Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Essay

Abstract This paper explores the concept of emotional intelligence and the effects on leadership. The articles discussed in the paper analyzed the different array of qualities in emotional intelligence towards leadership. Emotional intelligence is a way of behaving and acting towards situations and people. Leadership styles must adapt to the situations and exhibit empathy at times to support the perception of caring. Through empathy leadership will exhibit thoughtfulness and caring in the eyes of the employee. Empathy is an emotion that human’s exhibit and how they exhibit the emotion in group’s settings can and will affect a leader’s perception. Men and women make up leadership in all facets of industry, but which one is better? Does it matter when all the variables are equal? Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Emotional intelligence and the influence over effective leadership styles go hand-in-hand in successfully leading individuals. In today’s growing industry the cry for effective leaders is immense, so to become an effective leader emotional intelligence must be understood. Leadership is in everyone’s life whether personal or business and to be effective a person must be diverse in an I.Q. – Intelligence sense and E.Q. – Emotional sense. To understand emotional intelligence an understanding of the emotional intelligence theories development by Daniel Goleman will be analyzed. A person must understand what competencies make a great leader, so the relationship of a great leader versus a poor leader is analyzed. Facts are considered towards leadership styles and emotional intelligence from a male and female leadership stance. Which sex is better at emotional intelligence and will that make either more effective in leadership? What is Emotional Intelligence? Many psychologists have identified emotional intelligence or versions of emotional awareness over the years (Goleman, 2012). The research began with analyzing people and their intelligence levels based on cognitive attributes (Norwack, 2012). A Brief History. According to Goleman, the earliest research began with Robert Thorndike in 1937 (Goleman, 2012). Thorndike began exploring the emotion concept of psychology and how the affects the theory social intelligence (Goleman, 2012). From Thorndike to David Wechsler delivered additional theories on emotion and how it plays in professional progress (Goleman, 2012). Wechsler named three essential elements to his theory – affective, personal, and social factors contribute to a person’s ability to succeed in life (Goleman, 2012). The next significant progress in the theory of emotional intelligence came from Howard Gardner in 1983 (Warwick & Nettelbeck, 2004). Gardner proposed a model of â€Å"multiple intelligence† (Goleman, 2012). His â€Å"multiple intelligence† model depicts seven kinds of intelligence that incorporated two personal varieties; knowing one’s inner world and social adeptness (Warwick & Nettelbeck, 2004). Gardner developed the model and Peter Salovery and John Mayer defined emotional intelligence in terms of the ability to monitor and regulate one’s own and others feelings and to use feelings to guide thought and action (Warwick & Nettelbeck, 2004). The last piece to the history segment is Daniel Goleman’s addition to the emotional intelligence psychological realm. Goleman identifies five basic emotional and social competencies (Goleman, 2012): * Self -Awareness * Self -Regulation * Motivation * Empathy * Social Skills These five competencies are analyzed to rate successful leaders further in the paper. Goleman helped develop the application of this theory to leadership styles and principles (Warwick & Nettelbeck, 2004). Competence of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership There are two types of competence models identified in performing exceptionally as an effective leader. The two competencies must be understood to gain a more precise understanding of the contribution of emotional competence has in the leadership role (Walter, Humphrey & Cole, 2012). Threshold Competencies. The first competency is the threshold competencies; this model addresses those that people need to perform the job. These are the minimal skills needed to carry out the tasks associated with given position. Most organizational competence models fit into this category (Walter, Humphrey & Cole, 2012) Distinguishing competencies. The next competency focuses on the exceptional leader. Distinguishing competencies are those that allow the effective leader to stand out from the poor leaders (Goleman, 2012). This is usually the traits of an outstanding leader who uses vision as an example to bring a company out of a slump (Walter, Humphrey & Cole, 2012). The distinguishing competencies are qualities needed to perform superbly (Walter, Humphrey & Cole, 2012). Case Study: Effective Leadership. According to Goleman, a study of emotional competence in leadership was performed at Hay/McBer in Boston by Lyle Spencer Jr. with Wei Chen (Goleman, 2012). The analysis of more than three hundred executive level leaders from 15 global companies showed that six emotional competencies were distinguished from the average (Goleman, 2012). The competencies consist of influence, team leadership, organizational awareness, self confidence, the drive to achieve and leadership (Goleman, 2012). Why are these qualities important in leadership? From a leadership standpoint Emotional Intelligence will support or determine a leader’s success (Dainton and Zelley, 2011). The Study. Warwick & Nettelbeck discussed a study completed by David McClelland of exemplarity leaders and the competencies they possessed (2004). The strengths in a wide spectrum of emotional intelligence ranged from self-awareness and motivation to social awareness and social skill. The only emotional intelligence capability not represented was self regulation, but adaptability, from this cluster, was 57% more common in the effective leaders (Warwick & Nettelbeck, 2004). Would women make better leaders? The next portion covers the effectives of empathy in leadership. Goleman addresses empathy as one of his five points of emotional intelligence. Over the years many papers have been written about women and their ability to be natural nurtures (Anonymous, 2008). Perhaps in a person’s personal life women are more empathetic then men. Significant research performed on the concept of women possessing a natural ability to be empathetic. When empathy is observed in the workplace or by a leader who has the upper hand men or women? Sex Differences. According to Goleman, men and women are compared in many ways (2012). He also goes on to describe the similar traits men and women poses and those traits cause behavioral