Leadership in an Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leadership in an Organization - Essay Example The leadership style involves the cooperation of both the leader and their followers in making some decisions. Many leaders apply democratic leadership which is closely related to participative leadership in so far as leadership engagement and decision making are involved. There are several advantages associated with participative leadership, of which the key ones include the possibility of achieving fast growth through innovation and creativity, high motivation among followers, and ownership of the decision and work, which, in turn, leads to greater cooperation and higher chances of success The paper will discuss the participative leadership style focusing on its application, advantages and disadvantages. The paper will further discuss the effects that good and bad leaders have on their subordinates before giving recommendations. Participative Leadership Participative leadership involves working together with team members in decision making. This, however, does not mean that the lea der involves the team members in making all key decisions. Participative leadership is essential especially when creativity and complex problem solving are part of the mix. Participative leadership is founded on engagement and respect as noted by French, Israel, and As (1960). The assumption made by participative leaders is that when people are involved in decision making, they get to understand the issues involved with respect to those who have to make the decisions. Yet again, the leadership style is founded on the assumption that people are more collaborative and less competitive when they work together to achieve joint objectives. Furthermore, when individuals work together in making decisions, they have greater social commitment to one another, which essentially raises their commitments to the decisions that are made. The participative leadership style constructively focuses on exploiting the energy that resides in every human to human encounter (Martindale, 2011). The leadersh ip style may be thought of as an advanced form of democratic leadership and is associated with high effectiveness considering that it builds community, embraces diversity, and establishes shared responsibility. Yet again, the leadership style heightens personal and collective learning which often results in effective growth and development. Participatory leaders use interactions within the organization to create meaning, purpose and growth even as they transform the organization. As opposed to autocratic leadership, participative leadership involves all people in the decision making process including peers, superiors, subordinates and other stakeholders (Martindale, 2011). Given that leaders work in various environments with various demands, they engage in participative leadership at varying levels. While some leaders may be highly participative, others may be moderately or even less participative. Some of the advantages of participative leadership are as follows. Participative lead ership is essential in the motivation of employees (Stogdill, 1948). The motivation that comes with participative leadership is seen in respect of the fact that when employees are genuinely asked for advice by their superiors, they feel valued. Furthermore, when employees are involved in decision making, they feel honored and actually embrace the work that they do to a greater extent as they feel being part of it according to

Factors that may impact the demand for products by customers Essay

Factors that may impact the demand for products by customers - Essay Example Services and products that a business gives to the market may have an impact on the customers’ demand for the Services or products. For instance, a business may be selling hot dogs; in contrast, a corresponding business may be selling hot dog rolls. If the cost of the hot dog rolls augments, it may make the demand for hot dogs to diminish. Consequently, the demand curve moves to the left, and value for hot dogs would be forced to augment.Customers may choose alternate services and products in place of what a person’s business provides. These alternative products and services function as opposition to a person’s business. For example, if a business sells coffee, the alternative for the product may be tea. If the cost of tea augments, a business may observe an increase in the number of customers who want to buy coffee. Consequently, the demand curve will move to the right, and costs for the business’ coffee may decrease. As indicated above, a substitute refe rs to a commodity that may be utilized in position of another commodity. To simplify the above example, if the cost of coffee increases then the consequence will be an increased demand for tea, and if the cost of tea increases then the result will be an increase in the demand of coffee. In contrast, compliments refer to commodities that may be utilized together, for example, sugar and tea. In case there is an increase in the cost of tea, the demand for tea diminishes, and consequently, the demand of sugar also decreases.... In case there is an increase in the cost of tea, the demand for tea diminishes, and consequently, the demand of sugar also decreases. Customer Preference Customers’ preference and tastes may vary depending on the details they get from family and friends, form of advertisements they come across, or the season. Varying preferences and tastes may have a tremendous impact on demand for various commodities. The degree at which a client needs a product may have an impact on the demand of the product. In addition, persuasive advertisements are developed to cause a variation in preference and tastes and thereby causes and increase in demand of a commodity. The more a customer prefers a commodity, the larger their demand for the commodity. In contrast, if the customer does not have a preference for a specified commodity, the customer will decrease the demand for the commodity (Sullivan & Sheffrin 2003, p. 79). For instance, a person suffering from diabetes will have minimal or no deman d for commodities that contain sugar. Income of Customers The incomes and salaries of buyers highlight the commodities that they are able to buy. When the incomes and salaries of customers augment the customer’s demand for services and products also increases. If a customer takes another position that has a low salary or becomes unemployed the customer’s demand for commodities lessens. In contrast, when the salary and income of a customer increases, the customer’s capacity to buy goods and services escalates (Sullivan & Sheffrin 2003, p. 79). This causes an increase in demand. Competition Rivals are always attempting to occupy the larger part of the market, maybe by developing better or new

