds that recurrence rates vary with some conditions; the fifth sentence adds information about one particular variation; the sixth sentence adds a recurrence-rate example from California; and the last sentence tells us  something about how recurrence rates can be described statistically. This refrain of recurrence intervals constitutes the major string of old information in the paragraph. Unfortunately, it rarely appears at the beginning of sentences, where it would help us maintain our focus on its continuing story. In reading, as in most experiences, we appreciate the opportunity to become familiar with a new environment before having to function in it. Writing that continually begins sentences with new information and ends with old information forbids both the sense of comfort and orientation at the start and the sense of fulfilling arrival at the end. It misleads the reader as to whose story is being told; it burdens the reader with new information that must be carried further into the sentence before it can be connected to the discussion; and it creates ambiguity as to which material the writer intended the reader to emphasize. All of these distractions require that readers expend a disproportionate amount of energy to unravel the structure of the prose, leaving less energy available for perceiving content. We can begin to revise the example by ensuring the following for each sentence: 1. The backward-linking old information appears in the topic position. 2. The person, thing or concept whose story it is appears in the topic position. 3. The new, emphasis-worthy information appears in the stress position. Once again, if our decisions concerning the relative values of specific information differ from yours, we can all blame the author, who failed to make his intentions apparent. Here first is a list of what we perceived to be the new, emphatic material in each sentence: time to accumulate strain energy along a fault approximately uniform large ruptures of the same fault different amounts of slip vary by a factor of 2 variations of several decades predictions of future mainshock Now, based on these assumptions about what deserves stress, here is our proposed revision: Large earthquakes along a given fault segment do not occur at random intervals because it takes time to accumulate the strain energy for the rupture. The rates at which tectonic plates move and accumulate strain at their boundaries are roughly uniform. Therefore, nearly constant time intervals (at first approximation) would be expected between large ruptures of the same fault segment. [However? ], the recurrence time may vary; the basic idea of periodic mainshocks may need to be modified if subsequent mainshocks have different amounts of slip across the fault. [Indeed? ], the length and slip of great plate boundary ruptures often vary by a factor of 2. [For example? ], the recurrence intervals along the southern segment of the San Andreas fault is 145 years with variations of several decades. The smaller the standard deviation of the average recurrence interval, the more specific could be the long term prediction of a future mainshock. Many problems that had existed in the original have now surfaced for the first time. Is the reason earthquakes do not occur at random intervals stated in the first sentence or in the second? Are the suggested choices of however, indeed, and for example the right ones to express the connections at those points? (All these connections were left unarticulated in the original paragraph. ) If for example is an inaccurate transitional phrase, then exactly how does the San Andreas fault example connect to ruptures that vary by a factor of 2? Is the author arguing that recurrence rates must vary because fault movements often vary? Or is the author preparing us for a discussion of how in spite of such variance we might still be able to predict earthquakes? This last question remains unanswered because the final sentence.

Link between strategic management and leadership

Link between strategic management and leadership In this assignment its going to be discussed about the strategic management and leadership. It will be analyzed the relationship between the strategic management and leadership. The organization which will use to describe the link between strategic management and leadership is TESCO and it will discuss about the impact of strategic management and leadership on the organization and how they work. LINK BETWEEN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP: Strategic management: According to Neil Ritson Strategic management is the organised development of the resources of the functional areas which are financial , manufacturing , marketing , technological , manpower etc, in the pursuit of its objective it is the use of all the entity resources, It is a set of policies adopted by senior management, which guides the scope and direction of the entity. It takes into account the environment in which the company operates. (Neil Riston, 2008) Desired objective Strategy Development of resources rereresources So simply strategic management works in the organization according to their mission statement and find methods to achieve certain goals through the proper utilization of their resources. LEADERSHIP: In Audrina words a leadership is when you guide the organization into a result that your group has agreed upon. You and the rest of the team have a defined understanding to determine the ability and to articulate visions and goals. Leadership is said seen just as a facet of successful manager. It usually works on precedence for strategic planning and management and long-term success. (Audrina Majella, 2008) Leadership is a skill which a person develop through the experience for example in Tesco general sales assistant after having experience become the team leader they never appoint a team leader straight away because leadership you learn through experience and strategic management through courses and trainings. 1.1.3 LINK BETWEEN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP: A leadership is the bridge between strategic management and their target .its because of a leadership that organization gets their desired tasks and targets Management is responsible for people and resources in a unit according to rules or values that have already been set while the leadership set a direction to the people in group. We can understand the link between strategic management and leadership by this example that good leadership and effective management are always the of success in any organization so both of these are the skills which going side by side without management a good leadership can only satisfy for the time being not in a long term same as an effective management is nothing without the good leadership. When great leadership is jointed with effective management, you are able to set a direction and be able to allocate the resources the way you want. Not only that, you will achieve your goal the way you have thought and the way you want to achieve. 