characteristics. The results from test data gives a bell curve pattern when graphed and allows psychologist to review the similarities and differences between the sexes (Goleman, 2012). The idea behind specific sex abilities to be better at leadership based on their individ ual design would be acceptable. The idea that a specific sex is better just because they were born with female or male ingenuity is difficult to prove (Norwack, 2012). Data around empathy. Many studies are conducted and have been conducted by psychologist around the world with mixed feelings around which sex is better at a specific subtopic (Greenberg, 2005). Leadership uses many concepts and one concept in particular is empathy. Women in western culture tend to develop this naturally due to the way western culture influences women (Greenberg, 2005). Greenberg, goes on to describe the western woman as one of empathy and describes tests and experiences women have over men (2005). Profile of nonverbal sensitivity. At Harvard two professors tackled a challenge to solve the age old question are women more empathetic than men (Goleman, 2012) Professor Rosenthal and Judith Hall performed a verity of psychological test to measure the level of feelings. Nonverbal sensitivity to emotional reaction is the name of the test (Greenberg, 2005). Dr. Rosenthal film clips are filtered so that the person watching the emotional body language is seen and the words cannot be heard (Greenberg, 2005). Rosenthal and Hall found women performed better on average than men at guessing the people in the clips emotion (Greenberg, 2005). Micro-emotions. Greenberg states people leak small emotions called micro-emotions (2005). The emotions allow people to express body language and tone of voice in small increments to the receiver of the signal (Greenberg, 2005). People who work in law enforcement or interrogation tend to illustrate this ability so that they may sense if a person is truthful or lying (Greenberg, 2005). Sex differences tend not to portray a strong advantage in this category. Practice is a definite must to hone and build the skill to better understand situations around emotional intelligence (Greenberg, 2005). Empathetic accuracy. The ability to sense and understand people’s thoughts through their feelings is defined by Goleman as empathetic accuracy (2012). Goleman experimental methods assess empathic accuracy and illustrate emotional response by asking people to depict an emotion of someone they see (Goleman, 2012). Goleman conducted a range of test involving test subjects. The test subjects watched conversation and evaluated people and attempted to figure out their feelings (Goleman, 2012). Psychologist than compared the result against the emotional person’s own narrative. Goleman went on to describe women did not perform better than men in a series experiments (2012). There was no evidence of a female intuition advantage and Goleman goes on to associate that women have a distinct willingness to be empathetic. Greenberg describes women as wanting to be empathetic and men not so much (2005). Which sex is better with Emotional Intelligence? Based on the data above the so called sex difference toward empathy would argue that men are latent in their ability for empathy, but less motivated to be empathic (Greenberg, 2005). So much that men tend to see themselves in terms of a tough guy. Men have less motivation to seem sensitive in most cultures because that seen as a sign of weakness (Goleman, 2012). Why is Emotional Intelligence Important? When reading different articles about Emotional Intelligence the question purposed by people is â€Å"why is Emotional Intelligence important?† (Norwack, 2012). Emotional Intelligence is important element to build strong leadership (Norwack, 2012). The best way to explain Emotional Intelligence in general is through three premises (Norwack, 2012): 1.Emotions are important in both work and non-work interactions (Norwack, 2012). 2.There are individual differences in the capacity to perceive, understand, use, and manage emotions (Norwack, 2012). 3.Differences in Emotional Intelligence are important in some contexts and less important in others (Norwack, 2012). Norwack described Emotional Intelligence best as â€Å"the ability to perceive and express emotions, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in self and others† (Norwack, 2012). As an effective leader knowing about employees will be the key to success towards employees respecting his or her leader. Conclusion Why is Emotional Intelligence so important? From a leadership standpoint Emotional Intelligence will support or determine a leader’s success (Dainton and Zelley, 2011). Emotional Intelligence in today’s business world demand leaders to be transformational to be successful in leading people (Norwack, 2012). Dainton and Zelley describe two types of leadership used in today’s business Transactional and Transformational (Dainton and Zelley, 2011). Transactional removes the care for people factor out of the equation and causes leaders only concern for results which, develops a lack of flexibility for employees (Dainton and Zelley, 2011). Transformational leadership allows leaders to use the tools to understand their emotions and how they affect the ability to lead effectively (Dainton and Zelley, 2011). Norwack points out three factors of emotion that must be understood and utilized with transformational leadership styles (Norwack, 2012). 1.Emotion Perception relates to awareness of others and their emotions (Norwack, 2012). 2.Emotion Understanding relates to the ability logically to label or empathize with others (Norwack, 2012). 3.Emotion Management controlling the emotional stress of a leader and others effectively (Norwack, 2012). Daniel Goleman describes all these factors in his book and teaches these concepts as a consultant. Large companies like Bowing, Raytheon, and IBM use these concepts to develop current and future leaders for their companies. Effective leadership is a must in today’s business world to thrive and succeed (Norwack, 2012). References Anonymous. (2008, February 04). Woman’s instinct is to nurture. Times – Picayune . Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/416185791?accountid=27203 Antonakis, J., Ashkanasy, N. M., & Dasborough, M. T. (2009). Does leadership need emotional intelligence?. The Leadership Quarterly, 247-261. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/science/article/pii/S1048984309000174 cognitive. (2002). In A Dictionary of Philosophy, Macmillan. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login?url=http://www.credoreference.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/entry/macdphil/cognitive Dainton, M., & Zelley, E. D. (2011). Applying communication theory for professional life: A

