Happy, Productive Employees Essay Example For Students

Happy, Productive Employees Essay Happy Employee are Productive EmployeesA just-released longitudinal study adding to the growing body of scientific evidence on employee productivity confirms that depression is common in the workplace and detrimental to employee performance. These findings are reported in the May issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry, the monthly scientific journal of the American Psychiatric Association. The study found that absenteeism due to health problems was twice as high for employees with depressive symptoms compared to those without depressive symptoms. The study also revealed that the likelihood of decreased performance on the job is seven times higher for depressed employees. The longitudinal study of more than 6,000 employees at three corporations took a close look at the relationship between depression, satisfaction with health care and employee productivity. The study also found that employees who complained about their health care including problems with access, communications, choice and continuity of care were also more likely to be depressed and work less productively. According to Lloyd Sederer, M.D., Director of the Division of Clinical Services for the American Psychiatric Association, The message is clear: there is both medical and financial value in better detection and effective treatment for depression in the workplace.the enddddddb dddd dddd dddd ddddd dddd dddd ddd dddddddd ddd ddd dd ddd ddddd ddd ddd dddd dddddddddd ddddd ddddd dddd ddd dddd dd ddd dddd ddd d ddd dd d ddd ddd dd dd dd dd ddd ddddddddd ddd ddddd dddd dddd ddd dddd ddddd ddd dd dddd dddd d d ddddddd dd ddd dddd dddd ddddddd dddd ddd ddddd d ddd dd dddd dddddd ddd ddd dddd dd dddddd ddd ddd dddd d ddd dddd ddd ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddWords/ Pages : 294 / 24

Blue Ocean Strategy in Air Asia Essay Example

Blue Ocean Strategy in Air Asia Essay Example Blue Ocean Strategy in Air Asia Paper Blue Ocean Strategy in Air Asia Paper Literature Review Most of the companies must have a strategy for competing in the markets in which they offer products or services. The strategy will either be implicit or explicit, and the extent to which a company is successful compared with its competitors relies on the creation of competitive advantage through the activities that it performs to design, market, deliver and support its product or service. They develop strategy at an overall company level, within customer sectors and for regions, functions and locations. The process is intended to be an iterative one and one that remains alive and is continuously updated and adjusted to suit the changing competitive and economic landscape. Few companies in the world have managed to survive, let alone prosper, over long periods of time. AirAsia approaches to prevent this occurring and to generate continued growth is to frequently re-assess its strategy so that they build strong businesses in the attractive industries of the future Company overview Air Asia Berhad AirAsia’s leading airline was established with the dream that everyone can fly. Since 2001, the company has swiftly broken travel norms around the globe. It has risen to become the world’s best. With a route network that spans through more than 20 countries. AirAsia continues to pave the way for low-cost aviation through innovative solutions, efficient processes and a passionate approach to business. According to Mr Tony Fernandes, they are in a huge market and they are only 5 yrs old company. Southwest Airlines has 400 planes in a market of 350 million people. AirAsia in a market that’s double, triple that. Because of that AirAsia has a lot of potential to grow, but grow sensibly and grow at the right pace. AirAsia have been aggressive on branding. They also put a lot of money into sports branding such as Manchester United. Many Asian companies don’t value branding as much because they don’t see it in the bottom line straight away. It’s something that even Mr Tony have to explain to his board time and time again, that the fruits of branding are over five years. But he thinks it’s been very key in AirAsia growth and they’ll continue to invest in it. BlueOcean Strategies To compete with Malaysian Airline System (MAS) before the acquisition of MAS shares and regional airline, Air Asia have managed to avoid the red ocean by looking into the factors that industry take for granted and also factors that important to customers. With the Four Actions Framework proposed by Blue Ocean Strategy authors, Air Asia have implemented many strategic moves to ensure they are making Malaysia Airline and regional airline company irrelevant. AirAsia Strategy By referring to the strategies picture we can summarize as below: EliminateThe company have eliminate over the counter booking system. AirAsia also eliminate free Food/Beverage on the plane. This help AirAsia save cost. They also eliminate Seating Class booking system. Reduceâ€Å"luxury† facilities provided by Airport Lounge. No of attendance service on the plane. Reduce the seat quality. Raise Focus on several key destination Increase frequency of flight CreateOnline Booking system Point to point travel sy stem With this strategic move, Air Asia able to focus on factors that really bring value to the customers such as point to point travel system, easy booking system etc. This will help Air Asia to reduce cost and at the same time increase the value to the customers Value Innovation. SWOT Analysis of AirAsia. StrengthsLocally and Internationally Recognized Constant Innovations Keep a Strong Hold on the Industry Successful company Brand is all important WeaknessesDependence on innovation of its products Reports on faulty /delay items Confusion among consumers OpportunitiesOpportunities in the International Market Possibility of product expansion ThreatsUnpredictable Market High level of competition in Asean region A. Strengths 1. Locally and Internationally Recognized AirAsia is undoubtedly become one of the most recognizable brand names in the airline industry in Malaysia. It has engaged in a marketing strategy all of which the Malaysia market has been made aware. The organization also has been successful in creating its name in the international brand. 