Case study: Authority and leadership Essay

Introduction Question 1: Julie’s advantages and disadvantages of belonging to a group As a leader, it is imperative to understand the personality differences and cultural diversity of the employees. This is one of the main advantages that Julie has as a leader. She will be managing a group of people, whom she knows their strengths and weakness. She understands who amongst the employees can be able to perform particular tasks or not. The second advantage is that she understands what she has to do to motivate the employees, and foster productivity within the institution. Having been with these friends, she understands pretty well their wishes, and how the company can assist in improving their morale. On the other hand, though, the main disadvantage will be the expectation of favours from the friends. For instance, they may want to be treated in a special way, like being given more off days, increase their salaries or reduce the amount of work that they have been performing. This may interfere with their productivity or lead to some conflicts (Allen, & Judd, 2009). Secondly, how to separate friendship and business may be a daunting task. The friends may fail to give her the respect that she deserves as a leader, which negatively affects the effectiveness and discipline within the institution. Question 2: how Julie will establish herself as a legitimate authority Julie will need to define the relationships, both at the workplace and out of the institution. She should let her friends know that she is a leader of the institution, and has a duty to perform and objectives to achieve. This will ensure that her friends respect her at the workplace, and learn how to draw a line and respect the boundaries of their relationships. Secondly, Julie should let her friends know that by respecting her, they will be submitting to the institution that has employed them. Her authority comes direct from the constitution establishing the health institution, and therefore everyone has the duty to obey, and perform their duties. Thirdly, she should treat everyone fairly, regardless of whether they are her friends or not. This will ensure that she is respected as a leader. Case study 2 Question 1: how to motivate oneself in the new position The new position in the workplace leads to a number of challenges. This may emanate from the fact that one is not familiar with the new environments, new systems and the capability to perform the tasks. Under this situation, the level of confidence may be affected, which on the other hand will interfere with performance. However, motivating oneself through positive attitude and thoughts will lead to productivity, and effectiveness (Bowling & Beehr, 2006). One should have the motivation to learn new tactics in the new position in order to become more competent. Question 2: motivation state of HIM staff At the time of assuming the position of director, the majority of the HIM staff had low morale that was affecting their work. This was attributed to the previous leadership that failed to focus on the growth and development of the staff members. The majority of them did not have the right skills to perform their duties, and this continued to affect their competence and motivational level. Question 3: proactive strategies to reduce conflicts From the podcast provided, conflicts are inevitable within an organization, but can be managed to avoid making affecting the normal operations. enhancing communication, and encouraging the employees to express their emotions are some of the proactive means that can be used to mitigate conflict in the workplace (Liu, Spector, & Shi, 2006). The managers should also be weary of the personality differences and cultural diversity, and seek to create harmony. References Allen, J. F., & Judd, B. B. (2009). Participation in decision-making and job satisfaction: Ideal and reality for male and female university faculty in the United States. Human Communication, 10(3), 157–179. Bowling, N. A., & Beehr, T. A. (2006). Workplace harassment from the victim’s perspective: A theoretical model and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(5), 998-1012. Liu, C., Spector, P. E., & Shi, L. (2007). Cross-National Job Stress: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28(2), 209-239.