Tescos Management And Leadership Theories

Tescos Management And Leadership Theories Tesco is a company which was founded in 1919 by a man called Jack Cohen, a grocery seller from a stall in London. The Tesco brand originally first appeared after he had brought a shipment of tea from T.E Stockwell and the first Tesco store was opened in 1929. It started off as selling the usual food and drink products but since then expanded into areas offering alternative goods such as, clothing, electronics, finance services, mobile network, car, dental, home and health insurance, CDs, DVDs and Games. Tesco UK stores operate under four banners which are Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express to meet different customer needs. Tesco can also be found on the London Stock Exchange. Tesco has  £62.54 billion in revenue as well as  £3.41 billion income from February 2010 and has 4,811 locations around the country; nevertheless Tesco has become the biggest British retailer and is one of the worlds largest retailing outlet. Mainly its growth is due to the fact that in the workplace, it has a workforce of 552,004 employees. To sustain its growth, Tesco has to make sure that they have the staff who are motivated, flexible and well-trained and who can be aware of the customer needs. Tesco sustain their employees in a range of roles and at different levels in the workplace from customer assistant to department manager and warehouse to logistics staff. Tesco recognise this as they need employee motivation to continue their growth. Motivation is the driving force which set out to achieve an individuals goal. There are different theories that have been suggested for motivating employees. The main factor for motivating employees is Pay, which is considered a primary motivator. Other motivating factors include: Appreciation of hard work e.g. incentives A sense of achievement Responsibility and empowerment Opportunity for development A sense of challenge and enjoyment If Tesco have a motivated workforce then they will have a variety of employees who will work hard and achieve their potential in less time, which will endeavour Tesco to reduce cost in labour and less supervision of their employees. On the other hand this will demonstrate their pride to work for Tesco, therefore create a better impact on consumers. Encouraged employees are more likely to focus better and are less likely to make mistakes, cause conflicts and accidents in the workplace. In general this shows they have greater loyalty for the consumer and have fewer absentees. The opposite of a motivated workforce is an unmotivated workforce, which are employees in Tesco being dissatisfied in the role they play for the company. This can negatively affect the quality of the work they produce and how professionally they carry out their work and how this will affect Tesco as a business but also the products they display on the shop floor. Tesco focus on two groups, their staff and customers to achieve motivation by offering them rewards to support stability in the personal and work life. Such rewards are staff discount, flexible working and gym membership. The theory to motivate shows that Taylor said one that is motivated works purely for money. Tesco has a similar link to Taylors theory as they have an employee reward programme which offers financial reward packaging to motivate the workers. On the other hand there are other factors which take into place of motivating a person; they are personal and working lives. Tesco go beyond Taylors theory as they do more than pay increasing, they support the different lifestyles of each individual that works for them by using important benefits. For example in Tesco, staff may desire to serve people or improve their basic understanding and skills. To make job satisfaction achievable for their staff, Tesco create a good working environment where they want to have their employees feeling valued and therefore it increases communication and employees are asked for their opinions of how they are experience this. As Tesco are a big organisation they invest into training and development for its staff which enables them to develop their understanding, skill and sense of their job satisfaction. For example in my own workplace at Sports Direct they create a good working environment as I was trained on the till and had people helping me which developed my understanding of the business. By using surveys, Tesco ask their staff to attend a staff satisfaction survey which is done by viewpoint and gives the staff to get across their views on the job they do. From the survey it shows Tesco what they need to do in order to keep their employees motivated and to ensure that they are achieving job satisfaction. The benefits offered to employees the following Lifestyle breaks which offer you 4-12 week off from work but then you are allowed to return after as it guarantees you dont lose your job, career breaks which allows staff working in Tesco between the 6 months and 5 years away from work but also they have the right to return and pension scheme which defies the long term benefits staff can have when they reach a certain age. Other ways in which job satisfaction is achieved for the staff working in Tesco is the way they look after their employee. This makes their employees feel that the job is secure and the company is looking after them and therefore it makes them produce work of a high quality. Using Herzberg two-factor theory which outlines the main two factors hygiene and the satisfiers also know as motivators. Hygiene factors are put in place in a business such as Tesco to avoid what is called unpleasantness in the workplace. If these factors are thought to be insufficient by the employees then this would mean that they are dissatisfied by working there. Motivator factors are for individual people for their personal growth, the motivator side dynamically creates the job satisfaction. If they are effective, then they can motivate the individual to reach an above-average performance as well as effort. Herzberg showed that to truly motivate an employee a business needs to create conditions that make him or her feel fulfilled in the workplace For example Hygiene factors like pay can lead to an employee at Tesco being dissatisfied as this will show the employee is being paid a rate which has not increased from the time he has spent at Tesco. However the motivators like promotion opportunities in Tesco will satisfy the employee as they are moving up a level in the department and not staying in one department from where they started from. This will acknowledge how well they are working for the company. Hygiene factors: Pay and benefits Company policy and Administration Relationship with co-workers Supervision Status Job security Working conditions Personal life Motivators: Achievement Recognition Work itself Responsibility Promotion Growth Tesco will try to motivate its employees by using the two factor theory. For example, it can motivate and empower its employees by using suitable and well-timed communication to effectiveness, by appointing responsibility and involving employees in their own decision making in key areas of their working life. Tesco using forums every year in which staff can be part of the discussions on pay rises if they wish they need to. This will show acknowledgment of the work Tesco people do and reward them. For example Tesco staff can even influence what food goes onto its restaurant menus. As a result of doing this the employees therefore become motivated to make choices that will increase their use of the restaurants that Tesco have within the organisation. That way job satisfaction achievable as it is used to a very high level in Tesco as they value each and every one of their member of staff so they achieve their potential and the company grows and has a high-quality reputation. I think it is important for line managers to have an understanding of these theories in concept as they need to know how to motivate their employees working below them to get the best out of them, productivity wise. However if managers on the front line do not have an impact then this will limit how they motivate or else not trusting them will reduce their motivational efficiency. Managers this way can understand what the employee is working toward such as the goals and objectives that they set and how well they are managing their time to get the work done for a company like Tesco for example. It gives the manager a chance to be impress by the employee and the quality of the work therefore shows which member is committed to doing well and making sure the company goes in the right direction, On the other hand managers would want to know the pros and cons of which is the best way of the motivating concept through various theories in order to stand out from anyone else and the quality in production and reputation it achieves at the end by doing this. It gives the manager a chance to communicate and understand the employee effectively, to engage the key skills he may have to offer to him, work wise and how motivated he is in-order to get on with what he is asked to do. The best way to understand this is to interact with your employees to gain knowledge otherwise the key efficiency to work at a higher level and to produce the quality you would want to will not happen, unless you communicate with the manager and he communicates with you. To conclude by looking at different theories of motivation, how job satisfaction is achieved and how important line managers are, you can find out various ways in which Tesco can motivate their employees to get the best out of them by using incentives for hard workers and rewards as well as promotion. On the other hand you can also see the negative effects this can have if you have unmotivated employees in the workplace which reduces the morale and that person quality to produce at the highest level proposed from them. I recommend that by achieving an employees job satisfaction and motivation but also bringing into action how the line manager should have a good understanding of these theories. Tesco get employees who work well in a good environment but also one where they are valued for the hard work they produce to meet the aims and objectives of the organisation, but also the goals they set for themselves to improve the desire for working in a warm atmosphere but also the drive tha t managers have in Tesco for their employees to achieve their potential. References http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-studymotivational-theory-in-practice-at-tesco132-396-3.php http://tutor2u.net/business/people/motivation_theory_herzberg.asp

