Leader Centric Approaches versus Group-Centric Approaches Essay

Leader Centric Approaches versus Group-Centric Approaches - Essay Example Employees expect corporate company leaders to be people of superior character and serve as role models to their employees. Trust and commitment are very important in ethical leadership. Ethical standards of leaders should not be diverse from those of the followers. Ethical behavior â€Å"†¦means that which is morally right, as opposed to that which is legally or procedurally right† (Kanungo, 2001, p. 258). Despite nurturing leaders out of morally imperfect humans, we still expect them to perform in an exemplary manner despite the challenges they face in their managerial endeavors. Appreciating the moral characteristics and challenges of leaders is elemental in understanding the nature of leaders. It is thus important to understand the ethical failures of leaders in order to understand the development of leadership. Based on ethical values, motives, and assumptions, transformational and transactional leadership behaviors are considered ethical. Transformational leaders have moral philanthropic motives grounded in a deontological perspective. Transactional leaders, on the other hand, have atomistic mutually altruistic intentions based on a teleological perspective. Basically, â€Å"Transformational leadership appears to be most closely connected to deontology, while transactional leadership would seem to be related more to teleological ethics†.... Transactional leaders, on the other hand, have atomistic mutually altruistic intentions based on a teleological perspective (Burnes & By 2012; Kanungo, 2001). Basically, â€Å"Transformational leadership appears to be most closely connected to deontology, while transactional leadership would seem to be related more to teleological ethics† (Aronson, 2001, p. 245). Certain leadership traits are important for effective leadership, most leaders, particularly American leaders, lack them. These traits include the ability to inspire; vision, supportiveness, self-sacrifice, genuineness, personal responsibility; being non-egalitarian, not discriminatory, honest, and selfless. These traits are crucial and require societal acceptance for the development of effective leadership (Bertsch, 2012). Leadership Ethics Leaders tend to act as if they have a different code of ethics from that of their followers. According to Guillen and Gonzalez (2001), â€Å"Leadership goes beyond the scope of f ormal power and involves a continuous exchange of influence and free acceptance.† Leaders tend to justify their actions and make it appear as if the rightfulness or the wrongfulness of an action is dependent on the person doing the action (Bertsch, 2012, p.176). The main difference between the leader-centric approach and the group-centric approach lies in considering leaders as special in the leader-centric approaches and considering them as equal with their followers in the group-centric approach. Leader-centric ethics approaches tend to justify the actions of the leaders since they consider leaders as special entities who deserve special treatment on moral issues (Ciulla, 2001).On the other hand,

Article Synopsis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Article Synopsis - Essay Example The study offers the conclusion that Asian businesses cannot be generalized on the basis of cultural factors since many of them cater to mainstream markets. However, the second generation of Asian entrepreneurs faces a different set of challenges when compared to its elders. Having had the benefits of upbringing in the UK, the younger generation of entrepreneurs has a different mindset and opportunity when compared to its elders’ cultural experiences and practices. The success of Asian business community in the UK has turned it into an entrepreneurial role model for other immigrant communities. This is based on the fact that this ethnic group makes a significant contribution to the UK economy, arguably, even more than the mainstream community. The paper attempts to find out if cultural experiences and practices can be used to classify the success of Asian businesses. Previous studies state that it is their cultural background and practices, which give them the edge when it comes to successful businesses. Their competitiveness arises from the fact that they can use family resources in terms of labour and specialist knowledge and use ethnic network effectively for business development. The study attempts to find out if these factors can be used to determine the reason for their successful ventures. The researchers employed a semi structured qualitative approach for data analysis. Data was collected in the form of interviews with ten leading Asian entrepreneurs in the UK. Questions were framed after referring to previous literature and academic advisors. Data was also collected through e-mails and reports for a greater understanding of the subject. Moreover, interviews were recorded and transcribed to facilitate independent interpretation for the two researchers. Secondly, since one researcher represented the Asian community and other, the host community they were able to provide varied cultural perspectives to the data analysis. The researchers concluded that

