Organizational Performance Management Essay Example for Free

Organizational Performance Management Essay Each Learning Team member must select a different type of health care organization to study for the purpose of this group assignment. You are encouraged to select a different type of organization from the one chosen in the Week Three individual assignment but it’s not necessary. Group members compare their chosen organizations to complete the table and paper. Resources: Organizational Performance Management Table and Paper Grading Criteria and University of Phoenix Material: Organizational Performance Management Table Conduct a group discussion and address the following points: Â · Summarize the type of health care organization you selected. Â · Compare the main regulatory and accreditation standards that apply to each type of organization and identify standards that apply broadly to most or all types of health care organizations. Â · Discuss the influence of regulatory and accreditation standards on performance-management systems. Â · Discuss how the performance-management systems affect risk and quality management in each type of organization. Â · Identify key areas in the organization that will have direct responsibility for carrying out the day-to-day responsibilities associated with the regulations or standards. Â · Identify other areas in the organization that will be indirectly affected by the regulations or standards. Â · Outline what oversight activities you could use to ensure that the regulatory and accreditation requirements are being implemented and are achieving the desired results. Collaborate to write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper in which you address the following points: Â · Address the similarities and differences among the types of organizations. Â · Follow the link Now for full guide https://bitly.com/1DNjhaY Look into attending community college for your first year or two. By taking your basic core studies at a community college, you can save a considerable amount of money. You can then transfer all of your credits to a university of your choice. If the cost of a 4-year degree is beyond what you can afford, this is a good option. General Questions General General Questions Each Learning Team member must select a different type of health care organization to study for the purpose of this group assignment. You are encouraged to select a different type of organization from the one chosen in the Week Three individual assignment but it’s not necessary. Group members compare their chosen organizations to complete the table and paper. Resources: Organizational Performance Management Table and Paper Grading Criteria and University of Phoenix Material: Organizational Performance Management Table Conduct a group discussion and address the following points: Â · Summarize the type of health care organization you selected. Â · Compare the main regulatory and accreditation standards that apply to each type of organization and identify standards that apply broadly to most or all types of health care organizations. Â · Discuss the influence of regulatory and accreditation standards on performance-management systems. Â · Discuss how the performance-management systems affect risk and quality management in each type of organization. Â · Identify key areas in the organization that will have direct responsibility for carrying out the day-to-day responsibilities associated with the regulations or standards. Â · Identify other areas in the organization that will be indirectly affected by the regulations or standards. Â · Outline what oversight activities you could use to ensure that the regulatory and accreditation requirements are being implemented and are achieving the desired results. Collaborate to write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper in which you address the following points: Â · Address the similarities and differences among the types of organizations. Â · Propose how each organization will monitor performance, achieve regulatory and accreditation compliance, and improve overall organizational performance.

Female Education In Pakistan Theology Religion Essay

Female Education In Pakistan Theology Religion Essay Do you think education is important for the development of a nation? Napoleon Bonaparte said, Give me an educated mother, I shall promise the birth of a civilized nation. Education has a key role in the development of a country. As about half of the population of world is female, female education is as necessary as male education. We have seen in the history of the world that those nations are in the lines of leading developed nations who have educated their women and men equally. But unfortunately the situation of female education in Pakistan is not as good as it should be. Many organizations are working for its improvement. There are some major obstructions in the way of female education but the situation may be improved if some steps are taken with responsibilities. Importance of female education is obvious to everyone. Education of female is necessary for a society in many ways. Firstly educated mothers can educate children in a better way as compared to uneducated woman. She can understand the difficulties coming to students in seeking education. Secondly educated mothers bring up children with more care than uneducated woman. Moreover, Education gives girls and women power to decide about their life and life style. She knows how her right and can raise her voice for her right in the world. Lower female education has a negative impact on economic growth as it lowers the average level of human capital. If we look at the success of European countries, that is only because of their education system. They take education seriously the education of men and women equally. That is the only cause why they are developing so fast. But the situation in Pakistan is totally reversed people understand education necessary for men and not for women. The siFatuation of female education in Pakistan is not satisfying. According to Pakistan Social and Living Measurement survey 2008-2009, the literacy rate of women was only 45%. The rate was 41.75% in 2004. It means the rate was increased only by 3.25% in the duration of five years. It is very disappointing as compared to any other developing country for example India which has the female education rate of 74%. The ratio of female to male education which is 45 to 69 is not good too. The situation is worse in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Baluchistan in which female literacy rate is 31% and 23% respectively. The ratio of female to male education in these provinces is 31/69 and 23/62. The situation is alarming in the country especially in the provinces mentioned above. According to Pakistan educational statistics 2006-2007, there are total 64,309 and 46,270 schools for boys and girls respectively. The number of mixed schools is 36,112. While the situation of Khyber pukhtoonkhwa and Balochista n is especially worse. There are only 8,016 girl schools in KPK while the number of girls school is 2,898 in Baluchistan. The statistics shows that the situation is highly alarming for the development of Pakistan we should improve the situation otherwise the dream of success of Pakistan will not