Interpreting the First Amendment of the Constitution Essay

The notion of being free to choose whatever religion a citizen wants to posses is notoriously known to be a liberty dictated by the first amendment. â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,† (A-18 Brinkley) are the famous words of the constitution. Yet, this same law also states that the legislative branch of the U. S. government does not have the authority to favor one religion over the other. In fact, it dictates that the government must remain secular when it comes to the affairs of religion as it cannot respect any one particular religion over another. Thus, there can never be a national religion, an American version of the Anglican Church, as it would hinder the government from preserving the freedom to choose between religions. The other liberties guaranteed by this amendment were the rights of speech, the press, â€Å"or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievances† (A-18 Brinkley). These are all liberties that allow for the citizens of the nation to protest the government. Civilians can protest through their speech, which may hold accusatory claims against the government, in public areas. Americans are allowed the right to publish grievances in the press, free of censorship from a legislative body, as well. These are liberties that allow for organizations to spread information and knowledge over any form of tyranny they may feel the government bestows onto the population. These are also lubricating actions that more easily allow for assemblies to form and confront the government over such issues. Really, the amendment is a formula for allowing the civilian populous to restrain the authority of the government.

Assess the View That Traditional Class Identities Are No Longer Important

These have the view that class no longer really matters in modern Britain and that now people no longer identify themselves according to their class background. Clarke and Saunders (1991) would agree with the view of postmodernists. They suggest that classes have become fragmented into many different groups and now they have been replaced with other influences such as gender and lifestyles. Although they is some evidence which suggests these ideas are exaggerated. Marshall’s survey into how people view themselves showed people still see social class as a source of identity. The traditional working class was a group of people that was developed after the industrialisation when they were need for large amounts of manual workers. This group formed a strong sense on culture and identity. These were strong moral values, having men as the breadwinner and women as housewives and believing getting a job is more important than having an education. The traditional working class also saw the labour party as the party for the working class as it represented their interests, as pointed out in item B. Although now many people in the working class vote for different parties as they don’t all agree on what is important now in society, supporting the idea that traditional class identities are no longer important. Now also the manufacturing business as changed a lot, this means now they aren’t the same jobs available as they would have been before as they have been replaced with things such as machines that can do a faster and cheaper job. Therefore the working class has had to change the sort of jobs they do over time which may be a reason for the change in characteristics, and therefore making the traditional class identities now no longer important. Diamond and Giddens agree with this as they argue that the working class is no longer important because of the change in the economy that as lead to the decline of manual labour jobs, and that the working class isn’t now the only class which experiences economic and social eprivation. The new working class is now seen to have little loyalty to others within the same class, more emphasis on customer goods, high levels of home ownership, and women likely to be employed. There is also now a larger section of the working class, this may be down to some working class jobs now becoming more skilful therefore getting higher pay, which others become less skilful and get lower pay, meaning people in the same class may identify themselves every differently. However there are sociologists that believe traditional class identities are still very important, for example Marxists. They believe social class is still hugely influential in shaping our identities. They also believe social class is identified by your income, and that leisure wouldn’t define your identity as you would need the disposable income to afford it. The British Attitudes Survey supported this idea, because in 2007 it found still 94% of people still identified themselves with a social class, whereas only 6% didn’t. Overall the importance of traditional class identities are seen every differently by different people. Views which agree and disagree to the importance of traditional class identities still being important have both positives and negatives so it’s hard to just believe one view point is the truth and the other doesn’t matter. Therefore I believe both viewpoints have sufficient evidence and that traditional class identities are still important to an extent, however now there is also other factors that can make up our identity other than just our social class.

The impact of violent video gaming on aggressive behavior of high Essay

The impact of violent video gaming on aggressive behavior of high school students - Essay Example   Earlier, researchers found that violent content as a variable had a greater contribution to aggression because they did not equate non-violent and violent games based on the speed of action, difficulty and their competitive nature at the same time. For example, the aggression of high school students tends to be more in those who play competitive and difficult games because they need to put more effort to win the game. Therefore, there is a need to determine the effect of the aforementioned characteristics of video games to aggression either separately or in combination (Adachi et al., 260).The research findings were similar to those reported by Morrow and Anderson found that competition affects aggression by altering the heart rate and that competition leads to aggression more than it causes cooperation on the subject studied. Moreover, since the purpose of a competitive video game is to outdo the opponent. The participants were found to develop negative thought and frustration i n an attempt to prevent the opponent from winning (Adachi et al, 260). The effect of competition on aggression is also seen in other games such as soccer and hockey that may lead to violence and fighting. Thus, the effect of competition on aggression is evident and more significant than that of violent content in video games.Olson & Cheryl studied the patterns of M- rated games among students and the effects on their behaviors. They found that 20% and 44% of girls and boys respectively were found to have played an M- rated game known as Grand Theft Auto recently. From the statistics, boys were more likely to play the game than girls (Olson & Cheryl 7783). The game could, therefore, be considered a risk indicator for girls. The majority of the students were found to have played an electronic game with boys spending more time in the games than girls.  

Portfolio task Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Portfolio task Human Resource Management - Essay Example The running of this organization relied much on the research services my team offered in evaluating the social needs that the population had, device and advise on appropriate policies to undertake the relevant adjustments. Moreover, as a research team, we were involved in managing a database for the organization’s beneficially and issue identification cards through which the organization would track the frequency of using the facilities by the members and carry out periodical analysis for possible improvements. The success of our role as a team was therefore dependent on various factors, which were intrinsic to members, as well as other environmental factors. Though our team had a temporal assignment with the organization, success in the task assigned was mandatory. The team comprised of various players such as organizers and supervisors, coordinators as well as team workers who attended to different tasks as assigned. A general review of the performance of the team revealed a great success in the mandate assigned having completed the exercise a month earlier than the expected time and satisfactorily having delivered as required. The analysis however revealed the success to be explained by team behavior as against such factors as the intellect of the members. Nevertheless, we can no refute the strategic role played by skills and competencies exhibited by the members in handling the technical roles assigned. Each behavior portrayed by the team had a strategic and specific role to play in the overall success of the team as recorded (Cohen, 1993, p. 1-3). The ability of the team to combine ideas before the onset of the team as a functional unit reveals a high level of sense of commitment and obligation. Moreover, the team had a well-organized leadership structure through which the management was carried out. Incorporation of new members wherever needed had a specific structure which ensured the correct skills and competencies needed were sought and harnesse d. Inter as well as intra team relations between the team members and other teams within the organization would be equally commended for the good performance of the team as noted. According to literature, the success of any team rests on such factors as cooperation and efforts of individual member. Moreover, teams do not behave, think or feel while the persons making up the team do. In this respect, teams have no obligations as distinct entities but rather, their successes depend of the factors inherent on team members. Therefore, the success from our team would therefore be explained by the good coordination as well as the individual traits to the members. Task 2 [The Coca-Cola limited (UK) is a constituent retail multinational organization which specializes in manufacture and sale of soft drinks across the globe. Having been in existence over many decades, the organization has had great exposure within the beverage industry and thus commands great mastery of business operations wi thin the industry ( more than the emergent competitors command). The retail organization has employed thousands of persons in the UK and has numerous retail outlets within the country. This paper intends to analyze the operations of the retail organization with a special attention of its operations within the United Kingdom. Its official website URL is http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/.] The company specializes in manufacturing drink concentrates as well as syrups, which are later

An Action Plan For Student Survival Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

