Healthy Living Report Essay

Healthy livingâ€Å" Campaign report 1. Background research to the issue To find the way linked to my group topic and target made us to meet many times and discuss about social issues among students and young people. It made my group to think a lot what topic for campaign would be interesting to us – while working for this, and similarly what would be interesting for other people especially for students in Middlesex University. First of all, everyone in my group pay attention on unhealthy food and ingredients which make daily food able to be fresh for long term and even dangerous. My group decided to start doing campaign â€Å"tricky food† and we all fell into research on dangerous ingredients in popular supermarkets’ food. As we published in our Wiki page â€Å"Unhealthy substitutes used in food production† had to be our campaign stage. (Wiki, ResearchS08G1). From long list of various chemicals and acids which are used in food our group made a decision to focus on Aspartame the most. Aspartame is artificial sweetener which is 200 times sweeter than sugar and commonly used in food industry. In the internet is not difficult to find many articles and discussions about it, some people claim that it is very dangerous to human’s health because of its force to cause cancer, nerve disorders, birth defects and other healthy imbalances. From the other side of view, probably from the business side, some people are ready to prove that aspartame is not so bad, the right amount of it in food is not dangerous and it is cheaper to use in food industry than sugar. However, this sweetener is widely used and found in drinks such as diet coke, energy drinks and even some juice. In the United States aspartame is regulated by FDA – Food and Drug Administration which has set the ADI (acceptable daily intake) for aspartame 50mg/kg and similarly in the European Union – by European Food Safety Authority ADI is 40mg/kg. (American Cancer Society, Learn About Cancer 2011). Well, when the national administration has set the secure quantity of this sweetener it became allowable to use it in food widely. Due to that my group decided that there are no argues with food industry and during our campaign it is hard to change sweeteners usage in nourishment and we made another decision: to change campaign topic and target substantially. Every one of us is surrounded by bright adverts and slogans to be eco-friendly, to eat healthy food, to avoid junk food, to choose food without any preservatives and so on. My group and I also decided to join in those who are providing healthy living style. We started to do another research linked to it, to search what vitamins human need to recover healthy organism after winter and which fruit and vegetables have beneficial vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Also very important issue that UK is on the leading position in regards to obese citizens in Europe (Wiki, ResearchS08G1). Regarding to New York Times (2010, The World is Fat) in almost half of developed countries, one out of every two people is overweight or obese. In the figure is clearly visible that England was and will be second nation after United States which has overweight, till 2020 it can reach 70 per cent limit! These facts made us to take care for obese issue in United Kingdom. As a united group of different countries: two Lithuanians, Polish and two English we see our target to start informing students about this growing problem by providing healthy eating habits and healthy life style including exercises and view of it. 2. Process of campaign planning Firstly, we had chosen to run the campaign about â€Å"tricky food† and especially aspartame but as I mentioned in the first part of report, during the research we found facts that aspartame is legal sweetener and the right amount of it is not dangerous to human’s health. With our campaign we would be having too less force and evidence in order to avoid this sweetener use in food industry. Regarding to this, we left the idea about tricky food and during more than two meetings we were discussing about many topics which could be interesting and worthy to pay attention. It was not easy part of planning our campaign because we all understood that to find the topic with strong target and serious attitude it is difficult. We mentioned points such as how we could include more people to our team, how we could represent information for them and for our university, should we stay only in university or shall we go further: inform people about issue in our living areas, in the social websites, etc. how we could do our event and what to do so as to attract an attention. We were sure that we will have leaflets with useful information, that we will set up facebook page for our campaign and we will do our event in the university. In our meeting we had not have one  person as a chairperson, we all were equivalent and we all were suggesting our ideas. My idea was to look deeper how we are living, what are ours daily diet, daily routine – are we healthy enough or should we change something in our lives. While suggesting the topic Healthy living I also had an idea to raise the charity fund. Even more, to visit children schools or other meeting places and inform them about our campaign and targets. Unfortun ately, I had not got any assent from my team members for this action. However, I sent some emails to charities such as British Red Cross and Save the Children. I informed them about our campaign and targets, mentioned that we would like to do our campaign as a charity. While giving healthy food (fruit or veg) in university my team could collect some donation for one of the charities and later we could collaborate by doing volunteering jobs or events providing healthy living. I have got an answer from British Red Cross, they were interesting in our action and targets. Unfortunately, I had got that answer too late because we were already doing our campaign on ourselves without any outside organizations. 3. Work as a group From my view at this point I am quite happy while working with my group. As in every team work we faced with some advantages and disadvantages but the final result was nice. The best times and really strong team work were when all group members were attending the meetings. Sure, it had happen only few times, however, those meetings were pretty good. We had never have any argues or complaints, our discussions were always polite and with respect to each other. We always listened to each other’s ideas and discussed them together with giving some agreements or reasoned rejections. Usually our meetings were with three attended group members. Nevertheless, we were able to consider what would be the next step, what research we had to do until next meeting and all jobs or duties were apportion between every team member equally. Even more, if we were having enough spare time after meeting, some of us were going to library to do research together or to write down the minutes into the wiki page. For more questions or advice we were chatting online, by sending emails we arranged for the next meeting. On the other hand, this low attendance made some difficulties to organize all team work, it always takes time to text messages to inform other members about further actions. Because everyone has jobs it was difficult to find right times in order to meet all together, some group members were paying more attention for their jobs than to studies and especially for this campaign. Due to these issues our campaign was small and weak, its background were just two people who pay more attention to every organizing step. 4. Your action I value my action in the group as big part of whole campaign. The background and topic of Healthy living was my idea suggested in the group meeting. I came with the wide idea of it and I had some plans how to reach the main aim. As I mentioned above, I offered to do a campaign as a charity: while providing fruit or vegetables for students we can collect donation for a charity, later collaborate with that organization and hope for getting some support. Personally I always like to communicate with organizations such as charities or other help centres, I have previous experience by searching the support for some events that is why I feel free and confident while asking others to promote my plans. This time I had asked some charities but unfortunately I have not got any help from them. First of all, I think I had to call them straight away and reject sending emails and waiting for answers, second , I think I had to let them know more about my action, about our campaign, purpose and all details so as to make them interesting enough to support us. Finally, if I would be able to have enough force to influence others I would have asked other my group members to help me and to pay more attention on our campaign because I felt too weak to take this huge part alone. Anyway, at the end of March and beginning of April I was communicating with Community Fundraiser from British Red Cross. She replay to my email a bit too late than I was expected but it is always nice to let other communities know about my actions and attitude. I can be brave to say that I was that person in my group who was the most enthusiastic about campaign planning and actions. It was not difficult to take care and organize the event during which we were giving free apples, apple shaped stickers and leaflets with interesting information about fruit. In order to get apples each of us asked local shops to support us by giving some apples. I am living Hendon, so here I found many local shops where I am shopping almost every day and I visited them with my special request. First of all, while talking to the manager of the shop I let him know who I am and what I am doing, later I asked him to support our campaign and in the same way I made him sure that he is making big help not only for my group but also for some students who maybe will start thinking more about healthy life style. Some shops rejected my request but I did not give up and went ahead. Finally, I found one shop near to the Hendon Central Station which was very helpful and polite. People who are working there wished me luck and even know they look at me as at friendly shopper. 5. Supporting other campaigns Our group was working alone without any collaborate with other campaigns from our module. As we all got the topic food almost all campaigns were linked to healthy products. Some of them had chosen specifically one product (energy drink, junk food – hamburgers, etc. ) and they run campaigns in order to change people attitude and inform them how dangerous it is. Differently, we had not chosen any products – we looked into whole lifestyle which includes food, exercises and attitude. I really appreciate other people job, how they did their campaigns, how they had represented their ideas and what targets they had. Only one thing what I might to change could be the way how they did their events. Most of all campaigns were too silent, working only on social websites such as Facebook or Twitter, I would rather do it loudly in the centre of our university. References: Wiki, S08G1 â€Å"Healthy Living†, research 2012 [online], http://mcs1000campaigns. middlesex. wikispaces. net/ResearchS08G1 American Cancer Society, Learn about cancer 2011. [online], http://www. cancer. org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/AtHome/aspartame The New York Times, The World is Fat 2012, [online], http://economix. blogs. nytimes. com/2010/09/23/the-world-is-fat/