be fulfilled. There are some problems occurring in the way of female education in Pakistan. Religious misinterpretation is one of them. Some people consider female education against religion so they do not let their daughters get education. They are afraid that girls will become liberal when they are educated. In some areas of Pakistan extremism (so called Islamic extremists) badly affected female education. Many girls school were destroyed in the current wave of extremism in the country. Girls were not allowed to go to schools and colleges. Malala Yousafzai, a 14 year girl who raised her voice for the education of girls was attacked by the extremists. Lack of knowledge about the importance of female education is another obstruction. People dont consider education important for woman. They dont feel woman can take part in social life after getting education. They consider the job of woman limited to home. In some areas culture does not allow woman to seek education. For example, the tribal areas o f Pakistan where woman are not allowed even to go out of their home. Society does not allow girls/women to develop their human capabilities by precluding them from acquiring education. Lack of emphasis on the importance of womens education is one of the cardinal features of gender inequality in Pakistan. Chaudhry, I. Rahman, S. (2009). As for as Islam is concerned, it is the most accused religion about gender inequality. Dr. Raheeq Abbasi, secretary general Minhajul Quran International states that this is a sad accusation made upon Islam while knowledge is one of the basic pillars on which the building of Islam is raised. This is a fact that the first revelation upon the holy prophet contained the word read. There is no disagreement within Islam regarding the seeking of knowledge being binding and obligatory. He states that the there are more than five hundred verses in the Holy Quran which highlights the importance of seeking of knowledge. ( Abbasi, 2009 ). Islam has its clear concept about education. According to the Holy Quran, Say: Can those who have knowledge and those who do not be alike? So only the wise do receive the admonition. [Al-Zumar, 39:9.]. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) said, Acquisition of knowledge is binding on all Muslims (both men and women without any discrimination). [Narrated by Ibn Maja in al-Su nan, 1:81 224.]. It is evident from the Holy Quran and Hadiths that there is no gender discrimination in seeking knowledge. Also study of the life of Holy Prophet shows that he made special arrangement for the education of women. But there are some conditions that Muslim women should follow while going out for education. In Islam woman is not allowed to go out without pardah. As stated in the holy Quran. And direct the believing women that they (too) must keep their eyes lowered and guard their chastity, and must not show off their adornments and beautification except that (part of it) which becomes visible itself. [Al-Nur, 24:31.]. In another place Allah says, O Prophet! Say to your wives, your daughters and the women of believers that, (whilst going out,) they should draw their veils as coverings over them. It is more likely that this way they may be recognized (as pious, free women), and may not be hurt (considered by mistake as roving slave girls). And Allah is Most Forgiving, E ver-Merciful. [12 Al-Ahzab, 33:59.]. Many organizations are working for the development of female education in the country. In government sector Federal and Provincial ministries are active to develop female education. Schools are being constructed for girls in the areas where needed. Some schemes are being evolved in girls schools to persuade girls to seek education. For example, books are distributed free of cost up to high schools. But this is not fulfilling the need. The announcements are often not brought to action. Education has only 2% in the total budget of the country. Moreover some Non-government organizations are also working. These NGOs are arranging seminars and functions all over the country in order to make people aware about the importance of female education in Pakistan. They are also distributing free textbooks, other general knowledge books, sports equipments and even food for in the school girls in order to persuade girls to schools. There are some difficulties for them to them. Some local religious leaders do not allow them to work in their areas. They think their policy is to make people away from religion. Therefore people are directed not to contribute with them in the cause as they are carrying people away from the religion. Some local organizations are also working for cause Alkhidmat foundation, a local Islamic NGO is working for female education. It gives scholarships to the needy students all over the country. The situation of female education can be improved if some bold steps are taken. First of all teachers and students should play their role in the cause. This may be done by making people aware about the importance of female education by arranging seminars and function around the country especially in the rural areas. Secondly religious scholars should take part in this cause. As religious misinterpretation is one of the major obstacles in the way. People do not have clear idea of religion about female education. They should tell the clear idea of religion about education especially female education and also the conditions for female to go outside home to seek education. Next, Government should take some steps to improve the situation. Government has to make awareness in people regarding female education. It should construct girls schools in the areas where there the number of schools is very low. As many people do not let their girls get education in co-education system. There should be complete separate schools and also female staff for the girls. As Education has only 2% in the annual budget. Government should spend more on education in their annual budgets. The non-government organizations working for female education also have to play their role in the cause by making awareness in such a way that people would not consider it against their religion. Special attention should be given to the areas where the situation is alarming. It is obvious from the above discussion that the situation of female education in Pakistan is much lower than the need of the time. Females are not given the right of seeking education. There are many obstructions in the way of female education which include religious misinterpretation, current wave of extremism in the country and lack of knowledge about the importance of female education, many organizations are working for the improvement of situation in government as well as non-government sectors. The situation can be improved if every individual play its role with responsibility. Teachers, students, religious leaders and scholars, government and non government organizations can make it better if they know and fulfill their responsibilities. Abbasi, DR. Raheeq, (2009). Women Education In Islam. 1st ed. Pakistan: Minhaj Ul Quran International. Chaudhry, I. Rahman, S. (2009). The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education on Rural Poverty in Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences, Issue 15, 2009.