1.2 Analyse the impact of management and leadership styles on strategic decision: In last topic its been discussed that what is the connection between management and leadership and now we are going to describe by practical experience that how does they work and how both of them can put impact on strategic decision. First I am going to start with my own work experience in Tesco that how I analysed these two terms out there. 1.2.1 Tesco leadership and Management Now it starts from my own experience and then tries to analyze the role of management and leadership and what is the impact on strategic decisions. I use to work in Tesco express hackney London as a customer sales assistant, we almost twenty sales persons are working at the time in my shift pattern and I am working in a grocery section now we see that Tesco is been divided in sections which are GROCERY , FRESH , PRODUCE , FROZEN. the team leader is much active and expert than others and he can work almost in every department of his section so the team leader is responsible for to make sure that work done by the sales assistants is perfect for example (task finished, nice face up, no gaps) If tasks are not assigned in groups and leaders one only manager is unable to handle all stuff. the store manager who responsible for the whole it can easily understand that store manager has no need to keep an eye on everyone .In this case study it is noticed that all the key peoples and their role within the organization now it can easily understand that who are the leaders and who are the policy makers and which are the people who work in groups and a group representative is the leader who is responsible of the performance of the group and each person in the group individually. Now it will describe with the examples that how leadership and management work together. 1.2.2 Example: For example this is the goal of Tesco to satisfy the customer and be the no one seller in super market in the sense of sales and extending their business around now we talk about individual stores like the place where I am working the task or target which is set by the management about the annual sale of the store by using the limited resources like the work force , incentives and overtime utilization for exp 20 peoples are working in grocery department its been planned by the management that if 2o peoples work they should finish their task in limited time so they can get the required sale now this is the leadership quality to get the work from these specific group of peoples in required timing now this will be the real test of the leaders ability if they use these twenty peoples how leader will utilize them so task should be done in time. 1.2..3 Example 2: Now it will understand with another example that like in Tesco hackney where I used to work its been planned by the management that they should cut the hours specially overtime was being utilized at a high pace so first thing they did straight away they left people calling the overtime and that was the toughest period for the leaders to finish the task in time as there was no more overtime any more so what they did they start doing changes for exp before in ware house only two peoples were working and they use to spend almost whole night in warehouse to break down the delivery and other regarding things . Now they asked everyone on shop floor to come back and give them 10 to 15 minutes by this way within a half hour work was done in warehouse and one the delivery is been break down than this is more easy for the shop floor worker to finish because before we were just passing time on the shop floor by walking around and chatting now they utilized properly that time and left no gap for the replenishes to waste time Assign us the different tasks and allocate time that u suppose to do it in that required time and if you were not able to do it than why someone else is able to do it. 1.3 How leadership styles can be adopted to different situation Now we will see that which are the styles organizations use to adopt in different situations for example Tesco is using more than one leadership styles like democratic, participative and situational as well. There are some examples of the different situation in the organization and how to handle these situations with different styles to get their desired task. 1.3.2 Leading from the front: This is the type in which leader is on top as his performance is the one which make difference for example the place I am working Tesco our team leader jerry even he is not as young we are but still he is more efficient than us. This is the example of transformational leadership style in which people follow the person who inspires them. 1.3.3 Setting examples: leadership is the example for others as they take a lesson from the leader for example if there is anything broken on shop floor or any rubbish out there the manager or leader himself will clean it and when others see that if being a manger he is going to do this then why not us and there are many examples like this so this is the quiet leadership style in which action speaks more than words 1.3.4 Being social and friendly: this is the style of leadership which put a big impact for example our section manager in Tesco is every time so friendly to us and discuss many other affairs and when we are on shop floor and after seven we not supposed to work but some of guys like me use to stay just because of him because he is asking for favour this is the type of charismatic leadership style 1.3.5 Assigning task according to ability: this is the situation in which we adopt this style for example most of the time in Tesco I used to work in grocery department in pickles , oil and herbs section and the time which other take four hours to do i can do in two hours. So my manager or leader will prefer me to do this task same as there are many guys who are expert in specific field. 1.3.6 Participative: this style is been adopted in the situation in which everyone participate to make the decisions for example democratic leadership is the good example of this style in which each one has the equal opportunity to make decision. 