2. Constant Innovations AirAsia with its first-rate management of its innovation time line is among the key causes following the firm’s accomplishment in creating consistent soaring levels of same store sales. With constant innovation that make the Malaysian people can fly with lower cost. 3. Keep a Strong Hold on the Industry The company is an established name in the Airline industry. It has built a reputation of excellence that new entrants in the industry strive for. With this standard of rigorous marketing strategies AirAsia will continue to exist in the coming years. 4. Successful company The passenger had increased to 14,253,244 in 2009. In Malaysia the favorable brand right now is AirAsia. Sales of its airline ticket had increased in 2009. A sale of its ticket is also very strong, and this represents a huge contribution to income for AirAsia. 5. Brand is all-important AirAsia established and healthy brands. With promoting Manchester United football club has made the world knows who is AirAsia. B. Weaknesses 1. Dependence on innovation of its products In this industry AirAsia is dependence of its innovations. Bear in mind, the near most competitor is close to Malaysia. If the company make a wrong move in its product strategies than customer will go to others that offer more innovative product. 2. Reports of customer complaint Although AirAsia is giving low price of airline ticket but customer complaint to the company is compiling day by day. With flight delays and the complaint are arising and the company needs to tackle to such problem. 4. Confusion among Customers When AirAsia putting flight promotions in the newspaper advertisement, they will be using red color. However, recently Malaysian Airline System – MAS (before the shares acquisition) also using red color in the newspaper advertisement. This in the first place will confuse the customer on which is AirAsia and MAS. C. Opportunities 1. Opportunities in the International Market With rigorous product marketing by the company, AirAsia have high opportunities in the International Market areas. AirAsia have dedicated to continue with cost-efficiency and expansion. 2. Possibility of product expansion To the customer, AirAsia has become a strong brand. AirAsia will not just be number one in size it has become number one in the minds of customers. This is the passion of AirAsia and this has currently become possible as many has switch from flying with MAS and turn to AirAsia. D. Threats 1. Unpredictable Market The market that AirAsia is operating on is also dependent on the situation of the country within. If the people have the ability to fly than the company will survive and gain profit. However if the situation is vice versa than the company will have a problem to sustain it cost and operations 2. High competition in the Asian region. In the region we have other airline that can offer competitive offering to customers. Malaysian Airline System is the nearest one. With the introduction of Fireflyz, MAS is offering similar with AirAsia in terms of low cost flight. Garuda Airways and Thai Airways also can give a good competition with AirAsia. Being successful attracts competition, and AirAsia is working very hard on in order to retain its competitive position. Porter’s Five Force Analysis 1. Industry Rivalry- Moderate With the acquisition of stock in Malaysian Airline System the closest high rivalry has become moderate. 2. Buyers Power – High Customer does not have many options to choose from. The demand for new and updated features and also the markets are increasing 3. Threat of Suppliers- Low ?Hardware and airplane component can easily get. 4. Threat of Entry- Low ?Huge capital requirements ?Strong market strategy required 5. Threat of Substitutes- Low ?Currently the company has become the optional company that people will hop in to fly due to low cost. Porter’s Five Force Apple’s Competitor Analysis We can see if a new player or a new competitor, they must engage head on with AirAisa. To date AirAsia still maintain it low cost flight and it is a though scenario to put lower price compare to AisAsia to attract new customer. ?People will still buy and fly with AirAsia as the company flight ticket is lowest in Malaysia. With this scenario the buyer power to AirAsia is very high. ?Aircraft maintenance part and services can easily get and this would not be a troublesome to the company because the aircraft parts and the expertise such aircraft engineer is easily can be found in Malaysia Conclusion AirAsia focus on really understanding consumer needs and problems. By increasing our consumer insight, they are able to develop new products that solve these needs and problems. To date over half of AirAsia sales are via internet booking and it is steadily rising. To AirAsia philosophy is very clear, before a business can grow, it needs to have its costs under control. It must be cost-efficient and profitable, and it must create value. The company need to do a continues task and this they had to face head on year on year; it is the critical ingredient to operate a successful business. According to AirAsia cost-efficiency, low complexity and profitability are always the cornerstones of building a strong business. While a strong foundation does not guarantee a solid house, it is the only basis upon which to build. Truly AirAsia has become a company that implement the Blue ocean strategy. Reference: 1) airasia. com. my 2) blueoceanstrategy. com/ 3)http://blueoceanstrategy. org/ 4)Ireland R. D. , Hoskisson E. R. Hitt A. M. , (2011) Chapter 7, Strategic Acquisition Restructuring, p. 169, The Management Of Strategy, Concepts Cases, (9th International Edition) South-Western, Canada.