The leadership challenge faced by Toyota

The leadership challenge faced by Toyota My decision to work on Toyota is related to a moving scene I saw on television few months ago .Under the media spotlight, Akio Toyoda (Toyota CEO) was standing tearful under a giant display bearing the name of the company. This emotional reaction is the story of a senior leader who commits their life to the business, such a vulnerability is atypical enough to study the case. How Toyota, recognized as model in terms of management, can meet such tragic situation? The consequences of poor crisis management could severely damage the reputation of a company thats why every company must be prepared for crisis. This is the case with Toyota, one of worlds leading auto makers. I have decided to work on Toyota case to show how a company known for its reliable and innovative products , an exemplar of production efficiency with a perfect storm of rapid growth , can become a company with a series of product defects that has caused deaths and put many consumers at risk. Is it a technological matter or a leadership crisis?, What has been Toyotas solutions for crisis response? Toyoda went into hiding and sent American CEO Jim Lentz to make apologies. The issues of product quality became out of control. This left the media, politicians, and consumers to dictate the conversation, while Toyota was looking for the responses. This situation without a proper solution and explanation let people talk and imagine the worst things. Artful apologies and confused plans for resolution have been made to face this crisis. If you have a leader who isnt capable to deal with global issues of this significance level, should he be in the leadership position? What makes a true leader? In this work, I will try to understand how the Prince became the no show Akio Toyoda. For that I will first focus on the external analysis to identify the market place of the company, then I will emphasize on the internal analysis that is to say more specifically the cultural aspects of this company moral , management, attitude at work, with a special focus on the leadership concept. Finally, I will make recommendations that will help Toyota to handle the crisis well. 2)The external analysis The impact of the crisis on the company is huge. When customers lose trust with companies the impact is high. Toyotas customers are meeting a kind of identity crisis. There is a discrepancy between what they were expected from the company and the reality. They expected Toyota to have the highest quality, best reliability and great safety. Because of the crisis, people who used to buy Toyotas think that the value of their car has decline since the problem of confidence began. Twenty seven percent of customers surveyed that said they were considering a Toyota prior to the recall now say they no longer are considering the brand for their next vehicle purchase. Now nearly half of the car buyers who have defected from Toyota say they are not sure if they will consider the brand again, even once Toyotas problems are resolved. This is showing how the impact is huge and how a long term work need to be made to restore customers confidence. It is the main difficulty that Toyota will have to confront. Which is as well a tough nut to crack is that Toyota build all his philosophy on the concept of quality. This shows in quantifiable terms the impact of this crisis of confidence on future purchases. To me it seems that Toyota has losing its focus on customers and has payed more attention to market share and profits, millions upon millions of Americans were buying their automobiles believing Toyotas promises. Moreover Competition will be even more stronger. Rivals will take advantage of Toyotas crisis particularly Ford. Its a competitive market . I think it is important to realize the impact of a break down in trust with customers. In the case of Toyota, the company will see falling profits and possibly losses that may extend well into the future. By some estimates their US dealers are losing over $2B per month. The manufacturing line has been shut down at two US plants with more closings possible. None of this takes into consideration parts suppliers and the economic impact on all those who either do business with Toyota or provide goods and services to Toyotas dealers and their employees. Why is all this happening? We dont have a lots of information on the specific problems, we can guess from the Toyota executives appearances before congress that it was because Toyota lost its essence of what they valued. The old values of quality and customers first were replaced with growth and profitability. Competition is increasing almost daily with new entrants coming into the market from China , South Korea ,Toyota faces tremendous competitive rivalry in the car market, Toyota should not forget what make its fame: reliability How could this happen? We can imagine that leaders like Toyoda did not want to hear from anyone something that is going to slow down the growth train. Even one of the best corporate systems, such as the Toyota Production System, can be subverted by fear and greed. We can say that Toyota has done many things right in responding to the crisis: Talk to the media , using all canals( facebook, twitter, diverse websites) to reassure customers. But it seem that whatever Toyota says now, and however well it acts, there is a sense that it ignored the problem until it was forced to take action. If it stinks, put a lid on it. Toyota follow this japanese proverb to sort out the problem. Toyoda didnt accept to face the reality it is a management crisis and develop a lack of trust from the customers. To react properly, this requires an organisational culture that is vigilant for potential crises, has open lines of communication from staff to management, and a willingness to address unpleasant truths. . The challenge is created by two elements of culture: firstly, an obsession with quality, which means that anything less than perfection is seen embarrassing. As a consequence, problems with quality are literally inconceivable. The second interlinked element of culture is a hierarchical approach to management and a lack of open communication. People who are at the best placed to spot early signs of crisis feel unable to point out flaws. As a result, problems unresolved until they explode into a major