The Net Present Value method

1. Net Present Value ApproachThe Net Present Value method, which abides with the time value of money principle, is a capital expenditure appraisal method, which seeks the total future net cash inflow/outflow the project will provide in today’s terms.   Indeed, the expected net cash inflow/outflow of every year is discounted with a cost of capital rate determined by the company. There is not standard cost of capital that can be used, because it is different for every organization and project undertaken.   The main components of discounting are the inflation rate, the risk-free component, general risk premium and property-specific risk premium.   These stem from the cost derived from the finance medium selected, risk of the project failing to provide the anticipated cash inflows and the rate of return attained from comparable capital projects.   The factors mentioned above will differ between companies and projects, thus substantiating the point of no standard discount r ate.Both the net present method and the other techniques described below hold the following assumptions:†¢ Uncertainty does not exist.   Random and unexpected fluctuations are therefore not considered in the capital expenditure appraisal method.†¢   A perfect capital market exists, which implies that unlimited funds can be obtained with the market rate of interest set.The higher the net present value attained, the more financially viable is the project at hand.   With the exception of the time value of money concept, no other qualitative characteristics are considered by this method.1.1   Internal Rate of ReturnThis method also uses the time value of money concept.   Under this technique, the discounted cash flow principle is applied in a less practical way.   The internal rate of return is determined in this method normally by trial and error.   This is the point at which the projects will break-even leading to a zero net present value.   A capital project is financially viable if the internal rate of return is greater than the discount factor applied for the project.   In fact, the higher the internal rate of return the greater the financial feasibility of the project at hand, because the higher is the margin of safety of the project not incurring a loss.1.2   Modified Internal Rate of ReturnAs its name implies this is a modified capital expenditure appraisal technique of the method described in the previous section.   The modification mainly stems from compounding all positive cash flows forward to end of the capital project duration.   The figure attained by the modified internal rate of return method is the one that portrays the present value of all cash outflows together with the future value of all cash inflows.The internal rate of return weakness that is mitigated by this method, which is also outlined in the next section, is the multiple root problem that is encountered when discounting cash outflows to the present da te.1.3 Advantages and Limitations of Capital Project Evaluation MethodsThe adoption of discounting, which adheres with the time value of money principle, which takes into account important business and economic factors such as the inflation rate, the risk-free component, general risk premium and property-specific risk premium is considered both by the internal rate of return, modified internal rate of return technique and net present value method.   Even though they are more complex in nature and require more technical calculations, these three methods provide valuable financial information of a much better quality due to such feature.When the capital projects evaluated are not mutually exclusive and can be considered independently during the valuation, the net present value method and the internal rate of return approach will provide identical results, leading to the same decision.   However, the scale of the project is properly considered by the former capital expenditure appr aisal model, because it is an absolute measure of the project’s financial return.   On the contrary, the internal rate of return system adopts a relative measure to the project’s size and cash flow timing in relation to initial capital expenditure.   Therefore when projects are mutually exclusive and ranking is necessary in the business valuation, these two methods may provide dissimilar results.   The net present value method provides financial information of greater quality in such instances because it directs towards the capital project that holds the highest increase in financial wealth for the organization.   In addition, the ranking exercise is much easier to apply when the net present value method is adopted for mutually exclusive projects.The internal rate of return model can also provide misleading information when cash flows are non-conventional in the capital project examined.   In such cases, a nil or a vast number of internal rates of return may be derived, which would render the application of such method useless.   This problem does not apply to the net present value method.Even thought, the internal rate of return method had been improved by the adoption of the modified internal rate of return technique the net present value method is still the best method that an organization can adopt in order to value its capital projects.   We ought to keep in mind that only one limitation is removed with the application of the modified internal rate of return method.   In this section more were noted, that may provide inaccurate financial information leading to wrong decisions.References:Brockington B. R. (1993). Financial Management. Sixth Edition. London: DP Publications.Drury C. (1996). Management and Cost Accounting. Fourth Edition. New York: International Thomson Business Press.Lucey T. (2003). Management Accounting. Fifth Edition. Great Britain: Biddles Limited.Randall H. (1999).   A Level Accounting.   Third Edition .   Great Britain:   Ashford Colour Press Ltd.

Selfawareness and career management feedbaack Essay - 1

Selfawareness and career management feedbaack - Essay Example The essence of self-Management is self-awareness. You cannot manage anything without adequate and accurate information. The same applies to the management of self. I will be looking carefully at my MBTI results and analyzing them. Any single one of these instruments need not be accurate and sufficient in it self. If a combination of them is pointing me in a similar direction there could be something, which is of importance there. As such I would also look at the feedback that I have received from my colleagues. And then summarise these using the Johari window. I would however like to begin with what I call are my core cultural values. Core Cultural Values Theses are values, which have moulded me to what I am today, and make me function the way I do. Discovering them has been a journey, which is still in progress. The initial uncovering of these values began with me understanding something about my family of origin. My family is a close knit entrepreneurial family. One of the core val ues of my family of origin is family honour. Right and wrong have been important elements of my family. However when it comes to family honour they can be clouded. While I have seen that most of my friends in the west appear to look down on this. I see this as something that can be very comparable to the team ethic that is being increasingly talked about in the business studies arena and in corporate language. In my newfound western setting my belief then is that team goals must supersede individual goals. As my personality goes this is very difficult for me, and I have to remind myself that I have to function in this manner. This is difficult for me as seen from my timeline in appendix ‘1’. I have been a very successful student. Success in studies is an individual success, and defeat in academics is largely an individual defeat. As seen it is only in my adult life that I have started to enjoy and be good at sports. This has begun to moderate my individual yearnings. In dividual success in studies has worked well for me as it has enlarged family pride. Due to this it has been well supported by my family. In my adult life I have begun to step out of the family business and flap my wings in a more management type setting than my family entrepreneurial setting. I soon realize that I cannot take support from people around me for granted like in a family setting. I have to earn this support, and there was somewhat of a learning curve before I understood, that to get support you have to give support. This was somewhat foreign to me until I looked at my colleagues as team members. When I began to look at them, as family it became even easier. I am still very individualistic but realize that I need the support of those around me, which is not a given. It has to be earned. Earned by supporting them. The second aspect of core cultural values comes from my religious beliefs. My faith has been an integral part of me. While my belief is very fatalistic, it has still also taught me to believe that I can make a difference. Living with this two-sided tension has not been easy, until a friend pointed out that it is a good thing, which can cause me to mature very fast. I have tried to hold onto that explanation in recent times. While God is taking care of things in this world according to his plan that he wants me to make my contribution as well. This has caused me to come to an understanding that I cannot leave problems to be attended by