Sir Richard Branson

The purpose of this paper is to describe the personality of Sir Richard Branson as well as applying the roles of social perception and attribution. Sir Branson is the owner and Chief Executive Officer of the Virgin brand started in the 1970’s. Virgin is one of Great Britain’s most respected brands and consists of ventures in travel and tourism, leisure and pleasure, social and environmental, media and telecommunications, finance and money, health, and shopping. As a youth, Sir Branson was introduced to many factors which shaped his adult personality. According to Nelson & Quick (2008), â€Å"family, culture, education, and other environmental forces shape personality. † Sir Branson’s personality was strongly influenced by his family environment. His mother encouraged him and his sisters to work hard and overcome adversity by continually setting physical challenges between the siblings. These competitions surely enhanced Branson’s drive to compete and triumph in sporting activities. His entrepreneur success can be contributed to the early introduction of entrepreneurship by his mother and Aunt Clare. Sir Branson’s was influenced by a loving family which modeled traits such as teamwork, cohesion, and support. During my childhood, children were taught to stay in a child’s place and speak only when spoken to. Branson was encouraged to speak as a child and his opinions were valued. This helped to build self-esteem and confidence to communicate outside his social group. In my opinion, Branson’s psychological type derived from the Type Theory Preferences and Descriptions is Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, and Perceiving (ENFP). Nelson & Quick (2008) described a person who is categorized as ENFP to be: Warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. See life as full of possibilities. Make connections between events and information very quickly, and confidently proceed based on the patterns they see. Want a lot of affirmation from others, and readily give appreciation and support. Spontaneous and flexible, often rely on the ability to improvise and their verbal fluency. (p. 95) While reading Sir Branson’s case, I created the perception that Branson is intelligent, creative, loyal, family oriented, friendly, and confident yet arrogant. My perception is strongly affected by my characteristics as the perceiver. I truly believe that anyone can be successful if he or she works hard. If an individual is working hard and not obtaining the projected level of success, he or she needs to change the situation. Not necessary the plan or approach, but the situation in which he or she is operating in (city, state, company, community). The manner in which Branson organized his schedule to allow for family time influences my opinion and I created the image of him as a family man. Although this is important it doesn’t necessarily confirm that Branson is a true family man. The situation that Branson is introduced to me has an overwhelming affect on my perception. I am reading an article full of positive factors about Branson. How could my perception be anything other than positive? This perception may be the same or totally different had this been a face to face encounter. Three elements of the barriers to social perception are involved in my assessment. First, I used selective perception by relating my view of family orientation to Branson. I narrowed my perception to the qualities which supported my viewpoint. Next, I created the perception that Branson is intelligent, because he is successful. I have created a stereotype that all successful entrepreneurs must be intelligent. The article offered information that Branson’s academic record was terrible and he did not finish high school. I failed to consider this information because of his success. Lastly, the first impression error allowed me to read the article and create the perception that this is the true Branson without any future research or consideration. Sir Branson performance and success is due to internal attributions. He accepted his weaknesses and built on his strengths. The values instilled by his mother formed a sound foundation to build on. He is not focused on external attributions of things he has no control over. He continues to expand his empire by giving others opportunities to develop their ideas into business ventures that he supports (Nelson & Quick, 2008, p. 115). He uses his internal attributions to counter the startup problems and unforeseen battles which don’t seem to bother him. Sir Branson is perceived to be a well-rounded person. His personality, which drives his success and current business philosophy, mirrors his childhood development. During his childhood, his opinion was valued and now he is open to the opinions and ideas of his advisory team. His mother and Aunt Clara were very entrepreneurial developing several different ways to make money and now Branson invites creativity and backs the new business ventures of others. He developed his sense of competition and now challenges industries which he feels are not serving the public. An individual’s personality is strongly influenced by his or her environment as proven by Sir Richard Branson. References Nelson, D. L. , & Quick, J. C. (2008). Organizational behavior: Science, the real world, and you (6th Ed. ). Mason, OH: South-Western. Sir Richard Branson Assignment 4: Sir Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group, Ltd. Case Study Mysherri Rhodes Instructor: Bess White Bus 520: Leadership and Organization February 25, 2012 Describe Branson’s leadership style in terms of the leadership models addressed in Chapters 10 and 11 and evaluate the likely effectiveness of that style in the U. S. today. Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Group Ltd. , has created a multi-billion dollar enterprise, which includes: airlines, records, bridal wear, holidays, vodka, cars, bank accounts, mobile phones, cosmetics, condoms and gyms (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011).The Virgin Group is a globally recognized brand that has approximately 50,000 employees and earns more than $20 billion in sales annually (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Sir Richard Branson is known to be one of the greatest entrepreneurs and with that consumers can expect more unique creations from Sir Richard Branson (Boje & Smith, 2012). In order for a business to acquire and maintain such exponential growth, a company must have an effective leader.According to Hellriegel & Slocum (2011), Branson is a genuine strategist who thinks outside the box and he has achieved many great things despite some setbacks throughout the years. Branson anticipates future trends, inspiring followers to understand and embrace a new vision of possibilities. He develops others to be leaders or better leaders; that’s what makes him a transformational leader (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Sir Richard Branson, has a philosophy that is centered on finding people with strong communication and teamwork skills that can be integrated into Virgin Group culture.Once the proper employees are hired, Virgin Group continues the employee’s professional development, allowing the company to promote existing employees. Branson’s philosophy enables him to develop new leaders, which are able to foresee the company’s future and embrace new visions. Hellriegel & Slocum (2 011), also say that transformational leaders are risk takers and welcome new opportunities. Sir Richard Branson states that it is impossible to run a business without taking risks, and he is no stranger to doing so (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011).Branson publicly admits to three tremendous setbacks: a) the launch of a portable MP3 player (the Virgin Pulse) was crushed by the Apple iPod and lost over $20 million; b) against top management advice, Branson held on to Virgin’s Megastore retail outlets far too long, costing the group financially when the megastores were finally sold; c) Branson created Virgin Cola as an attempt to enter the United Kingdom’s Coca-Cola territory, but Coca-Cola crushed that effort.The Virgin Group has experienced its fair share of failures but that has never stopped Branson from looking for new opportunities. Because of these attributes, Branson is a great transformational leader and is a perfect fit in today’s world. The world is constantl y evolving from the old into the new, and this constant change creates the need for companies to adapt accordingly. Based on constant change a company must be able to adapt accordingly. Transformational leadership is such a great asset to today’s world because its leaders are true visionaries.For instance, to his colleagues Branson is known as Dr. Yes because he finds it hard to say no to new ideas and proposals. Being open to new ideas and proposals sets Virgin Groups apart from other companies because they are never afraid to try venture into new areas. Virgin Group prides itself on doing things in an innovative way while aspiring to provide quality services (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Visionaries are key to the evolution of today’s world and are important to the generations of the future.Recommend a different leadership style (or combination of styles) that would make Branson an even more effective leader. Transformational and transactional leadership are two of th e most popular approaches to leading a businesses (Sadeghi & Pihie, 2012). Branson’s keen sense of transformational leadership is great for Virgin Group but could be more effective when combined other leadership styles such as transactional leadership. Transactional leadership is considered a great second style to work in synergy with transformational leadership.Transactional leadership focuses on the interaction and motivation that occur between a leader and his or her followers (Sadeghi & Pihie, 2012). Branson’s states, â€Å"If you find people who are good at motivating others and getting the best out of people, they are the ones you want. There are plenty of so-called experts, but not as many motivators of people† (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011; p 344). Branson’s belief in motivating his employees demonstrates his belief in transactional leadership and is an incontestable method ensuring that Virgin Group uses the correct leadership path.Motivating employ ees is a great way to initiate great leadership but here are some other components of transactional leadership that should be considered: a) transactional leadership provides contingent rewards, which includes leaders setting measurable goals to obtain that are clear and concise; b) it exhibits active management by monitoring work performance of employees and enforcing rules to prevent mistakes; c) it emphasizes that enforced rules are not to be broken and unacceptable performance will result in corrective actions (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011).Determine how Branson would develop and lead a global team working on a major project (e. g. , space tourism) Americans have witnessed the continuous development of the world for decades and Sir Richard Branson has been a part of American history. Branson has continued to push the envelope year after year, and is familiar with the leadership styles that are necessary for leading a global team working on a major project. Branson spoke out, statin g that carbon damaging the world is what is causing global warming.As a result, Branson recently pledged to give as much as $3 billion over the next ten years to tackle global warming. The funding for the global warming project will be given from Branson’s personal revenue from his airlines and rail company (Hellriegell & Slocume, 2011). Branson’s states: â€Å"We must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment† (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). In order for Branson to develop and lead a global team for global warming, he must use the core components associated with transformational leadership.According Hellriegel & Slocum (2011; p 330), â€Å"the core components are individual consideration: refer to the leaders to anticipate the followers’ needs, perform as a mentor, and listen to the followers’ needs†. Next, Branson needs to intellectually stimulate his team by encouraging them to think outside the box and to n ot be afraid to take a risk. Then there are inspirational motivations, which is a concept pertaining to leaders creating a vision for the employees to follow.Last but not least is idealized influence which refers to the leader acting in a charismatic way to uplift employees and inspire them (Kirkpartrick & Locke, 1996). Branson has stated on numerous occasions that he treats his employees like human beings, which allows him to anticipate his employees’ needs. Branson also feels that an entrepreneur will only succeed if he or she is surrounded by good people and are able to listen to their advice. Because Branson is open to advice he has innately displayed individual consideration.As a leader Branson has always provided attention to the employee’s needs for growth, encouraged individuals to embrace creativity, and placed an emphasis on innovation. Early in Branson’s career he developed a habit of actively reading emails from his employees. Once the email are read , he then responds to employees’ concerns and ideas personally. There has been instances where employees have presented innovative ideas for the company’s future that Branson has implemented, which demonstrates an intellectual stimulation outcome and encourages this behavior in the future.As I stated above, Branson has a vision that involves improving global warming. Branson’s plan to address the problem is by setting up a carbon war room to strategize reducing the carbon output of companies without damaging the company’s profitability. Setting a vision and creating a plan is a great method for providing inspirational motives for individuals. Historically, Branson is well known for his ability to inspire his team, which results in an ideal work environment. Discuss how you can incorporate some of Branson’s leadership qualities into your role at work or school.Sir Richard Branson is an extraordinary individual and worthy of businesses mimicking his leadership style. Branson’s leadership styles includes, but are not limited to: honing in on one’s ability to become a true visionary, taking risk, and providing quality. Branson states that he listens to all new ideals and proposals but ultimately makes decisions based on his intuition (Branson, 2012). One could practice becoming a visionary into their work or school environment by taking an in depth look at a new ideas or roposals and trusting their intuition. Implementing an environment for visionaries allows individuals to bring forth ideas that other individuals may have difficulty visualizing. This method also encourages individuals to speak up and voice their opinions. The next quality that a leader must possess is risk taking. It is impossible for a business to run without taking risks. â€Å"Virgin would not be the company it is today if risks had not been taken† (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011; p 344).In order for a manager to be successful there has to be some degree of risk taking and one could start by thinking out of the box (Hanna & Klein, 2011). This could take place by setting aside time for the team to meet, discuss, and implement new ideas that involve more risk. Another one of Branson’s attributes for leadership is to provide quality service to his clientele. According to Hellriegel & Slocum (2011), Branson prides himself on his ability to provide quality services to consumers in areas where other companies may not.As a manager, one could raise the bar through implementing higher standards for quality service. This could, as a result, increase the clientele and loyalty to the company. References Boje, D. , & Smith, R. (2010). Re-storying and visualizing the changing entrepreneurial identities of Bill Gates and Richard Branson. Culture & Organization, 16(4), 307-331. doi:10. 