Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 57

Discussion - Assignment Example Another primary rule of delegation that was violated is with regard to the fact that the charge nurse did not choose the right person to delegate to. Instead of checking to ensure that the individual had prior training or was capable of performing such a task, the charge nurse instead merely demanded that it be done with no further instructions. This created a hostile environment in which further questions or seeking out advice was stunted (True et al., 2014). In terms of how the unlicensed staff member could have advocated for herself, it would be necessary for this individual to make a clear and demonstrable assertion that as she was unlicensed, it would be not only against the law but potentially harmful to the patient for her to perform such a task. Finally, in the event that this author were working with the charge nurse, it would be necessary to say calmly that you would be more than happy to help in another way. However, performing the duty in question would be a violation of the law and could land both of you in trouble; as the individual does not have requisite training on the matter. True, G., Stewart, G., Lampman, M., Pelak, M., & Solimeo, S. (2014). Teamwork and Delegation in Medical Homes: Primary Care Staff Perspectives in the Veterans Health Administration.  Inflammopharmacology,  29632-639.

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Hazards of Cell Phone Use and Sound Science Essay Example for Free

The Hazards of Cell Phone Use and Sound Science Essay An ecosystem pertains to the living organisms in a particular area of the earth along with the physical aspects of their environment. Between these nonliving and living constituents, there exists a natural interchange of so-called goods and services that make up an ecosystem’s natural capital, and which ultimately defines the sustainability of that ecosystem. In other words, natural capital is like the nature’s stock of goods (like food) and services (like waste disposal) in order to sustain its living constituents (Costanza et al. 1997, p. 254). A more specific example of ecosystem services are the pollination services provided for by the bees, among other insect species, which are important to the flowers, and thus to all organisms whose food requirements have to do with flowering plants, and so on. A certain study found that bees preferred specific flowers—that is, tubular flowers, instead of open ones so that the pollination of these kinds of flowers are done primarily by the bees. In other words, bees play an important role in the sustainability of the particular plant species’ posterity, as no other pollinator insect species seemed to prefer the same kind of flowers (Public Library of Science, 2006). In the ecosystem, every movement, every input and output of whatever natural constituent is accounted for, and has its consequences. All the more if there is an extra or unwarranted input, such as what is going on in concordance with the advent of technology. We are literally swimming in a sea of electromagnetic radiation brought about by various electronic appliances, most notable of all the portable celphone. It has been speculated that bees are disappearing due to the electromagnetic radiation continuously emitted by these portable phones. But again, this is mere speculation. What is certain, however, is that bees are disappearing—studies in Britain and the Netherlands have shown that over the last 25 years approximately, the bee population has been declining, and with it, those of certain flowers (University of Leeds, 2006). But the same studies are inconclusive about the cause for this decline, proposing only possible causes such as changes in the agricultural chemicals being used; the way the land is taken cared of; and also climate changes. Further studies are still being undertaken to prove which is the real cause for this disappearance of bees, but scientists have not pinpointed celphone use as a probable reason. Therefore, the allegations against cellphones lack sound science, and still have to be scientifically tested if this seeming unlikelihood is worth investigating. Certainly, we are enjoying and maximizing the advantages of having celphones. However, it is possible that harmful effects of celphone radiation do exist. A study by Danish epidemiologist and medical scientist has revealed that celphone radiation caused DNA damage among other things (Korvach, 2007). This means that it is possible to breed dysfunctional offspring. Other effects have been found to be linked to brain tumor development, but findings of the study were not enough to lead to this conclusion. However, we are still talking about possibilities. Every scientific observation must be reproducible, or proven by a number of other scientific laboratories before it can be fully accepted and established as a scientific fact. It is possible that the bees are disappearing because of increasing electromagnetic radiation in the surroundings. It is possible that some people have died of brain cancer brought about by celphone use. As of the moment, I however, believe that these possibilities are insubstantial. I do not think that celphones have enough radiation to cause such negative effects. For me, what is likely is that their radiation may add to an individual’s susceptibility to such diseases. What can be done, then, as of the moment since there seems to be a lack of sound science to prove or disprove anything, as I have said earlier, is to be careful, to perhaps minimize the use of celphones and other electronics all at one time, and let the scientists do their work.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Essay --

Animal testing is a very controversial topic, especially among animal rights activists. Unsually, animal testing is used to test pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and many other products that humans use in their everyday life. Scientists use animals in medical research more as a matter of tradition, as opposed to the fact that testing on animals has proved to fail time after time again. Animal testing has proved to be less accurate and unsuccessful in comparison to other means of testing and experimentation. There is a growing awareness to the limitations of animal research and its inability to be a reliable source of predictions about human health. Reasons on why and how animal research is wrong, and unpredictable are endless, animal studies do not predict human outcome, nine out of ten drugs that appear to be promising in animal research later goes on to fail in human trials, as well animal studies are flawed by design and lacks regulation. Many scientists have come to the conclusion t hat animal testing is very outdated, and should be starting to consider modern ways of testing. They believe that our generation should be looking to the future and creating computer programs, this has many benefits; such as not having to wait as long for a result, and is much more cost effective. Animal studies do not predict human outcome for many reasons. There are obvious and subtle differences between humans and animals, whether it is appearance, the way the body operates, anatomy, and even mental differences. The two species are on completely different end of the spectrum in comparison to how the body works. Taking a healthy animal, artificially inseminating an illness that most animals would never normally get, keeping it in an unnatural and st... ...nimal testing. There are laws which give a simple guide line, but they are so general and broad that they can easily be worked around. Any experiment performed on rodents, reptiles, birds, or fish are not required by law to be reported, this means that it is even more likely for these experiments to involve unnecessary cruelty. Many of the animals used for lab testing are the dogs and cats that many of us keep as pets, and the same ones who eventually love us unconditionally, even sometimes more than they love their selves. Animal testing should be banned for no other reason than the fact that few of us would never volunteer our cats, dogs, or any other pet to a life as a lab subject . It has been proved that there are different more effective ways of testing whether or not a product can be safely used for the use of human consumption without using animals.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Love Esaay

24HourAnswers. com Online Homework Focused Exercises for Math SAT Skill Set 17: Sequences Many of the problems in this exercise set came from The College Board, writers of the SAT exam. 1. 7, 15, 31, 63, †¦ The first term in the sequence above is 7, and each term after the first is determined by multiplying the preceding term by m and then adding p. What is the value of m ? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 1 2 3 4 9 2. 2, 6, 14, 30, †¦ In the sequence above, the first term is 2. Each number after the first is obtained by adding 1 to the preceding number and then doubling the result.What is the sixth number in the sequence? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 122 123 124 125 126 3. 150, 30, 6, †¦ 1f f f In the sequence above, each term after the 1st term is f of the term 5 preceding it. What is the 5th term of this sequence? 4. The first term of a sequence is 20 and the second term is 8. The third term and each term thereafter is the average (arithmetic mean) of the two terms immediately preceding it. What is the value of the first term in the sequence that is not an integer? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 22. 6 1. 23 24. 7 12. 5 6. 8 5. a, 3a, †¦The first term in the sequence above is a, and each term after the first is 3 times the preceding term. If the sum of the first 5 terms is 605, what is the value of a ? 6. 8, 17, 26, 35, 44, †¦ The first 5 terms in a sequence are shown above. Each term after the first is found by adding 9 to the term immediately preceding it. Which term in ` a this sequence is equal to 8 ? 26 @ 1 9 ? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 7. The 8th The 9th The 25th The 26th The 27th In the repeating decimal 0. 1246812468†¦ where the digits 12468 repeat, which digit is in the 4,000th place to the right of the decimal point? A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 1 2 4 6 8 8. The first term of a sequence of numbers is @ 3 . Each term after the first is obtained by multiplying the preceding term by @ 1 and then subtracting 1. What is the 75th term of the sequence? (A) @ 73 (B) @ 3 (C) 2 (D) 4 (E) 73 9. 3, 5, -5, †¦ The first term in the sequence of numbers shown above is 3. Each even numbered term is 2 more than the previous term and each odd numbered term, after the first, is -1 times the previous term. For example, the second ` a term is 3 + 2, and the third term is @ 1 B 5 . What is the 55th term of the sequence? A) @ 5 (B) @ 3 (C) @ 1 (D) 3 (E) 5 10. The first two numbers of a sequence are 1 and 3, respectively. The third number is 4, and, in general, every number after the second is the sum of the two numbers immediately preceding it. How many of the first 1,000 numbers in this sequence are odd? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 333 500 665 666 667 11. @ 1, 0, 1, 2 A sequence is formed by repeating the 4 numbers above in the same order indefinitely. What is the sum of the first 28 terms of the sequence? 12. 1, 2, 1, @ 1, @ 2 , . . . The first five terms of a sequence are shown above.After the second term, each term can be obtained by subtracting from the previous term the term before that. For example, the third term can be obtained by subtracting the first term from the second term. What is the sum of the first 36 terms of the sequence? (A) 0 (B) 4 (C) 12 (D) 24 (E) 30 13. 5. 101001000100001†¦ The decimal number above consists of only 1's and 0's to the right of the decimal point. The first 1 is followed by one 0, the second 1 is followed by two 0's, the third 1 is followed by three 0's, and so on. What is the total number of 0's between the 98th and the 101st 1 in this decimal number? A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 288 291 294 297 300 14. 1,234, †¦ 1,920,21 †¦ ,484,950 The integer above is formed by writing the integers from 1 to 50, in order, next to each other. If the integer is read from left to right, what is the 50th digit from the left? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 0 1 2 3 9 15. R Y G W B R Y G Y G W B The figure above shows the remaining pieces of a paper chain from which a section has been removed. The first link of the original chain was re d and the colors of the links formed the repeating pattern of red (R), yellow (Y), green (G), white (W), and blue (B) from left to right.Which of the following could be the number of links in the section that was removed? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 60 61 62 63 64 16. The first term of a sequence is @ 3 and every term after the first is 5 more than the term immediately preceding it. What is the value of the 101st term? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 505 502 500 497 492 17. 1f f f After the first term, each term in a sequence is 3 greater than f of the 3 preceding term. If t is the first term of the sequence and t ? 0 , what is the ratio of the second term to the first term? t ffff ? 9 ffff fff (A) ffff 3 t ffff ? ff fff f3 (B) ffff 3 ffff ? ff fff f9 (C) ffff 3t t ffff ? ff fff f3 (D) ffff 3t 9fffff @ 2t fffff fffff (E) fffff 3 18. 8, a, 14, b, 20, †¦ The first term of the sequence above is 8. Which of the following could be the formula for finding the nth term of this sequence for any positive i nteger n ? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 2n + 6 3n + 5 5n + 3 6n + 2 6n + 5 19. 3, 6, 11, 18, †¦ The first four terms of a sequence are shown above. Which of the following could be the formula that gives the nth term of this sequence for all positive integers n ? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 2n 2n + 1 3n n2 ? 1 n2 ? 2