An Action Plan For Student Survival - Essay Example When using these search engines, the information you get will be based on a keyword or phrase. It's vital to choose appropriate words and phrases that relate closely to your research. When doing research on how the expense of college deters student enrollment, the phrase "college costs" would return several appropriate articles. Searching library resources is very similar to an Internet search, but you have databases with a wide range of magazines, newspaper articles, and academic journals available. These sources are often higher quality and have greater academic credibility than typical websites. It's important to consider your source when searching to give your research the integrity that's needed. If a paper is being done on water pollution, information from a peer reviewed journal will be more reliable than information from an anonymous website called "I_hate_chemicals.com". Library resources are the most valuable tools that students have. In the world of Academics, there is nothing more important than honesty and integrity. It goes beyond the obvious incidents of cheating on a test with crib sheets, or writing a halfhearted report based on a condensed version of a book. Integrity requires regular attendance and timely completion of the assignments. It demands that you treat your courses with the level of respect that they deserve. Your college degree will be a voucher to people in the academic world that you have successfully completed the work, can be relied on to be informed, and that you have gained your GPA honestly. A major breach of honesty is plagiarism. Plagiarism is the copying someone else's words, research, or ideas and portraying them as your original work. It is one of the most serious infractions a student can make during their college experience, and can result in punishment that ranges from failing the course to possible expulsion (Plagiarism). Academic researching and reporting is a process of building new ideas on work that has previously been done by others. It depends on the information being accurate and not based on fake data. It is also built on the tradition of giving credit to the original creator of the ideas that we borrow. Almost all research and papers will be built on someone else's previous work and ideas, and it's vital that they receive adequate credit. While an Internet "cut and paste" paper may be the most glaring example of plagiarism, improper citations are the most numerous. Often, this is done because the student does not have the proper information on when and how to give credit. Whether we are using previously published statistics or paraphrasing a unique idea, it's necessary to give proper credit to the original author. This is done with conventional citation formats such as APA and MLA. These associations have manuals that outline not only how to write a proper citation, but also when to cite the original source. Spending time reading these guides and getting familiar with the requirements of academic writing will help insure that the school's policy of plagiarism is not violated and prevent what might otherwise be an innocent transgression of academic honesty. Developing Effective Study

Strategic management in an international context Coursework

Strategic management in an international context - Coursework Example Therefore, the company should consider investing the $2 billion in the country to set up beer industry. The net disposable income for the citizens of Norway has been growing gradually for the last ten years. This has been due to the gradual growth of the country’s economy. Therefore, consumers’ demands for the products and services has been rising year in year out, with beer being inclusive. As such, Fyne Ales Company should be pulled by these factors to consider investing in Norway. The government of Norway has lower trade barriers to investors who want to invest in its economy. In fact, the government of Norway has put in place initiatives and incentives to encourage potential investors to invest more in the country. These incentives include tax waiver during the initial stages of the project as a way of cushioning new investors against the initial financial shocks at the start of their investments (Karrenbrock, 2009, p. 2). The government will also be offering the licensing agreement to make the products produced by companies operating in the country available to foreign markets. One example of the license agreement is a situation whereby the brewer themselves can allow a brewer who has already settled down in Norway to brew and sell beers of foreign brewers. Therefore, Fyne Ales Company should consider making good use of such opportunities and favours to invest in Norway in the beer production industry, from which it will be able to generate more returns. The internationalization of the western economy in the last few years shows a cross-border investment and the increasing number of companies with production segments in a number of countries. Exploitation of natural resources is the fundamental reason foreign companies should invest in the non-metropolitan Norway. If Fyne Ales Company invests in Norway’s economy, Norway as a country will have the advantage of getting closer to its customers who live in the non-metropolitan Norway, thereby,

The subject is organisational change Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The subject is organisational change - Assignment Example Non-trained employees resist. Change in the skill level of employees is also resisted. The managers must take measures to overcome resistance. For this, they should communicate with each employee individually to know his needs. The more the employees feel empowered and respected, the lesser is the resistance to change. Question 2 Home businesses are very rewarding because they consume lesser resources, energy and time. Due to this fact, the job satisfaction is greater and future prospects are high. One of the greatest difficulties that home businesses may face is choosing the right kind of partner who will guide you and stand beside you through the whole process. Other difficulties include isolation. When you are staying at home, you are leaving the outside world and the chances of face-to-face communication lessen. Personal meetings are crucial to build trust with the partner and the consumers, and home businesses do not give you this chance. Also, sometimes the performance is affec ted when one tries to manage the home business along with the official job. One has to wait for the home business and its savings to get established enough so that the official job is left.

UPS Company Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

UPS Company Strategy - Case Study Example It goes without saying that drivers of organizational change vary across organizations and businesses. However, the main drivers of organizational change can be summarized as follows: (1) information availability and distribution; (2) the pace of technological advancement; (3) the growing availability of technologies; (4) increased business competition; (5) rapid shifts in the global labor and product markets; (6) changes in environmental responsibility and requirements; and (7) changing customer expectations and demands (John, Cannon & Pouder 2001). More often than not companies operating in the present day business environment pursue change to align their strategic goals with the emerging information capabilities and, consequentially, use them to meet the rising consumer demands. As the number of companies in the logistics industry increases, the ability to satisfy customer satisfaction in the most cost-effective manner becomes the main source of companies’ competitive advantage. Nevertheless, the number of challenges faced by companies in the global market does not decrease. â€Å"Integrating activities both within and beyond organizational boundaries has become a major challenge at century’s end and will likely continue for the foreseeable future† (John, Cannon & Pouder 2001, p.145). ... The diversification of companies in the logistic market had the potential to distract UPS consumers with more attractive rates, prices, and services. Second, before the 1990s discipline and efficiency had always been the company’s top strategic priorities. According to Garvin and Levesque (2001), along with discipline and efficiency, continuous improvement had been the company’s principal legacy. The company had historically operated in the atmosphere of constructive dissatisfaction, which further instilled the values of continuous improvement and service excellence on company employees (Garvin & Levesque 2001). The historical commitment to efficiency and discipline and continued attention towards operations left many customers dissatisfied. Apart from the fact that UPS failed to envision changes in customer preferences and demands, discipline and efficiency left little room for monitoring changes in the external business environment. Finally, UPS had never had a formal strategic planning process, which made the implementation of strategic innovations difficult and problematic. As the entire world was changing, UPS definitely needed a fresh breath, and the new CEO had to restructure the company’s basic operations. Since the beginning of the new millennium UPS was constantly trying to define how exactly it could develop and sustain a competitive advantage. The creation of the new strategic planning process became part of the strategic innovations within UPS. Looking further into 2017, UPS anticipates that understanding the factors and forces affecting its market position will become its main strategic goal for years ahead (Garvin & Levesque