Relationships in Forty-Five a Month and the House

Strong and Weak Relationships in Stories Relationships in stories are very important, to who the characters are and how they act. In the stories that were read the relationships shown were both strong and weak. Depending on how the characters act toward each other, it determines their relationship. The stories, Forty-five a Month and The House on the Border, both have very weak relationships, whereas the story, The Ch’i-lin Purse, has a very strong relationship. In a relationship one person sometimes depends on the other, but if the other does not support the other, it becomes weak.In the story, House on the Border, there was a very weak relationship between the main characters, the people that live in the house and the authorities. The relationship is weak for many reasons. The authorities are not helpful to the people that live in the house. After a thief has just broken into their house, the people that live there tie him up and go to the authorities. They go to different a uthorities, who just keep passing the responsibility of taking care of the situation on to the other one. Either all eight of us, my wife and I and the six thieves, will spend the remainder of the year here, or they will include the house in one of the areas, thus enabling me to complain to the authorities. † This shows a weak relationship because the people that lived on the house were very dependent on the authorities, just like any other citizen. This relationship is foreshadowing the author’s take on the his country’s government and how they are not giving aide to the people in the country. That is also another example of a weak relationship, and a more simple example would be between two particular characters.The story Forty-five a Month is a great example of weak relationship between two characters directly. Two of the main characters, Shanta and Venkat, represent a very weak relationship. Shanta is the daughter of Venkat, they have a weak relationship for a lot of reasons. In a daughter to father relationship, it is imagined that the two are to be considered â€Å"close† by spending time together. In this story the daughter to father relationship is broken apart because of the father’s work. The daughter cannot understand the father’s purpose for being devoted to work. I don’t know if it is going to be possible for me to take her out at all- you see, they are giving me an increment. † The father wants to spend time with his daughter, but he cannot because his job supports his whole family. It is also weak because of the broken promises that Venkat makes to Shanta. Venkat promises to take her to the movies, but he lets Shanta down because she expected a great night out with her father, and is now asleep at home and all dressed up. The promises being broken make it very weak. The Ch’i-lin Purse is a perfect example of a strong relationship.The relationship between Mrs. Lu and Hsiang-Ling in the Ch’i-lin Purse is very strong because it taught a lesson and saved the characters. It taught the lessons of sacrifice and good karma. The lesson of sacrifice was taught to Mrs. Lu when she gave up her purse to the crying girl at her wedding. Also she was taught to sacrifice when she got her soup after the storm and then gave it away. â€Å"If you have a chance to do something good, be sure to do it. Happiness will come back to you. † The lesson of karma is taught when Mrs. Lu has sacrificed her things and was rewarded in return.All of that could not have been done without the strong relationship of two strangers, who in the end are both saved and rewarded, because they found each other. The stories, Forty-five a Month and The House on the Border, both have very weak relationships, whereas the story, The Ch’i-lin Purse, has a very strong relationship. The stories had strong and weak relationships, and they all represented them in different ways. The stories showe d good examples through characters, foreshadowing, and lessons. Many other stories have both strong and weak relationships.