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Starbucks Case Accounting

Starbucks Case Part I – Prior to reading Starbuck’s Form 10-K, please answer the following questions. Your answers should be based upon your general knowledge of Starbucks, gained from visiting their stores, purchasing their products and/or observing them in the marketplace. a. Up until the economic downturn (Fall of 2008) what do you believe was Starbucks’ growth strategy? Give three examples of specific actions (growth initiatives) you observed Starbucks execute upon as part of their growth strategy? 1. Saturate the U. S. arket: Based on our observations, it seemed that Starbuck’s primary strategy for growth was to saturate the U. S. market. At one point there seemed to be a Starbucks at every corner, sometimes so close that one had to wonder why in the heck they were opening stores within a couple dozen feet from each other. 2. Expand internationally: We presume that one of their growth goals was to expand abroad, specially if they began to realize they were cannibalizing their own established stores, so they likely had to go outside of the U. S. o keep up their growth targets. 3. Develop complementary products/alternative revenue sources: We also think that around 2006-2007 was when they started to promote downloadable music and also began to sell CDs & books in stores; which means they began to more aggressively add alternative revenue channels, beyond that of coffee/drinks, to their many locations. (Personally, I purchased a bottle of Starbucks coffee liqueur around that time, which I still have because it’s not as good as other coffee liqueurs such as Kahlua. b. How do you believe Starbucks measured their success in executing their growth strategy? Give four specific measures you might use to evaluate the success of Starbucks’ growth strategy. Very likely that they were measuring it against number of new stores opened, and sales growth. We would probably use the following to evaluate the success of Starbuck’s growth strategy: 1. Sales growth. 2. Operating Revenues. 3. Net income. 4. Return on assets. The remaining sections of the case should be completed after you have read Starbucks Form 10-K and any other information deemed pertinent. Part II – Results of the audit by Starbucks’ outside independent accountant, status of Starbucks’ financial reporting controls and industry specific accounting. a. Who is Starbucks’ outside independent auditor? Did Starbucks receive a qualified or unqualified (clean) audit report from their outside independent auditor for the 2010 fiscal year end? a. Deloitte & Touche, LLP. b. Unqualified. b. What was Starbucks management’s conclusion in their report on internal control for financial reporting? What was the outside independent auditor’s conclusion regarding management’s review and assessment of financial reporting controls? . That their internal control over financial reporting was effective as of October 3, 2010. d. That Starbucks maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of October 3, 2010. c. How does Starbucks account for gift cards? What impact do unredeemed gift cards have on the reported operating income in each year? How does Starbucks’ accounting for unredeemed gift cards compare to other retailers? e. Revenues for cards are recognized when tendered for payment, or upon redemption. Outstanding balances are included in deferred revenue on the balance sheet. Balances on cards that are deemed unlikely to be redeemed, get recognized as net interest income. f. Operating income is increased by balances on cards thought unlikely to be redeemed; therefore, it can be argued that operating income is being overstated by the addition of â€Å"unlikely-to-be-redeemed† card balances to net interest income. g. Gift card balances by other retailers are probably carried as a liability (unearned revenue). When gift cards are not redeemed, some retailers return the balances to the state where the card was issued assuming the unclaimed balance to be â€Å"unclaimed property† in some states. As seen above, Starbucks does carry outstanding balances as deferred revenue (a liability) as well, but once the cards are deemed unlikely to be redeemed, it treats the unclaimed balance as an asset. Part III – Trend Analysis of Sales and Earnings Growth During 2006 – 2010 Review Starbucks income statement and common size income statement for the years 2006 through 2010. Identify and comment on the major trends in the growth in Starbucks sales and earnings, including: a. Sales growth – was Starbucks’ sales growth consistent or inconsistent over the above five year period? Do you see signs of acceleration or deceleration in Starbucks’ historic growth rates? How does Starbucks’ sales growth compare to its industry averages? Are same store sales or the opening of new stores the more important factor in driving Starbucks’ sales growth during this period? Do you believe Starbucks sale trends over the past few years will continue over the next two to three years? Please provide rationale for your belief. Starbucks’ sales growth was inconsistent over the above 5 year period. Data from the last 5 years suggests that Starbucks’ growth rate is actually decelerating. Starbucks’ sales growth was below the industry sales growth. The industry has average 9. 25% over the last 5 years while Starbucks averaged 7. 5% only. The opening of new stores is vital to Starbucks’ sales strategy. During 2006, 2007, and 2008, Starbucks added 2199, 2571, and 1669 net stores. During the same years, sales grew by 22%, 21%, and 10% respectively. During 2009, Starbucks reduced 45 stores and their sales dropped by 7%. In 2010, Starbucks added 223 stores and not surprisingly their sales increased by 10%. In our opinion, Starbucks’ sales will continue to grow but at a decreasing rate over the next 2 to 3 years. This projection is based on historical sales data from the last 5 years which suggest a deceleration of sales growth. Starbucks’ average sales growth for the last 5 years is 11%. In 2006, Starbucks’ sales grew by 22%. This suggests a deceleration of sales growth. b. Gross margins – did gross margins expand, contract or hold steady over the period? What major factors account for the trend you’ve identified? The gross margin has held steady over the last 5 years ranging anywhere from 55% to 59%. Gross margin is affected by sales and cost of sales. c. Operating expense – make sure you look at operating expenses in both absolute dollar terms and as a percent of sales. Did operating expenses grow slower, faster or at the same rate as revenues? Would you expect to see more leverage on Starbucks’ cost base, given their growth history? (Note: operating leverage is demonstrated when a company’s operating expenses grow at slower rate than its sales, thereby resulting in operating earnings growing faster than sales. ) Do you believe Starbucks’ cost base is mostly fixed, mostly variable or an equal mix of each? What implication does the structure of Starbucks cost base (i. e. % fixed / variable) have on the relationship between the growth rates of revenues and earnings? Make sure you present information to support your conclusion. Operating expenses have grown at a higher rate than revenues over the last 5 years. Revenues grew at an average of 7% while operating expenses have grown at an average of 11. 34%. Based on these numbers, we expect to see less leverage on Starbucks’ cost base as operating expenses are growing at a higher rate than revenues. The fact that Starbucks’ operating expenses are growing at a higher rate than its revenues shows that Starbucks’ cost base is mostly variable. This is also proven by the income statement as most of Starbucks’ operating expenses are Cost of Sales and Store Operating expenses. Most of these are usually variable. Having more variable expenses usually means that earnings will not necessarily grow at the same rate as revenues. This is demonstrated by the income statement from the last 5 years. Starbucks’ revenues and earnings have grown at different rates over each year of the last 5 years. The average earnings growth per year over the last 5 years is 12. 62% as compared to an average sales growth per year of 7. 5%. d. Operating income – have operating earnings grown at the same rate, faster or slower than sales? What factors (e. g. gross margins, operating expense/charges) account for the trend you’ve identified? Be specific and provide support for your answer. Operating income has grown at a faster rate than sales on a per year basis over the last 5 years. Sales growth has averaged 7. 5% per year as compared to an operating income growth of 11. 75% per year during the same period. The reason that operating income has grown so fast is because Starbucks recently made changes to its cost structure that made it more efficient. As per the 10-k statement filed with the SEC, Starbucks decreased its Cost of Sales by 260 basis points by making their supply chain process more efficient. This resulted in lower food, beverage, and paper packaging costs. Because of its sales leverage, Starbucks was also able to decrease its occupancy costs. Because of the reduced costs, Starbucks was able to have a higher operating income in 2010. This caused the 5 year average to jump up to 11. 75%. Also contributing to this growth was the fact that sales increased at a higher rate than operating expenses. Therefore, operating income also went up at a higher rate than sales. e. Net Income – has net income grown at the same rate, faster or slower than sales? What factors (e. g. gross margins, operating expense, non-operating items) account for the trend you’ve identified? Be specific and provide support for your answer. Net Income has increased at a higher rate than sales also on a per year basis for the last five years. In fact, Net Income has pretty much mirrored Operating Income in growth. The factors tied to Net Income are Sales, Operating Expenses, Interest, and Taxes. Taxes remained relatively proportionate EBT each year. During each of the 5 years, Starbucks experienced a positive interest income for 3 years and a negative for 2 years. This helped Starbucks increase their Net Income. However, the factor that affected Net Income the most was Operating Expenses. Operating expenses grew at a slower rate than sales from 2006 to 2010. This resulted in Starbucks having a higher Operating Income which in turn resulted in a higher net income. Starbucks’ net income grew by 142. 2% in 2010 from the previous year. This big change resulted in the average net income growth rate to increase to 12. 62%. During the same period, Sales has grown by 7. 5% and operating expenses grew by 7%. All of this contributed to the Net Income growing at a higher rate than sales. f. Earnings per share – Does Starbucks’ earnings per share increase/decrease at a rate consistent with revenue and net income. Why is this? Do you expect this relationship to continue into the future? Starbucks’ EPS increases and decreases at a rate consistent with net income but not sales. This is because earnings per share are calculated by taking the net income and dividing that into the number of shares outstanding. As a result, there is a direct correlation with net income and not sales. We expect this relationship to continue in the future as long as the number of shares outstanding doesn’t change drastically each year. Part IV – Analysis of Operating Efficiency, Liquidity and Solvency Using data included in the Form 10-K analyze Starbucks’ operating efficiency and liquidity. That is, answer the questions below. The ratio definitions used to calculate the figures in the Ratio Analysis table are described in the text and lecture notes. a. Operating efficiency: Turnover ratios. In one paragraph, explain what the values of turnover ratios reveal about Starbucks. That is, for each ratio, discuss the trend, compare Starbucks’ ratio to the industry average (for receivables, inventory turnover and asset turnover only) and discuss whether the trend indicates improvements or deteriorations in operating efficiency. Can you think of any other measures that would be useful to assess Starbucks’ operational efficiency? Turnover ratios reveal that in 2010, Starbucks’ sales increased. Receivables turnover jumped up slightly from previous years to 37. 31. The industry’s 2009 median receivables turnover is significantly higher than Starbucks’ at about 98. 64. This trend indicates that Starbucks made less sales on credit in 2010. It could also mean that Starbucks improved collecting on its accounts receivables; however, since Starbucks’ average collection period ratio has not changed in the last three years (holding steady at about 11 days), there is no indication that collection on receivables has improved. The inventory turnover ratio of 7. 8, which slightly increased from 2009, also suggests a decrease in inventories, which is supported by the drop of inventory assets shown on the balance sheet. This trend supports the observation that sales have increased significantly for Starbucks in 2010 which is always an improvement for any business. PP&E Turnover ratio of 4. 32, whi ch increased from 2009, again, demonstrates higher sales since PP&E remained at similar levels as previous years per the balance sheet. Total asset turnover, 1. 79, remained very close to last year, and is slightly less than the industry average, 1. 3. This shows Starbucks continues to generate sales at a level of almost twice as much as they carry assets on their books. The fact that their asset turnover is slightly less than that of their competitors suggests that Starbucks may have more assets than their competitors. b. Liquidity: In one paragraph, explain what the liquidity ratios (current ratio, quick ratio and cash from operations ratio) reveal about Starbucks. Include an explanation of how the cash flow from operations ratio differs from the current and quick ratios. What is your conclusion egarding Starbucks’ liquidity position? With significant increases in 2010 in current ratio, 1. 55, and quick ratio, 0. 99, Starbucks is very liquid. Quick ratio shows they have 1. 5 times current assets on the books as they do current liabilities. Likewise, the quick ratio shows they would be able to cover current liabilities with their current assets. The cash from operations ratio is . 96, which states that Starbucks’ cash from operations would not be enough to cover its current liabilities. This ratio differs from the first two in that it compares a cash flow item to a balance sheet item. It is an indication of a firm’s ability to pay off its current liabilities; however, it is the most conservative liquidity ratio since it excludes all current assets except for the most liquid: cash and equivalents. It tells that Starbucks would not quite be able to pay off all of its current liabilities with just its cash and equivalents, although it does come close. c. Solvency: Interpret the values of the relevant ratios and provide a conclusion regarding Starbucks’ ability to service its debt and risk of future insolvency. Does your conclusion change if you include â€Å"off balance sheet debt†. How much off balance sheet debt does Starbucks have as of the end of the most recent fiscal year? Starbucks’ solvency ratios suggest that it is in a strong position and would likely be able to service its debt as it shows low risk of future solvency. It’s debt to equity ratio for 2010 of 0. 73 is at the lowest it has been in the past five years. From 2009 Starbucks had a big increase in retained earnings, this pushed all solvency ratios including interest coverage, return on assets, and return on equity up. ROA and ROE were doubled from 2009 to 0. 16 and 0. 28 respectively. Likewise, interest coverage also had a big jump due to a significant increase in earnings before interest and taxes. If we include â€Å"off balance sheet debt, Starbucks debt to equity ratio increases a bit, but the trend still shows that this ratio has decreased significantly in 2010. The increase would not be enough to state that Starbucks runs a high risk of insolvency. Starbucks has $4,084. 2 in off balance sheet debt as of end of most recent fiscal year. (We assume that the numbers provided are in millions). Part V – Analysis of Cash Flow Refer to Starbucks’ cash flow statement: a. During the past three years, what was Starbucks’ largest source of cash? What were Starbucks’ two largest uses of cash? a. For the past 3 years, the largest source of cash for Starbucks was Net earnings including non-controlling assets from its operating activities. Starbucks’ two largest uses of cash were additions to property, plant and equipment, as well as purchasing available for sale securities. It is stated in the 10-k that the major components of the PPE spending were remodeling and upgrading equipment in stores, as well as updating the IT infrastructure of the retail network. b. For the past three fiscal years, has Starbucks’ CFO been adequate to fund its growth initiatives? If no, how has Starbucks funded the CFO shortfalls to fund growth? a. As stated in the 10-K Starbucks’ believes that cash flows generated from operations and existing cash and short term investments should be enough to support their core business activities. However, it is also stated that new business opportunities, joint ventures, and acquisitions would have to utilize outside funding sources. Starbucks has augmented to their cash flows by heavily investing in available for sale securities, and purchasing US Agency and investment grade bonds. These investments, and outside financing, can be used to fund growth initiatives while CFO can be used to support Starbucks’ core retail business. The 10K also mentions that the issuance of commercial paper and its proceeds can be used for working capital needs, capital expenditures, and other corporate purposes, including acquisitions and share repurchases. c. Based on your review of Starbucks’ cash flow statement, has Starbucks’ growth been driven by organic growth or acquisitions? Provide support for your answer. a. Starbucks growth has been driven organically, with strong, steady growth in net earnings including non-controlling interests, and investing a large amount of cash in property, plant, and equipment by opening new retail locations and upgrading existing stores and information systems. By utilizing CFO and short term investment earnings to support their core business, Starbucks’ has maintained a high growth, very successful retail operation. Acquisitions play a minor role compared to the growth and earnings from operating activities. d. If Starbucks continues to grow at its historic rates, does it appear that Starbucks’ CFO can fund this growth? If CFO isn’t sufficient, how might Starbucks fund its future growth? a. Yes, it does appear that Starbucks’ CFO can fund its historic growth. This is stated in the 10k; CFO and short term investments, as well as any potential future borrowings and the commercial paper program can support the existing core business as well as related marketing support, product innovations, and new business opportunities related to the core business. If CFO is not sufficient to fund the historic growth, Starbucks can utilize channels within the investment and finance sections of the cash flow statement. Particularly, Starbucks can invest more heavily in short term investments, and utilize the commercial paper program. Additionally, Starbucks purchases available for sale securities heavily – these could be sold in the future to fund any growth where CFO is not adequate to support the core business. e. During the past three fiscal years, what dollar amount of common stock did Starbucks repurchase and what dollar amount of dividends did they pay? Why would Starbucks repurchase their own stock and/or pay a dividend? How does this impact Starbucks ability to fund future growth? How did Starbucks’ strategy with regard to share repurchases and dividends change during the past few years? Why did it change? a. In 2008, Starbucks repurchased $ 311. 4 million in common stock. In 2009, Starbucks did not repurchase any stock. In 2010, Starbucks repurchased $ 285. 6 million in common stock. Starbucks may want to repurchase their own stock so that they can increase their earnings per share ratio. This is especially true if Starbucks shares were perceived as undervalued, as Starbucks can repurchase the shares and hold them in the treasury for future reissuance at a higher price. Starbucks may be able to obtain more financing and loans with better earnings per share ratio as well. Dividends can be paid to shareholders to increase the value of their shares, and encourage other interested parties to purchase Starbucks shares. Paying dividends is a way to help impact positive future growth by making the purchase of Starbucks stock more profitable – more people will want to buy it providing more cash for Starbucks to utilize. In the 10-k, it is stated that Starbucks had 1. 7 billion in CFO for 2010 compared to 1. 4 billion in fiscal 2009, and capital expenditures were approximately 440 million in both fiscal years. This left roughly $460 million for stock repurchases and dividends. Starbucks had to repay short term borrowings in 2008 and 2009, but did not have to use cash for repayment in 2010. The cash that would have been used to payback short term borrowings could instead be used to repurchase stock and pay dividends. Thus, the strategy changed because Starbucks was able to operate without short term borrowings in 2010, and was able to pass on the excess case to shareholders. Part VI – Market Valuation a. What is Starbuck’s net book value as of the end of the most recent fiscal year? What was Starbuck’s market capitalization as of that date? Why is there a difference in these two amounts? What specific items do you think comprise the difference? Starbucks’ net book value as of the end of 2010 fiscal year was $3,611,500,000 while its market cap was $19,270,826,000. The reason that the two numbers are different is because the net book value is calculated by taking the total assets of Starbucks and subtracting its intangible assets and total liabilities, while the market cap is calculated by multiplying the outstanding shares into the stock price. Because each is calculated using 5 different numbers, there will almost always be a difference in the two numbers. b. Do you believe the difference between Starbuck’s net book value and market capitalization will increase or decrease in the future? What specific factors or trends identified in Starbucks’ financial information (or identified elsewhere) support your view? We believe that the difference between Starbucks’ net book value and market capitalization will decrease in the future. One of the biggest reasons for this is the fact that Starbucks restructured its Supply Chain process to lower costs. As a result, net income grew by 142% in 2010. This was a huge turnaround by Starbucks in one year and it can be attributed to the fact that leadership identified and implemented this cost saving mechanism. Another trend that indicates that Starbucks is on its way back is the fact that they opened more stores than they closed in the last 2 years. This strategy is key to Starbucks succeeding. Third, Starbucks’ gross margin has remained constant in the last 5 years despite the down years. This shows that management knows how to cut down on costs when times are rough, or that despite financial downturns, people are still willing to pay for expensive coffee. Conclusion Refer to your responses in Part 1: How do the results of your analysis in Parts II through VI support or contradict your original thoughts regarding Starbucks growth strategy and the success or failure of the three action areas (growth initiatives) you identified? Our assumption on their strategy to saturate the U. S. Market by building as any stores as possible is supported by our discussion on sales growth, which shows that there is a direct correlation between sales revenue growth and net new stores opened. Likewise, in analyzing the CFO, we concluded that Starbucks has grown organically through their investment in PP&E, which corroborates our original thoughts. Although they probably realized they were overdoing it with having a Starbucks on every corner, their growth strategy of increasing store numb ers has been a success for the company as sales have also increased. Going forward, the challenge will be to maintain high sales rates while being able to cover its large PP&E/overhead expenses. Although we didn’t really analyze the impact of international expansion in our analysis above, according to the company’s 10-K, operating income from international activities more than doubled from 2009 to 2010; however, this increase was mostly due to foreign currency translation among other things. Therefore, our original thoughts are not necessarily proven by the data that we analyzed. Finally, we stated that one of Starbucks’ growth strategies was to develop alternative revenue sources. As we looked deeper at the reasons for sales growth, we noticed that licensing and food service both were strong contributors to the increases in net revenues. Our discussion on sales growth indirectly supports this hypothesis, since the increase in net revenues was affected by an increase in average value per transaction (as stated in the 10-K). This means that customers are not just buying coffee at the checkout stand because Starbucks is being successful at selling other complimentary goods along with their drinks. Therefore, this is definitely being a successful growth strategy for Starbucks.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Hamlet Essayys