1.3.7 Situational: at this time a leader acts according to the situation for example in Tesco leader knows which the product is at that time running more frequently in store so he will decide to utilize his budget by bringing more stuff in to the back stock. Conclusion: Here we have made a conclusion that good leadership is nothing without the effective management both these terms are so important for each other for example if we consider a organization which has the management but not a good leader whatever best strategy made by the management until there is no one who can actually practically take the work from is not effective same likely if there is a good leadership but not the strategic management which actually analyse the situation resources suitability and feasibility than even good leadership is useless. Role of strategic management is much bigger than leadership and it can be said that leadership is involved to get the strategic goal defined on the behalf of company owner or share holder Task 2 Management and leadership theories in the organization: Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organization. (House et al, 1999, pg184) There are many leadership theories which are applicable in different organization under the different situation. These theories have been categorised in form of Leaders and followers, Descriptive and prescriptive, universal and contingency theory. By differentiating the theories in these categories it is easy to understand the type of the theories, either theory is based on leader or followers there are the characteristic which differentiate the actions. Most of the theories are based on the leaders without any interaction to the followers. Another way to differentiate theories is to understand descriptive in which a leader use to do routine work and followers follow him while in prescriptive a leader has to put efforts to get the result by motivating . Universal theories are used in every situation, weather it is descriptive or prescriptive while contingency theories are only used in specific conditions. Leadership is a process in which a leader guides a specific group of a people to achieve the common task for the organization and to develop the skills there are many leadership theories which distinguish between the followers and leaders. According to Kendra Cherry, 2004 there are some common theories which are widely used in the organizations. Great Man Theories: An old concept of inherited power from forefathers. Trait Theories: some qualities which they inherit make them the leader. Contingency Theories: Is the selection of best method according to the situation. Situational Theories: Leader choose the best strategy of action Behavioural Theories: There are certain actions which make a leader effective Participative Theories: Every member in the group participates to give his suggestions. Management Theories: Are called as transactional theories which focus on group performance. Relationship Theories: are called as transformational theories which focus both on group and individual performance. Most common theories used in the organization: Behavioural theories: According to the behavioural theory actions speak more than the words. A leader is not a leader because he has some extra qualities but he has experience of teaching and observation. This theory describes the behaviour of the leader which makes him different from the other team members. Behavioural approach is commonly used in the organization; like the behaviour of the manager will tell the story and the follower will understand that what his manager is thinking about. A managerial grill model which was developed in 1964 defines leadership styles in order to achieve the company goal. To understand the impact of behaviour in management let analyze it with the example, in Tesco when an employee is coming late and doing it deliberately, manager or a leader will ignore it first time but he will behave in a silent way by watching the time on clock and then will look at him and the person will realize that manager has noticed his negligence and he might will get the warning next time from him. Same as when a task assign to the staff member, manager will never pressurise him to do it in time but what he will do. He will just walk around and come into the section and pass through that area and staff member will be careful that his manager is keeping an eye on him and he has to do his job in time in an effective manner. So it deals with the role and work according to the expectation. Situational and contingency theories: Herbert Spencer 1884 suggested that the time produce the person so according to the situational theories a leader has to act according to the situation as there is no hard and fast rule to handle the situation, a leader can adopt the different leadership style according to the circumstances for example if there is need to take a decision in urgent base, a leader will adopt the autocratic style and immediately make the decision on the base of his experience and if the situation is that he might need suggestions from the staff than democratic style will be adopted. It relates contingence to the situation so also called contingency theories. A leader act on the base of situational factors for example in Tesco motivation is the factor which effects the performance of a group or individual and in a situation when there is a work stress or there is the shortage of people a manger will motivate other persons to fill the gap and get the job done in time. Same as the if manager realize that a person is looking so tired and cannot give his best than he use the behavioural theory by showing his kindness to the person by giving him break or try to make him normal . Transformational leadership theory: According to transformational theory people use to follow the leaders who really inspire them. A person who has the ability to motivate and introducing enthusiasm is able to achieve great targets, this is the great kind of experience to work under such type of leadership because you got the chance to learn more and more and get experience to be the part of the great leadership. In transformational leadership a leader set the vision for the followers and tells them about the target and their strength to do it. By this way leader put the energy in the group and every one try to give his best. Transformational theory states that leader should have the ability to lead his team and should know the direction to get clear vision. It might be there is the case of failure in going forward but if the progress is going on than it means they are in profit. The leader will stand in the centre and is always available there for help and represent them from the front. Ceremonies and cultural festiva ls are introduced to motivate the staff for example Tesco always organize the parties and free meals on the occasions of Christmas, eid and diwali and use to give the free vouchers to the staff to motivate them to work for Tesco. 