1080/14759551003769250 Branson, R. (2012). Sir Audcity. Inc, 34(9), 72-73. Hanna, J. , & Klein, D. S. (2011). Sir Richard Branson: Great Brands, V irgin Brands, Branson Brands.Smart Business Orange County, 6(5), 10-11. Hellriegel, D. , & Slocum, J. W. , Jr. (2011). Organizational Behavior 13th ed. ). Mason, OH: Cengage (Learning) Kirkpatrick, S. A. , & Locke, E. A. (1996). Direct and Indirect Effects of Three Core Charismatic Leadership Components on Performance and Attitudes. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 81(1), 36-51. Sadeghi, A. , & Pihie, Z. (2012). Transformational Leadership and Its Predictive Effects on Leadership Effectiveness. International Journal Of Business & Social Science, 3(7), 186-197. Sir Richard Branson Assignment 4: Sir Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group, Ltd. Case Study Mysherri Rhodes Instructor: Bess White Bus 520: Leadership and Organization February 25, 2012 Describe Branson’s leadership style in terms of the leadership models addressed in Chapters 10 and 11 and evaluate the likely effectiveness of that style in the U. S. today. Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Group Ltd. , has created a multi-billion dollar enterprise, which includes: airlines, records, bridal wear, holidays, vodka, cars, bank accounts, mobile phones, cosmetics, condoms and gyms (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011).The Virgin Group is a globally recognized brand that has approximately 50,000 employees and earns more than $20 billion in sales annually (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Sir Richard Branson is known to be one of the greatest entrepreneurs and with that consumers can expect more unique creations from Sir Richard Branson (Boje & Smith, 2012). In order for a business to acquire and maintain such exponential growth, a company must have an effective leader.According to Hellriegel & Slocum (2011), Branson is a genuine strategist who thinks outside the box and he has achieved many great things despite some setbacks throughout the years. Branson anticipates future trends, inspiring followers to understand and embrace a new vision of possibilities. He develops others to be leaders or better leaders; that’s what makes him a transformational leader (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Sir Richard Branson, has a philosophy that is centered on finding people with strong communication and teamwork skills that can be integrated into Virgin Group culture.Once the proper employees are hired, Virgin Group continues the employee’s professional development, allowing the company to promote existing employees. Branson’s philosophy enables him to develop new leaders, which are able to foresee the company’s future and embrace new visions. Hellriegel & Slocum (2 011), also say that transformational leaders are risk takers and welcome new opportunities. Sir Richard Branson states that it is impossible to run a business without taking risks, and he is no stranger to doing so (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011).Branson publicly admits to three tremendous setbacks: a) the launch of a portable MP3 player (the Virgin Pulse) was crushed by the Apple iPod and lost over $20 million; b) against top management advice, Branson held on to Virgin’s Megastore retail outlets far too long, costing the group financially when the megastores were finally sold; c) Branson created Virgin Cola as an attempt to enter the United Kingdom’s Coca-Cola territory, but Coca-Cola crushed that effort.The Virgin Group has experienced its fair share of failures but that has never stopped Branson from looking for new opportunities. Because of these attributes, Branson is a great transformational leader and is a perfect fit in today’s world. The world is constantl y evolving from the old into the new, and this constant change creates the need for companies to adapt accordingly. Based on constant change a company must be able to adapt accordingly. Transformational leadership is such a great asset to today’s world because its leaders are true visionaries.For instance, to his colleagues Branson is known as Dr. Yes because he finds it hard to say no to new ideas and proposals. Being open to new ideas and proposals sets Virgin Groups apart from other companies because they are never afraid to try venture into new areas. Virgin Group prides itself on doing things in an innovative way while aspiring to provide quality services (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Visionaries are key to the evolution of today’s world and are important to the generations of the future.Recommend a different leadership style (or combination of styles) that would make Branson an even more effective leader. Transformational and transactional leadership are two of th e most popular approaches to leading a businesses (Sadeghi & Pihie, 2012). Branson’s keen sense of transformational leadership is great for Virgin Group but could be more effective when combined other leadership styles such as transactional leadership. Transactional leadership is considered a great second style to work in synergy with transformational leadership.Transactional leadership focuses on the interaction and motivation that occur between a leader and his or her followers (Sadeghi & Pihie, 2012). Branson’s states, â€Å"If you find people who are good at motivating others and getting the best out of people, they are the ones you want. There are plenty of so-called experts, but not as many motivators of people† (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011; p 344). Branson’s belief in motivating his employees demonstrates his belief in transactional leadership and is an incontestable method ensuring that Virgin Group uses the correct leadership path.Motivating employ ees is a great way to initiate great leadership but here are some other components of transactional leadership that should be considered: a) transactional leadership provides contingent rewards, which includes leaders setting measurable goals to obtain that are clear and concise; b) it exhibits active management by monitoring work performance of employees and enforcing rules to prevent mistakes; c) it emphasizes that enforced rules are not to be broken and unacceptable performance will result in corrective actions (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011).Determine how Branson would develop and lead a global team working on a major project (e. g. , space tourism) Americans have witnessed the continuous development of the world for decades and Sir Richard Branson has been a part of American history. Branson has continued to push the envelope year after year, and is familiar with the leadership styles that are necessary for leading a global team working on a major project. Branson spoke out, statin g that carbon damaging the world is what is causing global warming.As a result, Branson recently pledged to give as much as $3 billion over the next ten years to tackle global warming. The funding for the global warming project will be given from Branson’s personal revenue from his airlines and rail company (Hellriegell & Slocume, 2011). Branson’s states: â€Å"We must not be the generation responsible for irreversibly damaging the environment† (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). In order for Branson to develop and lead a global team for global warming, he must use the core components associated with transformational leadership.According Hellriegel & Slocum (2011; p 330), â€Å"the core components are individual consideration: refer to the leaders to anticipate the followers’ needs, perform as a mentor, and listen to the followers’ needs†. Next, Branson needs to intellectually stimulate his team by encouraging them to think outside the box and to n ot be afraid to take a risk. Then there are inspirational motivations, which is a concept pertaining to leaders creating a vision for the employees to follow.Last but not least is idealized influence which refers to the leader acting in a charismatic way to uplift employees and inspire them (Kirkpartrick & Locke, 1996). Branson has stated on numerous occasions that he treats his employees like human beings, which allows him to anticipate his employees’ needs. Branson also feels that an entrepreneur will only succeed if he or she is surrounded by good people and are able to listen to their advice. Because Branson is open to advice he has innately displayed individual consideration.As a leader Branson has always provided attention to the employee’s needs for growth, encouraged individuals to embrace creativity, and placed an emphasis on innovation. Early in Branson’s career he developed a habit of actively reading emails from his employees. Once the email are read , he then responds to employees’ concerns and ideas personally. There has been instances where employees have presented innovative ideas for the company’s future that Branson has implemented, which demonstrates an intellectual stimulation outcome and encourages this behavior in the future.As I stated above, Branson has a vision that involves improving global warming. Branson’s plan to address the problem is by setting up a carbon war room to strategize reducing the carbon output of companies without damaging the company’s profitability. Setting a vision and creating a plan is a great method for providing inspirational motives for individuals. Historically, Branson is well known for his ability to inspire his team, which results in an ideal work environment. Discuss how you can incorporate some of Branson’s leadership qualities into your role at work or school.Sir Richard Branson is an extraordinary individual and worthy of businesses mimicking his leadership style. Branson’s leadership styles includes, but are not limited to: honing in on one’s ability to become a true visionary, taking risk, and providing quality. Branson states that he listens to all new ideals and proposals but ultimately makes decisions based on his intuition (Branson, 2012). One could practice becoming a visionary into their work or school environment by taking an in depth look at a new ideas or roposals and trusting their intuition. Implementing an environment for visionaries allows individuals to bring forth ideas that other individuals may have difficulty visualizing. This method also encourages individuals to speak up and voice their opinions. The next quality that a leader must possess is risk taking. It is impossible for a business to run without taking risks. â€Å"Virgin would not be the company it is today if risks had not been taken† (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011; p 344).In order for a manager to be successful there has to be some degree of risk taking and one could start by thinking out of the box (Hanna & Klein, 2011). This could take place by setting aside time for the team to meet, discuss, and implement new ideas that involve more risk. Another one of Branson’s attributes for leadership is to provide quality service to his clientele. According to Hellriegel & Slocum (2011), Branson prides himself on his ability to provide quality services to consumers in areas where other companies may not.As a manager, one could raise the bar through implementing higher standards for quality service. This could, as a result, increase the clientele and loyalty to the company. References Boje, D. , & Smith, R. (2010). Re-storying and visualizing the changing entrepreneurial identities of Bill Gates and Richard Branson. Culture & Organization, 16(4), 307-331. doi:10. 1080/14759551003769250 Branson, R. (2012). Sir Audcity. Inc, 34(9), 72-73. Hanna, J. , & Klein, D. S. (2011). Sir Richard Branson: Great Brands, V irgin Brands, Branson Brands.Smart Business Orange County, 6(5), 10-11. Hellriegel, D. , & Slocum, J. W. , Jr. (2011). Organizational Behavior 13th ed. ). Mason, OH: Cengage (Learning) Kirkpatrick, S. A. , & Locke, E. A. (1996). Direct and Indirect Effects of Three Core Charismatic Leadership Components on Performance and Attitudes. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 81(1), 36-51. Sadeghi, A. , & Pihie, Z. (2012). Transformational Leadership and Its Predictive Effects on Leadership Effectiveness. International Journal Of Business & Social Science, 3(7), 186-197.