Strategic Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Business Environment - Essay Example Although it cannot be argued that till date many of the businesses have been rallying around the concept of profit with some of the latest and evolving concepts like globalization, networking, etc., the commitment and implementation of the best practices in the different industries no doubt have given way to a more unrealistic approach towards running the businesses. It can also be observed that the fluctuating economies and large-scale downturns, etc. in turn adversely affecting the very sustainability of the human race on this globe has raised an alarm which is being taken seriously by all concerned. In fact there is an immediate need for implementing a more evolved strategic approach to business and consider the holistic environment for profitability. Though the present businesses do have a framework for conducting their businesses, incorporating other aspects to sustain and enhance their profitability to a higher extent needs to be looked at. Also, the trends and strategies that the businesses have adopted seem to be open ended and very much need to be improved for the benefit of the society. Bernstein expresses doubts of how responsible the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) adopted by the businesses is as they need to be transparent, produce quality, and be ethical and socially responsible on the whole (2007). Further, there is a need for continuous improvement in the strategies in all the industry sectors to ensure sustainable practices are constantly innovated and implemented and also cautiously discarding the inefficient and unethical practices that might have crept in over a period of time, thus affecting the strategy framework.

Capital Punishment Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Capital Punishment - Term Paper Example The arguments of Pojman, which supports capital punishment, were based on three premises from anecdotal evidence. First, the deterrent effect of an object is increased with the increased degree of fear it can cause to a person. Second, people fear death more than any humane punishment, and third, death penalty is a humane punishment. From these premises, the author concludes that the death penalty is a more effective mechanism to deter people from committing homicide compared to long imprisonment (277). The argument presented was potentially sound since it was supported by coherent reasoning. However, while the first premise is logical, the last two premises have a potential conflict since not all criminals are fearful of death and generally, capital punishment is inhumane. Nevertheless, the author’s conclusion still follows his premises since there is a high chance that potential criminals will avoid committing first degree crime if they are aware that the sentence that await s them is death compared to long imprisonment. However, it is argued that capital punishment is not an appropriate sentence to major offenders. There is also a strong contention against the principle that the death penalty has a greater deterrence compared to long imprisonment. ... However, it is argued that life as it is, has an intrinsic value. This makes it unjust and immoral to permit the gambling of the lives of murderers. For the anecdotal argument, one of the premises of the proponent states that the death penalty is a humane punishment. This premise is a weak assumption since it is contended that the moral values of society do not perceive death penalty as acceptable. Thus, killing a person is inhumane. Due to the weak premises of the proponent, it cannot be concluded justly that capital punishment, in contrast to long term imprisonment, has a greater deterrence among potential criminals. A study of Donohue and Wolfers on the homicide rates in US revealed that there is no statistical evidence to prove that the death penalty has a substantial deterrent effect on homicide commission. The findings of the time series analysis showed that as the death penalty execution rose up from 1920s to 1930s, homicide rates also increased while both of the execution and homicide rates went down from 1940s to 1950s (796). Moreover, Donohue and Wolfers also conducted a comparative study between Canada and US to determine if execution rates can significantly reduce homicide rates. The findings showed that both US and Canada showed similar changes in homicide rates amidst country specific legislations that directly affected their execution rates. For instance, when Canada did not conduct executions in 1962, its homicide rates were still close to the US. In a similar way, when US suspended its death penalty policy in 1972, both the execution and homicide rates of US and Canada rose altogether (799). This study supports the argument that capital punishment does not significantly influence homicide rates,