Hamlet Essayys Hamlet Essayys Hamlet – Critical Notes Interest in Drama in created through tension between individuals: One of the most important elements of Hamlet that make it an interesting play is Hamlet’s conflict as a hero – whether he should avenge his father, or simply abandon his quest through philosophical moralizing. The demands of Elizabethan society and even our society would be that one should return an eye for an eye, most of our films and drama support this idea of righteous justice towards someone who has wronged us. Initially Hamlet also communicates this idea through the â€Å"Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.† of the king. From Hamlet himself, he uses strong emotional language to swear that â€Å"I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records,† â€Å"And thy commandment all alone shall live†, clearly indicating that he knows exactly what is expected of him, and this is his role in the play and his life. What society expects is also shown through the reference to the Chain of Being, through which a false king would lead to the collapse of the natural system. Hamlet describes this in the metaphor, ’tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature possess it merely†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Using the garden imagery to show that a false ki ng leads to weeds and other unnatural elements in the world. Thus at least initially, there appears to be no conflict, and Hamlet will merely be a revenge tragedy play. However, the play gets much more interesting when it becomes clear that Hamlet wants nothing to do with revenge, in fact, he is such a philosopher and thinker that he despises what is basically another bout of regicide. The critic Henry Mackenzie agrees with this idea that the play arises from Hamlet’s nature: even the best qualities of his character merely reinforce his inability to cope with the world in which he is placed. Textually, we can see this in the various ways Hamlet forces himself to stop his murder. His doubt, â€Å"[the devil] is very potent with such spirits, I’ll have grounds/More relative than this.† Show he is unwilling to simply go out and be a traditional avenger. Furthermore, his continues this idea of him trying to escape fate, â€Å"Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,† shows that society â€Å"heaven and hell† prompt him to go and murder his uncle, but he refuses to simpl y be a whore of fate – he is going to forge his own destiny. This conflict as a central element in the play can also be seen in Hamlet’s polar opposite. Laertes have his father killed, but gives no two lines about wanting to kill Hamlet – and straight away he dies in the attempt – his demand for â€Å"[daring] damnation to be most thoroughly revenged for [his] father.† not only ends his life, but draws Hamlet’s avoidance of his fate to an end, and ends up with all involved dying, and thus formatting the tragedy. Another way that Shakespeare shows the conflict between society and the individual is through the play within a play dynamic of Hamlet. As a Avenger play, Hamlet is the tragic hero doomed to avenge his father. However, Hamlet as an individual refuses to, and this conflict, the putting off of the murder, is what makes the play philosophical and enjoyable. Unwilling Hero / Fate / Fight against Fate Both arguments are explored with excellent textual integrity by Shakespeare through a multi perspective approach of the conflict between individual and society. Again, the concept of fate here is central – Hamlet is fated to get revenge, even if it costs him his life. His own self doubt in berating his own inaction such as â€Å"How stand I then, That have a father kill’d, a mother stain’d And let all sleep?† Uses rhetorical questions to demonstrate the conflict in his heart. However contrary to popular belief, the Elizabethan perceptions of revenge had shifted from the Old Testament ‘an eye for an eye’ stance, to the New Testament perspective on revenge, ‘Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord’, so it is arguable that

Monday, October 21, 2019

notes on Piet Mondrian essays

notes on Piet Mondrian essays o Born on March 7, 1872, in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. o He studied at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, from 1892 to 1897. o 1908 he began to take annual trips to Domburg in Zeeland. o His work was naturalistic, incorporating successive influences of academic landscape and still-life painting, Dutch Impressionism and Symbolism. o In 1909, a major exhibition of his work was held at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. o He joined the Theosophic Society. o In 1909 and 1910, he experimented with Pointillism and by 1911 had begun to work in a Cubist mode. o Mondrian decided to move to Paris. o From 1912 to 1914, he began to develop an independent abstract style. o Mondrian was visiting the Netherlands when World War I broke out and prevented his return to Paris. o During war years in Holland, he further reduced his colors and geometric shapes and formulated his non-objective Neo-Plastic style. o In 1917, he became one of the founders of De Stijl. This group extended its principles of abstraction and simplification beyond to architecture and graphic and industrial design. o Mondrians essays on abstract art were published in the periodical De Stijl. o He returned to Paris in July 1919. o He exhibited with De Stijl in 1923, but withdrew from the group around 1925. o In 1930, he showed with Cercle et Carr and in 1931 joined Abstraction-Cration. o World War II forced Mondrian to move to London in 1938 and then to settle in New York in October 1940. o he joined American Abstract Artists in NY and continued to publish texts on Neo-Plasticism. o His late style evolved significantly in response to the city. o In 1942, his first solo show took place at the Valentine Dudensing Gallery, New York. o Mondrian died February 1, 1944, in New York. ...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Profile of Serial Killer Debra Brown

