My Leadership Style Essay

According to the leadership assessment, I am more of task-oriented leader than a people-oriented leader, though I scored high in both areas, therefore I have a healthy balance of both which is important for a leader in any company. My leadership style allows me to get my work completed in an organized fashion, while being open to other ideas; I can focus on the small projects while continuing to see the big picture or vision. Because I score higher on the task-oriented side, I can be more autocratic in my thinking. This will limit my ability to show my apathy for my staff and employees Furthermore, I am also a transformational and charismatic leader. I am most effective in smaller organizations that have direct interactions with my staff. According to Robbins, this helps to make me effective as a leader, which will give a company â€Å"low turnover, higher productivity, lower employee stress, and burnout, and higher employee satisfaction.† Furthermore, Robbins shared that this leadership style is not effective with those who are â€Å"highly individualistic and do not readily cede decision-making authority.† Since I am able to communicate with my staff the expectations, visions ad engage my staff, I also have a Charismatic leadership style. I continuously focus on the end goal, big picture and tie that big picture to the work of my staff, making it attainable to my staff. One of the major downsides to charismatic leadership is that it can be situational, according to Robbins. Role in Company The role I would like to pursue within the company is that of a managerial supervisor. According to Robbins, organizations need strong leadership and  strong management for optimal effectiveness. I feel that because I have leadership and managerial traits and characteristics, I would be a great candidate for that particular role. In a managerial supervisory role, I am a direct leader. I work directly with my staff on a one-on-one basis and in a team format; I will have more influence directly on my staff. As the managerial supervisor, I am able to support, recognize, develop, plan, and coach/mentor my staff while monitoring, setting goals, and overseeing day to day operations. This is evident because of my healthy balance of task and people orientation. Leadership theories applicable to my leadership approach The Big Five Trait Leadership Theory is applicable to my leadership approach because research has shown that the big five personality factors are strong indicators for job success and performance. I scored high in the areas of extroversion and conscientiousness. The positive factors about scoring high on conscientiousness’s is that overall, those with high marks in this area have better job performance and those are more reliable, thorough, organized, angle to plan, and persistent according to the assessment. These traits are consisted with those of task-oriented leaders. However, the Leadership Substitute Theory would be counter indicated for the areas of subordinate, task, and group/organizational characteristics. This is because my staff could need little direction from me as their supervisor if they have extensive experience. Also, when staff repeats their task over and over, they become proficient and don’t need feedback, but are building their own motivation. As a task-oriented, transformational, and charismatic leader, I would struggle more with staff who are more independent or did not work well in the group. I like to give freedom to my staff, but my style makes it necessary to know what is going on in the jobs at all times. Conclusion My leadership style is transformational, charismatic with my main focus on task-oriented management. I work hard to inspire my staff, while also meeting deadlines. I focus better when I’m working with a team rather than individuals who do their own thing. Research has shown that my leadership style is an asset to many companies if utilized in the right way. This is why I would like a position that allows me to shine, take the lead of a team, while focusing on the companies â€Å"big picture.† References Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Yuki, G. (2010). Leadership in organizations (7th Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Maya Angelou Essay

In researching poet, Maya Angelou, I was able to explore her personal life, as well as her writing styles and techniques. While she is an extraordinary individual, she portrays a strong independent woman capable of holding her own. A great experience in learning about Angelou, the project itself I found to be rather droll. Having to find criticism about one of the worlds greatest poets, was extremely difficult. The assignment was also time consuming, and I found myself often wondering why everything needed doubles. While the information gathered for this project focused on Maya Angelou was engaging, the task in analyzing the poet rather than the poetry, was prolonged and monotonous. Maya Angelou is one of the universe’s most controversial poet. Her fascinating life experiences and thoughts translate beautifully onto paper, and her literary elegance captivates many. In the assignment given, it was asked that two pieces of literary criticism were found. When researching such a profound writer, it was impossible to find complete critical analyses of Angelou’s work. The only thing that was found were rotten comments on a forum, or a general summary of a poems meaning. Undertaking this assignment was very tedious, for even after finding some sort of â€Å"analysis†, it was asked that one write their own poems. This was very difficult for it was difficult to decipher what was really being asked. The expectations were not clear in the way where one should have been writing like their chosen poet, or to write as themselves. Either way, the poems produced in my own assignment, were just thoughts on paper. While Angelou has no set schemes in her work, the self-fabricated poems made, were also set up the same. While it is believed the more that is researched, the more that is known, how this was conveyed in this project was not straightforward. Everything that was assigned, needed to have two or more examples. Whether one chose to look up two biographies and two literary analyses, or two literary analyses and original poems, the duplication in finding two examples was unnecessary. The message could have been depicted through one example each. Finding the information grew to be mundane, and how all of the details found would be gathered into one essay was perplexing. While I believe finding two biographies would be vital if one were to be writing a biography on the poet, It’s almost pointless when you must narrow down the information into a paragraph. Same for the literary analysis. The original poems written almost had nothing to do with the project, which didn’t make much sense. Learning about Maya Angelou was enlightening, and this project allowed me to view her work in a different light. She is able to shine a strong light on herself that sets her apart from the rest. Unfortunately, this assignment didn’t allow more of an assessment on one poem, for one paragraph is not enough to correctly articulate her notions. The project could have been absolutely successful if it had not repeated so many steps in finding the same information in separate places, or writing irrelevant and original poems. In the future, an essay based solely on one poem by an author, with only a paragraph of biographical information would benefit the student. This would allow oneself to look more into the poets techniques, schemes, and deeper meanings.