Characters and Plot in the Black Gold Essay

It is not so frequent to find a novel written with an animal as the main character and the story revolving primarily around him. Nevertheless, there are writers like Marguerite Henry who writes animal stories with so much fascination and passion, one of which is the Black Gold. It was based on true-to-life experiences set during the early 1990s in Oklahoma and Kentucky. Mixing her vast knowledge about the topic and her creative talent in writing, Marguerite Henry was able to weave a story with extraordinary characters confronted with extraordinary conflicts. Brief Summary The story evolved in the story of a colt named Black Gold, following his adventures being a race horse. He was regarded by many as weak and not good in racing since he possesses a smaller body compared to other horses. But through the help of his trainer Hanley Webb and rider Jaydee Mooney, the colt started to win and finally gained victory in the Kentucky Derby. His success continued to flourish until he got injured in one of the races he joined. His leg got a quarter crack. Eventually, the colt died. Black Gold was given a burial in the middle of a field in New Orleans. Analysis of the Characters Being an animal is not a reason to live a life less simple. It is very much evident in the story of Black Gold. His life is consisted of complex occurrences that can be considered as more intricate when compared to lives of other people. His birth was a product of a dream. Al Hoots, the owner of Black Gold’s mother named U-See-It, dreamt that if he will breed U-See-It to a leading sire, the mare shall give birth to the horse that will win in the Kentucky Derby. As a result, Hoots tried to mate U-See-It to a stallion named Black Toney. The money Hoots used came from the oil that during that time was being excavated from their land in Oklahoma. Here is where the name Black Gold originated. Among the individuals who imparted time and dedication to Black Gold was his rider Jaydee Mooney. Jaydee Mooney was the one who initially believed in the capacity and talent of Black Gold: â€Å" †¦us Mooneys always try. We do our best†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ( p. 108). However, his spirit was pushed into limits when Black Gold got injured several days before the Derby: † †¦ It was the first loss for the team of Black Gold and Jaydee Mooney. Was it the soreness in his foot showing up again-the same trouble he’d had the week before the Derby? †¦ † (p. 143). Nevertheless, Jaydee Mooney proved to be not only as a rider but a friend as well to Black Gold, especially when the horse died. Analysis of the Plot Since the book was based from true stories and actual experiences, Marguerite Henry wrote it by narrating events in chronological order. Although written in this manner, the book is not boring and dragging to read. It is because the plot itself is a compelling one that catches and drawn immediately the attention of its readers. She used literary devices so as to show her creativity and mastery in handling and writing a topic such as that presented in the book. Henry was also successful in presenting transition of events. Every chapter in the book promises a more interesting and intense happenings from previous events and chapters. In addition, Henry was effective in inflicting transitional devices that guide the readers while reading. The use of illustrations in the book helped in the proper interpretation of events in the story since the readers will be carefully guided while going on through the story. However, the use of these illustrations somehow gives an impression that Black Gold is a children’s book. But all in all, the story’s plot, as well as the book in general, was a well- crafted depiction of an extraordinary tale. Reference Henry, M. ( 1957). Black Gold. Illinois: Rand McNally

Aggressive Marketing and Consumption Culture Term Paper

Aggressive Marketing and Consumption Culture - Term Paper Example This paper seeks to evaluate through analysis in which critical marketing ideas would improve education in marketing and general practice and in the end link the outcome to the idea of people being what they consume. The case will, therefore, integrate the findings of a primary research based on a combination of the same theme areas and create an analysis in the literature. Improvement of any marketing idea is based on the subject getting the knowledge, transforming the theoretical perspectives and putting it into practice (Mort, 1997, p. 20). Marketing knowledge is wide and a basic idea to the business world. Improvement of this knowledge is based on the idea of improving the knowledge of the components of marketing. It, therefore, means that the improvement of the knowledge and practice can only be done if there is a collection of all components, paradigms, and strategies that will create a positive impression on the recipient of the knowledge for improvement. The most important target, however, is the consumer (Penington, 2000, p. 321). The creation of the ideas belying real production and satisfaction of the consumer is the ultimate goal of marketing. The end consumer behavior will determine the success of the knowledge created or the failure of the same. According to Caterral, Maclaran, and Stevens (1999), the improvement can be done by a focus on the marketing paradigms which start with ways of attracting a customer to the creation of the culture of consumption in the customer. This issue is supported by Christine (2013) who highlighted five critical areas of focus to improve marketing knowledge. The areas are; relationship marketing, network, diversity, evangelism, and culture creation. The latter is always the expected and intended outcome.

The traditional model of public administration Essay

The traditional model of public administration - Essay Example The characteristics of this bureaucratic state were set out most clearly by the German sociologist Max Weber in 1920, with strong echoes of earlier writings by the American Woodrow Wilson (Hughes, 1998): Further refinement of the traditional model of public administration came through the application of private sector based ideas of 'scientific management', which introduced efficient operational methods based on standardization of tasks, 'one best way' of fitting workers to tasks, and systematic control of tasks, processes, and workers (Hughes, 1998,33-34). These principles were easily adapted to bureaucratic structures. A final addition to the traditional model was the application of the insights of social psychology, in a 'human relations' approach which is often contrasted with the scientific management approach, but in practice sought to achieve greater efficiency of performance too, though by paying attention to the need to motivate workers rather than merely control and direct them (Hughes, 1998, 35-6). Unfortunately,Unfortunately, the ideal bureaucracy model had never happened in the real life. The critique of the traditional model is based in a comparison of the 'ideal' model of bureaucracy with what happens in real systems of public administration. The following differences can be identified: i. In many systems there is no clear separation between policy and administration, either in terms of decision-making processes or the respective roles of administrators and politicians, which are often fused together. ii. Decision-making processes do not, in any case, conform to the rules of technical and economic rationality, but are affected and shaped by processes of conflict, negotiation and exchange between interests both internal and external to the state bureaucracy iii. Hierarchy and centralization combine with a formal, sometimes slavish adherence to rules and procedures to produce defects (or bureaucratic

Divorce amoung educated vs uneducated Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Divorce amoung educated vs uneducated - Essay Example These factors include; infidelity, poor communication, sexual or physical abuse, incompatibility among others. Divorce is a legal process of dissolving marriages through a court of law. Does the level of education act as a recipe for divorce? Who among the educated and uneducated are likely to divorce? This paper is a critique of divorce among the educated and the uneducated. Education is among the key factors that contribute to divorce. As the level of education rises, the rate of divorce declines and vice versa. There are various explanations for such a trend. Traditionally, marriage institution was very much respected as it was a means of acquiring a social status in society. Nowadays, marriage is losing its cultural meaning due to advancement in education and economic problems. People have intimacy before marriage and even bear children out of wedlock thus making marriage to lose meaning (Wilcox). According to General social survey in America, there has cropped up a new marriage model whereby people get married to enjoy life and wealth. The less educated are poor and do not have wealth to share with their spouses hence they turn to divorce. On the other hand, the educated are wealthy and can satisfy their spouses and give them happiness hence reducing divorce. The general social survey conducted a research in the year 2000 and found out that 49% of t he educated proposed tightening marriage laws while 48 % of the uneducated supported the law (Wilcox). Decline in divorce levels can be attributed to the level of education. The educated couples have information about the dangers of early marriages hence take time to marry. They also take long studying therefore they have no time for marriage. The less educated on the other hand, lack sex education and hence get involved in early marriages without knowledge of what marriage encompasses. They also do not go to school thus they get married earlier than their educated counterparts hence raising the chances of