The Metamorphosis And The Chief Agent Of Transformations

Metamorphoses means transformations and there are many kinds of transformations throughout the poem. In fact, nearly everything in the story is in a process of changing. People are transformed as a result of love or hate and sometimes as revenge. Yet, so often these transformations seem extraneous, insignificant to the main point. This paper will attempt to argue that transformation is the main theme in the metamorphosis and the chief agent of transformations is love. As well as other themes and moral lessons like revenge and fate. More directly, this paper evaluates the transformations that represent the damaging nature of the excessive and exaggerated passion and its role in developing fate. Ovid’s poem â€Å"The Metamorphoses† is an†¦show more content†¦Metamorphoses is more than a collection of stories of mythical adventures, it is a reflection on the theme of metamorphosis or transformation. An example of transformation is in book I when Apollo speaks unfavorably to Cupid, who shoots two arrows in revenge. The first arrow causes Apollo to fall in love. Apollo goes after Daphne, but she rejects him. Apollo begs and insists, and Daphne cries out to her father for help. He reacts by transforming her into a laurel tree. Not entirely discouraged, Apollo flounders the tree. At this point, Jupiter notices a young nymph, Io, and his heart suddenly becomes filled with lust. He then rapes her. Juno, Jupiter’s wife, is fishy about their behavior and starts suspecting something. To disturb and cast off his wife, Jupiter turns Io into a cow. But this move makes Juno even more suspicious of course which leads her to ask Jupiter for Io as a present and sets many-eyed Argus to keep an eye over the transformed Io. Besides the two main themes to Metamorphoses which are transformation and love/lust, there are many reoccurring moral lessons that we see in the metamorphosis, Fate is a lesson we learn about the gods, Fate plays a major role in Metamorphoses, as Ovid grasps the idea that life is like a story which has already been written. People cannot escape their destiny. Fate is a concept which both guides and weakens the power of the gods. Mortals pray to the gods both to find out their fate, and to learn ways of avoiding it. At

Parazoa of the Animal Kingdom

Emphysema Chronic Pulmorary Disease - 745 Words

Emphysema is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The name emphysema comes from greek. There are about 20 million victims that suffer from this disease every year. This sickness is mostly caused by smoking. A cigarette has more than 4,800 chemicals inside it. There is about 70% of adults that start to smoke at the age of 18. (lung.org) Statistics say that cigarettes are the highest reasons that emphysema is the cause (health central). Strong chemicals that people smoke like tobacco release chemicals from the patients lungs and damage them. The reason why cigarettes are a cause of emphysema is because it has tobacco in it and there is many people that smoke. Tobacco is a green plant and it grows in warm weather. Tobacco also cause other illnesses like lung cancer. Patients body has many cells , if the patient is healthy the person only produces new cells when its needed , patients that have this illness destroy the cells that is needed in the body. If patients don’t get treated as soon as they find out the lungs damage more as the time passes. Emphysema is the fourth reason of patients dying . Emphysema often occurs after the age of 35. Lungs have 90 percent that is filled with pure air and just 10 percent is solid tissue . Another cause for this disease is genetic syndrome. Genetic syndrome are c aused by DNA genetics, which people get from parents. Usually a bad chronic cough is the first and major symptom of emphysema. Patients usually get