Organisational Development Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Organisational Development Process - Essay Example This model is a tool that can help any organization, regardless of its size, to move toward organizational excellence. The model can help you align resources; improve communication, productivity and effectiveness; and achieve strategic goals. For organization development process a model is essential, for analyzing and managing organizational problems. The model is relatively simple to understand and easy to visualize. A depiction of the mode identifies both driving forces and restraining forces within an organization. These driving forces, such as environmental factors, push for change within the organization while the restraining forces, such as organizational factors (e.g., limited resources or poor morale), act as barriers to change. To understand the problem within the organization, the driving forces and restraining forces are first identified and, hence, defined. Goals and strategies for moving the equilibrium of the organization toward the desired direction can then be planned. The model relies upon the change process, with the social implications built into the model (e.g., disequilibrium is expected to occur until equilibrium is reestablished). The general goal of this model is to intentionally move to a desirable state of equilibrium by adding driving forces, where important, and eliminating restraining forces, where appropriate. ... To understand the problem within the organization, the driving forces and restraining forces are first identified and, hence, defined. Goals and strategies for moving the equilibrium of the organization toward the desired direction can then be planned. The model relies upon the change process, with the social implications built into the model (e.g., disequilibrium is expected to occur until equilibrium is reestablished). The general goal of this model is to intentionally move to a desirable state of equilibrium by adding driving forces, where important, and eliminating restraining forces, where appropriate. These changes are thought to occur simultaneously within the dynamic organization. Chapter 01 "Introduction" Weisbord's Six-Box Model: Weisbord's (1976) proposes six broad categories in his model of organizational life, including purposes, structures, relationships, leadership, rewards, and helpful mechanisms. The purposes of an organization are the organization's mission and goals Weisbord refers to structure as the way in which the organization is organized; this may be by function, where specialists work together or by product, program, or project, where multi-skilled teams work together. The ways in which people and units interact is termed relationships. Also included in the box of relationships is the way in which people interact with technology in their work. Rewards are the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards people associate with their work. The leadership box refers to typical leadership tasks, including the balance between the other boxes. Finally, the helping

Design Management and Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Design Management and Marketing - Essay Example As a result, an old person becomes overly concerned about certain issues that drive him to become much lonelier about his life. A person's attitude may need to be adjusted; it could be at the root of his unhappiness. For instance, some elderly people insist on living alone well beyond their ability to care for themselves. One woman who was disabled and was living alone on a large piece of property posted a sign on her door that said: "Keep Out!" She felt that all anybody wanted was her money or property; she distrusted everyone. Such a person is not growing old with understanding. What a sad situation! True, not everybody can be trusted. But how much wiser it is to accept the fact that some can be trusted and to receive the friendship and assistance of those genuinely trying to be helpful! Some elderly ones may feel that they have lived out their lives. But they are still living, and they will find it beneficial to keep their minds active and to use their thinking abilities to the full. Learning new things is not beyond their capabilities and can be enriching, although it may take longer for them to learn th an when they were young. For this particular reason, as derived from the explanations on the causes of old age loneliness, a product that would help old aged individuals deal with the adversaries of the fact that they are already living the last years of their lives, shall be introduced within the context of this paper. Knowing how marketing and innovati... In this regard, product for the elderly aimed to making the said individuals more active and lively in their old age is the focus of the said process. Keeping the elderly active and well functioning in terms of their mental and limited physical abilities even beyond their old age. Through this product, engaging the said individuals into more active events and socially acquainted situations shall be the main focus of the system so as to help the elderly become less isolated as old age comes into their face. The product noted herein is a self-motivation speech presentation video that shows how older people should accept their state as the "old ones". However, besides accepting the fact, the video shall better the situation to making it happen for the individual to realize his/her capability of living life fully besides the challenge of physical weakness. Each old person is to be encouraged by this video to socially better their health and rather relate to others instead of keeping themselves behind doors. What the Product Features It is believed that the physical attribute of a person deteriorates faster than that of the mind. This is the primary reason why a motivational video is introduced to the said demographic bracket as noted herein. Understandably, the process by which old people use their time is the target activity of the producers of this product. Most of today's elderly are finding the dilemma of not being able to find something to do when they really want to exercise their minds once in a while. Presenting the availability of the product to the said market would become much of an easier task to complete for the marketer. Through

Behaviour of Democratic Leaders in organisation Research Paper