Blue Nile case study Essay

How strong are the competitive forces confronting Blue Nile and other online retail jewelers? Do a five-force analysis to support your answer. The competition among the competing sellers in the industry is strong. Competitors for Blue Nile not only include the online jewelry sellers such as Diamonds.com, Whiteflash.com, Ice.com and JamesAllen.com, but also include brick-and-mortar jewelers, chain department stores, mass merchants, local jewelry shop, and large jewelry chains such as Zale and Tiffany. The competitive force from new entrants is moderate to weak. The new entrants of the traditional jewelry industry will need a large amount of capital for inventory, established brands to attract customers, and a strong sales team. For new online jewelry sellers, they also need to find ways to build their brand awareness, establish partnership with suppliers, and to keep the operation costs low to ensure attractive prices. The competition from substitute products for jewelry sellers is also moderate to weak. There are synthetic diamonds, manmade jewels and alternative jewels. But for engagement rings and wedding bands, people would still choose those real and precious diamonds and materials. Thus, from this aspect, there could not be substitutes for diamonds and expensive jewels. The bargaining power from the buyers is strong since there are many choices for them to purchase jewelry from. It is easy for customers to change their source for purchase. The bargaining power from the suppliers is strong for the prices for diamond and precious metals depend more on the exchange market in the world. There are limited suppliers creating an established oligopoly over the years. 2. What key factors will determine a company’s success in the online jewelry business in the next 3-5 years? Key success factors in the online jewelry business include the following ones: 1) Lower operation costs to keep prices lower than rivals 2) Partnership with suppliers to reduce inventory 3) Build customers’ trust and loyalty 4) Strong e-commerce capabilities 5) Manufacture customized products 3. What is Blue Nile’s strategy? Which of the five generic competitive strategies discussed in Chapter 5 most closely fit the competitive approach that Blue Nile is taking? What type of competitive advantage is Blue Nile trying to achieve? Blue Nile’s strategy is to be the Best Cost Provider. It provides the customer high quality engagement rings, wedding bands and jewelry with low prices to value seeking customers. Blue Nile tries to achieve low costs of its operation and marketing thus maintain its competitive advantage in prices. 4. What do you like and dislike about Blue Nile’s business model? Blue Nile’s business model is to make profits through its online sale of high-quality jewelry at competitive low prices with trusted guidance throughout the purchasing process. The model I like is that it provides value to its suppliers and customers which in return bring about their profits. The lean costs and supply chain efficiency enable them to achieve this goal. Another aspect of the model I like is that they provide a high level of customer service and was continuously engaged in refining the customer service aspects in every step of the purchase order. The business model places great importance on customers’ satisfaction which would help their business to grow. The model I don’t like is that they don’t have their own brand of jewelry established and they depend too much on the jewelry of their suppliers. Quality of their jewelry as well as the brand effects could not be competitive with other well-known brands. 5. What does a SWOT analysis of Blue Nile reveal about the overall attractiveness of its situation? Strengths: 1). Offer high-quality jewelry at competitive prices 2). Provide great customer services 3). Efficient supply chain management 4). Good financial condition with a positive amount of cash flows Weakness: 1). Brand name not widely recognized as Zale and Tiffany 2). only sell online 3). Restricted to US, UK and Canada. Opportunities: 1). Growing jewelry market in US 2).Many recognitions in the online jewelry industry Threats: 1). Competitors from online and offline jewelry retailers 2). Seasonal sale of jewelry 6. What is your appraisal of Blue Nile’s financial performance based on the data in case Exhibit 4? How well is the company doing financially? Is there evidence that Blue Nile’s strategy is working—what is the story of the numbers in case Exhibit 4? Use the financial ratios in Table 4.1 of Chapter 4 as a guide in doing the calculations needed to arrive at an analysis-based answer to your assessment of Blue Nile’s recent financial performance. Blue Nile has adequate competitive strength to compete with its online rivals. It has already created brand awareness and brand loyalty among most of its customers. It also has a large number of jewelry selections thanks to its extensive partnership with jewelry suppliers. The efficient supply management also ensures the low prices of their products. It has built a sustainable competitive advantage in the online retail jewelry business. For offline competitors, Blue Nile should work on putting more marketing efforts to make more people know about their brand and build its brand into a reliable high-quality image. 8. What strategic issues and problems does Blue Nile management need to address? Issues and problems Blue Nile Management need to address: 1). Lack of marketing and advertising makes Blue Nile still unknown to many potential customers. Blue Nile should explore more advertising channels to promote its brand image. 2). International efforts to reach the global market are slow. They currently only reach out to UK and Canada. Blue Nile should try to tap more potential global market and explore new markets. 9. What recommendations would you make to Blue Nile management to strengthen its competitive position and future strategic and financial performance? Blue Nile management should keep on providing customers jewelry at low costs while maintain its high quality of jewelry and customer services. Reducing the costs would help ensure the low prices and continuous efforts on educating the customers and assuring their purchase decisions would help Blue Nile to strengthen its competitive position.