crisis. Another reason why Toyota has such a major challenge on its hands is that this crisis touch at the essence of its reputation. Toyota has built its reputation on quality and reliability, and anything that calls this into question is especially threatening. This is a lesson for all organisations: understand what lies at the heart .It is essential that the company remains true to these values in its approach to crisis management . Toyota company has failed to get ahead of events and take control. It looks like the crisis is managing Toyota rather than vice versa. Toyoda, the chief executive, should have been the face of the organisation during this major crisis. No chief executive can be absent from the public eye when the business is in the middle of a crisis It is not necessarily the reality of how a business manages a crisis that will determine its success. Its how the organisation is perceived to have managed the crisis: We know the importance of public relation and the organization of a proper communication. Get it right and the organisations reputation and value can be protected; get it wrong and serious damage can result. In this context, the role of the media spokesperson is pivotal, even in this age of social media. Observers draw conclusions based not just on what the spokesperson says, but also their body language, and tone of voice. executives like Toyoda are unlikely to represent their organisation well in a crisis when they disapear in front of serious crisis Toyota should have create the right culture to avoid crisis , developing workable crisis management plans and processes, and training managers likely to be part of a crisis response team this would have play a large part in determining the success of the organisation in the event of a crisis. Full recovery requires continued communication and actions to regain the trust of customers affected by the crisis. If Toyotas recent troubles encourage more businesses to recognise the impact that crises can have on a businesss long-term reputation and take steps to protect themselves as a consequence, then at least some goodwill has come from recent events. But I am sure that Toyota could regain most if not all of its lost market share with a vigorous marketing campaign and reassurances on quality but for that one step more need to be overcome: a deep and radical changes in terms of culture, moral and management approach. This is what we are going to study in the second part. . the internal analysis We have seen that the impact of the crisis on the external market share is mainly financial now we will focus on the cultural , philosophical, organizational matters. I will try first to sum up what make the specificity of Toyota. A) Philosophy: Before we build a car , we build people why do I exist? That s the question we try to answer through the philosophy. In Toyota company it is fundamental. The company built a long term thinking asking what is the meaning of our organization? where do we want to go?Toyota based its management decisions on a long term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals to build a sustainable success. They also generate value for the customer , the society and the economy.They align the organization toward a common goal that is bigger than making money. Toyota has turned operational excellence into a strategic weapon not because of the tools and quality improvement methods but a deeper business philosophy rooted in understanding of people and what motivates them. Its success is ultimately based on its ability to develop leaders, build teams, and nurture a supportive culture, to devise strategy, to build deep supplier relationships, and to maintain a learning organization. B) Toyota leadership model: Toyota leaders are builder of learning organization. The aim is to grow leaders who understand the work, leave the philosophy and teach it to others.The leaders real challenge is to develop people so they are strong contributor to the organization but also having the long term vision of knowing what to do, the knowledge of how to do it and the ability to develop people. Leaders at Toyota, like anywhere want to see measurable results. But they know that the financial result is a result of a process. They also realize that the financial reflect the past performance of that process. Good Toyota leaders dont jump to conclusions they try to first size up the situation and then ask why.All action at Toyota revolve around planning and problem solving, for the system to work problems must be exposed. Toyotas way provides extraordinary focus, direction, control, while at the same time they provide maximum flexibility. Three keys to toyotas leadership: Go see, ask why and show respect: getting people to think and take initiative is key! The leaders job at Toyota is to act as a teacher, get each person to take the iniative to solve problems and improve his job, ensure that each persons job is aligned to provide value for customer and prosperity for the company.Leaders must be the role of models, he understand the daily work.So coaching , promote from within the team is key to success. Toyota emphasize on the fact that their role is to develop exceptional people and teams who follow the companys philosophy.They usually use a cross functional teams that is to say a group of people with different functional expertise working toward a common goal. It may include people from finance, marketing, operations, and human resources departments. Typically, it includes employees from all levels of an organization. Members may also come from outside an organization (in particular, from suppliers, key customers, or consultants). Cross-functional teams often function as self-directed teams responding to broad, but no specific directives. Decision-making within a team may depend on consensus, but often is led by a team leader. They also continuously teach people how to work together, because team work must be learned, they want to reinforce the culture continually. The way they solve problem is also interesting : go and see for yourself to thoroughtly understand the situation : It s a really pragmatic approach of problem solving , they go to the source to observe and verify data. Don t theorize on the basis of what people and computers tell you They want to have a true relation with the reality and even high level managers should do