Thomas Green Essay Example for Free

Thomas Green Essay The case starts with the result of a problem that has been brewing for months-Thomas Green’s faltering career has transitioned from the fast track to a destination of potential unemployment. We sought to analyze the factors leading up to this rapid downward spiral and what other challenges were present in the situation. We identified some of the underlying causes, and developed potential solutions and how to apply them to rectify the challenges Green is experiencing. Current Problems:  The tension has developed between Davis and Green in part because of Green’s very public opposition to Davis’s next year’s projections of the 10% market growth, and in part because Green did not meet Davis’s expectations for the person who will be holding his previous position. According to Davis, Green has failed. Both in 1:1 meetings with Green and in interactions with his boss Shannon McDonald his ‘surface’ story has remained the same. He says Green is doing a poor job of communicating; not keeping his boss updated of his travel plans and current location. He also complains that when Green is on the road he doesn’t check in with the office enough and fails to send Davis information he has requested in a timely manner. Moreover, Davis feels that Green’s strategies and way of working with clients needs to be more concrete; that Green needs to provide factual data and reports to his clients instead of just ideas. In addition, Davis refers to Green’s negative attitude (as expressed at the goal-setting meeting) indicated that Green lacked the enthusiasm needed for the job. Deeper Problems Underlying Causes for the Conflict: 1. Power Politics Dynamics at Work: Davis’s public complaints do not reflect the full story. His perspective seems to be skewed by some common fallacies of thought that often plague business organizations. Davis has seen Thomass objection in front of the other employees as challenging him. This may be a case of Schadenfreude where Davis, who now has reason to dislike Green, finds everything possible wrong with his work as a way to discredit him. He may be jealous that Green jumped a few rungs on the corporate ladder, and incensed that he wasn’t consulted in the hiring decisions. Attribution can come into play where, instead of believing that there is a reason Green was promoted and maybe he did have value to bring to the table, a cognitive bias making him think Green’s previous successes were due to luck, and that he is a rookie who can’t be relied upon. That becomes a self fulfilling prophecy of perception, where Davis sees all the little things Green does wrong as insurmountable flaws confirming his original opinion of Green being the wrong man for the job. Many tenured workers feel that ‘paying ones dues’ is an important part of building a career, and that those on the fast track aren’t truly deserving of their positions. Since Green took over Davis’s former position, projection can also come into play, where Davis compares everything Green does to how he would have handled it. Davis does seem to be biased against Green, and rather than helping him to be the most successful he can, he appears to prefer firing him and starting over. A reverse halo effect has come into play, where nothing Green does is right. 2. Structural Problems in Hiring/Training. There are some structural problems in terms of chain of command and in how Dynamic Displays does their hiring and training. McDonald even identified this huge jump in positions and expressed her reservations. She openly admitted that her biggest concern was the increased level of managerial responsibility with no experience. This huge jump bypassed positions of needed training and practical work experience. Upper management had not initially counseled Green on expectations of communication, direction, report, and etc. Davis was not giving Green any real direction and guidance on how he wanted the reports until after it was identified as a problem. Davis did finally show how the other senior market analyst generated her reports and the approved method for relaying data. Another critical error was the fact that McDonald endorsed Greens promotion with no input from Davis. The relationship between Green and Davis was to some extent doomed from the start. When on Green’s first day Division VP McDonald tells him â€Å"Tom, you are walking into a tricky situation with Frank Davis. Frank had expected to choose the new senior market specialist and it would not have been you. You’ll have to deal with any fallout that might result from that. † Davis was not able to pick the person who he may have been molding for the position. This is demonstrated in the incompatibility of work styles and no working relationship between Davis and Green. McDonald did not set Green up for success when it came to working under Davis. The last thing she mentioned to Green on that first day was â€Å"don’t let me down. It would have been more effective should McDonald have included Davis in the hiring process, and meeting with both Davis and Green before or during Green’s first week so they could discuss expectations, and what McDonald viewed as Green’s strengths and areas of opportunity so a plan could immediately be put in place to address them and get him properly trained. 3. Thomas Green is not a blameless victim in this circumstance. There are a few areas in which he tripped up that have contributed to the severity of the current situation. This is an excellent case identifying the Peter principle where a great salesman is identified for exemplar performance and promoted to a position of incompetence within the company. Perhaps because (aptly named) Green was so new, he did not fully understand the dynamic of the specific situation he walked into. The 2008 Budget Plan Meeting did not appear to be an open forum, and Green misjudged it. Normally applicable to managers and coaches, the ‘Praise in public, criticize in private’ concept would have been useful in this case as well. Many of the most successful corporate climbers recognize the benefit of making ones higher-ups look good. Publically disagreeing with Davis in that open meeting was an act of insubordination. If Green knew the subject of the meeting and that Davis would be speaking for him, a certain onus fell on his shoulders to know what the goals were being set at ahead of time and giving him a chance to discuss in a more appropriate setting with Davis. Power conflict/ Stylistic Differences: Communication between Davis and Green was not the only issue. There were multiple misunderstandings between Davis, Green, and McDonald in terms of really acknowledging the issues at play. Green was a bit misled with regard to what was most important to his direct manager. The sample PowerPoint slides and organizational charts one of the other market supervisors had created should be something Davis showed Green early on, while setting expectations of those types of reports being created on weekly or monthly basis. Going over communication expectations is also really important, as that varies widely from manager to manager. Green’s autonomous â€Å"I’ll get it done my way† attitude clouded his ability to see why it might be important to keep communication up with Davis. He should have asked Davis the best way to check in with him and how often that was expected. Davis should be more clear-if he asks for a report while Green is on the road, be specific about the expected turnaround time or due date for the information. Green’s ego and inexperience hurt him in the transition to such a responsible and politically sensitive role. He is intelligent and talented but he was also over confident and he abused his â€Å"Legitimate Power which is defined as the position power based on a person’s holding of a managerial positions rather than anything the manager is or does as a