Finish three finance questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Finish three finance questions - Essay Example The recessionary woes prevalent in the country have adversely affected the business of company. As the recession has taken a strong hit on the manufacturing organizations, so has service sector been affected by it. Although revenue has declined by a meager percentage, the profitability of the company has been slashed down by 73.5% during the same year. The operating expenses have themselves decreased by 2.6% on account of declining revenues and a better allocation of resources by management during the period. Exceptional items occurrence in the operating expenses section have trimmed the profitability. They have increased from a tiny ?4.7 Million in 2008 to ?37.4 Million in 2009 which represents an increase of 687% over the period. Finance costs have also painted a dim picture of profitability increasing by 10.28% during the period from CY08 to CY09. The financial burden was magnified because of an increase in exceptional items occurring in the financial charges table which increase from ?4.2 Million to ?11.9 Million. Income taxes paid during the year decreased by 65.3% with the credit going to the inverse effect of exception items on the taxable income. In a nutshell, if we exclude the effects of exceptional items, the profitability has only shrunk by 20%. ... High gross margins of the company depict that the company is operating in service industry. Operating margins have decreased from a hefty 23.6% in CY08 to 17.6% in CY09. Increase in operating expenses has caused the company to bear the brunt of falling profitability. Operating expenses have increased by 8.38% during the calendar year. Incorporating the effect of exceptional items show that operating margins have only declined from 24.3% in CY08 to 22.8% in CY09. The explanation can be attributed to the ground that the company has incurred ?37 million additional in exceptional items under the operating expenses table. Hence, we expect that the future of the company will remain upbeat as these exceptional items will have a limited affect on future operations. Net Profit Margin of Marston group has squeezed from 9.3% in CY08 to 2.5% in CY09. Again, exceptional items are the main culprit to such a large decline in margins. Financial costs have jumped up by 10.3% during the period on acco unt of increasing exceptional items incurred within the financial charges category. Efficiency Analysis Asset turnover ratio decreased from 0.27 in CY08 to 0.265 in CY09. This implies that the company is generating ?0.265 in revenues for every ?1 in its assets. This decline is a result of squeezing out of revenues in FY09, although the impact has also been mitigated by a slight decrease in assets from ?2465.9 to ?2431.3 in CY09. Trade receivables day outstanding has increased from 41 days in CY08 to 45 days in CY09 which implies that receivables are being collected in a higher number of days in the previous year, thus marking a negative sign on efficiency of the company. As the organization is not a manufacturing concern,

Fallacies and conspiracy theories, Roswell UFO incident Essay

Fallacies and conspiracy theories, Roswell UFO incident - Essay Example With this in mind, the fallacy goes on to state how scientists have taken years of hard work studying the equipment on-board the craft and have managed to gain some understanding, at least on a minimal level and not fully, which has brought about modern technologies. This has been done through reverse engineering of alien devices found onboard, which has seen â€Å"discoveries† made to the benefit of the military and the good of the people. A good example exists in the form of technological application in some unfathomable items such as night vision goggles and the Kevlar body armor. This is because the alien spacecraft did not have windows or any openings that could grant access, which means they were able to use accurate estimation instrument for navigation, and even got to the earth without being detect by the then defense mechanisms. The insinuation of this fallacy is that aliens gave birth to the technology that man holds dear in modern times as there is no other explanat ion to how it came into being, and that all pieces of the puzzle fit and point to Roswell. The technologies, besides the ones mentioned earlier include stealth technology, lasers and the integrated circuit chip, which have into existence recently after years of research and reverse engineering of alien technology (Speigel). Another fallacy is that the US military is in possession of highly effective weapons mounted on planes that could see to it that no enemy survives. This story is backed by the information given by a number of former military officials who put through their arguments for the existence of the conspiracy in that there were actually two alien spacecrafts and not one, as commonly believed by those that believe. This they back with tales of how the first craft came to crash, which is that there was a new test plane in the air force. The test plane is said to have fired its out of this world weapon, which is supposed to be some form of advanced pulse gun, which shot out electromagnetic pulses, which took out the electronics of the craft (Daily mail). With this idea, conspiracy theorists issue the concept of annihilative power of the US military in that as soon as the experimental plane took out the UFO, it came down crushing to see the developments that later followed after the craft was sa lvaged and towed to storage for exploration. This fallacy shows the alleged power of the US military and how much advanced it is in developing military applications for technologies that are discovered every now and then. As this pertains the main reason for the development of these theories or fallacies, one may view it starting from political to sensational conspiracies from several angles. In terms of political ambition, it is meant to discredit the government in that is not

Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Starbucks - Essay Example Furthermore, the report provides a discussion of the marketing mix and possible strategies that should be employed in order to ensure that the launch of a new organic product line by Starbucks in the UK is successful. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 1.Introduction 3 2. Situation Analysis 4 2.1 PESTLE Analysis 5 The rise of health conscious consumers in the UK means that the organic food industry is no longer categorized as a niche market but has recently become a market that is targeted towards the masses. According to IBISWorld, sales volumes of organic products in the UK are expected to rise by 2.6% resulting in financial growth of ?2.02 billion (PRWEB 2013). Certainly, this trend reflects increased consumer awareness regarding food products and the benefits of organic produce on health. 6 2.2 SWOT Analysis 7 3.Market Summary 8 3.1Segmentation 8 3.2Targeting 9 3.3.Positioning 10 3.3 Competition 10 3.4 Market Growth Potential 11 4.1 Marketing Objective 12 4.2 Target Market 12 4.3 Product Offering 12 4.4 Marketing Program 13 4.4.1 Marketing Mix 13 4.4.2 Marketing Communication Mix 13 References 15 PRWEB (2013). UK Organic food industry is moving from niche to mainstream markets [online] available from [24 June 2013] 15 The Asset (2013). Strong UK GDP growth through Q3 seen, SWIFT Index predicts [online] available from [24 June 2013] 15 UKTI (2012). Finance, grants and incentives for businesses in the UK [online] available from [24 June 2013] 15 1. Introduction Starbucks started its operations in 1971 with a sole location at Seattle’s Pike Place Market engaging in the buying and selling of ground coffee and whole bean (Starbucks 2012). The business started with Howard Schlutz’s vision of taking the European coffeehouse experience and translating it according to the requirements, demands, needs and wants of the American customer (Kotler 2010). According to Kotler (2010) the success of Starbucks which is reflected in the existence of 17,651 sto res (as of July 2012) across the globe (Starbucks 2012) has been its ability to integrate a rich experience and successful product to provide the Starbucks Experience. Starbucks made entrance in the European coffee market in 1998 as a consequence of its acquisition of 65 Seattle Coffee Company outlets located in the United Kingdom (Starbucks 2013a). Analysts note that Starbuck’s entrance into the UK market via this strategic business decision was aided by the similarities shared by the two companies it their culture, values and commitment towards the customers (Starbucks 2013). 2. Situation Analysis According to the financial results of Starbucks in the last 5 years, the company has experienced significant growth in its earnings per share which is a positive sign. Under this consideration financial analysts can make accurate evaluations regarding the financial state of the company and the performance of the sales department in particular. According to reports, the earnings pe r share of the organization have increased on a consistent basis from $0.87 in 2007

The differences between reading content area material and literature Essay

The differences between reading content area material and literature - Essay Example The reading of the content areas is mainly divided into three parts. The students draw upon a prior experience or knowledge about the text, during reading they identify with the text and after reading they make interpretations. The strategies of the teacher depend on the activities of the students. (Literacy matters, n.d.). The appropriate strategies of the teachers are as follows: The content materials have a different structure than the other varieties of texts. If the preview of the structure is provided to the students beforehand with headings and sub-headings, pictures and captions then it will benefit the students to understand the nature of the text beforehand. A teacher can discuss these features before beginning starting the lesson. Before starting a new lesson, it will be beneficial for the students if the teachers give an idea of the concepts present in the lesson. The teachers should enquire the students about their knowledge of the subject, which will help in the flow of teaching. Various techniques like the Concept mapping can be used to know the prior knowledge of the students about the subject. The content readings have a high level of vocabulary, which has to be made familiar to the students. The meaning of the new words should be clearly explained to the students. (Abromitis, 28th July, 2009). Reading literature is of great importance because it is through reading of literature that the student learns to view the thoughts and actions of the character compassionately. It develops a sense of emotion in the minds of the reader. Therefore, reading of literature is of utmost importance. The appropriate strategies of teaching literature are as follows: The teachers may teach the whole literature through creating mini lessons about the text. It will be easier for the students to relate to the bigger picture and form a generalized idea about the text. This strategy is helpful for both the

BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES - Essay Example Technology has already achieved its place in the modern business. Unlike the earlier days when technology was seen as just a requirement of the big businesses, in a modern world, smaller businesses have to also use technology to solve most of the challenges they have in order to avoid losing market competitiveness. As Proctor (2009) says, every business has a problem or a challenge which makes it harder to serve its customers in a good way and this means that these businesses have to know how to address these issues. In regard to this, the business should be able to seek to see how it can use technology to be able to overcome these challenges. Carnivore Urban is a city restaurant which offers customers interesting cuisine most of them based on beef. Barbeque is a major part of Carnivore Urban hence the name of the restaurant. Carnivore Urban also offers drinks of all kinds, and it considers itself an entertainment hub, targeted to the common working class people who like to go to the restaurant every day after work to relax. Customers come to the restaurant and order their favourite drink and their food. Each day in the week is a special entertainment treat day where music of different tastes is played, but always to take of the customers. The main advantage is that customers can come in and order a dish of their own unique recipe and have it prepared within a reasonable time. This not only helps the customers to have customized meals which are tuned to their specific taste, it also helps them to eat fresh meals. There is however one problem with this kind of arrangement. Stock management is hard, and some time Carnivore Urban buys too much food material of a certain type which them goes to waste if that day customers don’t order meals requiring that kind of food materials. As Webne (2008) says, managing logistics is a major and vital part of successful business management. For instance, it is possible

IPSec Architecture Essay Example for Free

IPSec Architecture Essay IPSec is a collection of protocols tied together to apply it’s potential as specified in the IPSec Architecture. It is necessary to comprehend the relationships and interaction of these protocols. Along with the design of the IPSec Architecture, various security documents like ESP ( Encapsulating Security Protocol) , AH (Authentication Header) and Antireply protection defines the protocol, the payload header format, and the services they provide. IPSec works by enabling a system to select its own security protocol, algorithms and cryptographic keys as required by the services. Versatile, it can protect multiple â€Å"paths† between hosts, security gateways or between host and security gateway. Security services provided by IPSec at the IP Layer are access control, connectionless integrity, data origin, and authentication, rejection of replayed packets, encryption, and limited traffic flow confidentiality. While services are provided in the IP layer, protocols like TCP, UDP, ICMP, BGP, and other IP based protocols can take advantage of IPSec. The better understand the relationship of between Protocols and Algorithms in the IPsec Architecture: The standard algorithm is placed to initiate interoperability in the Internet and combine with IPSec Traffic Protection and Key Management protocols allow systems and application developers to install superior, internet layer, cryptographic security technology. References: Doraswamy N, Harkins D. , (n. d. ), â€Å"IPSec Architecture†, Chapter 4 of IPSec- The New Security Standard for the Internet, Intranets and Virtual Private Networks (Prentice Hall), [online], http://www. microsoft. com/technet/itsolutions/network/security/ipsecarc. mspx Javvin Network Management and Security, (n. d. ), â€Å"IPSec : Security Architecture for IP Network†, [online], http://www. javvin. com/protocolIPsec. html.

Soil Pollution

Soil Pollution Introduction Soil pollution is caused by the presence of chemicals made by man or alteration in the natural soil environment. This type of contamination typically grows from the rupture ofpesticides, underground storage tanks, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, oil and fuel dumping, leaching of wastes fromlandfillsor direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil. The chemicals which are involved mainly are petroleumhydrocarbons,solvents, pesticides, lead and otherheavy metals. Occurrence of this development is correlated with the degree of industrializations and intensities of usage of chemicals. Objective of the study This study has the following objectives To study the process of soil contamination. To study the cause, effects and control measures of soil contamination. To study various remediation technology available for soil contamination. To test soil specimen for shear strength using Direct Shear Test. Depending upon the contaminant of the soil specimen, to provide a remedial solution for the soil contamination Soil Contamination Soil contamination must be decimated to check that the best develop is grown for intake, (most important for organic farmers) it has to be proved first that the soil and land are of good quality, Many things are there making up the soil. In the area that soil made of basic organic parts basic such as granite or limestone, then there are organisms that break down like leaves, critter muck etc, the lands location and altitude bottom of the vale or on a mountain inclination, climate is also an crucial factor (ILO. 1992). Effects on plants It counts on what type of soil, the type of toxins present and the rigor of the soil pollution, as to how much or what comes in the plant, essentially sandy soil is less likely to grab on to chemicals, whereas soil carrying more organic matter like as peat moss will keep to contaminants more readily this has the impression of altering the metabolic stage of the microorganisms soil is held of, thus the pollutes enter the chain of food. Soil pollution can also affect those who touch it, depending on the pollutes, when small animals take over and polluted dust particles inhaled by them, occasionally some serve contaminations in dust form, are absorbed by the skin. Causes of soil contamination Well theres oil falls, pipe line leaks, toxic spills land that has been used before for things like as mining, gas stations, factories, airports all of these have polluted soil below them, the unnatural stuffs heaps in the landfills percolating into the ground, use of over fertilizers in some countries crops are still spray very toxic pesticides, all these things are reason of soil pollution around the world. When natural disasters happens like as earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes then facilities that have oil, toxins and chemicals become damaged or destroyed, their spills and leaks cause soil pollution, roughly 10 mi. ² of land in southeast of New Orleans became polluted, when over one million gallons of oil dowsed into the earth after a hurricane, demolished some holding facilities (Jewell, R.A., 1996). Storage of products and/or waste is Incorrect in industrial activities Uncontrollable waste disposal Waste of Industrial construction and demolition Drums which are underground Goods transports accidents Faulty operations or leaks from tanks Waste of water disposal Wrong use of pesticides and/or manures Bad or open sewers in a poor state Air pollutants deposition Concerns and health problems China has little lawmaking in place for the security of land to protect against soil pollution, unfortunately it looks like that over a 10% of the land has soil pollution, land is being watered by contaminated water. Since the 1970s there have been oozing from toxic tar island dam in the soil, and more lately a scallion of toxic polluters was discovering into the Athabasca River, a supply of water for Alberta. Effects Contamination of surface water Contamination of ground water Contamination of river sediment Volatile compounds Evaporation Inside houses air contamination Supply of contaminated water Ingestion of contaminated soil Using of contaminated surface waters Digging danger Contamination of animals and farm vegetables through the use of ground waters Control measures for soil contamination Controlled waste landfill Industries with adequate prevention and protection measures New sewer networks Waste water purifier Liquid manure storage basin Remedial Solutions to soil erosion Physical Rainfall and Runoff 1. Rainfall and water runoff are the two biggest culprits when it comes to soil erosion from water. The impact of physical raindrops on the soil surface can eventually break down the its structure and disseminate essential nutrients. The more usurious the slope of a field, the greater the runoff will be. That is the reason it is important to only plant on flat, horizontal land. As the slope length increases, so does the intensity of the runoff the water. If you must plant on a sloped surface, avoid very large stretches of land. It is mandatory to be a proper drainage whenever trying to combat water erosion. Water cant be absorbed by soil whenever it is collected on a slope, runoff will occur. Ensure that the land you want to