Behaviour of Democratic Leaders in organisation - Research Paper Example Organizational behavior addresses the study of how individuals, rather than organizations, behave within the organizational situation. The field of study devotes itself to understand, explain and consequently improve the behaviors and attitudes of people and groups within organizations. A leader who is democratic shares the vision and decision-making processes with others in an organization and promotes higher morale. Studies have shown that democratic leadership has the potential to lead to higher levels of commitment, involvement, satisfaction and productivity among followers (Lee & Rosenbloom 69). This project will research the democratic aspect of organizational behavior of leaders, using a company case study to put more emphasis on the findings. It will further address the problems and challenges facing democratic leaders and propose solutions. A democratic leader is the force behind the motivation and success of an organization. Underlying their behavior is a strong trait of se lf-efficacy, which is also referred to as the social cognitive theory. The democratic leaders apply these concepts to define different areas within the organizational framework. The single aspect that sets leaders with democratic behavior apart from other leaders is the sharing of the processing of making decisions (Choi 249). Democratic leaders focus on arriving at decisions through winning consensus. This is because whenever there is consensus, there is always a greater commitment to tactics, strategies and targets because trust is a key feature of this style of leadership, which correlates well with the conduciveness of the working climate. Even for leaders who are open enough to admit that they are not sure about what needs to be done, a pool of talented employees can contribute excellent input that will move the organization towards it goals (Montana & Bruce 149). The democratic leader understands that employees who have been supported and given time to grow in their careers ca n make efficient team members that understand the organizational culture. On the other hand, being autocratic only suppresses their potential, hindering their growth which is detrimental to themselves, the leader and the organization (Montana & Bruce 112). In the decision-making role of leaders, the democratic ones will acknowledge that as a process, perception is a concept all employees pass through in their everyday activities, in or out of the work setting. They recognize that when employees meet colleagues and other leaders and evaluate performances, pass judgments and ultimately make business decisions, it is their perception of those events that will inform the next action they take. Therefore, whether flawed or accurate, their perception is their reality. The distorting or causal factors to employees’ perception considerably affect the impact of organizational behavior and productivity. Unlike the autocratic or coercive leaders, a democratic leadership will influence i ts followers to shift from tendencies of developing perceptive shortcuts capable of inflecting both negative and positive effects in their making of judgments (George & Jones 31). Therefore, they model and integrate guidelines that direct team members in their processes of making decisions. Such models have an emphasis on shaping corporate perceptions. For instance, although not to mean that they lack authority, a democratic leader does not impose directives on followers. Rather, this style of lea

Outline and evaluate definitions of abnormality Essay Example for Free

Outline and evaluate definitions of abnormality Essay Abnormality has three definitions. The first definition is deviation from social norms. Social norms are the approved and expected ways of behaving in a particular society. In terms of social norms, abnormal behaviour can be seen as behaviour that deviates from or violates social norms. The key weakness of the deviation of social norms is cultural relativity. Social norms by their very definition are specific to a particular culture or society so a behaviour seen as a deviation in one society may appear acceptable but may not be accepted in other society. Social norms vary as time changes and vary from culture to culture. Secondly, abnormality can be defined as the failure to function adequately. It means that a person is unable to love a normal life, they have experiences outside the normal range of emotions or do not engage in the normal range of behaviour. This can be seen as the person not being able to cope with life on a day-to-day basis. Functioning can be measured on the Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF). The first strength of failure to function is it is practical and focuses on treating the abnormal behaviour. Failure to function means those outside the individual do not have to label a person as mentally abnormal which still carries stigma in many societies. Unlike the deviation of social norms focusing on public view, it recognizes a person’s subjective experience as a means of helping to define who is abnormal. We can focusing on treating the behaviour that is hindering the person from leading an adequately normal life and offer treatment to encourage more adaptive behaviour. However, it is not without its problems. The first limitation is that apparently abnormal behaviour may actually be helpful, functional and adaptive for the individual. For example, those with obsessive-compulsive disorders find that their obsessions (some maybe socially acceptable behaviour such as hand-washing) make them feel happy. The second limitation is some of its criteria depend on subjective judgements of other people. It may be that someone is deemed abnormal simply because the observer experiences discomfort in watching their behaviour and in their own mind believes them unable to function adequately. Thirdly, abnormality can be defined as the deviation from ideal mental health.