Profile of Serial Killer Debra Brown In 1984, at age 21, Debra Brown became involved in a master-slave relationship with the serial rapist and killer  Alton Coleman. For two months, during the summer of 1984, the couple left victims across several Midwestern states, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana,  Kentucky, and Ohio. Alton Coleman and Debra Brown Meet Prior to meeting Alton Coleman, Brown showed no violent tendencies  and had no history of being in trouble with the law. Described as being intellectually disabled, possibly due to a head trauma suffered as a child, Brown quickly came under Colemans spell and a master-slave relationship began. Brown ended a marriage engagement, left her family and moved in with 28-year-old Alton Coleman. At the time, Coleman was facing trial on sexual assault charges of a 14-year-old girl. Fearing that he would likely go to prison, he and Brown decided to take their chances and hit the road. Blended Into Local Communities Coleman was a good con man and a smooth talker. Rather than target victims outside of their race, where their chances of being noticed were greater, Coleman and Brown stayed close to predominately African-American neighborhoods. There, they found it easier to befriend strangers, then assault and sometimes rape and murder their victims, including children and the elderly. Vernita Wheat was the 9-year-old daughter of Juanita Wheat from Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the first known victim of Coleman and Brown. On May 29,  1984, Coleman abducted Juanita in Kenosha and took her 20 miles away to  Waukegan, Illinois. Her body was discovered three weeks later in an abandoned building located close to where Coleman was living with his elderly grandmother. Juanita had been raped and strangled to death. After conning their way through Illinois, they headed to Gary, Indiana, where on June 17, 1984, they approached 9-year-old Annie Turks and her 7-year-old niece  Tamika Turks. The girls were headed home after visiting a candy store. Coleman asked the girls if they wanted free clothing, to which they answered yes. He told them to follow Brown, who led them to a secluded, wooded area. The couple removed the younger childs shirt and Brown ripped it into strips and used it to tie up the girls. When Tamika began to cry, Brown held the childs mouth and nose. Coleman stomped on her stomach and chest, then threw her lifeless body into a weeded area. Next, both Coleman and Brown sexually assaulted Annie, threatening to kill her if she did not do as they instructed. Afterward, they choked Annie until she lost consciousness. When she awoke, she discovered her attackers were gone. She managed to walk back to a road, where she found help. Tamikas body was recovered the following day. She had not survived the attack. As the authorities were uncovering Tamikas body, Coleman and Brown struck again. Donna Williams, 25, of Gary, Indiana, was reported as missing. Almost a month later, on July 11, Williams decomposing body was found in Detroit, along with her car parked a half a mile away. She had been raped and the cause of death was ligature strangulation. The couples next known stop was  on June 28, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, where they walked into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Palmer Jones. Mr. Palmer was handcuffed and severely beaten and Mrs. Palmer was also attacked. The couple was fortunate to survive. After robbing them, Coleman and Brown took off in the Palmers car. The couples next attack happened after their arrival in Toledo, Ohio on the holiday weekend of July 5. Coleman managed to worm his way into the home of Virginia Temple, who was the mother of a household of small children. Her oldest was her 9-year-old daughter Rachelle. The police were called to Virginias home to do a welfare check after her relatives became concerned after they did not see her and she did not answer her phone calls. Inside the home, the police found Virginia and Rachelles bodies, who had both been strangled to death. The other younger children were unharmed but frightened from being left alone. It was also determined that a bracelet was missing. Following the Temple murders, Coleman and Brown did another home invasion  in Toledo, Ohio.  Frank and Dorothy Duvendack were tied up and robbed of their money, watches, and their car. Unlike others, the couple was fortunately left alive. On July 12, after being dropped off in Cincinnati by the  Reverend and Mrs. Millard Gay of Dayton, Ohio, Coleman and Brown raped and murdered Tonnie Storey of  Over-the-Rhine (a working-class neighborhood of Cincinnati). Storeys body was discovered eight days later. Underneath it was the bracelet that was missing from the Temple home. Storey had been raped and strangled to death. FBI Ten Most Wanted On July 12, 1984, Alton Coleman was added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted list as a special addition. A major national manhunt was launched to capture Coleman and Brown. More Attacks Being on the most wanted FBI list did not seem  to slow down the couples murder spree.  On July 13, Coleman and Brown went from Dayton to Norwood, Ohio on a bicycle. Not long after arriving, they managed to get inside the home of Harry and Marlene Walters on the ruse that they were interested in buying a trailer that Harry Walters was selling. Once inside the home, Coleman struck Harry Walters over the head with a candlestick, rendering him unconscious. The couple then viscously raped and beat Marlene Walters to death. It was later determined that Marlene Walters had been beaten on the head at least 25 times and Vise-Grips had been used to lacerate her face and scalp. After the attack, the couple robbed the home of money and jewelry  and stole the family car. Kidnapping in Kentucky The couple then fled to Kentucky in the Walters car and kidnapped a Williamsburg college professor, Oline Carmical, Jr. They placed him in the trunk of the car and drove to Dayton. There, they left the stolen car with Carmical  inside the trunk. He was later rescued. Next, the couple returned to the home of  Reverend and Mrs. Millard Gay. They threatened the couple with guns, but left them unharmed. Coleman and Brown stole their car and headed back close to where they started their killing spree in Evanston, Illinois. Before their arrival, they carjacked and murdered  75-year-old Eugene Scott in Indianapolis. Capture On July 20, Coleman and Brown were arrested without incident in Evanston. A  multi-state coalition of police formed to strategize on how to best prosecute the couple. Wanting the pair to face the death penalty, authorities selected Ohio as the first state to begin prosecuting them both. No Remorse In Ohio, Coleman and Brown were sentenced to death in each case of the aggravated murders of Marlene Walters and Tonnie Storey. During the sentencing phase of the trial, Brown sent the judge a note which read, in part, I killed the bitch and I dont give a damn. I had fun out of it. In separate trials in Indiana, both were found guilty of murder, rape, and attempted murder. Both received the death penalty. Coleman also received 100 additional years and Brown received an additional 40 years on charges of kidnapping and child molesting. Alton Coleman was executed on April 26, 2002, by lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio. Browns death sentence in Ohio was later commuted to life because of her low IQ scores, her non-violent history prior to meeting Coleman, and her dependent personality that made her susceptible to Colemans control. Currently in the Ohio Reformatory for Women, Brown still faces the death penalty in Indiana.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Political science Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political science - Term Paper Example Already, the resources of this earth are dwindling and climate change is a reality that is descending upon us. However, I would like to expand the author’s statement of risks and say that the problem is not only environmental – it is also about poverty and exploitation. The whole range of social problems should be addressed as well, to ensure that globalization can lead to truly humane outcomes. I would like to focus on the assumption in the second essay stating that and I quote, â€Å"the most beneficial aspect of a globalized world economy is the reluctance to wage war among participating nations†. On the contrary, there is still the likelihood and potentiality for war, as in cases wherein a state wants to obtain the resources of another because it is beneficial to its economy: for example, waging war against Iraq for oil. Also, even assuming that world wars are prevented, civil wars and domestic insurgencies still present a threat. Because globalization worsens poverty in developing regions and poverty breeds insurgency and unrest, violence is still not abated. Indeed, it might be more invisible – but nevertheless real – forms of violence. I disagree with the third essay and the logic it advances that globalization is a medium and facilitator of global warming, terrorism, and the like, and because it is so, it is the infrastructure with which solutions and strategies to combat this can be implemented. This paints a picture of globalization as a field of equal players, were asymmetries in relationships are unheard of. In truth, globalization is about powerful players and weak players, where powerful players extract concessions from the weak players, to the detriment of the latter. Moreover, it is interesting that the author compared the US and Germany – both wealthy countries. Comparative advantage should be studied against the template of a rich country-poor country

Friday, October 18, 2019

Freedom of press Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Freedom of press - Assignment Example However, internet journalism suffers from a lack of structure that often results in ethical breaches and creation of content that is not informative or reliable. While the potential for internet as a tool for mass information is great; its biggest advantage is also its greatest weakness. With so many players in the information sector and a emphasis on being the first one to break a news; there is no check on the quality of the material is produced and distributed, no benchmarks in place and no enforcement of journalistic standards. â€Å"It is clear that digital journalism can allow for greater commitment to editorial standards. From better linking to primary sources of information, to greater commitment to transparency, there has never been an age more able to incorporate open, high-quality journalism† (Riordan). The problem is that online with so much free content available, websites are in a desperate race to get the most viewers and increase ad revenues. There is a significant occurrence of â€Å"Click-bait† in internet media outlets, where readers are enticed by sensational, often exaggerated headlines into going to a website link for a news article which may be unrelated to the exact heading. The practice is done to increase the number of users for a certain website and it compromises the integrity of the news. The worse scenarios are in which the news itself is falsified to create reader interest, one innocent example of this phenomena are related to the launch of the iphone 6 which was soon accompanied by news stories about the phone bending under slight pressure or people falling to pranks about charging the phone. These news stories were debunked within a few days but created a significant interest among fans and critics of the phone alike. More seriously, in the Gaza-Isreal conflict a lot of the news that was passed around on social media was

Human Trafficking in Thailand Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Human Trafficking in Thailand - Research Paper Example This essay explores several cases in which human trafficking takes place. Some of the cases are whereby people are convinced into going to other countries with the promise of getting better jobs and comfortable lives. Mostly, it always turns out to be untrue. This context discusses hundreds of workers from Thailand being promised high wages by the California based company named Global Horizons Inc and instead of paying them little to nothing while treating them like scum, taking their passports on arrival and threatening deportation. Human trafficking is one of the most dangerous forms of discrimination. Thailand experiences major challenges as a source, passage and destination country on human trafficking mainly women and children. The tendency of trafficking for enforced labor is rising in level in the agricultural, construction and fishing organizations. Human trafficking is a modern correspondent of slavery. Opposing their will, thousands of people around the globe are enforced t o work for the benefit of other people. For instance, by becoming beggars, prostitutes, working in sweatshops, unintentional servitude or even turning into child soldiers. People that are trafficked are usually enslaved or in circumstances of debt oppression that are deceitful and oppressive. Traffickers will carry away or mistreat the fundamental human rights of their victims, who most possibly have been tricked and enticed by fake promises or physically enforced into their circumstances. Trafficking is a regular practice to convince people to leave their homes and move to neighboring countries that are wealthier where they can work in services like domestic services, adult care or waiter and waitresses in restaurants. Upon advent, their passports, visa, and return permits are taken away from them, efficiently; these people are imprisoned, either bodily or financially or psychologically. The trafficked people are made to labor as household slaves or as agricultural or industrial un it workers, in slave-like circumstances.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Chase Management and Leadership Paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chase Management and Leadership - Term Paper Example me time, JPMorgan must determine the best method to satisfy foreign customers with vastly different needs and lifestyle values in an ever-changing and adaptable work environment. This requires dedication to setting up a healthier organizational culture built on teamwork and trust as primary principles for the business. This paper describes the role of manager versus leader at JPMorgan Chase, the process of maintaining a healthy organizational culture, and offers strategies on how to support a vigorous and dedicated team of professionals. The roles of traditional manager and that of an internal leader are significantly different in today’s fast-paced, international business environments. The role of manager is that of planning new operational activities and delegation of employee responsibilities, including assessment of financial data through management accounting. In the role of manager at JPMorgan Chase, this would include reviewing strategic plans, developing risk management policies, and considering the scope of major capital investments (Epstein & Roy, 2010). This role is primarily operational and strategic in nature, assessing long-term strategies and then aligning internal staff to meet these mandated goals. The role of manager in this financial institution is also setting a series of control practices, such as new employee policies, to ensure that all members of the organizational staff are performing their job roles effectively and considering proper allocation of organizational resources both budget ary and human resources-related. Management is a process-minded and procedural role with considerable employee oversight. In an organization like JPMorgan Chase, it involves a transactional focus, which is offering contingent reward to high performers based on their individual or group performance for meeting corporate goals (Judge & Piccolo, 2004). In this role, at a company like JPMorgan, these activities include monitoring changes in financial

EasyJet Airline exam note Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EasyJet Airline exam note - Essay Example A PEST analysis of the organisation is carried out to establish the macro-environmental impact on the firm. EasyJet operates in more than 30 countries that have do not have trade restrictions. This increases revenue since the firm can cover more areas. Due to the global terror threat, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, and Spain among other countries have put restrictions to ensure passenger safety. This has reduced travels to some extent. Governments have also put baggage restrictions for airlines along with passengers (Taneja, 2012, p.56; easyJet, 2013). The firm complies with various tax policies in its areas of operation. Most of the tax regulations are favourable to the firm, thus impacting positively on the flight operations. For example, the corporate tax policy in Europe is business-friendly. This has also enabled the process of optimisation in service delivery to meet the customer needs and requirements regardless of existing precedents and territories on implementing the system (Jones, 2012, p.34). The reduction of fuel costs have made the firm increase its revenue due to reduced operational costs, thus reducing the cost of capital for the firm (easy Jet, 2014). The reduction in fuel costs has also increased competition in the aviation industry as various airlines have reduced the ticket prices, thus making more customers use service and also leading to price wars (Katie, 2013, p.123). Besides, globalisation is projected to boost air traffic in the long run. More people are projected to travel due to increased interconnection among people across the globe. In the same way, as Europe becomes integrated; the introduction of the single currency is expected to bring more business to easyJet (easyJet, 2014). The Euro is used in over 19 nations among the member states of the European Union. The financial reports evidence that the firm is improving economically. At the moment, pound is against the