person† (Phillips Gully, 2012). Green did things his way rather than respecting the path laid before him, and the superiors with tenure who had legitimate advice to give. Davis possessed a mix of Expert and Coercive powers. Expert power is a personal power based on an individual expertise in some area† Davis has done the same job in the past and he presented the successful projections for the company marketing future. â€Å"Coercive is a position power based on fear or a desire to avoid punishment† Green did not follow directions and rules, Davis reported this to McDonalds and threatened to end Green’s position. McDonald holds the ‘Reward power’: â€Å"A position power that involves the use of rewards to influence and motivate followers. She is the one who appointed Green at this position based on his intelligence and talent. Phillips Gully, 2012). Applicable OB Theory Two of the most fundamental aspects of Organizational Behavior are process, where there was a communication breakdown, and behavior in terms of evaluating, rewarding, and managing, as well as managing conflict/power and politics. Because Green wasn’t properly trained and mentored he was unable to do the job according to Davis’s preferences. The company seems to have a classic Scalar chain of hierarchy in place, that was upset by McDonald hiring Green for a position he wasn’t prepared for. The chain of command started off broken because it jumped over Davis. Innacurate assumptions followed, as Green thought McDonald would look out for him and retained a direct connection to his career, where in fact the traditional hierarchy was back in place without Green realizing how he fit in. The other thing that is easy to miss when analyzing this case is the positive opportunities that exist. McDonald ‘took a chance’ on Green because she felt the group needed a new perspective. The company did have the chance to improve results from what Green brought to the table, but his natural talent needed to be harnessed to take best advantage of that potential. Davis’s initial dislike and distrust of Green set the relationship off on the wrong foot, and at some point Green was more focused on keeping his job than on improving sales and helping the company. If Davis were focusing on making the most of Green as an employee, he would work on ways to accomplish multiple goals while encouraging Green to do his best work. Green is motivated by success as measured by his relationships with clients, ability to connect with company higher-ups, and having the autonomy to keep up that momentum. Davis’s management style does not reward Green’s independent thinking. Also it is interesting that one of Davis’s criticisms of Green is that he is â€Å"thinking like an account executive† when in fact most of their struggles stem from Green being a ‘big-picture’ thinker, and from Davis taking a detailed line-by-line approach. Solutions: There are two angles that should be addressed: both how the key players in this case should have handled things, and what can be done now and going forward. Green should have handled the Budget Meeting differently. He was wrong to talk about the issue to others in the company in that forum, even if unintentional; it did appear like he wanted to make Davis look bad. Green should have requested a one-on-one meeting with Davis to talk about the issue and to try to understand why things went so wrong. Because he feels strongly that those projections are unreasonable, he will also need to collect information to support his opinion about the numbers. He must try to build a relationship with Davis; recognizing that he put his boss in a bad position and what that did to him politically, he needs to eat some crow and work to rebuild a strong working relationship with Davis. This is the time to take McDonald’s original advice to heart, and ask for help. His going to Davis might feed into Davis’s ego enough to help: he can re-tie his success to the experience and knowledge base of his boss. Only then will the two of them be able to communicate and will Green have a chance to have his opinions heard. 1. Mentoring/training Both for Thomas Green at this moment, and for employees in the future, there needs to be a priority of setting up a more formal manager training and mentoring program. Part of Expectancy Theory states that the first level requirement of managers is to ensure employees are adequately trained and ave a clear understanding of what is expected of them. It seems Davis and Green were consistently not on the same page because of a failure to properly lay the groundwork during Green’s first few weeks on the job. For Green, McDonald’s advice of â€Å"I am hoping you compensate for your lack of experience by seeking out guidance from some of your more seasoned managers† was lacking in form and direction. A more formal mentoring program put in place could be very successful. Managerial training that includes working for a short time in the positions that were bypassed by the promotion would be particularly effective. The company should also assign one of the other senior market analyst as a mentor. Green could shadow with that senior market analyst for a short time to get a feel for company politics and best practices. In the future when a candidate is promoted from a sales role into management, they should be assigned a mentor who can help and guide them in the realities and expectations of the new position. There should also be a transition period if at all possible to easy the new manager into a position before giving him free reign. 2. Level setting  Because of Green’s nontraditional career path, additional guidance on the front end was required to set him up for success. Initial counseling on performance and work ethic expectations was a necessary piece that was missing in Davis and Green’s interactions early on. Clear expectations on preferred communication methods such as report presentations including charts and graphs should have been given to Green right away. Green should have been provided a thorough job description and clearly defined goals. The first few weeks in the new position were critical in showing Green what was important to upper management. Davis bringing Green on joint client appointments emphasized being hands on and meeting the right people. Davis missed an opportunity to show Green the type of detailed numbers and reports he would like to see. Also, rather than thinking Green needed reports to present at those meetings, should have partnered with him to create the concrete data he feels is most effective to use in working with a potential client. That was the only training Green received, and it was unfair to expect he would inherently understand an expectation that was not expressed to him by his boss. Davis should also have coached Green on his other expectations including form and frequency of communication. Assumptions were detrimental to the relationship; some of which may have been due to generational differences leading to varying expectations. This could have helped with the communication issues between all three parties due to their age differences. 3. Structural changes within Dynamic Displays In the future Dynamic Displays needs to adjust its hiring practices to set everyone involved up for success. It is short-sighted to think that employees must always take the most traditional path, as out of the box candidates come up at times and can benefit the company. They should make the hiring process more structured to avoid this type of issue in the future. The promotion process needs to be reviewed and improved upon. All parties who will be affected by the promotion should have input on the decision. Had Davis been included in that choice and in brainstorming on ways to get Green up and running, this issue may have been avoided altogether. Work relationships clearly can have a huge impact of production.