Research Methodology And Data Collection Methods Education Essay

Research Methodology And Data Collection Methods Education Essay An overview of the research study with a detailed account of the research design explaining the data sources, methods used, research instrument of data collection, variables included, sample population and sample size is presented in this chapter. The research context and the rationale for the research design or framework is also presented. However, in this chapter presents the research methodology, respondents of the study, data collection method and data analysis of data used for this research. The qualitative and quantitative methods were used to conduct research and validate research findings are also discussed in this chapter. 3.2 Research Methodology The descriptive-survey method of research utilising a questionnaire formulated by the researcher himself and supplemented by informal interview and observation were used in the conduct of this study. The research method that will be used for this study was the descriptive method of research. Two types of the descriptive method were used. These were the descriptive survey method and the descriptive evaluation method. Creswell (1998) defines qualitative research as an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological tradition of inquiry that researches a social or human problem. In this study, data were gathered from the college students and faculty members of the selected universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The primary source of data will be the information given by the respondents through a survey questionnaire that was formulated by the researcher. (See Appendix C). As quantitative type of research, it presented the data collected using tabular and textual forms. All data were collected, verified, analysed and interpreted specifically the variables of the study. The use of questionnaire is considered as the main instrument supplemented by personal interview in gathering the data. However, there are no official and agreed-upon guidelines on how to conduct an unstructured interview. But in practice, many researchers comply with the steps listed below (Punch, 1998; Fontana Frey, 2005) when planning and conducting unstructured interviews. Step 1: Getting in: accessing the setting. Various difficulties in gaining access to research settings have been documented, especially when the researcher is an outsider in the environment. Negotiation techniques and tactics are required in this situation. The researcher also has to take into consideration the possible political, legal, and bureaucratic barriers that may arise during the process of gaining access to the setting (Lofland et al., 2006). Step 2: Understanding the language and culture of the interviewees. A primary focus of an unstructured interview is to understand the meaning of human experiences from the interviewees perspectives. Thus, unstructured interviews are governed by the cultural conventions of the research setting. This requires that the researcher can understand the interviewees language and, further, its meanings in the specific cultural context of the research setting (Minichiello et al., 1990; Fife, 2005). Step 3: Deciding on how to present one self. An unstructured interview is a two way conversation. The quality of the conversation is influenced, to a great extent, by how the interviewer represents him- or herself. The interviewers self representation will depend on the context he or she is in, but in all cases, the interviewer is a learner in the conversation, trying to make sense of the interviewees experiences from his or her point of view. Step 4: Locating an informant. Not every person in the research setting will make a good informant. The informant (i.e., the interviewee) will be an insider who is willing to talk with you, of course. But even more importantly, the informant must be knowledgeable enough to serve as a guide and interpreter of the settings unfamiliar language and culture (Fontana Frey, 2005). Step 5: Gaining trust and establishing rapport. Gaining trust and establishing rapport is essential to the success of unstructured interviews. Only when a trustful and harmonious relationship is established will the interviewee share his or her experience with the interviewer, especially if the topic of the conversation is sensitive. When endeavoring to cultivate rapport, the interviewer might need to be careful: its easy to become so involved with your informants lives that you can no longer achieve your research purposes (Fontana and Frey, 2005). Step 6: Capturing the data. Note-taking is a traditional method for capturing interview data. But in an unstructured interview, note-taking is likely to disrupt the natural flow of the conversation. Thus, when possible, it is