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Chase Management and Leadership Paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chase Management and Leadership - Term Paper Example me time, JPMorgan must determine the best method to satisfy foreign customers with vastly different needs and lifestyle values in an ever-changing and adaptable work environment. This requires dedication to setting up a healthier organizational culture built on teamwork and trust as primary principles for the business. This paper describes the role of manager versus leader at JPMorgan Chase, the process of maintaining a healthy organizational culture, and offers strategies on how to support a vigorous and dedicated team of professionals. The roles of traditional manager and that of an internal leader are significantly different in today’s fast-paced, international business environments. The role of manager is that of planning new operational activities and delegation of employee responsibilities, including assessment of financial data through management accounting. In the role of manager at JPMorgan Chase, this would include reviewing strategic plans, developing risk management policies, and considering the scope of major capital investments (Epstein & Roy, 2010). This role is primarily operational and strategic in nature, assessing long-term strategies and then aligning internal staff to meet these mandated goals. The role of manager in this financial institution is also setting a series of control practices, such as new employee policies, to ensure that all members of the organizational staff are performing their job roles effectively and considering proper allocation of organizational resources both budget ary and human resources-related. Management is a process-minded and procedural role with considerable employee oversight. In an organization like JPMorgan Chase, it involves a transactional focus, which is offering contingent reward to high performers based on their individual or group performance for meeting corporate goals (Judge & Piccolo, 2004). In this role, at a company like JPMorgan, these activities include monitoring changes in financial

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Marketing Planning for Vodafone Group Plc Case Study

Marketing Planning for Vodafone Group Plc - Case Study Example Vodafone has diversified dynamic state of art customer relationship center. To launch and promote any business activities within a shape of organisation, a marketing plan is needed to integrate with ecommerce. Without marketing plan it is difficult to penetrate in the market. This paper has taken Vodafone as a significant and it needs a detailed marketing plan for the expansion of its business activities. According to Kotler, P, and Armstrong, G. (1999), segmentation is a process of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics, or behavior who might require separate products or marketing mix and the process of evaluating each marketing segments attractive and selecting one or more segments to enter. Market positioning is the process of formulating competitive positioning for a product and a detailed marketing mix. Marketing mix are product, price, place, promotion. Depending on these elements the entire marketing plan is established. Marketing audit is a study to analysis the external and internal factors. According to Taylor .S (2007) CRM stands for customer relationship management and helps the management and customer service staffs cope with customer concerns and issues. B2B refers to business to business with fully ecommerce supported.2 Part-1: Market Audit Many variables can affect Vodafone's current strategy or future strategy. These have direct and indirect impact. These are: External forces (Organisation has no control over these factors) Internal forces (Organisation has direct control over these factors) PEST analysis is the investigation of the external macro-environment that has an effect on all firms. P.E.S.T. is a contraction stand for the Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors of that external macro-environment. It is a useful strategic tool to considerate business position, market growth or turn down, potential and course of operations. A lot of macro-environmental factors are area explicit and a PEST analysis may need to be carrying out for all countries of concern. Political: The external factors can be analysed with PEST analysis. PEST means Political, Economical, Social and technological environment. Political factors have a direct impact over the business. 3Any political condition changes the business environment, increase or decreases the risk. Suppose if Government wants to hike up the oil price for political turmoil, it has adverse impact on the business. Recently UK has signed up the in the single European currency. This must have direct impact on

Monday, October 14, 2019

Indentured servitude Essay Example for Free

Indentured servitude Essay Indentured servitude was considered a fine replacement for slavery, rising as slavery fell out of favor in many of the European countries. However, despite the rules that were out in place, they were often changed and didnt follow the what could be considered the lowest form of humanity. Indentured servitude was used instead of slavery, but in the end, it was almost the same affliction. David Northups Doc 4 compares directly with Doc 3, 6, and 9. They show almost just the sheer amount of indentured servants that were shipped for the purpose of hard labor. All three documents are purely data and can be considered un-bias, trustworthy sources. In Doc 3 it is hugely visible that a massive amount of servants are sent to the Caribbean such as Trinidad and plantations in Suriname from India, a British colony. Doc 4 backs up this information as well as provide a huge number of455,000 people bent sent from India to the Spice Islands, Mauritius. Doc 6 shows that many of these indentured servants were previous slaves, or Asian Indians, whom the British considered below their station. Doc 9 also shows this huge number of indentured servants in Mauritius, showing that 71% of the population was Asian Indian, as well as the population of Trinidad being 33% Asian Indian. This information may not seem prevalent, but when compared to the stark contrast of Doc 7 and Doc 8. Doc 7 is an official document from the British Guiana Indenture Agreement from 1895. The document itself is a sign-up sheet that the servant would sign to agree to conditions that he trusted were to be followed until the end of his term, which lasted 5 years. This agreement states that work is every day except Sundays and Holidays and work will be 7 hours in the field or 10 in the buildings. However in Doc 8 an indentured servant complains about the conditions of his work. He works from 5:30 to 8:30, which is 15 hours total, and must work on Sundays till 2:00, which is 8 hours and 30 minutes. This amount of work is double the promised 7 hours, and even more than the normal hours on a day in which they werent to work at all. This was a gross abuse of rights and scholars even knew it, but people still didnt see them as people but workers. Doc 1 and 2 shows this. At first it was drafted just as the necessity of importation of foreign labor, but grew into a huge problem. The natives couldnt keep up with the work and more and more immigrants were needed to keep up a study supply of sugar. However, it wasnt as what one could call, nice, as it sounded. They were machines.  Indentured servant were not voluntary immigrants, but they werent slaves. They were raised, with pain, much like recruits for military service. Indentured servitude was indeed not a slavery of people, but it was the outcome of slavery and led to something very similar. People were worked to the bone and foreigners were pulled in to tiny islands just to maintain a steady flow of sugar and other rich resources. I believe Doc 5 was completely unnecessary and would have preferred another document with another account of mistreatment, or a change of time graph of indentured servants, or a change over time graph of slaves to indentured servants.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Leadership Skills Theory at HSBC Life Assurance Malta