this. In Toyotas culture we talk about consensus decision all decision are made slowly by consensus, considering all options. They also implement decision rapidly discussing problem and potential solutions with all involved. B) motivation theory: Maslows need hierarchy looks at motivating people as equivalent to satisfying their internal needs. When you work for Toyota , your lower level needs are covered. Youre well paid, you have job security and youre working in a safe, controlled environment. Toyotas culture emphasizes the use of challenging work situation to build self confidence. Its a culture of continuous improvement. Herzbergs theories are similar to Maslow but they are focus on characteristics of work that are motivators.Their absence will cause a dissatisfaction, but providing a person more and more of them will not positively motivate. Toyota has done a good job. Indeed , for example people are responsible only for a tiny piece of an overall product and work repeatedly , to make the task more motivating they worked on designing assembly line to improve job enrichment. Toyota organizes teams around complete project from start to finish. Having the responsibility of participating in the project from the beginning to the end empowers the employee. They also provide job rotations, they allow people to be proactive in solving problems and they develop autonomy other the tasks. About the external environnement theory, we can notice from Taylors scientific management based on reward with money performance relative to standards that all scientific management principles are followed but at the group level rather than individual level and based on employee involvement. About the goal setting that is to say : set specific, measurable , achievable challenging goals and measure progress, Toyota sets goals that meet these criteria through the policy deployment and the continuous measurements is relative to targets. B)Managing people Toyota has taken various steps to build high performance teams: Step 1: Orientation. This is about the visionary leadership.A leader need to be guide and the vision must be different, unexpected.It must be memorable , stick in the mind.The leader also have to exemply the vision to give concrete dimesion to the vision.This step is vital because if a vision is not shared the success of a project may be risky. The group needs strong direction from the leader and must understand the basic mission, rules of engagement, and tools the members will use. This step is fundamental, a leader have to share purpose and vision to have the support of all the team. Its a condition to build a sustainable success. A leader and his team need to wonder , what kind of organization are they going to build?To build a challenging but achievable goals, the goals that everyone wants and shares Step 2: Dissatisfaction. To avoid discouragement the leader need to build blocks of sustainable success , it could be for example about values.How do we do things round here?Are our values real or window dressing? These reflexions need to involve the inclusive company to be efficient. After going to work, the members discover it is harder than they thought to work as a team. In this stage, they continue to need strong direction (structure) from the leader but also need a lot of social support to get through the tough social dynamics they do not understand. Step 3: Integration. At this stage people become more independent, they understand the meaning of the work.The difficulty is to balance flexibility and control. The group starts to develop a clearer picture of the roles of various team members and begins to exert control over team processes. The leader does not have to provide much task direction, but the team still needs a lot of social support. Step 4: Production. The group becomes a high-performing team, no longer dependent on the leader. In Toyota people do the same mindless task repeatedly and are responsible only for a tiny piece of an overall product. Toyota has tryed to enrich jobs in various ways, to give a meaning to this repetitive work they organized job rotation, various kinds of feedback on how workers are doing at their jobs, it let a significant work group autonomy over the tasks. They redesigned its assembly lines so that the parts that make up a subsystem of the vehicle are installed in one specific area on the assembly line. Rather than a work group assembling electrical systems and then putting in floor mats and then door handles, a work group might focus almost exclusively on the electrical system under the hood., Toyota also organized teams around complete projects from start to finish. For example, the design of the interior of the vehicle is the responsibility of one team from the design phase through production. Participation in the project from beginning to end enriches and empowers the employee. Empowerment of the employee is as well key to success. Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behaves, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of ones own destiny. The organization has the responsibility to create a work environment which helps and give to people the ability and desire to act in empowered ways. Toyotas trouble : crisis or opportunity? As we studied, Toyota company is knowing as reliable and strong organization , on the other hand during the recent recall crisis the company showed weaknesses that we could not imagine. Lets have a critical analysis about what happened.. It seems that the crisis that Toyota met is mainly a problem of communication.Both internal and external communications must be timely and effective. Ongoing daily phone conferences need to be conducted to obtain the latest status and to share information. In addition, status reports must be e-mailed to all interested parties on a daily basis. External communication has to be managed to avoid misinformation being leaked to the media. Moreover leaders need to be visible during crisis but it is also a lake of humility. They didnt take seriously the risk of quality, they were not enough prepare to this risk, they saw themselves as untouchable but we know that even a good company can be involved in crisis. Their strategy is a long term one, they were not prepared to face such an immediate crisis , may be because of their lake of realism. They didnt keep the contact with reality through an efficient