preferable to audio record the interviews by tape or digital recorder. Research Problems Aim and Objectives Review of Related Literature (Foreign Local) Prepare a Survey Questionnaire (Structured/Unstructured) Synthesize and Analysis on the Literature Review Data Collection Gaps Bridged by the Study Determine Qualitative and Quantitative type of research Conduct Statistical Analysis Interpretation of Data in Tabular Form Findings, Conclusions, Recommendations Figure 3.1 Research Design In situations where only note-taking is possible, you will need to take brief notes during the interview, writing up more detailed notes immediately after each interview (Fontana and Frey, 2005, Lofland, et al., 2006). The above framework (Figure 3.1 Research Design) covers the essential of the research design. It would be an activity and time based plan based on the research questions. It would guide the types of information to be collected and from what source. It would be a framework for specifying the relationship among the studys variables. Hence, the design outlines procedures for every research activity. Finally, after the collection of data from both primary and secondary sources, the analysis process will be conducted using the qualitative type of research or qualitative analysis method will be considered and interpreted. The common statistical tools were frequency count and percentage distribution which were in the nominal measures. The weighted mean will be used to treat data that were in the interval measures. The data were then coded for used in the statistical computerization. 3.3 Respondents of the Study The respondents of this study are the faculty members and students in selected universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The stratified random sampling will be applied in selecting the samples for the study. Stratified random sampling is the process of selecting randomly, samples from the different strata of the population used in the study as stated by Burnham, et. al. (2004). Proportional percentage shall be computed after determining the samples. In this study, the research population consists of respondents who are the e-learning students and faculty of the selected universities. These respondents have direct knowledge and proper position to evaluate the quality assurance in e-learning. The distribution of respondents by university is shown in Table 3.1. There are a total of ______ faculty members and ______ students from University of Bahrain (UOB), Ahlia University (AU), Royal University for Women (RUW), Delmun University (DU), The Kingdom University (KU), and Arab Open University (AOU). From the total population of ______, there were ______ sample respondents were taken. Moreover, the population will be drawn from the sampling frame. A sampling frame includes the actual list of individuals included in the population (Nesbary, 2000) which was approximately _____ respondents. According to Patten (2004), the quality of the sample affects the quality of the research generalizations. Nesbary (2000), suggests the larger the sample size, the greater the probability the sample will reflect the general population. However, sample size alone does not constitute the ability to generalize. According to Patten (2004), states that obtaining an unbiased sample is the main criterion when evaluating the adequacy of a sample. Patten also identifies an unbiased sample as one in which every member of a population has an equal opportunity of being selected in the sample. Therefore, random sampling was used in this study to help ensure an unbiased sample population. Because random sampling may introduce sampling errors, efforts were made to reduce sampling errors, and thus increasing precision, by increasing the sample size and by using stratified random sampling. To obtain a stratified random sample, the population was divided into strata according to institutions as shown in Table 3.1. 3.4 Data Collection Method The data collected in this dissertation is through the primary and the secondary data collection methods. The primary sources of data came from the responses of the faculty and students of selected universities in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The secondary sources were secured from books, pamphlets, unpublished materials and other articles related to the quality assurance and e-learning in higher education institutions. The main data gathering instrument that shall be used in this study is a questionnaire based on the objectives and specific research problems on the effective quality assurance in e-learning. Informal interview shall also be conducted during the dry-run to improve the instrument as well as to provide inputs on the validity of the questionnaire. The questionnaires shall be distributed personally and retrieved as soon as the