Leadership Skills Theory at HSBC Life Assurance Malta Chapter 1 Introduction Leadership skills are the focus of this study and therefore the author will be, in this chapter introduce leadership and the concept of the leader versus the manager as a primary source. In this section the author will define the meaning of leadership enabling one to understand better the next stages of this study. Furthermore one can find the objective of this study and the organisation studied. The structure section will define the construction of the complimenting chapters. 1.1 Objective The scope of this organisational case study is to compare and contrast the leadership skills theory and the selected organisations leadership and provided the concept of leadership versus management in order to understand better leadership skills which are defined later on in this study. Leadership skills will be reviewed by means of secondary research. Subsequently the leadership skills within the organisation will be studied by means of a primary research methodology. This will enable the author to reach the main objective which aim is to highlight the theory of leadership skills and present findings of the selected organisations current leadership practices. One will eventually benefit from the authors recommendations and conclusions based on the out come of the data analysis. 1.2 The Organisation The selected organisation for this study was HSBC Life Assurance Malta Limited. HSBC Life Assurance Malta Limited was set up in 1995 and is a fully owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank Malta Plc, regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority. Over the years, HSBC Life has developed into one of the leading life assurance product providers on the island with its full and diversified product range, including group and individual term assurance products, mortgage protection policies, etc. This study research thus moves towards assessing all the concepts of leadership styles, skills, coaching, team building. The organisation is in the direction of the Managing Director. 1.3 Structure The structure of this study will be based on 5 chapters. The introduction, chapter 1, has highlighted leadership and the concept of leadership versus management, the objective and the organisation under investigation. Chapter 2 will follow with a literature review of leadership skills from previous studies whilst chapter 3 will cover the research methodology. Chapter 4 will present the findings and finally chapter 5 will cover the authors views and recommendations. Chapter 2 2.0 Leadership Leadership can be defined as: The ability to persuade others willingly to behave differently. The function of team leaders is to achieve the task set for them with the help of the group (Michael Armstrong 2003: 259). Another definition of leadership is: The task of a great leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision. Those leaders who do not are ultimately judged failures, even though they may be popular at the moment (Henry Kissinger). Clawson (2006) explains that leadership consists of three components: the ability to influence others; the willingness to influence others; and the exercise of influence in a way that others respond voluntarily. Thus, while leadership included the use of power, not all uses of power are leadership. The highlight of leadership within an organisation is an emphasis on the importance of a strong human relation and the importance of creating rewarding high-performance teams of motivated and empowered employees. Human understanding and sensitivity are absolutely critical for leadership success. Leadership also consists of identifying proven talent within an organisation and optimising on this talented human resource by developing, retaining and partnering smartly together. Leadership has been perceived to be a primary key to successful strategy implementation. One of the key factors in implementing a strategy is building consensus. A consensus built by motivating, persuading people and by shaping culture and values within an organisation to support the new strategy (Ashby and Miles, 2002). Taking IBM as an example CEO Sam Palmisano has embarked on a leadership mission to get people within the organisation to focus on strategy formulation and implementation. He embarked on a mission to persuade people to focus on the on-demand vision and communicating clear directions. With this positive attitude and employee empowerment he made employees feel motivated and challenged to follow new strategic goals. In this changing world of globalisation, organisations are constantly facing changes within their set ups and therefore leadership plays an important role. Three important aspects of leadership would be people, influence and goals. In order to influence, the relationship between the leader and the follower must not be passive but assertive (Draft, 2006). Within an organisation, leadership directly impacts the effectiveness of costs, revenue generation, service, satisfaction, earnings, market value, share price, social capital, motivation, engagement, and sustainability. In this view one can identify the importance of vision within leadership. In order to move a group successfully towards its goal the leader must communicate the vision or visions with his or her followers. For effectiveness, a vision should appear to be simple, appear desirable enough to energise followers and should describe the organisations future position, which must be credible and preferable to the present state. The leader must communicate these visions adequately to ensure the followers feel as if the vision has been created by themselves (Renesch, 1994). Nonetheless one would need to understand that although leadership focuses on people, influence and goals it cannot be easily defined in such a generic context. However according to Scott (2007) a leader needs to understand that the follower may value a leader differently. Some may prefer a task oriented leader where others may prefer a people oriented leader. In this view the leader must identify the followers needs and how they construe effective leadership. One can see that self awareness is the foundation of effective leadership and one ought to communicate the vision and help the followers fit into that vision. Effective leaders need to change their approach according to the situation, as with one follower, a leader may need to be directive while with others, a leader may need to coach. 2.1 The History of Leadership Leadership, and the study of it, has roots in the beginning of civilisation. Egyptian rulers, Greek heroes and biblical patriarchs all have one thing in common leadership. There are numerous definitions and theories of leadership; however, there are enough similarities in the definitions to conclude that leadership is an effort of influence and the power to induce compliance (Wren, 1995). Our work, our environment, the motivation to work, leaders, leadership, leadership style, and a countless of other work-related variables have been studied for almost two centuries. The organisational focus of the leader has evolved over this same period. Early organisations with authoritarian leaders who believed employees were basically lazy transitioned into way to make work environments more conducive to increased productivity rates. Today, organisations are transforming into places where people are empowered, encouraged, and supported in their personal and professional growth throughout their careers. As the focus of leaders has changed over time, it has influenced and shaped the development and progression of leadership theory. 2.1.2 Early Leader Studies The Industrial Revolution shifted Americas economy from an agriculture base to an industrial one and, thereby, ushered in a change how leaders would treat their followers. The Industrial Revolution created a paradigm shift to a new theory of leadership in which common people gained power by virtue of their skills (Clawson, 1999). New technology, however, was accompanied and reinforced by mechanisation of human thought and action, thus creating hierarchical bureaucracies (Morgan, 1997). One major contributor to this era of management and leadership theory was Max Weber, a German sociologist who observed the parallels between the mechanisation of industry and the proliferation of bureaucratic forms of organisation (Morgan, 1997, p. 17). He noted that the bureaucratic form routinized the process of administration in the same manner that the machine routinized production. 2.1.3 Classical Management Theory and Scientific Management Webers concerns about bureaucracy, however, did not affect theorists who set the stage for what is now known as classical management theory and scientific management. Classical theorists focused on the design of the total organisation while scientific managers focused on the systematic management of individual jobs. In contrast to Weber, classical theorists such as Henri Fayol and F. W. Mooney, staunch advocates of bureaucratisation, devoted their energies identifying methods through which this kind of organisational structure could be achieved (Bass, 1990; Morgan, 1997). Collectively, these theorists set the basis for many modern management techniques, such as management by objectives. Scientific management, an approach heralded by Frederick Taylor, was technological in nature (Hersey, Blanchard Johnson, 1996). Taylor fused the perspective of an engineer into management with a strong emphasis on control, ruthless efficiency, quantification, predictability, and de-skilled jobs. He initiated time-and-motion studies to analyse work tasks to improve worker productivity in an attempt to achieve the highest level of efficiency possible. Consequently, he has been accused of viewing people as instruments or machines to be manipulated by leaders. The function of the leader under scientific management theory was to establish and enforce performance criteria to meet organisational goals; therefore, the focus of a leader was on the needs of the organisation and not on the individual worker. Although the classical and scientific approaches were different, the goals were similar organisations are rational systems and must operate in the most efficient manner possible to achieve the highest level of productivity (Morgan, 1997). Both theories relied on the machine metaphor with a heavy emphasis on mechanisation of jobs, which undermined the human aspect of the organisation and failed to recognise organisations as complex organisms. Although mechanistic organisations proved productive, there were limits to hierarchical bureaucracy. Emerging theorists encouraged leaders to recognise that humans were not machines and could not be treated as such. A post bureaucratic shift in the mid-1940s moved toward everyone taking responsibility for the organisations success or failure (Heckscher Donnellon, 1994). Researchers began to examine the relationship between leader behaviour and follower satisfaction level and organisational productivity and profitability. 2.1.4 Hawthorne, Maslow, and Herzberg Environment and Worker Needs Much organisational research during this era focused on overcoming the perceived shortcomings of the classical and scientific schools of management. Elton Mayos Hawthorne Studies focused on the work situation and its effect on leaders and followers, indicating that the reactions of human beings influence their work activities as much as the formal design and structure of the organisation. Early on leaders could focus their attention on the environment factors of the organisations. The early theories and studies provided researchers with tangible and measurable performance outcomes that were directly transferable to profitability and spreadsheet bottom-lines. A new theory of organisations and leadership began to emerge based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied. Maslows (1959) Hierarchy of Needs posited that once a workers physiological, security, and social (intrinsic) needs were met, productivity would only be possible of the employees ego and self-actualising (extrinsic) needs were also met. Leader focus became redirected toward worker needs. Herzbergs Dual Factor Theory, the evolution of intrinsic and extrinsic needs, furthered Maslows work stating the employees intrinsic and extrinsic needs could, and should, be met simultaneously. Herzbergs (1966) Motivation-Hygiene theory furthered the work of Maslow by providing insights into the goals and incentives that tend to satisfy a workers needs. Herzberg concluded that people have two categories of needs, which he termed hygiene (environmental factors such as working conditions, company policies, etc.) and motivators (factors involving the job itself). According to Herzberg, an employees intrinsic and extrinsic needs could and should be addressed simultaneously. 2.1.5 The Shift to Behavioural Factors Leader focus had moved to understanding the relationship between a leaders actions and the followers satisfaction and productivity. Theorists began to consider behavioural concepts in their analysis of organisational leadership. For example, Chester Barnard was instrumental in including behavioural components (Bass, 1990). Barnards work emphasised the ways in which executives might develop their organisations into cooperative social systems by focusing on the integration of work efforts through communication of goals and attention to worker motivation (Hatch, 1997). Barnard, for example, identified an effective organisational leader as one who determined objectives, manipulated means, initiated action, and stimulated coordinated effort (Bass, 1990, p. 31). Barnard (1938), whose work focused on the functions of the executive, was instrumental in including behavioural components in his analysis of organisational leadership, which claimed that leadership involves accomplishing goals wit h and through people. The theorists of this age argued that in addition to finding the best technological methods to improve output, it would behove management to address human affairs as well. It was claimed that the real power centres within an organisation were the interpersonal relationships that developed among working groups (Hersey, Blanchard Johnson, 1996, p.100). A new theory of organisations and leadership began to emerge based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied. Additionally, when this happens they are more likely to increase their productivity which in turn impacts the organisations bottom line. According to McGregor (1960), the traditional organisation with its centralised decision making, hierarchical pyramid, and external control of work is based on certain assumptions about human nature and human motivation. He dubbed these assumptions Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X assumes that most people prefer to be directed, are not interested in assuming responsibility, and want safety above all else. Accompanying the Theory X philosophy is the belief that people are motivated by money, fringe benefits, and threat of punishment. Managers who espouse Theory X assumptions attempt to structure, control, and closely supervise employees. Although McGregor himself questioned whether Theory X was as accurate view of human nature, the assumptions persisted for a long time in leadership theory circles because it explained à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"some, though not all, of human behaviour within organisations (Pugh Hickson, 1993). Drawing heavily from Maslows (1959) Hierarchy of Needs, McGregor ultimately concluded that Theory X assumptions about human nature, when universally applied, are often inaccurate and that management approaches that develop from these assumptions may fail to motivate individuals to strive toward organisational goals (Hersey, Blanchard, Johnson, 1996). McGregor (1960) believed that management needed practices based on a more accurate understanding of human nature and motivation. The resulting concept, Theory Y, proposed that individuals are not, by nature, lazy and unreliable. People can be self-directed and creative at work if properly motivated (Pugh Hickson, 1993). Therefore, an essential task of management is to unleash this potential. Consequently, the goal of effective leadership was evolving and moving away from the earlier concepts of the classical and scientific management theories that treated workers as machines. Leaders were now challenged to actively involve followers in achieving organisational goals. McGregor (1960), whose work was closely linked to that of the behavioural theorists, is a reflection of that era, providing a foundation for the future emergence of the transformational leadership. McGregors Theory X and Theory Y assumed that employees and leaders had progressed beyond Taylors productivity models that employees could find ways to satisfy their needs within the organisations structure. McGregor assumed employees far more complex that the trait and behavioural theories of leadership assumed and that their complexity and the leaders response to that complexity would affect how and whether the leader and followers worked in tandem to reach mutual organisational goals. McGregor proposed a replacement of direction and control of employees with humanistic motivation. The resulting concept, Theory Y, proposed that individuals did not inherently dislike work and, and that under certain conditions, work could actually be a source of great satisfaction. Theory Y assumed individuals would exercise self-direction and self-control, accepting and seeking responsibility (Pugh Hickson, 1993). The essential concept McGregor and other behaviourists proposed was that organisations are interacting groups and that leaders are a part of these groups. The leaders interaction and relationship with the employee must be a supportive relationship so all members of the organisation feel the organisations objectives and their achievement, are of personal importance to them (Pugh Hickson, 1993). 2.1.6 Situational/Contingency Theory The Circumstantial Focus Unprecedented social change in the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s shifted societal focus from increasing economic wealth to ensuring social rights and equality. Along with this social change, technology was again preparing to jolt American businesses. The advent of the computer age was shifting employee requirements from brawn to brains. Leadership became an intricate process of multilateral brokerage where leaders were forced to focus on constituencies within and without the organisation to survive (Vanourek, 1995). The internal and external environments of organisations were changing. The transference of power from those doing the work to those possessing knowledge about how to organise work more closely levelled the playing field for leaders and followers. Society acknowledged that traditional methods of leadership were no longer effective. McCollum (1995) implied that companies in the information age were unsuccessfully trying to conduct their business using obsolete industrial age leadership theories. Change was the only thing of which everyone could be sure, a factor requiring leadership research and society to consider contingency/situational approaches to leadership if businesses were to remain successful and profitable in an ever-changing and increasingly complicated environment (Contee-Borders, 2003). Heysey and Blanchard (1996) proposed a contingency/situational theory advocating a leaders use of differing leadership behaviours dependent upon two interrelated maturity factors: (a) job maturity relevant task and technical knowledge and skills, and (b) psychological maturity the subordinates level of self-confidence and self-respect (Yukl, 1998). An employee who has a high level of job and psychological maturity requires little supervision; while an employee who has a low level of job and psychological maturity requires hand-on attention. Fielders contingency theory is viewed as the opposite of Hersey and Blanchards theory, maintaining that leaders are less flexible in their ability to change their behaviour based on followers maturity (the basic concept of Hersey and Blanchards theory) (Hughes, Ginnett, Curphy, 1993). Fielders contingency theory posited that leader effectiveness is determined by not the leaders ability to adapt to the situation, but by the ability to choose the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"right leader for the situation (though this theory does not identify who would be responsible for making this choice). Some leaders are simply better for specific situation than others and the situation determines the identified leaders success, though leaders would need to be capable of understanding when they were not right for the situation and remove themselves a task of humility. 