Max Born and the Discovery of the Born Rule

Max Born and the Discovery of the Born Rule Max Born (December 11, 1882–January 5, 1970) was a German physicist who played an important role in the development of quantum mechanics. He is known for the â€Å"Born rule,† which provided a statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics and enabled researchers in the field to predict results with specific probabilities. Born won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics for his fundamental contributions to quantum mechanics. Fast Facts: Max Born Occupation: PhysicistKnown For: Discovery of the Born rule, a statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics.Born: December 11, 1882 in Breslau, PolandDied: January 5, 1970 in Gà ¶ttingen, GermanySpouse: Hedwig EhrenbergChildren: Irene, Margarethe, GustavFun Fact: The singer and actress Olivia Newton-John, who starred in the 1978 musical film Grease with John Travolta, is the granddaughter of Max Born. Early Life Max Born was born on December 11, 1882 in Breslau (now Wroclaw) Poland. His parents were Gustav Born, an embryologist at the University of Breslau, and Margarete (Gretchen) Kaufmann, whose family worked in textiles. Born had a younger sister named Kthe. At a young age, Born attended school at the Kà ¶nig Wilhelms Gymnasium in Breslau, studying Latin, Greek, German, history, languages, math, and physics. There, Born may have been inspired by his math teacher, Dr. Maschke, who showed the students how wireless telegraphy worked. Born’s parents died at an early age: his mother when Born was 4, and his father shortly before Born finished school at the Gymnasium. College and Early Career Afterwards, Born took courses on a variety of science, philosophy, logic, and math subjects at Breslau University from 1901–1902, following his father’s advice to not specialize in a subject too soon at college. He also attended the Universities of Heidelberg, Zà ¼rich, and Gà ¶ttingen. Peers at Breslau University had told Born about three mathematics professors at Gà ¶ttingen – Felix Klein, David Hilbert, and Hermann Minkowski. Born went out of favor with Klein due to his irregular attendance at classes, though he subsequently impressed Klein by solving a problem on elastic stability at a seminar without reading the literature. Klein then invited Born to enter a university prize competition with the same problem in mind. Born, however, did not initially take part, offending Klein again. Born changed his mind and later entered, winning the University of Breslau’s Philosophy Faculty Prize for his work on elasticity and obtaining a PhD in mathematics on the subject in 1906 under his doctoral advisor Carl Runge. Born subsequently went to Cambridge University for about six months, attending lectures by J. J. Thomson and Joseph Larmor. He went back to Gà ¶ttingen to collaborate with the mathematician Hermann Minkowski, who died after a few weeks due to an operation for appendicitis. In 1915, Born was offered a professor position at the University of Berlin. However, the opportunity coincided with the beginning of World War I. Born joined the German air force and worked on sound ranging. In 1919, after World War I, Born became a professor at the University of Frankfurt-am-Main. Discoveries in Quantum Mechanics In 1921, Born returned to the University of Gà ¶ttingen as a professor, a post he held for 12 years. At Gà ¶ttingen, Born worked on the thermodynamics of crystals, then became primarily interested in quantum mechanics. He collaborated with Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, and a number of other physicists who would also make groundbreaking advances in quantum mechanics. These contributions would help lay out the foundation of quantum mechanics, particularly its mathematical treatment. Born saw that some of Heisenberg’s calculus was equivalent to matrix algebra, a formalism that is used extensively in quantum mechanics today. Furthermore, Born considered the interpretation of Schrà ¶dinger’s wavefunction, an important equation for quantum mechanics, which had been discovered in 1926. Though Schrà ¶dinger had provided a way to describe how the wavefunction describing a system changed over time, it was unclear exactly what the wavefunction corresponded to. Born concluded that the square of the wavefunction could be interpreted as a probability distribution that would predict the result given by a quantum mechanical system when it was measured. Though Born first applied this discovery, now known as the Born rule, to help explain how waves scattered, it was later applied to many other phenomena. Born was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on quantum mechanics, with particular emphasis on the Born rule. In 1933, Born was forced to emigrate due to the rise of the Nazi party, which caused his professorship to be suspended. He became a lecturer at Cambridge University, where he worked with Infeld on electrodynamics. From 1935–1936, he stayed in Bangalore, India at the Indian Institute of Science and worked with Sir C.V. Raman, a researcher who won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1936, Born became a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, staying there for 17 years until his retirement in 1953. Awards and Honors Born won a number of awards during his lifetime, including: 1939 – Fellowship of the Royal Society1945 – Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize, from the Royal Society of Edinburgh1948 – Max Planck Medal, from the German Physical Society1950 – Hughes Medal, from the Royal Society of London1954 – Nobel Prize in Physics1959 – Grand Cross of Merit with Star of the Order of Merit, from the German Federal Republic Born was also made an honorary member of several academies, including the Russian, Indian, and Royal Irish academies. After Born’s death, the German Physical Society and the British Institute of Physics created the Max Born Prize, which is awarded annually. Death and Legacy After retiring, Born settled in Bad Pyrmont, a spa resort near Gà ¶ttingen. He died on January 5, 1970 at a hospital in Gà ¶ttingen. He was 87 years old. Born’s statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics was groundbreaking. Thanks to Born’s discovery, researchers can predict the result of a measurement performed on a quantum mechanical system. Today, the Born rule is considered one of the key principles of quantum mechanics. Sources Kemmer, N., and Schlapp, R. â€Å"Max Born, 1882-1970.†Landsman, N.P. â€Å"The Born Rule and Its Interpretation.†O’Connor, J.J., and Robertson, E.F. â€Å"Max Born.†