Nursing Reflection | Inequalities in Health Case Study

Nursing Reflection | Inequalities in Health Case Study Introduction Reflection is a process in which we go over the events that we have been through and think over what happened, what we have done, and what we could have done better if we had to find ourselves once again in that situation. Reflection can happen either as we are going through something, or afterwards when we stop and reflect. Reflection helps us to gain insight as to why we act the way that we do and so help us to understand better how we behave in certain circumstances. Reflection is a dynamic method whereby a specialised person can gain awareness and achieve an understanding of how shared, social and individual experiences have contributed to professional training and knowledge (Wilkinson, 1996). ‘We can regard it as having three elements: return to experience, attending to feelings and re-evaluation of experience’, (Boud 2001)., Reflection is a way of developing practical knowledge and students can start using reflection as their knowledge of nursing mounts up. There a re two focal points of significance: unawareness and socio-political significance (Heath, 1998). Knowing is a self-motivated process and a product of individual thinking and changes as the person survives and interrelates in the world. Its qualifications are knowledge, cognizance and reflection. The results are to understand the behaviour and making sense and altering the behaviour, (Bonis, 2009). Reflection is being wary of what you do and say, either when you are experiencing something or afterwards, like when the person is looking through a window and sees himself within the perspective of a specific experience in order to challenge, comprehend and try to solve conflicts amid his own idea of what is right and what he actually practices, (Johns, 2005). Account Whilst on one of my placements at the Commcare I was asked to accompany one of the staff to the multiple daily assessment visits that they do. Commcare is an assessment unit which delivers support to the community by assessing individual needs and then acting accordingly, while at the same time providing assistance and care plans for the individual needs. Assessment is done to calculate the essential needs, to develop care plans, watch for timely improvement, and design delivery of the needed services,(Gamble and Brennan, 2006). Commcare’s aim is help the individual maintain his or her freedom while still living in the comfort of own homes. Individuals are referred to other services if needed. Persons can also be referred to the Malta Memorial District Nursing Association, (M.M.D.N.A.), which is a non-paying organisation, offering nursing and midwifery services. Commcare also provides the services of a physiotherapist, social worker, an occupational therapist and carers. ‘The precise organization and content of health services will differ from one country to another, but in any well-functioning health system, t he network of service delivery should have the following characteristics: comprehensiveness, accessibility, continuity, people-centeredness, coordination, accountability and efficiency’ ,(Global Health Observatory,2014) . After visiting some clients who needed some sort of service or other, we visited the last client on the list for the morning. When we rang the door-bell, a lady, who looked like she was in her early sixties, opened the door for us. As soon as we stepped in we could tell that this was an educated family. The house smelled clean and the occupants looked educated. This could be seen by the way that the house was kept, by their verbal communication and through their body language. Non-verbal and verbal hints are smart signals for transmitting and getting information, (Galloway, 1968). A slightly elderly gentleman joined the lady, and since both of them looked healthy and both were over sixties, I was wondering why we were actually there. Both of them asked us to go up the stairs and then we were guided into another clean room where there was this very old gentleman, with oxygen nasal prongs and sitting in a comfortable chair. The room seemed well equipped to the needs of the patient and some structural to build a small bathroom in his bedroom. The nurse started to ask who was everyone and we found out that whilst the elderly gentleman was the father, the other two were his non-married children and that all lived in the same house. The son, who was a priest, was mostly out of the house especially during the day while the daughter took care of the house and her father. However she was finding it difficult to leave the house even to go shopping since her father had returned from hospital and he needed some supervision and so she could not leave him alone. The father, who was quiet a tall gentleman and who was 92 years old, wished to bathe instead of showering . However he needed some assistance to wash the lower part of his body especially his feet and he would not allow his daughter to bathe him. The nurse was interviewing the daughter regarding her father’s needs and the dad interrupted the nurse to tell him that he must be included in the conversation. I smi led silently to myself as I could see that he meant what he said. The nurse nodded and started to address the gentleman as well but somehow once again he ended up addressing the daughter. The gentleman stood on his feet and cleared his voice with all the highest pitch that he could muster told that nurse that he was still here, on this world and since it was him that they were talking about, he wanted to know what they were saying and to be included in the conversation. The opinions and observations of those that we take care of are necessary to allow us to carry out care compassionately, with pride and respect, (Hemmingway, 2012). This home visit highly contrasted with a home to which we had been a few minutes before. The first thing that I noticed when the door was opened was the musty smell that came out and all that I saw at the time were a pair of very dirty shoeless feet even though the weather was very cold. The man who stood before us looked very old and he was by himself. His home was extremely dirty and poor-looking and I felt that I needed to get out as soon as possible. Conditions in which people live effect a person’s chance to be healthy and jeopardize their life expectancy, (World Health Organisation,2014). When the nurse started interviewing this client they found that he had no-one to help him, had no income and he had a multitude of health issues. Deprived people have more risk of developing disease due to their lower socio-economic status, (WHO, 2011). The man was only sixty-six years old and had been jobless his entire life. Although money was a problem he had been smoking and the nur se did ask him why did he spent the little money that he had on cigarettes and not use them to get food. But going through the only room which he occupied was a picture of him when he was much younger. In this picture he was smoking. People develop coping mechanisms to deal with problems and although this was not a good method to deal with his problems, and he had to be discouraged from using cigarettes, I felt that this issue could be handled later, after his more basic needs were met. Feelings and Thoughts The first thing that came to my mind when we visited this house was the difference in social class that exists on our island. Inequalities in health are not only connected to accessibility to health care services; there are other determining factors linked to the conditions in which we work and live (Whitehead et al., 2014). Barely twenty minutes before had we been to another house just a few minutes away, and the difference was tremendous. I could not help the feeling of the great injustices around us. Here was this educated, well dressed gentleman, warm in his house, being well cared for and looked after, while in the other house, the gentleman lived by himself, alone and dirty, with nothing in the house to eat except a piece of a stale loaf and some dried up tomato paste. Unconsciously I was comparing the gentlemen’s houses and way of living. The first house that we had visited was dirty, had no furniture except a bed in a corner and some very spare items, whilst the second house was very well attended to. I could never have imagined that there was so much difference in the way people lived. I was not blaming anyone but I did think about the inequities in health