2.2 Leadership strategy to support organization direction: In the lightness of these theories it is analyzed that Tesco is using different leadership theories in different situations. This is the leadership strategy which supports in order to get the goal. Team five and participative theory: in Tesco a team five known as team five in which before starting the work each member of staff is called to join and give his suggestion, all managers, team leaders, sales staff and security members use to gather in one place and giving their suggestion about how to achieve the sales target and how to do job in time more effectively. This is the example of low participative theory in which manager listen to everyone and at the end he has the authority to make a final decision. By this way a manager and team communicate with each other and this conversation put an impact on their performance. Team leader and behavioural approach in Tesco: A team leader represents the team and he sets the examples for others by his behaviour which works more than his words. When staff watches that their leader is working more than them and he is doing in affective way than they motivate by his behaviour and put more efforts in the job to work like him. Management role and transactional theory in Tesco: In Tesco duty manager takes the report of work from the section manager and section manager take the report from the team leader and team leader has to keep an eye at the performance of each individual. In this scenario each one is responsible for his individual performance and if someone doesnt perform he will be asked for that or if the case is that someone performing well then he will be rewarded for that. Senior management and Situational theory in Tesco: This is the best theory which is mostly implemented in Tesco by the senior manager as they make the decisions according to the situation for example if there is some hot day and customers start buying more drinks from the shop floor. In normal case two persons use to work in drink section to finish the task but he will change the strategy and put one person extra in the section and will remove one person from some other section which is less busy as compare to the drink section. Same as some time if a person is sick and unable to work than manager will make the plan to cower that person and might change his style of leadership according to the situation by bringing the section managers and team leaders in to the discussion to complete the task in different way. In simple we conclude that there is no guarantee that if a leadership is successful today it will must be successful tomorrow so being the part of the strategic management strategy should be made to achieve the target according to the situation and it is not necessary that if a good leader is successful in one part of business than he will be in other as well. For example in Tesco manager of grocery section is the best manager of its time but in case if he is been asked to put in produce section he might not be able to get the work from staff because he has no idea about the products in this section. TASK 3 3.1 current leadership requirements: A leader is one who leads the team in affective way and motivates them in order to get the objective. Followers play an important role for good leadership. In the past as trait theories suggests that there are certain qualities and characteristics which make a leader. However in this modern era a leader needs to assess current and future requirements. Leaders must have to keep an eye on the generic challenges which are described below. These are the inside and outside challenges in the organization. It is one of the challenges for leader to control virtual organization because members of virtual organization are not physically on a single place. They usually work on computers. It uses generic strategies which focus on cost leadership and differentiation. Virtual leaders learn from the experience of others. Good quality of virtual leadership is to listen and understand and then filter your plan. There are many virtual organizations working around the world for example Google is working in the entire world and if we speak about UK only thirty peoples are working in the UK. Leader requires identifying what the affect of globalization is and how does it work. In globalization effect of one place put impact on the other parts as well for example recently there was a flood in Pakistan and as it is an agricultural country who export cotton to the world and in this season there was no cotton and instead of exporting they have to import the cotton. In this case things will be effected on other places and cotton price will be more than as compare to past. Economic climate always move from peak to down. It includes four stages expansion, contraction and trough. So leaders need to identify and understand the business climate when they need to expand and when they have to step back. Ethics is an important issue to realise morally that what is wrong and what is right. Corporate social responsibility is the responsibility which an employer or customers take because of the ethics. For example last year Primark stopped purchasing from India because due to certain loop holes they were using child labour. So people in UK took the responsibility and stop purchasing goods from Primark and Primark had to ask India until you do not sort this issue we are not doing business with you anymore World threats are always the restriction in leadership. Those threats are lack of food and water, environment threat, social threat, economical threat etc. A leader requires identifying the threat before time and finding the solution. Issue of diversity is to keep in the mind for leadership as no decision should be based on the base of age, sex and religion. It should be analysed what time which step leaders should take like when to take over and when to merge and when there is the need of restructuring. Role of technology is so important in these days because through the internet a company can work effectively by investing less money and able to introduce its products to worldwide. To market their product to worldwide and providing services is a common topic in the current leadership development program. 