The Marxism of Valentin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Marxism of Valentin - Essay Example For as the play progresses, his inner struggles come to the fore as Molina's character gradually transforms him, influencing Valentin through his romanticism, to be honest with himself. And as he succumbs to Molina's romantic ideals, his typicality is defined as he confesses about Marta "She's upper-class. Pure bourgeoisie. She's got everything. Money, looks, education, freedom... I'm such a hypocrite. Just like all those class-conscious pigs. I must admit, it was convenient. A safe place to stay, when I was forced to hide... Until one day I had to tell her about my other life" (Puig, 63). Perhaps this particular side of Valentin can be regarded as his weakness as their movement demands absolute loyalty. On the contrary, it only proves Valentin's humanity and his capacity for reflection. In my opinion, Molina and Valentin personified Manuel Puig's strongest characters. In Molina, I saw Puig's homosexuality and escapism through films, whereas in Valentin, I saw his Marxist conviction. This is evident in the narration of the film by Molina: But did Puig, as a Marxist, want people to admire Valentin or condemn him Puig has made up Valentin as a fellow Marxist with a substantial amount of political ideals expected of the character, however, I got the impression that Puig wanted people to condemn Valentin. One reason One reason is due to Valentin's belated confession of a mindframe which can prove to be dangerous to the movement, a betrayal to their cause in favor of personal salvation, which was clear when he confided that " I don't deserve to die in this cell. I only confessed some code names they already knew. I can't stand being a martyr. It infuriates me. I don't want to be a martyr - my whole life a mistake" (Puig, 67). Another reason for the condemnation of Valentin is in empathy to the destruction he had wrought on Molina who, after his encounter with Valentin, had a change of ideals when it came to approach, from personal to revolutionary. Molina had sacrificed his finally attained freedom for his love of Valentin only to be mistakenly executed by the movement of his lover. MOLINA: I have a message from Valentin. Are you Lidia YOUNG WOMAN: Yes. Get in. Quick. As Molina reaches for the car door, AN AGENT DIVES AT HIM from behind. AGENT: Get him! As the taxi tears away, the young woman quickly draws a gun and FIRES TWO SHOTS at the agent, he crumples to the pavement. The sharp reports send the bystanders into hysteria. Molina runs off as the other two agents shoot down the street. Molina sprints erratically down a side street. Pedro and another agent are close behind. PEDRO: Stop! Molina -- stop! He fires a warning shot into the air. Pedestrians scatter. The taxi intercepts Molina's path at the end of the street. From inside the car, THE YOUNG WOMAN FIRES THREE SHOTS INTO MOLINA. The taxi speeds off. (Puig, 107-8) The argument present in this paper brought to light our perceptions on the meaning and values embedded in the terms of goodness and the typical. Kiss

Tourism in France Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Tourism in France - Essay Example Travellers are always searching for exotic locations that offer stunning natural resources, cross-border travel and eco-tourism. Rural areas in France offer many environmental amenities and has become more attractive especially for agri-tourism. Millions of tourists from all parts of the world visit France annually and it is the most popular tourist destination in the world (Books LLC 2010). At the same time, France keeps public funding for tourism at a relatively low level. Tourism is the largest industry in the world and generates crucial businesses for other service industries such as the hotel industry, entertainment facilities, restaurants, sport and recreational facilities and travel services. A new form of tourism where tourists want a customised itinerary is emerging. These package tours are shorter and more frequent but less expensive compared to the traditional tourism (Poon 1993). The average trip for package tour takes 4 nights instead of the traditional 9 nights. The introduction and improvement of digital communication and ICT, which has enabled clients make choices that are more informed, has made this possible. The French government exercises its sovereign authority and outlines the framework of operation in relation to national peace, the rule of law, food security, health security and reliable public services. This structure is crucial for development of tourism. France guarantees the legislative and regulatory structures for all activities, including tourism. Successive governments have continued to fund bodies that exist to support tourism at the local and the international level. Administration of tourism in France has been rationalised to meet all stakeholders’ needs. Through the central government, regions, departments and communes, the French authorities support tourism development. By increasing resources for territorial tourism improvement and promotion of France as the preferred tourist destination, the central government and territorial authorities have seen the number of tourists increasing annually (Todd, 2008). Territorial authorities play a crucial role in formulation of policy and development of tourism. The national tourism administration supports regional tourism through guidance, regulation and coordination of tourism policies and ensures they are consistent. The French Agency for Tourism Engineering (AFIT) ensures development objectives between territorial authorities, private actors and the central government complement each other and are in line with the national strategic objectives. The administrative classification for accommodati on in the form of hotels, tourist resorts, holiday rentals, campsites and tourist offices has a number of implications, notably with regard to complementary funding and dates back to 1919 (Books LLC 2010). A rated commune has certain additional privileges in addition to the normal privileges received by other communes. The central government and the territorial governments share Institutional responsibilities in managing tourism. The territorial governments are responsible for planning and implementing the medium-term objectives for tourism development. Tourism is a service activity and requires a large workforce, which is a blessing during the current slow