and social detriments I loved the way that the gentleman kept interrupting the conversation. He was very assertive in the way that he said that he had to be involved in the decisions which were being taken regarding his issues. It is true, some of us, me included, sometimes tend to decide about someone’s well-being without including and taking the opinion of the person about whom we are talking. Although the gentleman was very old, he was still very lucid and aware of what was going on and I felt that we were somehow taking away his dignity because we were treating him as if he was not there and we were taking decisions for him until he stopped us. It is by being conscious of individual actions that the health care professional may change his views and actions to develop more corrective measures in the nurse/client therapeutic relationship, (Maude,2012). Both of his children cared for him in their family home. The son spent a lot of time out of home, but the daughter spent all the time at home with her father and did not seem to have any time for herself. She was also not very young and seemed like she could profit from some help. Her father did seem a little demanding and I thought that she needed a break from her routine. I was glad to note that Commcare could offer the services of a carer for a few hours per week, an offer which she gladly agreed to. Something which I admire in the service is that it looks holistically at the needs of the person and the situation as a whole. Whoever goes to assess the individuals does this with an open mind and help is offered holistically. Holistic needs assessment is a procedure of collecting data from the patients and carer to discuss and improve the client’s requirements and ideals with the person as a whole by ‘integrating their physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental well-being’, (National Cancer Survivorship Initiative,2011). Help is offered at all levels and I was impressed by the way that they follow their clients to see that they are getting what they need. ANALYSES During these placements I noted that most people do not know about the services that are provided and even if they know about them, they do not know how to access them. Maybe the local councils can help in this area by providing lists and telephone numbers to a number of government and non-government services and agencies that are available. Another thing that I noted is that we do our best to see that if possible care is provided in the homes and that is a very good thing, however we do not seem to offer a lot of support for those people who care for their elderly. Emotional illness affects both the way that carers provide the care as well as their private lives. Two of the most common disorders of the carers are anxiety and exhaustion, (Penson et al., 2000). I think that even in this area, local councils can help. They can create groups of local volunteers who could offer their services for a few hours to these people who in return would be able to take care of themselves for a few hours. These placements have reinforced my beliefs that being is nurse is not just helping with the medical and nursing advice. Assessing the patients in their own environment is also important if we are to treat the patients holistically. We are the patients advocate and as that we have to make sure that the treatment that they are getting is adequate. It is also essential to be empathic and supportive. Sometimes we need to put ourselves in that patient’s shoes or maybe ask the question ‘How would I treat this patient if she or he were my mum or dad?’ Practising empathy helps us feel stronger and less stressed because we will understand that we are somehow connected, (Dinkins, 2011). Going through some sites to research for this assignment, I came through an article which really had an impact on me. The article by Rhonda Nay,(2013), is about how our modern civilization has put apart our senior citizens and how this is our problem and that we should value senior citizens ‘and make care of older people and people with dementia an issue of high importance’. Most times we tend to think that old people cannot think for themselves, that they are no longer useful to the community. While it is true that they might not be as agile as they once were, it is also true that they can still contribute to society. ‘ The economic and social contribution offered by older people – in employment, volunteering, or caring for partners, children and other family members– is rarely acknowledged’, (Commission on Dignity in Care for Older People, 2012). Working with helpless people has helped me to improve my skills in handling delicate issues. They have helped me become aware of certain problems which I had not been aware of before, like poverty and like how important it is to look at the clients in a holistic way and without any prejudice. In other words, both the staff and the clients have helped me comprehend the concept of holistic care and the importance of looking at a client’s lifestyle as well as his history and not just focus on his medical condition. We are there to see past the illnesses and we are there to teach patients on how to adopt better lifestyle choices which can positively affect their health. I am sure that having more insight will help me to continue to offer the best service to our clients. References A. (Eds.) Promoting Journal Writing in Adult Education. New Directions in Adult and Continuing Education No. 90. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 9-18. Bonis, S. (2009). Knowing in nursing: a concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(6), 1328-1341. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04951.x Boud, D. (2001). Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice. In English, L. M. and Gillen, M. Charles Galloway, C., (1968), Theory into Practice, Vol. 7, No. 5, Workshop in the Analysis of Teaching), pp. 172-175, Published by: Taylor Francis, Ltd. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org.ejournals.um.edu.mt/stable/1475983 Commission on Dignity in Care for Older People, pg 6, http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Global/Delivering Dignity Report.pdf?dtrk=true Dinkins, C. (May 10, 2011) Ethics: Beyond Patient Care: Practicing Empathy in the Workplace OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 16 No. 2. Gamble and Brennan, 2006, Working with serious Mental illness. Global Health Observatory, 2014, Service Delivery, http://www.who.int/gho/service_delivery/en/ Heath, H. (1998). Reflection and patterns of knowing in nursing. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 27(5), 1054-1059. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.1998.00593.x Hemingway,A., (2012), â€Å"Humanity, respect and dignity are the foundations of practice, www.nursingtimes.net / Vol 108 No 40 / nursing times ,Pg 11 Johns,C., Transforming Nursing Through Reà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ective Practice; Chapter 1., Expanding the Gates of Perception, Pg 2. Maude,P., (2012), Utilising Reflective Practice Journals to Explore Student Fears and Feelings during Psychiatric Nursing Clinical Placement, International Journal of Modern Education Forum (IJMEF) Volume 1 Issue 1,August 2012, Pg 21 National Cancer Action Team, London: NCAT; 2011. Holistic needs assessment for people with cancer: a practical guide for healthcare professionals, http://www.ncsi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/The_holistic_needs_assessment_for_people_with_cancer_A_practical_Guide_NCAT.pdf nals. Nay,R., (2012), An age-old problem: society fails to truly embrace its seniors., http://theconversation.com/an-age-old-problem-society-fails-to-truly-embrace-its-seniors-16299 Nonverbal Communication Penson, R.T., Dignan,F.L., Canellos,g.p., Picard, C.L., Lynch,T.J., Burnout: Caring for the Caregivers , The Oncologist 2000; 5:425-434 Whitehead, Povall, S., Loring, B., WHO, (2014), The equity action spectrum: taking a comprehensive approach; Guidance for addressing inequities in health, Pg 3, http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/247631/equity-action-090514.pdf?ua=1 World Health Organisation, 2004, Social Detriments, http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-determinants/social-determinants/social-determinants World Health Organisation, 2011, 10 facts on health inequities and their causes, http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/health_inequities/en/