3.2 plan for the development of future situation requiring leadership: In future there is the big role of practising leadership and its development. Due to the certain changes there will be effect in leadership development. Competencies of leadership will be increased and there will be the need to develop and constructs new methods to handle globalization. It will need to do the arrangement on predictions and the role of the leader will be critical. As in modern age technology is been expanding day to day and at the time it expanding it creating new challenges for the leadership. So leaders should able to make the plan to handle the crises and much informative to adopt the new technology. Regulatory and political effect will be there in the future. A leadership should have the capacity to face the regulatory challenges for example colleges in UK are providing the university regulatory courses and they have to pay some money to university as they are the awarding body of the degree. In this case both college and university are earning money as this is their objective to make the money and expand their business. In modern age media is the big challenge and an effective leadership will require in the future. As media is independent and the can get the access in or outside the organization and raise any issue which is not in favour of the company. E leadership is going to become so popular in these days in which peoples are managed through emails and limitations as face book is the example of E leadership. There is a big need to develop and bring new leadership strategy in this field because it is never been easy to handle the people through the internet. The role of leadership should be as they must have to know that how the technology will be used in effective leadership development. The future trends noted reflect in part a response to the changing context of leadership perhaps the strongest pressure facing leadership practitioner in the future may be to demonstrate return on investment(Kincaid Gordick,2003). This definition shows the importance of investment and objective that there will be a pressure in situations for the leadership to meet their objective of demonstrating return on their investment. 4.1 Developments of leadership skills: Development of leadership is most like training of business. This is the process of improving performance and efforts. An organization is successful which is able to develop effective communication skills by the use of training courses and seminars which is helpful to make a leadership environment. There is the difference between leadership theories and practising because it is bit easy to speak but comparatively difficult in practical. Leaders are the need of the company. Effective leadership requires developing attitude, behaviour and humanity. A good leader can attract his followers by putting charismatic effect on them. There are some techniques which really help to develop leadership skills. Formal learning is an important tool to improve the leadership skills which includes the needs of recruitment. It helps to create an environment which is really helpful to become a good leader through the training courses and developing coaching skills. However the leader learns through the experience but there are the certain things which really improve the capability of the leaders and improve their skills. A good leader should have the capability to analyze the future needs and by keeping the future needs in their mind their action should be effective. Leadership can be developed by formal training, development activities and self help activities. Formal training is used when there is the situation to develop for the specific period for example some organizations introduced the workshops in the training centres and universities introduce the courses to develop the leadership skills. In training programs it need to design effective training which should have clear learning objective and helpful to develop the self confidence of each individual. There should be the activities which really help to develop the skills. Most of skill essential for effective leadership is learned from experience rather than formal training programs (Davies 1984) special assignments provide an opportunity to develop and refine leadership skills during the performance of regular job duties. Coaching and mentoring can be used to help manager interpret their experiences and learn new skills. (Mans and sim 1981). There are some development activities which are special assignment, rotation of job, coaching, mentoring and personal growth program. These activities could be used by the by the boss or co-workers. Assessment methods which include interviews, personality tests and communicating exercises are used for the purpose of development. Job rotation program are used to develop the skills of a person by putting him in different departments for a specific period of time. Mentoring is used to train the juniors from the senior management. Self help techniques are applied to develop the skills of individual by his own corporation. These techniques could be used to learn formal training. A person develops himself by setting the vision and objective for him and more committed to learn more by taking the challenging assignments. Person learns from his mistakes and feedback from their bosses. Evidence from one study shows that consideration of development needs when making succession planning decisions is likely to result in better performance for the organization. (Friedman, 1986) 4.2 Report on the usefulness of the methods used to plan the development of leadership skills: A good leadership requires good human qualities through they can achieve their targets. Training is a useful method to develop the skills of a leader. There are different training courses which are really helpful in order to develop the skills. For example Tesco provide the opportunity to its employee to get the further training of management if the person is selected for the required job. It offers a person to get the carrier break and student loan so he can either go to university to educate himself and does some course like master in business managements. Different leadership training courses are introduced to enhance the skills. In these days widely technique which is been used is to learn from the experience. The experience is been used to handle the various leadership competencies. When people get the feedback from others they learn more through feedback workshop, assignments, rotation of jobs, mentoring, coaching and outdoor learning programs. The extent to which leadership competencies are acquired and used depends on the type of development activities that occur (e.g., training, experiential learning, self learning), facilitating conditions (e.g. boss support, learning environment), and qualities of the individual manager (flexible, pragmatic, learning oriented) (Hall Seibert, 1992; McCall, 1992). To develop the leadership skills an individual has to be social intelligent so he can understand the people from their behaviour and attitude. Leaders should have the ability to learn through the experience so they are able to take the right decision at the right time. A leader needs to develop the integrity so he can motivate the people to get the objective of the organization.