2.2 Leadership Styles From a very classical autocratic approach to a very creative, participative approach, different styles were needed for different situations and each leader needed to know when to exhibit a particular approach. The most familiar model is the leadership scale devised by Tannenbaum and Schmidt. In this model, the leader is advised to choose a leadership style that it appropriate for the particular situation. These styles or behaviours, can be placed along continuum ranging from boss-centred at one-end of the scale to subordinate-centred at the other end, as illustrated in Figure 1.1 Inevitably, the opposite poles of this continuum have been labelled Authoritarian (or task-centred), and Democratic (or people-centred) and the inference has been drawn that a concern forgetting the job done is at the opposite end of the scale of the people involved. Tannenbaum and Schmidts article is not as shallow as that, but, like it or not, the impression is left that the two concerns are somehow incompatible. Other commentators advised that authoritarian leadership styles would be most effective in situations that were favourable to the leader and democratic styles would better suit situations that were unfavourable to the leader. Favourable in this context means that the leader has high formal authority, relations between the leader and the staff are good, and the task is highly structured. This further reinforces the assumption that democratic styles are for the leaders to fall back on when things are not going entirely their way; they would not want to be democratic if it could be avoided. The Democratic styles should be the preferred option, falling back on authoritarian styles only when circumstances require it. For example, when the fire alarm sounds tell everyone to leave the building; do not hold a decision about the best course of action. Or, when something bad can not be avoided, accept your responsibility as a manager and give instructions clearly and assertively. Otherwise, the benefits of the bringing several brains to bear on an issue, and the commitment that democratic approaches tend to foster, usually outweigh the inevitable untidiness of getting everyone involved in decision-making . Interestingly, research into animal social groups has found that decisions arrived at communally or democratically are usually more beneficial for the group and its individual members than despotic decision-making, and tend to be less extreme. Whether lessons drawn from the observation of animal behaviour can usefully be applied directly to human groups depends on how much corroborating evidence there is. 2.3 Leadership versus Management Creech (1995) defines the manager versus the leader. She explains how a manager is typically well-educated and would generally possess very high conceptual skills. Managers are mostly focused on the latest management literature. Furthermore managers are very aware of the system, rules and procedures both documented and undocumented. They tend to be very productive oriented rather than people oriented persons and this style proves that they are usually inaccessible or have very little time to listed to the people they manage. This also results form their heavy busy schedules. In addition managers face highly intensive stresses and become very intolerant of any mistakes. They rarely motivate their people to take significant risks to improve operationally or personally and in moments of crisis they can easily consider to re-establish who is in charge, believing that they will achieve the expected performances and organisational goals. Nonetheless, they are very conscious of what others think about them and expect to be liked, despite being aware that this is rather impossible, due to the conflicting roles between management and workers. Furthermore managers ask subordinates for participative input, but rarely encourage real dissent with their own views (Creech, 1995). In contrast, leaders are very people oriented and although they are conscious of what people think of them they are generally less concerned. However, leaders feel themselves as helpers to the organisation as opposed being in command. They are inventive and imaginative movers and participate in achievement of goals. Arguably, leaders have a more positive style to achieving goals and during time of financial or operational turbulences they focus on asking team members for help in strategies and innovation in order to regain competitive advantage. Opposed to this, managers would consider downsizing and cost cutting (Creech, 1995). One can that this is visionary and leaders do communicate widely with simple clear cut visions and goals. They intend to simplify communication to ensure the message gets through without ridiculing anyone in the event of misunderstandings. Additionally they are tolerant of mistakes during the process of development and goal achievement and they are fond of acknowledging their mistakes and do not fear to take whatever measures are required to rectify them (Creech, 1995). Bennis and Goldsmith (1997) define the difference between manager and leader using the following paired contrasts: The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager maintains; the leader develops. The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it. The manager focuses on systems and structures; the leader focuses on people. The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon. The manager imitates; the leader originates. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. The manager is the classis good soldier; the leader is his or her own person (Bennis and Goldsmith, 1997, p.9). Chapter 3 Literature Review For the purpose of this literature review it has been classified as follows: Human Relation Skills including follower leader relation, and conflict management and counselling as intrapersonal skills. Intrapersonal Skills includes self confidence, stress management, and time management whilst Organisational Skills include leadership styles and motivation and finally Creativity Skills. Human Relation Skills and Intrapersonal Skills follow the same paths and are the abilities how one interacts with others. However Intrapersonal Skills is ones own personal development whilst Organisational Skills is the skill to have a conceptual focus. Finally, Creativity Skills are the having of new ideas. The author introduced these skills in the above sequence as she believes that without having human relation skills one cannot help ones personal development and cannot encourage motivation or creativity. Needless to say, that without motivation one would find difficulties creating new ideas. 3.1 Human Relations and Intrapersonal Skills 3.1.2 Follower Leader Relation In order for a leader to achieve effectiveness through human relations, Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt (2001) shared four important insights and beliefs about the nature of their relationships with their followers: Firstly, they explain how positively effective it is, to gradually and gently direct the follower towards the established goals rather than throwing them into heavy burdens to accomplish corporate purposes. When a mutual agreement of mutual interest is established leaders would smartly lay down the red carpet to the follower and will satisfy the goals of both parties. Rigid commands from the hierarchy within an organisation normally lead to unsatisfactory results and frustration (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001) Secondly, it is in the leaders interest to strongly understand their followers, by recognising their needs, what motivates them , their various stages of personal development, and their goals. This is seen through a flow of communication and observations. The leaders challenge in such scenario would be to reach satisfactory levels of both the follower and the organisation. During such a process of identifying the followers needs the leader must show sensitivity, ingenuity and judgement when putting together corporate and personal objectives through communication. The leader should address those areas identified to be low in self confidence and capability by the follower in order to achieve maximum results (Isaac, Zerb and Pitt, 2001) Thirdly, leaders have to establish motivating conditions not only to motivate the follower but to encourage self motivation. One of the motives encouraging the self motivation process would be organisational rewards however this makes the leaders responsibility intense, as he/she would need to determine the various intrinsic or extrinsic rewards to followers. Intrinsic motivational states are beyond leaders control however they can possibly enhance such feelings and emotions by: Spending time with the follower and enhancing, rather than undermining, self-confidence. Increasing follower knowledge, skills and abilities through exposure to various educational and training programs, as well as experiences. These activities enhance both follower capability and self-confidence. Establishing realistic, meaningful and attainable goals with the follower to both parties. Creating a climate of mutual respect. Showing appreciation when the follower meets or exceeds expectations, or addressing problematic issues regarding the followers performance by focusing upon the work rather than the individual. (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001, p.212) The fourth and final insight relates to the importance of honesty and consistent behaviour showed to the followers. Leaders can loose credibility through promises that are rather difficult to fulfil at a later stage, and will also be exposed to deducting the followers motivation. On the other hand consistency generates a clear path to the followers especially in matters such as fairness, expectations and personal cose of conduct. In addition, leader must reduce distinctions of status that might cause some followers to feel degraded and not regarded (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001). Relationship closeness, is the extent to which an employee has a sharing, open, familiar relation with management. Thus, relationship closeness is a broad concept that encompasses several specific constructs like interaction, open communication, and informal relations between employees and management(Mcknight, Ahmad and Schroederet, 2001, p.466). As one can see from the above four insights of human relations skills incorporates a strong degree of interpersonal skills and as Leadership Skills Theory at HSBC Life Assurance Malta Leadership Skills Theory at HSBC Life Assurance Malta Chapter 1 Introduction Leadership skills are the focus of this study and therefore the author will be, in this chapter introduce leadership and the concept of the leader versus the manager as a primary source. In this section the author will define the meaning of leadership enabling one to understand better the next stages of this study. Furthermore one can find the objective of this study and the organisation studied. The structure section will define the construction of the complimenting chapters. 1.1 Objective The scope of this organisational case study is to compare and contrast the leadership skills theory and the selected organisations leadership and provided the concept of leadership versus management in order to understand better leadership skills which are defined later on in this study. Leadership skills will be reviewed by means of secondary research. Subsequently the leadership skills within the organisation will be studied by means of a primary research methodology. This will enable the author to reach the main objective which aim is to highlight the theory of leadership skills and present findings of the selected organisations current leadership practices. One will eventually benefit from the authors recommendations and conclusions based on the out come of the data analysis. 1.2 The Organisation The selected organisation for this study was HSBC Life Assurance Malta Limited. HSBC Life Assurance Malta Limited was set up in 1995 and is a fully owned subsidiary of HSBC Bank Malta Plc, regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority. Over the years, HSBC Life has developed into one of the leading life assurance product providers on the island with its full and diversified product range, including group and individual term assurance products, mortgage protection policies, etc. This study research thus moves towards assessing all the concepts of leadership styles, skills, coaching, team building. The organisation is in the direction of the Managing Director. 1.3 Structure The structure of this study will be based on 5 chapters. The introduction, chapter 1, has highlighted leadership and the concept of leadership versus management, the objective and the organisation under investigation. Chapter 2 will follow with a literature review of leadership skills from previous studies whilst chapter 3 will cover the research methodology. Chapter 4 will present the findings and finally chapter 5 will cover the authors views and recommendations. Chapter 2 2.0 Leadership Leadership can be defined as: The ability to persuade others willingly to behave differently. The function of team leaders is to achieve the task set for them with the help of the group (Michael Armstrong 2003: 259). Another definition of leadership is: The task of a great leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision. Those leaders who do not are ultimately judged failures, even though they may be popular at the moment (Henry Kissinger). Clawson (2006) explains that leadership consists of three components: the ability to influence others; the willingness to influence others; and the exercise of influence in a way that others respond voluntarily. Thus, while leadership included the use of power, not all uses of power are leadership. The highlight of leadership within an organisation is an emphasis on the importance of a strong human relation and the importance of creating rewarding high-performance teams of motivated and empowered employees. Human understanding and sensitivity are absolutely critical for leadership success. Leadership also consists of identifying proven talent within an organisation and optimising on this talented human resource by developing, retaining and partnering smartly together. Leadership has been perceived to be a primary key to successful strategy implementation. One of the key factors in implementing a strategy is building consensus. A consensus built by motivating, persuading people and by shaping culture and values within an organisation to support the new strategy (Ashby and Miles, 2002). Taking IBM as an example CEO Sam Palmisano has embarked on a leadership mission to get people within the organisation to focus on strategy formulation and implementation. He embarked on a mission to persuade people to focus on the on-demand vision and communicating clear directions. With this positive attitude and employee empowerment he made employees feel motivated and challenged to follow new strategic goals. In this changing world of globalisation, organisations are constantly facing changes within their set ups and therefore leadership plays an important role. Three important aspects of leadership would be people, influence and goals. In order to influence, the relationship between the leader and the follower must not be passive but assertive (Draft, 2006). Within an organisation, leadership directly impacts the effectiveness of costs, revenue generation, service, satisfaction, earnings, market value, share price, social capital, motivation, engagement, and sustainability. In this view one can identify the importance of vision within leadership. In order to move a group successfully towards its goal the leader must communicate the vision or visions with his or her followers. For effectiveness, a vision should appear to be simple, appear desirable enough to energise followers and should describe the organisations future position, which must be credible and preferable to the present state. The leader must communicate these visions adequately to ensure the followers feel as if the vision has been created by themselves (Renesch, 1994). Nonetheless one would need to understand that although leadership focuses on people, influence and goals it cannot be easily defined in such a generic context. However according to Scott (2007) a leader needs to understand that the follower may value a leader differently. Some may prefer a task oriented leader where others may prefer a people oriented leader. In this view the leader must identify the followers needs and how they construe effective leadership. One can see that self awareness is the foundation of effective leadership and one ought to communicate the vision and help the followers fit into that vision. Effective leaders need to change their approach according to the situation, as with one follower, a leader may need to be directive while with others, a leader may need to coach. 2.1 The History of Leadership Leadership, and the study of it, has roots in the beginning of civilisation. Egyptian rulers, Greek heroes and biblical patriarchs all have one thing in common leadership. There are numerous definitions and theories of leadership; however, there are enough similarities in the definitions to conclude that leadership is an effort of influence and the power to induce compliance (Wren, 1995). Our work, our environment, the motivation to work, leaders, leadership, leadership style, and a countless of other work-related variables have been studied for almost two centuries. The organisational focus of the leader has evolved over this same period. Early organisations with authoritarian leaders who believed employees were basically lazy transitioned into way to make work environments more conducive to increased productivity rates. Today, organisations are transforming into places where people are empowered, encouraged, and supported in their personal and professional growth throughout their careers. As the focus of leaders has changed over time, it has influenced and shaped the development and progression of leadership theory. 2.1.2 Early Leader Studies The Industrial Revolution shifted Americas economy from an agriculture base to an industrial one and, thereby, ushered in a change how leaders would treat their followers. The Industrial Revolution created a paradigm shift to a new theory of leadership in which common people gained power by virtue of their skills (Clawson, 1999). New technology, however, was accompanied and reinforced by mechanisation of human thought and action, thus creating hierarchical bureaucracies (Morgan, 1997). One major contributor to this era of management and leadership theory was Max Weber, a German sociologist who observed the parallels between the mechanisation of industry and the proliferation of bureaucratic forms of organisation (Morgan, 1997, p. 17). He noted that the bureaucratic form routinized the process of administration in the same manner that the machine routinized production. 2.1.3 Classical Management Theory and Scientific Management Webers concerns about bureaucracy, however, did not affect theorists who set the stage for what is now known as classical management theory and scientific management. Classical theorists focused on the design of the total organisation while scientific managers focused on the systematic management of individual jobs. In contrast to Weber, classical theorists such as Henri Fayol and F. W. Mooney, staunch advocates of bureaucratisation, devoted their energies identifying methods through which this kind of organisational structure could be achieved (Bass, 1990; Morgan, 1997). Collectively, these theorists set the basis for many modern management techniques, such as management by objectives. Scientific management, an approach heralded by Frederick Taylor, was technological in nature (Hersey, Blanchard Johnson, 1996). Taylor fused the perspective of an engineer into management with a strong emphasis on control, ruthless efficiency, quantification, predictability, and de-skilled jobs. He initiated time-and-motion studies to analyse work tasks to improve worker productivity in an attempt to achieve the highest level of efficiency possible. Consequently, he has been accused of viewing people as instruments or machines to be manipulated by leaders. The function of the leader under scientific management theory was to establish and enforce performance criteria to meet organisational goals; therefore, the focus of a leader was on the needs of the organisation and not on the individual worker. Although the classical and scientific approaches were different, the goals were similar organisations are rational systems and must operate in the most efficient manner possible to achieve the highest level of productivity (Morgan, 1997). Both theories relied on the machine metaphor with a heavy emphasis on mechanisation of jobs, which undermined the human aspect of the organisation and failed to recognise organisations as complex organisms. Although mechanistic organisations proved productive, there were limits to hierarchical bureaucracy. Emerging theorists encouraged leaders to recognise that humans were not machines and could not be treated as such. A post bureaucratic shift in the mid-1940s moved toward everyone taking responsibility for the organisations success or failure (Heckscher Donnellon, 1994). Researchers began to examine the relationship between leader behaviour and follower satisfaction level and organisational productivity and profitability. 