Discovering the Identity behind History: Days of Awe Essay

Dealing with the past opens many opportunities in unveiling the mysteries that life is continuously giving us. By looking at the details where we can see the picture not only in a two dimensional perspective, but to all the sides that we can, a broader explanation and exploration can be made. This is an important part of humans’ experiences because it gives way for them to reveal the roots and explain the things that serve as a puzzle to them. Puzzle that gives question that many people think will never be answered. But, through the persistence of different forces, a new way of enlightening the path towards the truth will be open for them to be set free. As the story in Days of Awe written by Archy Obejas, dealing with the protagonist’s main conflict can be associated in our daily lives. We can see how she was able to find the real meanings behind her doubts and questions and how she was able to find the answers in her own queries. By putting into the consideration all the factors that she think might affect her perception in the things she know, she should be the one to first understand the things her own conflict with her own beliefs had made. This story teaches us a great lesson in life that can be applied in our daily interaction with different kind of people as we continue our own odyssey towards life’s great journey. This lesson is not new to us, but in fact, can be found even in the smallest things that we are doing but we are too distracted by our own personal attachments to certain things that forbid us to open up our selves in many opportunities that life is offering us. This lesson is in great value especially in dealing with the things that we know is too valuable for us to lose. By giving this importance, we will be successfully forge a deal that will benefit a greater part of humanity. This lesson is acceptance. Accepting the things that we know are real and existent although sometimes, it comes with a great deal of pain and suffering. Even though how much we suffer and realize that there are many hindrances in the world that make things more difficult and harder for us, we should not let it control our direction and lead us to another way, than listening to what our future discoveries can be. This is a challenge that had been made by various problems that hones our personality and our life’s point of view. By accepting that these things are part of the life of human society, we will be able to understand more the things that we don’t understand before. And in effect, will cost us a greater price that no one before had managed to do so. Brief Summary: Born in the New Year’s Day, year 1951, a girl named Alejandra San Jose was born in Havana where there are conflicts that had been arising due to the opposing powers and beliefs of the higher people in the place. And because of this, her parents decided to escape from the danger they foresee that will be brought by these opposing parties. Making this decision is not easy for her parents because they will not only leave their house but also their heritage that they treasured in many years. Their go to the shores of North America but later joined the group of Cuban Refugees in Chicago. This settlement gave them another opportunity for them to live their life as normal. Although she had knowledge in her home place in her childhood, she got distracted due to her youthful days but later on brought back her passion and curiosity in the said culture. In her teen age, where she learned different things through her father who was a linguist himself, she later on developed her skills in that field. As a translator, she had given an opportunity to go back to her homeland where she worked with her mage as an American and highly different from the natives living there. She had the notion that she does not belong there because of she think that she is really an American. Later on, she discovered that her ancestors were Jews and not as Catholics, as she always believed. Because of that, she learned different things in life. The essence of being a Catholic and Jews, the definition of difference between religion, the culture and beliefs and how it affects ones perspective in looking at life, these factors taught her the essence of life and its mysteries, as it gives people the chance to understand it, and the people have all the prerogative which lessons they want to pick. Historical Background: Jews, as defined by most scholars, are people who associate themselves as having a trace of their ancestry to the ancient Hebrews or people who converted themselves on the religion of Jews, which is Judaism. Talking about it, Judaism is one of the oldest religion in the world, and also, the mother religion of the world’s largest and most powerful religions, Islam and Christianity. It is a religion believed to be founded way back to history. Traditionally, one can be a Jew in two primary reasons. First, if her