What Are The Major Components Of Biological Membranes And How Do They :: essays research papers fc

What Are The Major Components of Biological Membranes And How Do They Contribute To Membrane Function?. Summary. The role of the biological membrane has proved to be vital in countless mechanisms necessary to a cells survival. The phospholipid bilayer performs the simpler functions such as compartmentation, protection and osmoregulation. The proteins perform a wider range of functions such as extracellular interactions and metabolic processes. The carbohydrates are found in conjunction with both the lipids and proteins, and therefore enhance the properties of both. This may vary from recognition to protection. Overall the biological membrane is an extensive, self-sealing, fluid, asymmetric, selectively permeable, compartmental barrier essential for a cell or organelles correct functioning, and thus its survival. Introduction. Biological membranes surround all living cells, and may also be found surrounding many of an eukaryotes organelles. The membrane is essential to the survival of a cell due to its diverse range of functions. There are general functions common to all membranes such as control of permeability, and then there are specialised functions that depend upon the cell type, such as conveyance of an action potential in neurones. However, despite the diversity of function, the structure of membranes is remarkably similar. All membranes are composed of lipid, protein and carbohydrate, but it is the ratio of these components that varies. For example the protein component may be as high as 80% in Erythrocytes, and as low as 18% in myelinated neurones. Alternately, the lipid component may be as high as 80% in myelinated neurones, and as low as 15% in skeletal muscle fibres. The initial model for membrane structure was proposed by Danielli and Davson in the late 1930s. They suggested that the plasma membrane consisted of a lipid bilayer coated on both sides by protein. In 1960, Michael Robertson proposed the Unit Membrane Hypothesis which suggests that all biological membranes -regardless of location- have a similar basic structure. This has been confirmed by research techniques. In the 1970s, Singer and Nicholson announced a modified version of Danielli and Davsons membrane model, which they called the Fluid Mosaic Model. This suggested that the lipid bilayer supplies the backbone of the membrane, and proteins associated with the membrane are not fixed in regular positions. This model has yet to be disproved and will therefore be the basis of this essay. The lipid component. Lipid and protein are the two predominant components of the biological membrane. There are a variety of lipids found in membranes, the majority of which are phospholipids. The phosphate head of a lipid molecule is hydrophilic, while the long fatty acid tails are hydrophobic. This gives the overall molecule an amphipathic nature.

Capitalism versus Socialism Essay

Budget deficit is just one of the many factors that negatively affect the provision of most of the government projects in the society. Without the sufficient amount of government funds, building of infrastructures and other public goods would be delayed or underprovided. As we can remember, there are some goods and services that can only be provided efficiently if the government is the one who supply it instead of the private firms to protect the rights and welfare of the consumer group. If there exist under provision of these public goods, the societal welfare would negatively be affected. In this regard, there is a question on whether what should prevail in our economy, capitalism or socialism? One may say that this debate between capitalism and socialism is already a cliche, but we cannot set aside the arguments and points of each side which could give us guide us in understanding what is happening in the real world. Let me discuss first capitalism. Capitalism promotes the concentration of the government in the provision of security in the society and not to intervene in the business world. Some capitalists say that, with the intervention of the government, person who wants to establish a business enterprise is being deprived due to the policies that are being implemented by the government. For instance, legal monopoly that was given by the government to some companies hinders other people from starting their own water/electric company. This failure of other people to start their own utility business, as capitalists believe, is a violation to their freedom. Socialism, on the other hand, is extremely the opposite of the capitalists thinking. Here, government intervention is very much welcome and the society is recognizing the ability of the government to efficiently handle companies and to equally distribute whatever the goods or service that they produce to their citizens. One good example to this is the provision of government of medical services and education. Since not all individuals can afford the costs of schooling provided by private firms, what the government does is they establish public schools charging at a minimum amount. As for the medical services, the government establishes public hospitals and clinics that would provide its citizens cheaper medical services and medicines for less capable people. With this, the basic right of human, to have education and access to medical services, is being fulfilled by the government. The reason why government provides efficient goods and services is due to the fact that they are providing the said goods and services at a reasonable price unlike private firms, especially monopolists, that charges above what is socially acceptable price. Now, based from the points of these two ideologies, therefore, it depends on the situation if whether a certain government intervention is good to the society. If the government interferes in the market in order to protect the welfare of its citizens, then, there is no room for capitalists to say that they are being deprived by the government to put their own business. In addition to that, establishing another utility business, like electric company, would be very costly due to the high fixed costs that they must face. This is the reason why it would be efficient if only one would continue ‘monopolize’ the production of electricity in the country. In this regard, if there would be an under provision of public goods like education, electricity, medical services and security due to budget deficit of the government; societal welfare would surely be greatly devastated. More people would be deprived with their basic human rights and might suffer to private firm’s abusing power. Only during instances wherein the private firms abuses their