farm on has enough drainage (Jewell, R.A. 1996). Soil Health 2. High level of organic matter in soil, structure in proper form and fast water infiltration rate is considered healthy and repellent to water erosion. Soil containing toxins, high levels of sand, or coarse-textured soil is considered unhealthy and prostrate to erosion by water. Growing crops that are autochthonal to the region will greatly help in maintaining a healthy soil base resistant to erosion. Rotation of Crop is another way of keeping your soil healthy and resistant to water erosion. Harvesting the same crops continually in the same location can lead to the collection of toxins and a natality imbalance in the soil. There are many forms of vegetation that can be grown to help protect against erosion of water. Ground will thickly covered by vegetation and form a network that will absorb water, which in turn reduces runoff. Vegetation provides extra roots from channels that help with drainage, as they allow surface water to permeate the soil. Vegetation will also provide cover for the soil, which reduces damage and runoff from raindrop impact. SOLUTIONS To avoid erosion of bare soil, it is essential to assert a cover to vegetation, mainly in the areas which are most dangerous e.g. those with infuse slopes, a periods of very heavy rainfall or season infuse. To do it may intend only partially gleaning forests and using seasonally wet or dry areas for pastoral rather than agriculture which is arable. Where polish which is intensive takes place, the farmers also use a crop rotation in order to avoid the soil becoming consumed. Where soils are covered in harmful areas, shape sloughing should be used. Careful management of irrigation, to prevent the application of too much or too little water, should help cut down the problem of salivation. Livestock skimming rates must be carefully managed to keep overgrazing. Perhaps we must attempt to limit highway construction and urbanization to areas of lower agricultural potential. With extractive industries, a pledge must be assured to restore the land to its former condition before planning permit for quarries or mines is granted. The principal approaches these strategies take are Sheep pasture with macroscale erosion. choice ofvegetativecover erosionprevention salinitymanagement: specific state-wide salinity control objectives are: With good quality groundwater stabilize water tables at harmless levels in irrigation areas Significantly retard rising groundwater by control of groundwater recharge, and where necessary to adapt to higher saline conditions in irrigation areas with saline groundwater Significantly reduce additions to the groundwater organizations and to substantially improve brininess problems associated with localized water in ground systems Where appropriate and Protect and rehabilitate high in value wetlands and other features which are significant environmental. Mineralization: To allow plants phytonutrient potential, active mineralization of the soil is sometimes undertaken. It can be in the form of natural of adding squeezed rock or can bring the form of soil of chemical supplement. The purpose is to combat mineral depletion in either case depletion of the soil. Wide range of minerals can be added including common substances like P (phosphorus) and more exotic substances such as zn (zinc) and sl (selenium). Extensive researches are there on the phase transitions of stuffs in soil with aqueous contact. The flooding process can bring significant bed load sediment to an alluvial plain. While its effect may not be considerable if floods threaten life or if the eroded deposit originates from productive land, this natural process that can regenerate soil chemistry through mineralization and macronutrient addition (Netterberg, 1971). No till farming: It is a way of growing crops from one year to next to next year without breaking the soil through tillage. It is a latest agricultural technique which can increase the water amount in the soil and decrease the erosion. No till farming may also increase the amount and variety of life in and on the soil but requires increased herbicide usage. Contour plowing: Contour farming and contour plowing is the farming practice of plowing across an incline following its elevation contour lines and rows formed slows water dispel during rainstorms to protect soil erosion and allows the water time to get settle into the soil. Crop rotation: This is a practice (Crop rotation or Crop sequencing) to growing dissimilar types of crops in the same region in back-to-back seasons for various profits such as to keep off the buildup of pathogens and cusses that generally occurs when one type of crop is continuously cropped. Crop rotation also seeks to balance the fertility demands of various crops to avoid excessive depletion of soil nutrients. A traditional component of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals and other crops. It is one component of poly culture. Rotation of crop can also improve soil structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants. Resting the land: To grow the cropsproperly they need nutrient rich soil. If we dont land rest between crops than the first crop will use nutrients all present in the soil and the crop which will grow later will grow poorly as a result. Resting the land allows put a little more organic material into the soil by our nature, so it is necessary replenishing it before you plant crop after another. Direct Shear Test:- Objective: To determine the shearing strength of the soil using the direct shear apparatus. Apparatus Direct shear box apparatus Loading frame (motor attached). Dial gauge. Proving ring. Tamper. Straight edge. Balance to weigh upto 200 mg. Aluminum container. Spatula. Procedure:- Measure the inner dimension of the soil container. The parts of the soil container are put together. The volume of the container is calculated and it is weighed. The soil is placed in smooth layers (approximately 10 mm thick). Tamp the soil if a dense sample is desired. The soil container is weighed, the difference of these two gives the weight of the soil. The density of the soil is calculated. The surface of the soil is made plane. The upper grating are put on stone and block loaded on top of soil. The thickness of soil specimen is measured. The desired normal load is applied. The shear pin is removed. The dial gauge is attached which measures the change of volume. The initial reading of the dial gauge is recorded and values caliberated. Check all adjustments to see that there is no connection between two parts except sand/soil before proceeding to test. Start the motor. The reading of the shear force is taken and recorded. V olume change readings are taken till failure. 5 kg normal stress 0.5 kg/cm2 is added and the experiment is continued till failure All the readings are recorded carefully. Before starting the experiment set the dial gauges zero,. Two soil specimens were chosen for the test. Sample one: Clean and not contaminated with weight of 16 kg Sample two: Contaminated with fuel ash with weight of 8 kg As explained in the procedure above, two soil samples were tested. After the test, following results were obtained: Load at failure for sample one = 87.5 N Load at failure for sample two = 29.1 N The contaminated sample will be used for the design project to asses it is commercial viability. References ILO. 1992. A participatory approach to environmental protection measures for hill irrigation schemes in Nepal. Nepal SPWP Manual No. 1. ILO, Geneva. Ingold, T.S. and Miller, K.S. 1988. Geotextiles Handbook. Thomas Telford, London Jewell, R.A. 1996. Soil Reinforcement with Geotextiles. CIRIA Special Publication 123. Construction Industry Research and Information Association, London. Lawrance, C.J., Byard, R.J. and Beaven, P.J. 1993. Terrain Evaluation Manual. Transport Research Laboratory State of the Art Review 7. HMSO, London. MacGregor, F., Fell, R., Mostyn, G.R., Hocking, G. and McNally, G. 1994. The estimation of rock rippability. Quart. J. Eng. Geol. 27: 123-144. Netterberg, F. 1971. Calcrete in road construction, CSIR Res. Rep. 286, Pretoria, CSIR. Netterberg F. 1978 Calcrete wearing courses for unpaved roads, Civ. Eng. S. Afr., Vol 20 No 6, pp 129-138 Peltier, L. 1950. The geographic cycle in periglacial regions as it is related to climatic geomorphology. Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geog. 49, 214-36. Pettifer, G.S. and Fookes, P.G. 1994. A revision of the graphical method for assessing the excavatability of rock. Quart. J. Eng. Geol. 27: 145-164. Schiechtl, H.M. and Stern, R. 1996 (English translation). Ground Bioengineering Techniques for Slope Protection and Erosion Control. Blackwell Science, Oxford. Schiechtl, H.M. and Stern, R. 1997 (English translation). Water Bioengineering Techniques for Watercourse Bank and Shoreline Protection. Blackwell Science, Oxford. Stewart, G.A. and Perry, R.A. 1953. Survey of Townsville-Bowen Region (1950). Land Research Series, Varnes, D.J. 1978. Slope movements and types and processes. In: Landslides: Analysis and Control, Wang, H., Latham, J-P. and Poole, A. 1991. Predictions of block size distributions for quarrying. Quart. J Eng. Geol. 24: 91-99.