mother is a Jew and second, if he or she voluntarily converted him or herself to Judaism. If he or she satisfied any of the condition, he or she can freely call him or herself as a Jew. (Spector, 11-13) It is said that before, Jews are the people being said by the old scriptures and claims had been made that it is their contribution to the foundation of civilization. They are the first one who devised different rules that will govern not only their church but also their societies as well. In dealing with this, they had opened the opportunity to integrate the core values of their beliefs to the way of life of the people. By doing so, they had the utmost control to the flow of the society where people view them as sacred and too holy to be disregarded. In doing such, people had become connected with it at the same time, makes things possible for the religion to conquer their own beliefs and perceptions to their experiences. But, as the time passed by and many religions had made their way in being recognized by the people, and they become more and more established, Jews began to weaken its impact to the world. They became the minority group in almost all places where they fist began to explore and share their faith. And history had proven that some times, there are conflicts and bloody wars because of the Jews persistence to value their faith and their beliefs as their own heritage and the identity of their own cultural inclination. (Akiva & Gottlieb, 23-41) History marked the times when they are almost extinguished by people who want to eliminate their beliefs in the world. Some of these steps had ended the lives of millions of Jews all over the world. That is why, the number of Jews all over the world started to fall in number because of the many attempts to persecute them. Jews contribution to the human civilization is their rich culture and their beliefs in many aspects of life. They had developed certain guidelines that made them advanced compared to the other people living in the world. In having so, many people had misinterpreted their values in their beliefs making pre-judgment that affected their interactions with them. Many people had developed stereotypes and discriminated them in many ways that had affect their personal understanding to what is happening to his or her environment. This tragic interaction with the Jews and many other member of society became a social phenomenon, where the Jews are now living not only on their own standards but also, to the definition of the people watching their moves. Because of their drive to promote the teachings of their own beliefs and the way of life they want people to do so, they kept their traditional ways of life and adapt to their environment as the world is dynamically changing with regards to the modern things and elements that somehow interfere with their way of life. This is a condition where they had different outlook in life, as they give another meaning to the details of their actions and the people’s defined action to them. In looking this matter at a higher level of thinking, we can see that the social system which discriminated the people in their own personal environment spaces, had became a venue where they experience problems and conflicts, that should be a part of their pre-understanding of the world. (Barnavi, 18-21)

Strategic Management in Action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Management in Action - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Strategic Management operations usually have quite a significant role in the processes of strategic planning and performance. Strategic implementation involves the actual realization of the planned strategies of an organization on a daily basis. There are four main functions that are used in strategic management in action. They are preparation, organization, directing and controlling stages. Planning: The planning involves the constant practice of the business development. It is basically the outline of business development in any organization. In this stage, the management group establishes what the needs of the business establishment will be in future and creates plans for the action. The plans that are created should be those that are approved by both the business’s stakeholders as well as the organization. Organising: The second stage of organizing basically has to do with developing the teams of the personnel that works in the organization as well as their different roles. It allows tasks which are supported by the delegation of authority to the internal stakeholders. If the stakeholders are dissatisfied with the way labor and authority are used in assigning tasks, their dissatisfaction will end up affecting their performance, resulting in lower overall productivity. Directing: Directing, which is the third stage, is a multifaceted role in which there is the execution of the management processes. It is a practice of communicating, inspiring and guiding the workers.