power and charge high to their customer by providing inelastic goods the government initiate actions to regulate the situation. Good Economics versus Good Politics One could say that an act promotes good economics if it aims for the maximization of the satisfaction of the society or market (Sharma, 2007). On the other hand, one could say that an act promotes good politics if it is backed up by a good policy for the welfare of the majority. Most of the analysts say that good economics leads to good politics and vice versa. Others believe that it’s the other way around. The point of the latter is that, making policies that promotes the no personal interest would lead to good economics since promoting the interest of the majority is tantamount to saying that they are maximizing the satisfaction of the society or they are after for the optimal level of societal welfare (Gittins, 2004). In order for each of the said ideals to exists, it must ensure the survival of one another. It seems hard for the politicians to set aside their personal political interest for the public interest but it should be done in order to attain what is really best for the economy and for the country. One way to promote the public interest is to lessen the burdens being imposed to the public like- tax (Gruen, 2007). Minimizing the tax rate would require a long battle and endless debate but the thing is, if all of the politicians would set aside their personal interest everything is possible for the government and they could act efficiently for the betterment of the economy. In this regard, there is no point arguing what is the best for the society- good economics or good politics, since one is needed for the existence of the other. Invisible Hand Principle Advocated by Adam Smith, invisible hand supports capitalist’s view. According to Adam Smith, the government must not intervene in the market and focus only on providing security and justice system to the society. They also believe that government lessens the societal welfare with their imposition of taxes. Taxes just add up to the operational costs of the businesses that in turn being passed to the consumers. In short, the burden of the taxes that are being imposed by the government goes to the end consumers. Adam Smith believes that market systems has its own mechanism to ‘heal’ itself and move back again towards the equilibrium condition even without the intervention of the government. By satisfying the ‘selfish’ motives of producers and consumers, they are unconsciously helping each other. Therefore, increasing the taxes rate collection of the government to cover the budget deficit would be an unwise idea since it would only add up to the burden of the consumers or the public. Government intervention must have the right timing and, as much as possible, impose less burden to the consumers. As what have been cited a while ago, government intervention depends on the situation and the condition between the private firms and the consumer group. Government intervention would only be sufficient if it uplifts the welfare of the consumer group with less negative effects on the private firms. But as for the increasing tax rate scenario, it seems that, although unintentionally, the government negatively affects the welfare of the consumer group while leaving the private firms unharmed since they only pass the taxes to the consumers. In this case, it would be better if the government let the ‘invisible hand’ or the free market system to put back into order the economy. Production Possibilities Curve There are some instances wherein private firms are being restricted in passing the added costs of government intervention to their consumers. Like for instance, the imposition of tariff on importers, tariff is another income generating activities of the government aside from taxation. With the extra expenses of the importers on every unit of goods that they are importing to the country, they can now only afford to buy less of the said imported goods depending on their allotted budget. In this scenario, the business would be producing below its production possibilities curve or PPF. This means that with the existence of higher tariffs on imported goods needed by local industries, the companies could only buy fewer imported raw materials and, therefore, producing fewer number of finished products than with the optimal level of production. This situation is treated to be inefficient, but since tariff is a form of income generation of the government, the only thing that the government could do is to find the efficient level of tariff rate wherein businesses could still produce closely to their PPF. With this, the value of the efficiency that is lost from the private firms would be justified and would return to them in a form of infrastructures in a form of roads and bridges which could alleviate the efficiency of their operation. In reality, it is pretty hard to produce within the PPF due to the existence of various intervening variables and tariff is one of them. The least thing that businesses could do is to produce closer to their PPF or their optimal level of production based on their capacity and capability. Opportunity Costs With the possibility of under provision of important government services, the government cannot afford to make it happen due to the high opportunity costs involved in the case. The government might forego the value of the welfare of its citizens in exchange of the improvement of the welfare of the corporations. If the welfare of the corporations and consumer group is to be calculated, the welfare of the consumer group is surely larger than with the welfare of the corporations in the market; and in the first place, it is the duty of the government to protect and prioritize the safety and welfare of the majority- citizens of their country. Just imagine the number of students that might stop schooling with the cutting of the budget for education; the number of sick and less capable citizens that only relies on the help of the government for cheaper medical services and/or medicines from public hospitals and clinics. To make the situation worst, the government prioritizes the welfare of Iraqis than with its own citizen. It was aired in the news that the government raised the amount of budget for the ‘peace keeping role’ of the government to Iraqi people. It is not bad to help other people, but ‘think first about the welfare of your own people before the others’ since that is the right thing to do. The point here is that, the reason why the government suffers to budget deficit is due to their wrong priorities. The government must not set aside the welfare of its citizen since it would bail them higher opportunity costs.