communication. We know how listening is an important attribute for a leader and it seems that Toyota company with its hierarchical structure is not prepared to collect information from all the employee. Its a possibility for them to reassert their value and to think their organisation more as living organism that need to adapt to this unpredictable context. We can also be critical about the concept of consensus team decision making, for Japanese it is the essence of decision.Its interesting to talk about the difference of culture that exist between European and Asiatic management. In our country we mainly emphasis on the answer to the question , for Japanese the important element is defining the question that is why they need a consensus to find out what the decision is really about , this can explain the difficulties they meet to find in a short time a good solution. Toyota could turn their crisis situation into an opportunity and build clear channels of communication with the public, improving their relationship and calming the fears of millions of car owners. 4) Recommendations and conclusion Its not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent but rather the one the most responsive to change Charles Darwin Toyota needs leader with credibility and with a clear plan. Toyoda need to see himself as change agent, representing, and protecting the group. He needs to learn how to deal with resistance but also take a risk and to confront the reality. He should, as well, know how to cope with complexity, ambiguity , uncertainty .A real leader is the one who view mistakes as a learning opportunity. There is real challenges of change. For the moment we can see Toyoda as a hiders, the one hoping the change will go away it is not the role of a leader, on the other hand he has to enable the group endure hard times. So lets talk about few recommendations to change the way to lead: 1) Face the reality. Toyoda did not want to face the problem and did not take his responsibility in the crisis . We expect from a leader to be courageous instead of that Toyoda hide the reality.He should have said that he pushed too hard for growth and neglected quality. By admitting his errors, he gives every Toyota employee permission to acknowledge mistakes and to get on with correcting them, instead of denying reality. 2: Get the world off your shoulders. Toyoda cannot expect to solve problems of this magnitude himself. Instead, he needs a crisis team reporting directly to him, working to get problems fixed permanently. He also needs outside counsel, as he appears to be listening only to insiders who are defensive about criticism. He should add the worlds top quality experts to his fix-it team and listen carefully to their advice. 3: Understand the real causes of the crisis. When Toyotas problems first surfaced, the company blamed a symptom loose floor mats and exonerated the accelerators. Instead, management should have required its best engineers to get to the root cause of this problem and every other quality problem being reported. This is basic engineering and quality discipline. 4: Crisis will have effects on a long term.It is going to be worst before getting better.So the organization need to be prepared to face a long term crisis. It will take years to resolve the trust crisis. Toyota must invest heavily in corrective actions while its sales shrink and profits implode, requiring major cash resources until its reputation can be restored. 5:We can change the crisis to an opportunity to restore Toyota quality. The crisis is melting away the denial and resistance that existed in recent years. For sure Employees are waitingfor new direction, and they want to make radical changes to renew the company. With Toyodas leadership, Toyota automobiles can be restored to the worlds highest quality.It is the moment to rebuild brand loyalty and to demonstrate the value and the promise in the answer to the problem. 6: Leaders personify the reputation of a company: In a crisis, people insist on hearing from the leader. Akio Toyoda cant send out public relations specialists or his American executives to explain what happened. Toyoda must come out of hiding, take personal responsibility, Then he should make a personal commitment to every Toyota customer to repair the damage, including buying back defective cars. 6: Leaders need to move quickly to solve causal operational issues, erring on the side of overcompensating. 7: After this crisis Toyoda need to focus on future success. Its important to focus also on the future , the long term benefits, trying to see the opportunity to win market share because afetr this crisis, the market will never look the same. GM and Ford are rapidly regaining market share, while the confidence of Toyotas loyal customers is badly shaken. Toyota cannot wait until all its quality problems are resolved. The company need a reactivity. It must play defense and offense simultaneously. To win, Toyota need to offer advanced features and superior quality, better value for consumers, greater safety, and improved fuel efficiency. I believe this is a great company that will resurrect its reputation and restore its leadership. But there is a lots of effort to make: first it is obviously most important to solve the problems with their cars.. But they also may be find new way to communicate with their customer using for example the social web. It seems that their responses have appeared a little slow and awkward. Giving consumers information about the recall in more pedagogic way, easily understandable. A leader should have a clear message .They should explain exactly what theyre doing, why things will be different in the future. Toyoda did not manage this crisis as we expect a real leader will do.He did not go past the emotional when customers and also employee from the company were waiting for a solutions. It show to us the affective link that a leader can build with his company, but people were expected from him a rational approach. On the other hand I am convinced that even if it is a long term working, particularly trying to regain the customers trust, the company with its reputed story , their experienced know how will be back .Its for them the opportunity to change practices , to work on crisis management ,and to change their organizational work beliefs. Bibliographie: The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the Worlds Greatest Manufacturer de Jeffrey K. Liker Jeffrey Krames, Jack Welch and the 4Es of Leadership, How to Put GEs Leadership Formula to Work in Your Organization, McGraw-Hill, 2005 CONGER, J.A. et B. BENJAMIN, Buildind Leaders, Éditions Jossey Bass, 1999. GOLEMAN, D.,  « Leadership that gets results  », Harvard Business Review, 2000, marsavril, 78-90. HEIFEZT, R.A.,  « The Work of leadership  », Harvard Business Review (1997, janvierfà ©vrier), LAPIERRE, L. (à ©d.)  « Le leadership  », numà ©ro spà ©cial de Gestion, revue internationale de gestion, septembre 2008. NORTHOUSE, P.G., Leadership : Theory and Practice, Sage (deuxià ¨me à ©dition) 2001. YUKL, G. Leadership in Organizations, Prentice-Hall (premià ¨re à ©dition), 1981. Satoshi kamata,demopolis, Toyota , lusine du dà ©sespoir, 2008 Dirk Bosenberg and heinz Metzen, à ©dition dorganisation,  « le Lean management  »,1994 Taiichi ohno  « Toyota Production System : beyond Large- Scale Production  » ,1978 Taiichi OHNO  « Prà ©sent et avenir du Toyotisme  », Masson , Paris, 1992 James P. Womack, Daniel roos, Dunod, Paris , 1992

tragoed Oedipus as the Ideal Tragic Hero of Oedipus the King (Oedipus

Oedipus as the Ideal Tragic Hero of Oedipus the King In the introduction to Sophocles' Oedipus the King, Sophocles defines a tragic hero as one who "[behaves] admirably as a man, [but who] is nevertheless tripped up by forces beyond his control and understanding..." (Sophocles 76).   In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is the tragic hero. The force that "trips up" the hero is fate, or, moira. It is Oedipus's actions that set the events into motion,   but it is ultimately his fate, and his attempted aversion to it, that brings about his downfall. This downfall, and elements such as plot, character, diction and spectacle (Aristotle 175), that cause Oedipus the King to be a tragedy. In order to describe Oedipus as a tragic hero, one must begin by describing a tragedy. A tragedy must consist of a variety of elements in order to truly fulfill its purpose. According to Aristotle, the most important element is plot (175). Without the events that unify all aspects, the story would not be held together. It is the actions of the tragic hero that lead to his downfall, and that define his characteristics and set into motion all other aspects of the work. In Oedipus the King, it is Oedipus's attempt to avoid his destiny, an overt act of hubris, that leads to his rise in power and ultimate fall. In this aspect, he completely fulfills the job of a tragic hero. Another aspect of a tragedy is character. These are the qualities that are imbued in each character in the story. There have to be admirable traits in the characters, or the readers would not care what happened to them. Some of these characteristics can include honor, bravery, and intelligence, as with Oedipus. If readers did not care, there would be no catharsis... ...hat it was his father whom he killed. He was also acting out of love for his parents when he tried to avoid his fate by leaving town. Due to these circumstances, it can be seen that Oedipus's punishment far exceeded the crime; but this is just one more reason   why he is a tragic hero. Bibliography Bloom, Harold, ed. Sophocles. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2003. 54-57. The Complete Plays of Sophocles. "Introduction." Ed. Moses Hadas. New York: Bantam Books, 1967. p.vii-xvi The Complete Plays of Sophocles. "Introduction to Oedipus the King." Ed. Moses Hadas. New York: Bantam Books, 1967. p.75-76 The Complete Plays of Sophocles. "Introduction." Ed. Moses Hadas. New York: Bantam Books, 1967. p.77-114 Aristotle. "Poetics". Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and Fine Art. Ed. Butcher, S.H. New York. Dover Publications, Inc. 1951.

Danielle Steel’s The Ring - A Blend of Fiction and History Essay

Danielle Steel’s The Ring - A Blend of Fiction and History Can a plot, setting, and characters in a fictitious story be derived from actual historical events and can the two blend together? The unique writing style of Danielle Steel merges true historical events with fiction in a manner that leaves the reader emotionally touched. In her story, The Ring, Steel does not show a partition between fictitious characters and factual historical events. In fact, the two are intertwined so well that the reader can imagine the fictitious characters as real characters during a horrific period of our history, World War II. In fact, historical setting has a very significant impact on this work of fiction. Without the historical setting this story could not take place. The Ring by Danielle Steel follows a chronological order of the emergence of World War II in Germany, bringing along with it economic turmoil, political disorders, and the general insecurity and fear. This particular story is a direct result of history, which Danielle Steel blends very well with fiction. Though the characters are fictitious, they fit perfectly into the historical setting. For instance, Ariana, the protagonist in The Ring, has witnessed firsthand the human-made death and destruction of World War II, just as many victims had seen during the actual war. Even when she goes with her husband, Manfred, to the Opera house, she is reminded that the war is still occurring in Germany. â€Å"Even on Christmas night the war was with them†¦ and in the distance they could hear the bombs†(Steel 164). Ariana has also se en the atrocities as a result of the emergence of the war. For instance, when she is looking for her husband, she comes upon â€Å"a stack o... ...can see past their origins and cherish their country of birth, America. Finally, Danielle Steel has successfully captured the interlaced merger of historical events with fiction. The two flow so naturally in The Ring that it is as if the fictitious characters were real characters in real historical situations. So, the blending of history and fiction comes very much alive in this story, revealing Steel’s creativity that has placed her above most internationally renowned novelists. Works Cited The Ring. By Danielle Steel. Dir. Armand Mastrianni, Perf. Michael York, Jon Tenney, Tim Dekay, James B. Sikking, and Julie Cox. Lifetime Special Presentation, May 27, 2002. Class Film. NJIT. LIT 350-121. Summer Semester, 2002. Steel, Danielle. The Ring. New York: Delacorte Press, 1980.