Affects of Domestic Violence in Disrupting Family Unity Essay

Affects of Domestic Violence in Disrupting Family Unity - Essay Example This discussion will examine the negative effects of domestic violence on the family unit first interjecting statistics to substantiate the claims that children are the victims as well as the wives. These indicators show that violence within the family so vastly affects children that a major disruption of the family unit is the consequence in every occasion. In homes where domestic violence has been reported against wives, the children are 15 times more likely to have been abused and/or neglected. â€Å"Over 3 million children are at risk of exposure to parental violence each year† (McKay, 1994). The majority of women who have been forced to seek a shelter to escape their tormentor report that their children are also being abused. These children are â€Å"three times more likely to have been abused by their fathers† (McKay, 1994). Research that has been conducted regarding how the prevalence of family violence affects the lives of children suggests that this phenomenon is a critical public health concern. In 1992, state agencies across the U.S. reported over 200,000 incidents of child abuse and half that number of child sexual abuse cases. â€Å"It has been estimated that about 1 in 5 female children and 1 in 10 male children may experience sexual molestation. At least 1,200 children died as a result of maltreatment† (Regier & Cowdry, 1995). Incidences of domestic violence, a growing problem in the U.S., affect the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral development of children, produces disharmony in the family unit and instigates harmful lifetime problems for all concerned. When exposed to threatening or brutal emotional and/or physical treatment, wives and children experience traumatic stress disorders that require exceptional coping skills. Instances of domestic violence are usually unanticipated and uncontrollable which serve to devastate a family

How does the preliminary ruling procedure for the European Court of Essay

How does the preliminary ruling procedure for the European Court of Justice work - Essay Example It also ensures that the provisions laid down by the community institution are carried to the letter. Article 220 ‘Treaty of Rome† states that, the â€Å"court must ensure that, in the interpretation and application of the treaty, the law is upheld† The second role played by the court is hearing references from the national courts and gives preliminary rulings to show the scope and application of the law.2 The methodology of interpretation of laws by the ECJ is not specific. Some of the methods used include, teleological, historical and literal approaches. Teleological method of interpreting the law i.e. employed by the ECJ among other courts to interpret legislative provisions in light of purpose that these provisions seek to achieve1 another method used, albeit with hostility is the historical method. Its use is limited to the lengthy and complex process that is involved in the adoption of EU legal rights. Again, considerable changes will occur during the negotia tion period as well as the cropping of anomalies when the court relies on only one document in the midst of diverse legal traditions that inform the enactment of the of EU laws. Another methodology is the literal interpretation of the law as it appears. Moens and Trone Sate that when the provisions of the law are clear, the court will take the normal meaning of the words used.3 The procedures The preliminary ruling procedure involves a decision made by the ECJ when interpreting union law. This decision is usually made at the request of a high court in a member state of the European Union. Preliminary rulings are so called because the referring national court is the one that passes the verdict. The role of the ECG therefore is to provide guidance and clear understanding of what the law says.4 Article 267 gives the ECJ mandate to hear preliminary rules concerning the interpretation of treaties and the interpretation and validity of acts of institutions agencies of the union, offices e tc. Jurisdiction of the court The ECJ gives the single absolute clear and unambiguous interpretation of the law, and it cuts across all states. (I) Jurisdiction of the ECJ Article 267 TFEU states that a reference may be made with the regard to the interpretations of other the treaty and acts of the union. However, reference on validity can only be made on the acts of the institutions of the union. Purpose of Article 267 of TFEU Formerly under article 177of the treaty of Rome, article 267 of the treaty of the of the functioning of the European union states that national courts, during proceedings, can question the ECJ on interpretation of the relevant parts of TFEU, secondary legislation or even constitutionality of relevant secondary legislation.5 The ECJ is very cautious not to impose a given view on how its ruling will be applied in the national proceedings. Discretion to refer All rulings made by the ECJ clarify the scope and meaning of the bunion laws. Article 234 binds the cour t to accept all questions presented by member states. The court advises only on the interpretation and does not make decisions on the questions posed.6It is only a court or a tribunal that can make a referral to the ECJ. The ECJ has a generally harsh attitude toward referrals and only accepts them when there are ‘real and substantial doubts’ and the court feels that and inconsistent application of law if the ECJ does not intervene. However, according to Lord Denning MR (1982), the ECJ does not have the jurisdiction to ‘