Managing Employee Performance Essay

In an effective organization there are key aspects to take under consideration such as, communication, growth and expansion, task completion, supply the fits company’s goals, and contingency plans. These are all vital when developing a profitable organization. Once you have these established it is time to start thinking about managing employee’s performance. The internal evolvement in employees will help the longevity in an organizations success. â€Å"Google figured out how to analyze all their data to come up with a profile of the kind of manager whose team is most successful† (Noe, 2014). Along with all the data Google collected and analyzed there are also five criteria’s for effectiveness of performance managing system. In Googles attempt to excel there are some errors that can arise, but using the five criteria’s Google can make a step closer to enhancing their performance managing process. In order to gain structure in an organization there mu st be principles in place. These principles must meet a standard that can be visualized, observed and come to a conclusion. The concluded information must be in alignment with the goals of the company in order for the company to achieve their perspective goals. At Google, their objective are to find managers whose teams is most successful. There are many different ways to achieve their goal but understanding the criteria for an effective performance manager will better assist them. An effective management performance system has five criteria’s that must be maintained. These principles include fit with strategy, validity, reliability, acceptability, and specific feedback. Before expanding on these principles it is important to know why a performance management system critical to the company. â€Å"An effective performance management process enables managers to evaluate and measure individual performance and optimize productivity† (Importance of Performance, 2014). A fit for strategy is â€Å"a performance management system that should aim at achieving employee behavior and attitudes that support the organizations strategy, goals, and culture† (Noe,2014). At Google their emphasis are to develop better managers. Google has met this criterion by identifying what it is they are trying to achieve and have set up measures  to improve their managers. Validity â€Å"is the extent to which a measurement tool actually measure what is intended to be measured† (Noe,2014). By conducting a survey Google was able to evaluate the managerâ₠¬â„¢s performance levels. This allows them a foundation for analyzing and developing training plans. It is important Google to have reliability as well. What good is it to have a valid testing measure it the result are inconsistent. Reliability is something that Google needs to improve. Google has a valid way of measuring their employee’s skill level but consistency maybe something they lack. Google can use measure such as situational judgment to help improve their manager’s performance. In an article written in the Journal of Applied Psychology it states â€Å"on the basis of 102 coefficients and 10,640 people situational judgment test showed useful levels of validity that were generalizable† (Braverman). Google implementing situational judgment to their testing measures would as met the criterion not only for validity and reliability but also acceptability. Situational judgment is a practical standard of testing and has been proven to work. Google could run into some issues with collecting such data if they are not careful present what is being measured. Understanding that errors can occur will better assist Google in the performance management process. It is important not to be bias well evaluating employees. â€Å"People often tend to five higher evaluation to people they consider similar to themselves. Most of us think of ourselves as effective, so if others are like us they must be effective too. Research has demonstrated that this effect is strong† (Noe, 2014). This could cause discrimination issues and run the risk of the company having law suits and also loosing perspective employees due to bad reputation. To eliminate this factor, raters can be trained on how to avoid errors. Specific feedback is a good tool to in cooperate when dealing with employees. If the employees understand what is expected from them they will be more willing to meet those expectations. Google mangers receive training that is essential to their understanding of what objective the company wants to meet. Google has met most of the criteria for have a successful program in place. In closure, Google’s measurements to their manager’s performance levels have met most of the criteria. Their method for a successful performance manager system is a full proof way on ensuring managers has the ability to grow. This in return brings greater productivity to the company. They have established what they  want and created a survey that outline what a good leader possesses. They measures are valid and their employees understand what is expected of them. Google is still searching for ways to improve their test and situational judgment could greatly complement the techniques they already have in place. This will increase the reliability and escalate their chances on reaching their objective. Reference Braverman, E. P. Use of situational judgment tests to predict job performance: A clarification of the literature.. Journal of Applied Psychology, 730-740. Noe, R. A. (2014). Fundamentals of human resource management (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Performance Review Process & Goal Management Process Best †¦. (n.d.). . Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.successfactors.com/en_us/lp/articles/optimize-performance-management.html