2.1.4 Hawthorne, Maslow, and Herzberg Environment and Worker Needs Much organisational research during this era focused on overcoming the perceived shortcomings of the classical and scientific schools of management. Elton Mayos Hawthorne Studies focused on the work situation and its effect on leaders and followers, indicating that the reactions of human beings influence their work activities as much as the formal design and structure of the organisation. Early on leaders could focus their attention on the environment factors of the organisations. The early theories and studies provided researchers with tangible and measurable performance outcomes that were directly transferable to profitability and spreadsheet bottom-lines. A new theory of organisations and leadership began to emerge based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied. Maslows (1959) Hierarchy of Needs posited that once a workers physiological, security, and social (intrinsic) needs were met, productivity would only be possible of the employees ego and self-actualising (extrinsic) needs were also met. Leader focus became redirected toward worker needs. Herzbergs Dual Factor Theory, the evolution of intrinsic and extrinsic needs, furthered Maslows work stating the employees intrinsic and extrinsic needs could, and should, be met simultaneously. Herzbergs (1966) Motivation-Hygiene theory furthered the work of Maslow by providing insights into the goals and incentives that tend to satisfy a workers needs. Herzberg concluded that people have two categories of needs, which he termed hygiene (environmental factors such as working conditions, company policies, etc.) and motivators (factors involving the job itself). According to Herzberg, an employees intrinsic and extrinsic needs could and should be addressed simultaneously. 2.1.5 The Shift to Behavioural Factors Leader focus had moved to understanding the relationship between a leaders actions and the followers satisfaction and productivity. Theorists began to consider behavioural concepts in their analysis of organisational leadership. For example, Chester Barnard was instrumental in including behavioural components (Bass, 1990). Barnards work emphasised the ways in which executives might develop their organisations into cooperative social systems by focusing on the integration of work efforts through communication of goals and attention to worker motivation (Hatch, 1997). Barnard, for example, identified an effective organisational leader as one who determined objectives, manipulated means, initiated action, and stimulated coordinated effort (Bass, 1990, p. 31). Barnard (1938), whose work focused on the functions of the executive, was instrumental in including behavioural components in his analysis of organisational leadership, which claimed that leadership involves accomplishing goals wit h and through people. The theorists of this age argued that in addition to finding the best technological methods to improve output, it would behove management to address human affairs as well. It was claimed that the real power centres within an organisation were the interpersonal relationships that developed among working groups (Hersey, Blanchard Johnson, 1996, p.100). A new theory of organisations and leadership began to emerge based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied. Additionally, when this happens they are more likely to increase their productivity which in turn impacts the organisations bottom line. According to McGregor (1960), the traditional organisation with its centralised decision making, hierarchical pyramid, and external control of work is based on certain assumptions about human nature and human motivation. He dubbed these assumptions Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X assumes that most people prefer to be directed, are not interested in assuming responsibility, and want safety above all else. Accompanying the Theory X philosophy is the belief that people are motivated by money, fringe benefits, and threat of punishment. Managers who espouse Theory X assumptions attempt to structure, control, and closely supervise employees. Although McGregor himself questioned whether Theory X was as accurate view of human nature, the assumptions persisted for a long time in leadership theory circles because it explained à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"some, though not all, of human behaviour within organisations (Pugh Hickson, 1993). Drawing heavily from Maslows (1959) Hierarchy of Needs, McGregor ultimately concluded that Theory X assumptions about human nature, when universally applied, are often inaccurate and that management approaches that develop from these assumptions may fail to motivate individuals to strive toward organisational goals (Hersey, Blanchard, Johnson, 1996). McGregor (1960) believed that management needed practices based on a more accurate understanding of human nature and motivation. The resulting concept, Theory Y, proposed that individuals are not, by nature, lazy and unreliable. People can be self-directed and creative at work if properly motivated (Pugh Hickson, 1993). Therefore, an essential task of management is to unleash this potential. Consequently, the goal of effective leadership was evolving and moving away from the earlier concepts of the classical and scientific management theories that treated workers as machines. Leaders were now challenged to actively involve followers in achieving organisational goals. McGregor (1960), whose work was closely linked to that of the behavioural theorists, is a reflection of that era, providing a foundation for the future emergence of the transformational leadership. McGregors Theory X and Theory Y assumed that employees and leaders had progressed beyond Taylors productivity models that employees could find ways to satisfy their needs within the organisations structure. McGregor assumed employees far more complex that the trait and behavioural theories of leadership assumed and that their complexity and the leaders response to that complexity would affect how and whether the leader and followers worked in tandem to reach mutual organisational goals. McGregor proposed a replacement of direction and control of employees with humanistic motivation. The resulting concept, Theory Y, proposed that individuals did not inherently dislike work and, and that under certain conditions, work could actually be a source of great satisfaction. Theory Y assumed individuals would exercise self-direction and self-control, accepting and seeking responsibility (Pugh Hickson, 1993). The essential concept McGregor and other behaviourists proposed was that organisations are interacting groups and that leaders are a part of these groups. The leaders interaction and relationship with the employee must be a supportive relationship so all members of the organisation feel the organisations objectives and their achievement, are of personal importance to them (Pugh Hickson, 1993). 2.1.6 Situational/Contingency Theory The Circumstantial Focus Unprecedented social change in the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s shifted societal focus from increasing economic wealth to ensuring social rights and equality. Along with this social change, technology was again preparing to jolt American businesses. The advent of the computer age was shifting employee requirements from brawn to brains. Leadership became an intricate process of multilateral brokerage where leaders were forced to focus on constituencies within and without the organisation to survive (Vanourek, 1995). The internal and external environments of organisations were changing. The transference of power from those doing the work to those possessing knowledge about how to organise work more closely levelled the playing field for leaders and followers. Society acknowledged that traditional methods of leadership were no longer effective. McCollum (1995) implied that companies in the information age were unsuccessfully trying to conduct their business using obsolete industrial age leadership theories. Change was the only thing of which everyone could be sure, a factor requiring leadership research and society to consider contingency/situational approaches to leadership if businesses were to remain successful and profitable in an ever-changing and increasingly complicated environment (Contee-Borders, 2003). Heysey and Blanchard (1996) proposed a contingency/situational theory advocating a leaders use of differing leadership behaviours dependent upon two interrelated maturity factors: (a) job maturity relevant task and technical knowledge and skills, and (b) psychological maturity the subordinates level of self-confidence and self-respect (Yukl, 1998). An employee who has a high level of job and psychological maturity requires little supervision; while an employee who has a low level of job and psychological maturity requires hand-on attention. Fielders contingency theory is viewed as the opposite of Hersey and Blanchards theory, maintaining that leaders are less flexible in their ability to change their behaviour based on followers maturity (the basic concept of Hersey and Blanchards theory) (Hughes, Ginnett, Curphy, 1993). Fielders contingency theory posited that leader effectiveness is determined by not the leaders ability to adapt to the situation, but by the ability to choose the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"right leader for the situation (though this theory does not identify who would be responsible for making this choice). Some leaders are simply better for specific situation than others and the situation determines the identified leaders success, though leaders would need to be capable of understanding when they were not right for the situation and remove themselves a task of humility. 2.2 Leadership Styles From a very classical autocratic approach to a very creative, participative approach, different styles were needed for different situations and each leader needed to know when to exhibit a particular approach. The most familiar model is the leadership scale devised by Tannenbaum and Schmidt. In this model, the leader is advised to choose a leadership style that it appropriate for the particular situation. These styles or behaviours, can be placed along continuum ranging from boss-centred at one-end of the scale to subordinate-centred at the other end, as illustrated in Figure 1.1 Inevitably, the opposite poles of this continuum have been labelled Authoritarian (or task-centred), and Democratic (or people-centred) and the inference has been drawn that a concern forgetting the job done is at the opposite end of the scale of the people involved. Tannenbaum and Schmidts article is not as shallow as that, but, like it or not, the impression is left that the two concerns are somehow incompatible. Other commentators advised that authoritarian leadership styles would be most effective in situations that were favourable to the leader and democratic styles would better suit situations that were unfavourable to the leader. Favourable in this context means that the leader has high formal authority, relations between the leader and the staff are good, and the task is highly structured. This further reinforces the assumption that democratic styles are for the leaders to fall back on when things are not going entirely their way; they would not want to be democratic if it could be avoided. The Democratic styles should be the preferred option, falling back on authoritarian styles only when circumstances require it. For example, when the fire alarm sounds tell everyone to leave the building; do not hold a decision about the best course of action. Or, when something bad can not be avoided, accept your responsibility as a manager and give instructions clearly and assertively. Otherwise, the benefits of the bringing several brains to bear on an issue, and the commitment that democratic approaches tend to foster, usually outweigh the inevitable untidiness of getting everyone involved in decision-making . Interestingly, research into animal social groups has found that decisions arrived at communally or democratically are usually more beneficial for the group and its individual members than despotic decision-making, and tend to be less extreme. Whether lessons drawn from the observation of animal behaviour can usefully be applied directly to human groups depends on how much corroborating evidence there is. 2.3 Leadership versus Management Creech (1995) defines the manager versus the leader. She explains how a manager is typically well-educated and would generally possess very high conceptual skills. Managers are mostly focused on the latest management literature. Furthermore managers are very aware of the system, rules and procedures both documented and undocumented. They tend to be very productive oriented rather than people oriented persons and this style proves that they are usually inaccessible or have very little time to listed to the people they manage. This also results form their heavy busy schedules. In addition managers face highly intensive stresses and become very intolerant of any mistakes. They rarely motivate their people to take significant risks to improve operationally or personally and in moments of crisis they can easily consider to re-establish who is in charge, believing that they will achieve the expected performances and organisational goals. Nonetheless, they are very conscious of what others think about them and expect to be liked, despite being aware that this is rather impossible, due to the conflicting roles between management and workers. Furthermore managers ask subordinates for participative input, but rarely encourage real dissent with their own views (Creech, 1995). In contrast, leaders are very people oriented and although they are conscious of what people think of them they are generally less concerned. However, leaders feel themselves as helpers to the organisation as opposed being in command. They are inventive and imaginative movers and participate in achievement of goals. Arguably, leaders have a more positive style to achieving goals and during time of financial or operational turbulences they focus on asking team members for help in strategies and innovation in order to regain competitive advantage. Opposed to this, managers would consider downsizing and cost cutting (Creech, 1995). One can that this is visionary and leaders do communicate widely with simple clear cut visions and goals. They intend to simplify communication to ensure the message gets through without ridiculing anyone in the event of misunderstandings. Additionally they are tolerant of mistakes during the process of development and goal achievement and they are fond of acknowledging their mistakes and do not fear to take whatever measures are required to rectify them (Creech, 1995). Bennis and Goldsmith (1997) define the difference between manager and leader using the following paired contrasts: The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager maintains; the leader develops. The manager accepts reality; the leader investigates it. The manager focuses on systems and structures; the leader focuses on people. The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader has his or her eye on the horizon. The manager imitates; the leader originates. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. The manager is the classis good soldier; the leader is his or her own person (Bennis and Goldsmith, 1997, p.9). Chapter 3 Literature Review For the purpose of this literature review it has been classified as follows: Human Relation Skills including follower leader relation, and conflict management and counselling as intrapersonal skills. Intrapersonal Skills includes self confidence, stress management, and time management whilst Organisational Skills include leadership styles and motivation and finally Creativity Skills. Human Relation Skills and Intrapersonal Skills follow the same paths and are the abilities how one interacts with others. However Intrapersonal Skills is ones own personal development whilst Organisational Skills is the skill to have a conceptual focus. Finally, Creativity Skills are the having of new ideas. The author introduced these skills in the above sequence as she believes that without having human relation skills one cannot help ones personal development and cannot encourage motivation or creativity. Needless to say, that without motivation one would find difficulties creating new ideas. 3.1 Human Relations and Intrapersonal Skills 3.1.2 Follower Leader Relation In order for a leader to achieve effectiveness through human relations, Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt (2001) shared four important insights and beliefs about the nature of their relationships with their followers: Firstly, they explain how positively effective it is, to gradually and gently direct the follower towards the established goals rather than throwing them into heavy burdens to accomplish corporate purposes. When a mutual agreement of mutual interest is established leaders would smartly lay down the red carpet to the follower and will satisfy the goals of both parties. Rigid commands from the hierarchy within an organisation normally lead to unsatisfactory results and frustration (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001) Secondly, it is in the leaders interest to strongly understand their followers, by recognising their needs, what motivates them , their various stages of personal development, and their goals. This is seen through a flow of communication and observations. The leaders challenge in such scenario would be to reach satisfactory levels of both the follower and the organisation. During such a process of identifying the followers needs the leader must show sensitivity, ingenuity and judgement when putting together corporate and personal objectives through communication. The leader should address those areas identified to be low in self confidence and capability by the follower in order to achieve maximum results (Isaac, Zerb and Pitt, 2001) Thirdly, leaders have to establish motivating conditions not only to motivate the follower but to encourage self motivation. One of the motives encouraging the self motivation process would be organisational rewards however this makes the leaders responsibility intense, as he/she would need to determine the various intrinsic or extrinsic rewards to followers. Intrinsic motivational states are beyond leaders control however they can possibly enhance such feelings and emotions by: Spending time with the follower and enhancing, rather than undermining, self-confidence. Increasing follower knowledge, skills and abilities through exposure to various educational and training programs, as well as experiences. These activities enhance both follower capability and self-confidence. Establishing realistic, meaningful and attainable goals with the follower to both parties. Creating a climate of mutual respect. Showing appreciation when the follower meets or exceeds expectations, or addressing problematic issues regarding the followers performance by focusing upon the work rather than the individual. (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001, p.212) The fourth and final insight relates to the importance of honesty and consistent behaviour showed to the followers. Leaders can loose credibility through promises that are rather difficult to fulfil at a later stage, and will also be exposed to deducting the followers motivation. On the other hand consistency generates a clear path to the followers especially in matters such as fairness, expectations and personal cose of conduct. In addition, leader must reduce distinctions of status that might cause some followers to feel degraded and not regarded (Isaac, Zerbe and Pitt, 2001). Relationship closeness, is the extent to which an employee has a sharing, open, familiar relation with management. Thus, relationship closeness is a broad concept that encompasses several specific constructs like interaction, open communication, and informal relations between employees and management(Mcknight, Ahmad and Schroederet, 2001, p.466). As one can see from the above four insights of human relations skills incorporates a strong degree of interpersonal skills and as