respondents accomplished them to gain a high percent of retrieval rate. Interviews are a widely used tool to access peoples experiences and their inner perceptions, attitudes, and feelings of reality. Based on the degree of structuring, interviews can be divided into three categories: structured interviews, semi-structured interviews, and unstructured interviews (Fontana Frey, 2005). A structured interview is an interview that has a set of predefined questions and the questions would be asked in the same order for all respondents. In the preparation of the draft of the questionnaire, the researcher shall conduct informal interviews with various key informants to have wider perspectives about drafting research instruments. A transmittal letter requesting permission from the selected universities will be secured by the researcher. Based from the information gathered the researcher will be able to formulate the draft of the questionnaire. However, in the validation of the questionnaire, the questionnaire shall undergo the necessary validation procedure to ascertain that the data intended to be gathered will be useful for the study. For this reason, the draft shall be shown to persons with experience in thesis writing and will be requested to give comments on the format, contents and other aspects of the questionnaire. Likewise, the questionnaire shall be subjected to the scrutiny of the researchers adviser. The researcher shall prepare the questionnaire in a manner in which it could be self-administered so that t he respondent will be able to answer with less help from others or no assistance at all. Revisions shall be made after the first dry run to improve and enhance the research instrument. The revised draft will be shown to the adviser for comments and suggestions. After all the comments are considered, it will be tested in a dry-run to find out which items still need to be polished. A dry-run will be conducted to find out if there are items which are vague to the respondents and need to be simplified or expanded. The adequacy of the time for the respondents to answer and the readability of the questionnaire shall also be considered. The questionnaires will be distributed personally at a time convenient for the respondents so as not to interfere with their normal work schedule. To ensure proper interpretation, the researcher shall make himself available during the time the questionnaires are being accomplished. The questionnaires retrieved from the respondents shall be properly labeled or coded as to university and type of respondents to facilitate the tabulation process. 3.5 Data Analysis The evaluation of each area of focus will be interpreted using the frequency count, weighted mean, percent, and rank statistics. The mean of each area will be obtained using the formula: x = ÃŽÂ £x/N (Downie and Heat, 1970) The numerical findings of the study will be statistically analysed and interpreted using the frequency count. Since most of the options are Likert Scale type, weights and corresponding adjectival descriptions. These are Strongly Agree (SA), 5; Agree (A), 4; Neither Disagree nor Agree, (NDA), 3; Disagree (D), 2; and Strongly Disagree (SD), 1. The collated responses were be subjected to Mean Weighted Average (MWA) analysis, using the formula: MWA = fw/N (Treece, 1986) Not achieved success factor On the other hand, the following range and interpretation were utilised to determine the key challenges and strategies that institution faces in supporting instructors in the use of technology, the weighted mean will be used. As shown, Finally, to determine the statistical analysis on the suggestions to improve the e-learning, the frequency count and ranking were used. 3.6 Ethical Considerations In the conduct of the study, the researcher will prepare a letter of request to the Dean of the Graduate School of Brunel University and to the Brunel Ethics Committee for approval. A formal letter will be prepared by the researcher and addressed it to the Chairman/President of the Selected Universities and Colleges in the Kingdom of Bahrain to use the survey questionnaire. The said instrument will serve as the basis in the preparation of the research study to determine the effective quality assurance in e-learning: challenges and strategies. Finally, the responses from interviews and survey questionnaires are kept confidential. 3.7 Summary This chapter presented the research methodology and the data analysis methods used to conduct this research. This chapter includes both the primary and secondary data collection methods. The qualitative research method will be used to interpret the data collected from the respondents based from the survey questionnaires since the study made use of the Likert Scale rating. The next chapter presents the data analysis and findings of the study.