Individual analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual analysis - Essay Example In addition, role fulfillment among each member will aid in attaining his or her essential goals. Based on my experience while working on the assigned tasks, I learnt there are principles of membership dynamics that are essential in a group work. For instance, I realized that every participant is equally responsible for the entire group’s success and good interaction amongst members. Therefore, each participant ought to ensure there is good communication amongst all the members. This is by availing required responses, participating in decision making as well as making discussion times livelier. Hence, ensuring there is no participant who lags behind due to his or her poor academic performance limitations (Weimer, 2013). In addition, group work can be extremely emotional especially if participants emanate from different races, ethnic backgrounds or religions. Therefore, leaders who are not in control of their emotions and choice of words end up being a stumbling block to the gr oup’s enthusiasm especially if they are not apologetic (Weimer, 2013). During group work, I learnt that a leader ought to emphasize on the importance of meeting as well as setting deadlines without any excuses amongst its members. This norm will always keep participants successful in every task they tackle. Besides, I believe when every member in a group feels psychologically safe and does not look down upon him or herself, their participation levels gradually increases. However, in many social settings such as group works, members have little concern about psychological safety of all their fellow participants. This influences their participation negatively because some may start feeling inferior; hence fail to participate in discussion as necessitated. Therefore, every member bears the responsibility of ensuring his or her fellow participants feel psychologically secure throughout the discussion period (Weimer, 2013). For instance, participants should avoid ridicule or sarca sm towards their peers because this may negatively affect their confidence and desire to participate in the group. During group work, I learnt each member ought to have a self-driven purpose in producing both good and quality work in every task they undertake. I also believe participants ought to foster good relationships amongst themselves and beyond to achieve proper results. Hence, aid in developing both trust and dependability among themselves by making discussions very interesting. Leadership is a process through which an individual, organization or group positively influences other people to achieve already set objectives (Northouse, 2011). In addition, it directs an organization or company in a cohesive and coherent manner towards achieving their goals (Northouse, 2011). For one to be a leader, he or she acquires power through four varied ways, which include legitimate, reward, coercive, expert and reverend (Northouse, 2011). Effective leaders understand risks and benefits, w hich each type of power embodies and try to use them appropriately to attain firm’s set goals. In many circumstances, leaders do not have any great influence on the success of a certain group but the will of the followers automatically leads to positive success in any situation. Many leaders acquire leadership skills and knowledge from schools or other settings (Rojas & Alvarez, 2012). However, these

Property law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Property law - Essay Example Therefore, for purposes of this brief essay, this author will attempt to engage and analyze the level to which property rights play a defined and equitable part of our current society as well as seeking to define and comment on the issues associated with the recent problems regarding the understanding of â€Å"eminent domain†. The United States was founded upon a free market economy which has doubtless served to make it the wealthiest nation on earth. Whether or not one can completely agree with the way in which capitalism works, it is inarguable that the benefits of such a system have worked to raise a standard of living and overall economic power within the United States that is not represented elsewhere in the global system. Naturally, one of the prime determinants of this success is the strong belief in and adherence to the concept of â€Å"personal property†. After breaking away from the British Empire, the colonies sought to differentiate themselves from the exces ses that the British had visited upon them. One of the main reasons in the Declaration of Independence was the fact that the British Crown could commandeer and control any colonial asset in the name of the King for any reason at any time. This served as a very strong sore spot within the colonial shareholders and was no doubt a prime reason why the rebellion began as well as a prime reason that each of the states as well as the loosely confederated government above them sought to rigidly define property rights in terms that would be most beneficial to the owner. Fundamental changes to property rights began to be effected in and around the dawn of the 20th century as jurisdictions began to tax these properties as a way to generate revenue for the requisite entity in question. Although opposed by many, this form of tax became more or less standardized throughout the United States by the middle of the century. Although not all citizens appreciated this new trend, the taxes went to supp ort the economic development of an increasingly advanced society. To such an end, the revenues from taxable land have been primarily used for infrastructure improvement, support and development of key community services (to include fire, police and EMS), and providing useful shareholder investment into a region’s educational development. Some have argued that the existence of such a form of taxation necessarily reduces the overall level of ownership that the individual is able to enjoy. However, it is the belief of this author that taxation of land and other real investments, although taking a degree of ultimate ownership away from the individual, serves an extraordinarily important role in seeking to develop key infrastructure assets that necessarily add to the net value of the property in question. Lastly, the right of â€Å"eminent domain† is an issue that has dominated many news headlines of late. Broken down to its purest form, â€Å"eminent domain† refers to a subset of property laws that state that if requisition by a given public entity is in the best benefits of a broader group then such can be accomplished with or without the agreement of the ultimate property owner providing that notice is given (Blake 12). This is naturally a bit of a deviation from the original understanding and intention of personal property; however, such an interpretation is needed in extreme cases where infrastructure improvements hinge upon the sacrifices of a few key shareholders. Like any