Impact of Organizational Communication on Employee Performance

Impact of Organizational Communication on Employee Performance Man is a social animal. He cannot overcome the worldly activities alone. He needs help from other people to do his usual deeds. We spend a lot of time in writing, reading, talking and listening, infect most of our time is spent while communicating. For the implementation of our routine activities we always need someones help. Then process of communication starts. No one can communicate alone. Theres always a sender and one or more receivers. Communication is a source of delivering messages form one to another. Through communication people share their ideas, feelings, thoughts and emotions. Man carries out his needs and also helps others by knowing each other. And life will pass with the same zeal. Communication plays a vital role in the working of any business. Organizations have to communicate to carry out their business activities. Researches indicate that organizations cannot meet their goals unless they have effective communication. In the triumph of any organization, the relationship between manager and his subordinates plays the significant role. In any business activity manager is a key player. Communication is a ribbon, which binds the management and its official together, and is very obligatory for the success and excellent performance of any organization. Communication helps the organizational members to make both personal and organizational goals. And also help them to co-ordinate on the internal activities of the organization. To the extent the less effective communication of any organization is, the less effective its performance will be. E.g. the new employee orientation program is the first and most essential step for any organization towards efficient communication. New employees feel a great sense of confidence with orientation program. And this thing leaves a positive impact on their performance. In this respect the job of a manager cannot be ignored, because problems occur when directions are not clear. Every manager should be a good communicator. Because he is one who communicates the message to one or a group. (Ivancevich Matteson, 2002) Effective communication increases the efficiency and productivity of any business. And also make the employees more satisfied. Researches illustrate that effectual and well-organized communication positively relates to the job satisfaction, performance and positive attitudes of employees. A study by University of East London shows that the concept of communication is immeasurable in modern management, and it seeks to meet clear understanding between manager and all the employees. It explains that employee communication is; infect exchange and clear provision of information, commands and directions between management and employees. And it makes the organization to work properly and employees to be well aware about their responsibilities and duties. (University of East London, 2009) Communication is a course of action in which information is being shared from one person or group to another by using common symbols. Though science and information technology become advance now even yet the human element of communication cannot be ignored, because communication within the organization is preferred for any business. It is necessary for the healthy environment of any establishment. Communication is a pervasive activity through which people become able to know each other and they combine their efforts. Today employees want to know what is happening in their surroundings, what their co-workers are doing and how they are participating in the organization, and how the daily functions of the organization are carried out? Today the manager requires more effective and logical communication in all the directions i.e. upward, downward; lateral etc. when there is effective communication in the organization it provides a bridge of understanding to people. In this way they can better understand each other. And this bridge of understanding helps them to cross the river of misinterpretation. Communication is not what the sender says; it is to what degree the receiver understands the message. Organizations cannot survive without communication. When there is no communication, workers were not clear with their everyday jobs, management cannot get the information, group leaders and executives cannot lead and direct their employees. (Newstrom, 2007) Through communication we can better understand each others feelings, opinion, beliefs and principles. Communication makes it possible for the organizations to perform their daily management functions e.g. organizing, planning, controlling and leading. Co-ordination is an essential element to carry out the business actions. When there is no effective internal communication, co-ordination of work also becomes impossible. And organizations have to suffer a lot in this situation. Co-operation also becomes impossible because people will not discuss their ideas and feelings with others. This will lead to low productivity and low performance in the organization. Innovation also stumps in this way. According to Balondi, companies that are very good at communication are effective listeners to their employees, and also they plan effectively. He explains that effective internal communication keeps the employees on track and it increase the financial performance of the companies. The results of the study confirm that companies with effective communication, their market value increases by 20 percent. (Balondi, 2006) Communication is the stream of information, material, knowledge and insight between different people and various departments of any organization. It influences each and every action of the organization. Infect, it is a chain of perceptions which moves the organizations towards their goals. Organizations cannot meet their goals and challenges until they communicate well. Good communication leads to good results, and toward more satisfied, motivated and dedicated employees. And boost their morale as well. Communication is possibly the most imperative thing for the continued existence of any business. The purpose to have good communication in any organization is to have employee involvement in the organization. There should be good communication between management and their officials, because internal communication plays a fundamental role in the performance of any organization. BROAD PROBLEM AREA Every organization has its own culture and patterns on the basis of which they conduct their functions and activities. The present study is an attempt to analyze the factors which affects the performance of employees in the organization, as in organizations there are several things which affects the employees performance. The communication is the most important thing in this respect. Many studies have conducted in this regard but those did not discuss the factors which affects the employee performance with respect to communication. From a managerial perspective, it is important to discuss the relationship between management and employees with reference to communication. As there are many factors which relates to communication and enhance the employee performance in the organizations e.g. co-operation, co-ordination, job satisfaction, employee motivation, image of the organization and accomplishment of goals. Keeping this in mind, the study of communication and managerial behavior requires an in-depth analysis of all those circumstances in which the functions of the organization takes place. This study will focus on the managerial behavior and patterns of communication in the organization which leads to employees performance. This study will incorporate the attitude of managers/organizational leaders towards their employees by taking in-depth information from the concerned functionaries. LITRETURE REVIEW A literature review discusses published information in a particular area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period. A literature review can be just a simple summary of the source, but it usually has an organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but a synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information. It might give a new interpretation of old material or combine with old interpretation. Or it might trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates. And depending on the situation, the literature review may evaluate the sources and advise the reader on the most pertinent or relevant. According to Hellweg Phillips (1982), the worker productivity increases when there is communication within the organization. Besides many other things the communication within the organization helps the employees to perform their tasks well, to have information about the duties they have to perform, and about the goals of the organization. They argue that existence of communication within the organization lead to the effective decision making. Smidts, Pruyn, Riel (2001) define the employee communication as communication transaction in their study. They argues that employees who are well informed about organizational activities as goals and objectives, new developments and achievements can enable the organizations members to develop such characteristics which differentiates it from other organizations. They found that communication climate is an important variable in the relationship between employee communication and organizational identification. In their point of view the lack of communication within the organization affect the organizational decision making. According to them, its the foremost duty of the manager to pay serious attention towards the internal communication climate, by giving each employee opportunities to speak, get involved and be listening and guide them for the fulfillment of goals. A study by Harshman Harshman (1999) concludes that the structure of the organizations is changing day by day as the environment is changing. The changing social and economic atmosphere in any country brings change in the work settings of any organization. Organizational communication is the critical function, and it affects the content and structure of the organization. These changes lead to change in formal and informal patterns of communication in the organizations. The previous researches show that there is a strong bound between communication and other organizational functions. Another study by Monge, Cozzens, Contractor (1992) shows that communication variables like information sharing and communication between group members leads to innovation in the organization. They found that communication variables have a strong effect on the organizational outcome. They argue the participative environment within the organization, increase its productivity and improve its performance and outcomes. Effective communication in the work setting of any organization promotes trust in the employees. When they are getting involved in decision-making or when they are empowered this thing will increase their confidence level and definitely have a positive effect on the performance of the employees. In connection to this another pertinent study to be quoted is the one proposed by Dirks Ferrin (2001) on the role of trust. Their findings show that trust is an important element in the organizational settings as it positively relates to the attitudes, perceptions, behaviors and performance outcomes within the organizational settings. It has direct effect on the various outcomes. Trust is an essential building block in the functioning of an organization. They found that trust is directly relates to increase productivity, positive attitude of the employees, their good behaviors and more likely to the high level of cooperation between management and employees. A study of manager-employee surveys, Trinka (2006) found that managers can increase their overall effectiveness by 50-60 percent by focusing on communication. He argues that employees are interested in learning communication skills to make a healthy and co-operate working environment. He proposes that a manager can play an important role in retaining employees and in their performance. He found that those managers, who discuss and communicate the performance standards with their employees, get more effective results and outcomes. A study at BigCo Company of USA found, those leaders who follow the bureaucratic model in the company, results as restricted interaction patterns. The social interaction between employees is very low which indeed leads to low sharing. They argue that social interaction is the core of any business and there should be good interaction between the leaders and the employees. They further illustrated that women are more efficient and active at communication. They found in their research that women working at BigCo are more likely to bridge the communication in the company. They explain that the coordination between top management and the subordinates is very less which seems divergent in the complex world of information and technology, as communication and coordination are two most important ingredients in the working of any organization. (Kleinbaum, Stuart, Tushman, 2008) Previous studies conducted on organizational communication suggests a visible relation between trust and communication. In relation to this, Yamaguchi (2009) proposes that there exists a strong relation between these two factors i.e organizational communication and trust. He predicted that bad news such as about failure of proposals or low performance, results in developing a bad perception of employees about their boss. Wheras as good communication between superiors and employees leads to good results in the organization. He further explain that good communication can change the attitude of employees for the desired results. Communication decreases the uncertainity and effective communication enhance the trust, increases the job satisfaction, employees commitment and their loyalty towards work. He found that effective communication breaks the wall of misunderstanding and conflicts can be avoided in this way. Yukl Falbe (1992) gave the relation between soft and hard communication tactics in his study. He found that the hard communication tactics are not as effective as the soft ones. He predicted that consultation is the most effective tactic and it leads to the positive results in the organizations because hard communication tactics are least successful in the organizations. Hard communication tactics make the employees violent and they mistrust their superiors. He argues that to influence the people is the most important thing in the managerial effectiveness, that how the manager motivates his subordinates. Gray Larry (2005) suggests that CEO is the supreme head in the organizations and he lead the employees and workers to achieve the goals. They give directions and their behaviours sets the culture in the work setting that how to fulfill the objectives and achieved the visiion and mission. They found that, employees are most satisfied with those Executives and CEOs who are good communicators. The CEO and Executive communication influence the employees perceptions. They explain that communication is not only information sharing but also to create a sense of understanding. Organizations are nothing without their people, success of organizations is not possible until there is a balance between employees and the tasks. Employees can only be able to get full results when they are clear about their assigned tasks and duties, and when there is a relation of trust and appreciation. The strong relation between management and employees results in many positive aspects in the organization. Goris, Vaught, Pettit ( 2000) proposes that job performance and job satisfaction can be achieved only when there is a balance relationship between employees needs for growth and job characteristics. They found that high level of downward communication in the organizations make employees to feel dependent on their bosses. And when there is too much upward communication, employees sometimes assume that their superiors dont know how to perform their tasks and duties. He further agues that excess of everything is dangerous in the same way excess of any communication direction in the organization creates trouble for workers. Negative reactions can be the result of too many good things or too little things. In lateral communication employees compare themselves with their co-workers and this thing negatively affects employee sstisfaction and their performance. Communication is considered to be an important ingredient in the work setting of the organization. Organizational communication is a way to develop a strong culture within the organization to achive the set goals and objectives. In this regard Scholfelder (1998) defines organizational communication as an approach in which everyone should participate to create an effective culture within the corporation. This leads to sharing of knowledge, opinions and ideas which results as innovation, effective decision making and also increases the productivity of the organization. He found in his study that managers spend 70-80% of their daily time in communicating with others and if their communication skills could increase by 10 % this will lead to 7 % increase in the productivity. Trust in an important element in getting the effective and efficient result. Researches further makes this point more clear and understandable. Goris, Pettit, Vaught (2000) examines the relationship between trust in and influence of superiors and job satisfaction and job performance. They propose that trust and influence are two vast concepts in the organizational context. And this permits the supervisors and managers to attain desired results and enhance positive working conditions. Trust in supervisors is related with job satisfaction and innovation. Whereas influence of supervisors leads to employees satisfaction. They found a positive relationship between trust in supervisors, influence of supervisors and job performance and satisfaction. Denton (1993) define the relation between communication and productivity. He found that 88% of the engineers strongly believes that least productivity is the result of poor co-ordination and lack of communication between different business units. CEOs also on the view that good communication with employees directs the job satisfaction. General Electric, is a well-known organizatation, expierencing the open communication to make employee relations more effective and to increase productivity. This helps them to eradicate the communication problems because CEO;s and leaders of their 14 business units are in direct communication with each other. This results as effective and quick decision making. He further explains that Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, California uses the open communication and gets the drastic change in their productivity. When employees feel that they are listened and they are important for the organization, this increases their motivational level. Open communication is simply sharing and trusting each other in the work setting. The corporations use open communication, gets the employees satisfaction, motivation and cooperation. The improvement in the employee relations leads to the increased productivity. Role of communication cannot be ignored in any establishment. communication between management and employees keep them up to date about what is happening in their sorrundings. Dinsbach, Feij, de Vries (2007) founds that there is a positive and strong relation between communication, job satisfaction and organizational identification. They talked about in the terms of discrimination between employees and found that those employees who are treated unequally leads to negative outcomes. Whereas those employees who are treated equally are more satisfied and committed to their management. They examined a positive relation between communication and job attitudes and outcomes. The study demonstrates that communication is the best way to know about tha attitudes of employees. They explain that communication among people is essential in all type of organization, because when there is good public relations this results as increase productivity, job satisfaction, positive attitude of employees t owards their organization and also organizational identification.