Pretty Little Liars Essay

Are Pretty Little Liars good at keeping their dirty secretes? Pretty Little Liars a favorite ABC Family series is built around five teenage friends, until one goes missing and is found dead. It has a strong hint of supernatural force that mean no good. It makes most popular vampire romances look anemic. Because of a popular series of HarperTeen books by Sara Shepard, Pretty Little Liars follows the nervous lives of four girls in Rosewood, Pa. It’s a small town and these girls seem to have it all and that sets it up for an even better drama, when we start to see they also have secrets. The season premier starts with the disappearance and apparent death of the fifth girl in the circle, Alison DiLorentis. If the PLL series were traditional, Alison, Sasha Pieterse would have been the sweetest girl in school and no one could imagine anyone wanting to hurt her. If that’s what you’re expecting here, you’re wrong. Alison was a bitchy gossiper, backstabber and cruel practical joker. In any case, they were all together the night she disappeared and we join the story a year later, when free spirit Aria, Lucy Hale, nerdySpencer,TroianBellisario, crazy Hanna, Ashley Benson and jock Emily Shay Mitchell have drifted apart. Drug and alcohol use, foul language, scanty clothing, sexual innuendo and some passioate make-out scenes and homosexuality all make Pretty Little Liars a series that keeps viewers on their feet. Every episode leaves you with a cliffhanger. They run into each other in random chance encounters, however, that suggest each is harboring dark secrets, some related to Alison and some not. Since they apparently weren’t into deep sharing when they were all best friends then, they aren’t spilling now. Except they have two problems. A local cop is determined to find out what happened to Alison. Second, the girls all start getting mysterious messages that suggest some supernatural force knows all the secrets and could and sometimes do expose them to the public. Could the messages be coming from Alison? But isn’t that impossible? What kind of phone network lets you keep texting when you’re dead? I’d say that’s beyond 4g. It’s one thing to talk with your friends about lacrosse practice or the hot guy in the French class. It’s something else when you’re trying to figure out what happened to your disappeared friend, and how disappeared she really is. â€Å"Pretty Little Liars† is good at making us care about the girl’s lives. It keeps us thinking each week as to what might happen the next.

Dimensions Of Negotiation

Negotiation has been an intensely studied and researched topic in the fields of business, politics and psychology since past many years. The importance of negotiation stems from the fact that it is an inter-personal process of communication that involves the principle of direct approach to individuals. With increasing recognition of communication as a premier engaging strategy in conflict resolution and ensuring smooth organizational affairs, a critical parameter for success and growth in today’s environment, negotiation has gained considerable emphasis and focus.Although negotiation is a part of communication strategy, today it has emerged as an independent communication system with its own processes and life cycle. The major dimension of negotiation include, negotiation as a process of conflict management, negotiation as a inter-personal process, architecting the process of negotiation, and third party negotiation. Among these , the two major dimensions of negotiation are co nflict management and third party intervention.Negotiation and conflict management . Negotiation, as a part of managing conflict, requires interested parties to trade proposals for settlement that include, out of court settlements, business contracts, collective bargaining contract etc (Womack, 1990, 32). As Womack further elaborates, generally the process of negotiation proceeds through motives that are both competitive and cooperative.The approach of communication in the entire process of negotiation is concerned with the messages that are transferred among negotiators and the concerned parties. Communication intervenes in the process of negotiation through its both verbal and nonverbal forms and constitutes the entire base on which the goals and terms of the bargain are negotiated. Communication plays the central role in not only developing the relationship among the parties in conflict, but also in determining its direction.It is also central in every form of bargaining process, whether the bargaining is done for organizational form of conflict management, involves conflict resolution, negotiation on legal agreements or for negotiation in inter-group an intra group conflict. The entire role of communication in negotiation processes and strategies is quite vast and it ranges from defining the conflict issues, selection and implementation of strategies to presenting and defending the viable alternatives and finally helping in reaching on a solution (Womack, 1990, 35).In several studies on communication research, especially those involving game theory, communication was not considered central to the process of negotiation. Experiments showed that even when bargainers and negotiators resorted to communication, it was more for threatening than cooperating and collaborating. Womack quotes Deutsch (1969) to inform that back in 60s communication was considered as an unreliable approach in settling conflicts through negotiations.Moreover, there were fears that poor communication forms could result in misinformation, errors and possible negative outcomes. There was an additional perception that owing to competitive natures of negotiations, effective and open channels of communication were not possible. Some of these findings hold valid in disputes, particularly that are distributive in nature and concern with business and marketing segment, it has been nonetheless observed that where the goal is to achieve integrated goals, a problem solving approach works in excellent way.Womack (1990) further cites Lewicki, Weiss and Lewin, (1988), Fisher and Uri (1981), Lewicki and Litterer (1985) and Walton and Mckersie (1965) to state that negotiator resort to using multiple formal and informal communication channels to redefine the issues, present analysis of causes that offer difficulties in resolving the conflict and finally, through sharing of information and assessment of needs, help to identify the complete range of possible alternatives and solutio ns that are acceptable to mutual interests and needs of each party in the deal.These approaches lead to negotiation strategies that involve greater participation by conflicting parties, positively contributing to the increased chances of success in reaching settlement through more alternate solution.Some of the communication strategies adopted during negotiations on the group and organization levels in managing conflict include use of fantasy themes, interpretive themes, and stories and rituals that provide scapegoats to the involved parties and give them external reasons to come out with excuses, reasons and justifications to accommodate each other’s behavior, thereby preventing the chances of negotiations being stalled (Womack, 42).It is of first importance that a mediator should present a completely neutral and unbiased image before the conflicting parties to win their confidence and trust in the ability of mediator to help in achieving possible outcome in conflict. The co mmunication skills of mediators should present them as individuals free of gender, racial or ethnic biases. Along with this, successful mediation also requires listening skills on part of the mediator. It helps mediator to understand the current position of each party in the conflict as well inspire them with confidence in the neutrality of the mediator.