Other Personality Traits That Affect Managerial Behaviour Sociology Essay

Other Personality Traits That Affect Managerial Behaviour Sociology Essay Leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this Oxford Dictionary. A person exerts influence over other people, which inspires, motivates and directs their activities to help achieve common performance goals (Yukl, 1989 as cited in George Jones, 2006). The person who exerts such influence is a leader. With the influence they exert, effective leaders help groups and organisations to achieve a goal. Effective leadership also increases an organisations ability to meet all the contemporary challenges such as obtain a competitive advantage, the need to promote acceptable ethical behaviour and is essential to manage a diverse workforce fairly and impartially. As a result, this will raise the organisations chances of success (George Jones, 2006). Nowadays due to the exceptionally challenging era, leadership can be very demanding because of the pace of change, the illusion of control and the high expectations of followers (Arnold Rendall, 2010).A leader can adopt his own personal qualities, behaviours styles and decisions to develop his own leadership style (Arnold Rendall, 2010). Early leader-focused approaches to leadership have 2 main features: a description of the leader in terms of their characteristics and/or behaviour and the investigation and analysis and of the characteristics and or behaviours of what makes a good leaders regardless of what they lead (Arnold Rendall, 2010). Early leadership was more focused on finding the best characteristics that makes a person a leader or effective leader. Early work such as the work of House and Baetz (1979) came up with what characteristics that leaders tend to have at a higher degree than non-leaders. These characteristics include intelligence, dominance/need for power, self-confidence and knowledge of the task. (House Baetz , 1979). Bass (1990) also included other personality traits such as good adjustment, emotional balance and high integrity which were found to be common traits amongst leaders. (Bass, 1990) This early research did yield some interesting results but researchers did not find a constant profile of characteristics which are common to all leaders however personality and intelligence seem to be fundamental for persons to emerge as leaders and ultimately be effective leaders (Arnold Rendall, 2010). The Big Five Personality Traits People have certain characteristics which are constant to them throughout their life which can influence how they think, feel and behave both on and off the job (George Jones, 2006). These characteristic are called personality traits. These traits make you act, feel and think in certain ways which makes every individual unique. It is very important that these traits are understood since every persons personality influences their behaviour and their approach to managing people and resources (George Jones, 2006). An individuals personality is composed of five general traits or characteristics, these being extraversion, negative affectivity, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience (Digman, 1990). Each personality trait is viewed as a continuum along which every individual falls. A person can fall on the high end part or on the low end part or else somewhere in between. A persons approach to management can be described in how people are like at the high and low ends of each continuum which is an easy way to understand how these trait affect a persons approach (George Jones, 2006). The effectiveness of each trait is determined by a complex interaction between the nature of the job or organisation in which they are working and the characteristics of the person. Furthermore, some personality traits might be effective in one situation but can decrease the effectiveness in another situation. (George Jones, 2006) There are other personality traits in addition to the big five that describe peoples personalities. These are specifically important for understanding managerial effectiveness. Some examples are self-esteem, locus of control and need for achievement. Research by Fred E. Fiedler acknowledged that effective leadership depends on the characteristics of the leader and of the situation. Fiedler came up with the Contingency theory of leadership. He explains why a manager or leader may be capable in one situation and incapable in another. It also suggests which kinds of managers or leaders are more effective in different situations (George Jones, 2006). He argued that leaders have rather stable personal characteristic, leading to a characteristic behavioural style. In his theory, Fiedler assumed that how much a leader is person-oriented depends on the leaders perception of their least preferred co-worker. He concluded that task-oriented leaders are best in very favourable and unfavourable situations and those person-oriented leaders are best in moderately favourable or moderately unfavourable situations (Arnold Rendall, 2010). Desired and acceptable leadership characteristics may vary across organisational context. Sociability, need for power and need for achievement are considerably relevant characteristics which are consistent across different organisations and organisational cultures. (House Baetz , 1979). House and Baetz (1979) came up with two insights which are generally accepted by persons studying leadership: if certain characteristics are to have an impact on others and their performance, these personal characteristics need to be observable in the leader and that leader characteristics and behaviours depend on the different type of task (House Baetz , 1979). Recent studies have pointed out the effects of personal and situational factors on the development of an individual as a leader. Amongst these personal factors are personality traits and gender (Jacobowitz Pratch, 1996).One of the most distinct and difficult to change characteristics is gender. Leadership roles are typically described in stereotypically masculine terms. This could mean that women have a slight disadvantage over men in being selected for leadership roles and when selected it is difficult for them to be seen as good leaders. Leadership roles are typically predominated by men but in recent years women in leadership positions have increased considerably (Corrigall, Konrad, Lieb, Ritchie JR, 2000). This has prompted a lot of researchers to explore the relationship between gender and leadership. While the number of women in management positions has increased, there are still very few women who hold high level executive positions (Corrigall, Konrad, Lieb, Ritchie JR, 2000). It is believed that women tend to prefer jobs who offer a reward rather than high pay and advancement, which might be the explanation of their failure to attain more jobs at the top level positions (George Jones, 2006). The styles of male and female leaders may influenced by the gender-based expectations. Individuals establish certain expectations for their own and others behaviour which is based on their own beliefs about what the appropriate behaviour of male and females should be like. (Eagly, 1987) Women are stereotypically described as nurturing, supportive and concerned with interpersonal relations whilst men are viewed as being directive and focused on task accomplishment (George Jones, 2006) These stereotypes suggest that women can be more relationship oriented as managers and are more considerable in their behaviour. Men are seen as more directed towards task-orientation and engage in more initiating-structure behaviours (George Jones, 2006). People have become accustomed to the styles that men have since men have long held these roles. As a result, there is more focus on women in the discussion of the impact of gender on leadership (Eagly Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). There is little agreement about how women actually lead even though there is this greater focus on women in research. Feminists writings have given great importance to differences and similarities between leadership styles in males and females. (Eagly Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). A number of researchers state that there is a difference between women and men having a leadership position, whilst others say that there is no difference. Eagly and Johnson (1990) state that male and female managers having a leadership position, tend to behave in similar ways. Men do not engage in more initiating structure than women and women do not engage in more consideration than men (Eagly Johnson, 1990). Writers of trade books, have argued that thre is a difference in leadership behaviour between males and females. They tend to see women as being less hierarchical, more cooperative and ollaborative and more oriented to enhancing others self worth (Book, 2000). On the contrary, social scientists say that there is no or minimal difference iin female and male organizational leaders. (Eagly Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). Job Attribute Preference Research has show that job attribute preference may direct a male or female manager to a different set of jobs, career paths and emplyers due to the existence of sex difference (Beutell Brenner, 1986). Job attributes have been divided into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Job aspects that fulfil material or social needs are termed intrinsic factors and job aspects that fullfil higher needs such as growth, esteem and self expression are termed intrinsic factors. (Pinder, 1998) Research on sex differences and similarities in job attribute preferences has been enriched by two distinct theoretical persecpetives: the gender ideology perspective and the structuralist persepective. Different personality characteristics and different sets of ativities for women and man are dictated by gendered societal norms in existence is the view of the gender ideology perspective. The structuralist perspectives argues that women have poorer quality jobs than men on average because of the segregation and discrimination in the labor market. (Corrigall, Konrad, Lieb, Ritchie JR, 2000). Both of the perspectives conclude that job attribute preferences for men and women are different by they assign casualty to different underlying mecchanisms. They both predict that there will be a change in the pattern of sex differnces in job attribute preferences over time, however they conclude that the patterns of change will be somewhat different. Gender Ideology Gender ideology may be described as socially-constructed script that prescribes different characteristics, values, attitudes, behaviors and activities for women and men (West Zimmerman , 1991)Gender ideology is composed of gender roles and gender stereotypes. Gender roles are sets of norms presribing the behaiors and activities appropriate for each sex (Best Williams, 1990). Gender roles differ by cultures but in Western industrialised societies attribute the role of income provider for the family to the men and the role of homemaker to the women. Gender stereotypes are different personality characateristics which are expected from men and women. Characterisitcs such as nurturing, affiliation and passivity were associated with the females whilst characteristics such as autonomy, aggression, dominance and achievement were ascribed more to males (Best Williams, 1990).People tend to conform to gender expectations to avoid the disapproval from others. If peoples choice ofwork would reflect gender ideology, then men should consider responsibility, autonomy earnings, advancement, prestige, recognition and challenge to be more important than women do. Whilst women should value more job security, good coworkers, a good supervisor, physical work environment, helping others, growth/development opportunities, opportunities to use ones abillities, variety, task significance a feeling of accomplishment and good hours to be more important than men do. In this study conducted by Corrigall, Konrad, Lieb and Ritchie, it was found that men attached more importance to earnings and responsibility than women did. This reflects the idea that men take on the role of provider and that they need to demonstrate success and status reflecting the ideas of gender roles and stereotypes towards men. On the other hand women attached greater importance to all mentioned attributes which show that women take the role of homemaker and to demonstarte nuturing and expressiveness. The findings relate to the gender roles typically attributed to women. (Corrigall, Konrad, Lieb, Ritchie JR, 2000) Leadership styles of males and females The styles of males and females can be described in terms of the stereotypes of masculinity and femminity. Studies of peoples stereotypes about men and women show that the popular beliefs about male and female behaviour can be compiled, following Bakan (1966), in terms of two dimensions, the agentic and the communal attributes. (Jacobowitz Pratch, 1996) Agentic characteristics define primarily an assertive, controlling and confident tendency. These characteristics are typically ascribed to more strongly to men than to women. Agentic behaviours, in employment settings might include speaking assertively, competing for attention, influencing others, initiating activity directed to assigned taks and making problem-focused suggestions (Eagly Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). Women are more ascribed to communal characteristics. This is because communal characteristics describe primarily a concern with the welfare of other people. Examples of communal characteristics in employment settings are speaking tentatively, not drawing attention to oneself, accepting others direction, supporting others and contributing to the solution of relational and interpersonal problems (Eagly Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001). Leader roles and gender roles Female leaders can adopt leadership styles that differe from those of men because they need to accommodate their behaviour to the occasioanlly conflicting demands of the female gender role and their role as a leader. There are different implications for the behaviour of male and female leaders due to gender roles. This is not only because male and female roles have different content but there is a discrepancy perceivers associate with women as having communal qualties and successful leaders are perceived as having agentic qualities. Since agentic properties are more associated to men, people tend to believe that men are better at being leaders than females. (Eagly Johannesen-Schmidt, 2001) Eagly and Karau(2001) argued that apparent difference between the typical leader roles and the female gender tends to ccreate prejudice towards female leaders. It takes two forms: (a)less favorable evaluation of womens (than mens) potential leadership because leadership ability is more stereotypic of men than women and (b)less favorable evaluation of the actual leadership behavior of women than men because agentic behaviour is perceived as less desirable in women than men. In the first prejudice, womens characteristics and the resulting female-stereotypic qualities are different from what is expected and desired in leaders. This is a result from the descriptive norms of gender roles. The second prejudice arises from prescriptive norms of gender roles namely the beliefs of how women ough to behave. Women leaders can be negatively assessed for fullfilling the agentic requirements of leader roles and thus failing to comply with the communal characteristics, even though they may be praised for their fulfillment of the leader role. (Eagly Karau, 2001) On the other hand, Sherpe (2000) states that after years of analyzing what makes leaders more effective, management gurus now know how to maximise the chances of getting a great executive. Their answer is to hire a women. The idea was first introduce by the writers feminist trade books on management and is now making tis way into the popular culture. (Carli Eagly, 2003) However in Malta, women have the highest rate of female inactivity 65.2% compared to other E.U. countries 35.7%. (Spiteri, 2012). Nevertheless, there was an increase in the rate of employement for woman which now stands at 62%,which has gone up from 55% in 1997 (Almunia, Andor, Barnier , Reding, Rehn, Tajani, 2012). Many women continue to face a glass ceiling, holding them backe in achieving a higher level in their work place. Men dominate company boards: 86.3% of board members and 96.8% of the boardroom chairs, whilst women make up 13.7% and 3.2% respectively. (Almunia, Andor, Barnier , Reding, Rehn, Tajani, 2012). Women in Malta represent only 3% of board members which is well below the EU average of 13.7% (Spiteri, 2012). On the other hand, there is a higher pecentage (22.7%) of Maltese women who are achieving higher levels of tertiary education than men(14.6%), even though when compared to other E.U. countries it is still very low (37.2% women and 30% men) (Spiteri, 2012). The National Statistics Office in collaboration with the National Council of women in Malta carried out a survey on the Perceived Obstacles to the participation of women in Decision-making Positions (2007). The rsult of this survey states that many women in malta are not advancing in their work to obtain top post because of 3 main difficulties: difficulties in reconciling long hours of work and family responsabilities, very little use of childcare facilities and lack of spouse/partner suport (National Statistics Office, 2007). Maltese Governments have always put measures in place to promote gender equality through various legislations and regulations. The constitution of Malta guarantees equaltiy between women and men. It gives protection against discrimination on various grounds including sex. Additionally, there is Article 45(11) swhich provides for special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between males and females (Spiteri, 2012). In 1991 Malta also approved the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Even though these measures have been in place for a few years now, there is still a general idea that men are seen as being more siutable at having a decision-making job. There are also a number of structural and cultural barriers which are preventing Maltese women from achieving further in their job. Such barriers include jobs without opportunities of promotion or training, practices that favour men for promotions, lack of employment laws and lack of sharing of household/childcare responsibilities by fathers. There is also a considerably big barrier being the attitudes and perceptions towards gendered roles in Malta. (Spiteri, 2012). In this study, I am going to focus on the perceptions that University students have towards leaders. Whether they tend to prefer male or female leaders and on what is their decision based on. Also, I am going to study what University Students think about the effectiveness of males and females in different work settings and what is the reasoning behind the idea.

Modernity and the Notions of Public Interest Essay

This paper examines the meaning of modernity and the relations between the notions of public interest, ethics and law. By giving an example that raises this issue further, the realm of morality, professional ethics and law is discussed and whether their spheres of jurisdiction would overlap. It also explores the meanings and definitions of the key terms that are of most concern for this topic, and how they relate or differ from each other. A Singaporean example is also shown as evidence to support the discussion. Finally, a counter argument is provided with a reasonable response that follows with this argument. While scholars and philosophers have defined modernity in different ways, the emergence of modernity is also a very important aspect of the term. Before modernity came into prominence, there were the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. â€Å"The essence of modernity can be seen in humanity’s freeing itself from the bonds of the Middle Ages in that it frees itself to itself† (Heidegger, Young, & Haynes, 2002). Modernity refers to human beings starting to rationalize and think for themselves, rather than the traditional way of living life by the rules and teachings of their religion. In simpler terms, it is a shift from religious beliefs to scientific knowledge, as in man thinking by his own free will for himself. The stronghold of the Christian church decreased over the people and science began to be more accepted. The criticism of modernity is that it actually imprisons rather than liberates. Modernity gives rise to people’s opinion and free speech. Therefore, with free speech, restrictions are put into place to protect the freedom of the public. The term modernization refers to the increasing use of science and new technologies, and the political, social and cultural changes that followed through from these developments of modernization (Mann, 2010). Hence modern society is considered modern because of rapid change which is the essence of modern society (Nester, 2010). Today’s society and way of thinking all flourished from modernity. The use of science and technology, the need to understand all things in life through scientific study and experimentation are all traits of what makes modern society ‘modern. Therefore, it promotes a more rational, scientific worldview as religion, superstition and tradition lost their hold over everyday life. With modern thinking, public interest, ethics, law and so on, all of which were taking priority among people in their everyday life and also professionals so that everyone can live in harmony in a liberal democratic society. Public interest is what is justified toward the public which may be against some immediate individual person’s interest† (Downs, 1962). A general explanation for ethics would be that it is concerned with doing the right thing in a moral sense. Fieser (2001) described ethics as systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong behaviour, while Spence (2005) said that it is a set of rules and virtues of character that guides interpersonal conduct (Breit, 2007). The Law is a set of rules for society, to protect people’s basic rights and freedoms and to treat them fairly (OrganizationOfAmericanStates, 2007). Certain situations that are of the public’s concern can also be an ethical and legal matter, such as illegal abortions. Abortions are illegal in most countries and even so, some women still require it for the sake of their own well-being. Thus, doctors have to face their own code of ethics in dealing with these issues. This matter is also of public interest because this issue has been an ongoing debate and the public are always concerned about it. In the Singapore context, the case of the ex-MOE scholar, Jonathan Wong having sexual relations with a minor makes a good example that raises this topic. The scholar from the Ministry of Education was at first charged with possessing child pornography in Britain which lead to investigations. The investigations then lead to reveal that he had sexual relations with an underage girl (Channel News Asia, 2012). Although the first charge in 2010 was not a public interest matter, the second charge this year provoked public interest. Aside from the illegality of the case, it sparked public interest due to him being a scholar with the public’s taxpayer money. The MOE’s code of ethics was considered for appointing this student for a scholar. So how do morality, professional ethics and law differ from each other? Morality is an individual’s own personal belief that differentiates right from wrong. It is an individual’s own personal character. Professional ethics is a standard or code of behaviour expected by a group to which the individual belongs to. Morality is a personal trait while ethics is more concerned in the field of profession. Law, however, is another different matter from both morality and professional ethics. But in some cases, their fields of jurisdiction do overlap with one another. In the course reader, Breit (2007) pointed out the ethical dilemma of a journalist on whether to report a story which is in the public interest. The ethical dilemma the journalist faced was due to the embargo of the news, whether to respect it or let the public know about the news immediately. There was also fear of getting sued for not respecting the embargo and for not fulfilling the duty as a journalist. These were the dilemmas that this journalist faced in which the different jurisdictions overlap with one another. Coming back to the example of the case of the ex-MOE scholar, it is illegal to have sex with a minor. This also led to public interest because he was a scholarship student of MOE by taxpayers’ money. Ethical issues were raised on the MOE’s side of the case for choosing this kind of person as their scholar and this reflects badly for the ministry. As for the opposing argument, â€Å"What reasons might be given for thinking that the disclosure of a person’s sexual misconduct serves the public interest? (Archard, 1998)† From the liberalism side of the argument, it states that neither society, government nor anyone else has the rightful authority to tell people what they do in the privacy of their own homes. Each person has rightful authority over how they conduct their own lives in private. Therefore the public does not need to know about all of the intimate details about the case. Although the counter argument is reasonable, the public should have the right to know about this issue because this person was accused for misusing the taxpayers’ money and dealt with actions of misconduct and broke the law in not one but two countries. The first charge was for possessing child pornography while he was studying in Britain and the second was for having sexual relations with a minor in Singapore. Modern thinking has lead to opinions on morality, ethics and law, as well as issues about public interest. Open critical discussions and evaluation of issues that arise from such issues given above is a crucial part of a healthy democracy. In a way, the standards of public interest, ethics and law in each country determines the modernity of the society.