Thursday, September 26, 2019

Del Rio Independent School District Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Del Rio Independent School District - Essay Example Many of these issues with regards race and ethnic background strengthened America's democratic fundamentals. One of these landmark cases was of Loving vs. Virginia, a civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court proclaimed that Virginia's anti-miscegenation law, the "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, thereby ending all race-based legal constraints on marriage in the United States. The accused, Mildred Jeter, of African descent and Richard Perry Loving, of Caucasian race, reside in the Commonwealth of Virginia but married in June of 1958 in the District of Columbia. They had left Virginia in order to elude a state law prohibiting marital union between a 'white person' and a 'non-white person.' The Supreme Court declared Virginia's law unconstitutional which in turn paved the way for the abolition of all race-based marriage statutes in the United States. Another case significant to the equality of race was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, barring immigration for ten years.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Feliz Navidad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Feliz Navidad - Essay Example The performance consists of simple singing or chanting of religious songs and all the homes are set up as a "Nativity scene" where the home owners pose as inn keepers. The interesting part is that the procession carries candles and statues of Jesus and Mary as the re-enactors ask for lodging at three houses and only the third house lets them inside in accordance with the Christmas story. The guests then enter the chosen house and sing traditional Christmas and religious songs for the Virgin Mary which concludes into a famous piata party for the children. Of course the ever famous Piata (which originates from Italian tradition) is the main object of interest for the children at these parties .This is a clay pot decorated with paper, and is filled with hard candy, peanuts sugar cane and fruit. The children are blindfolded and take turns at hitting it with a stick until it breaks so they can all have the sweet treats inside. The traditional Christmas piata is shaped like a star and has seven peaks, which symbolizes the seven deadly sins. The stick with which it is broken is a symbol of faith and therefore the destruction of the Piata is a symbol of the destruction of these deadly sins with faith. The Mexicans also have a very unique tradition of exchanging presents at New Years Eve rather than on Christmas .This gift exchanging is known as Misa de Gallo (Rooster's Mass). Some families might even wait as late as the Wise Mens Day which is on January the 6th to exchange gifts because on this day the Magi brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Instead of stockings (like in the American culture) the children traditionally place their shoes near the window so the Magi can fill the shoes with gifts .The children also look forward to the Merienda, ( a tea time with hot chocolate) and La Meridenda, (an festive dinner) in celebration of this day. This is a two week national holiday for the Mexicans .The US influence is ever present as in the recent decades there has been an adaptation of Santa Claus and many other American traditions. However the strong and unique Mexican culture continues to dominate these very family oriented traditions. The Holiday festivities end on the Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) with the celebration of a late-night Misa de Gallo (Rooster's Mass).This is followed by a festive dinner of traditional cuisines and sweet meats. The Christmas celebration hardly ends there as on December 28, Day of the Holy Innocents there is a commemoration of King Herod's attempt to slaughter all the new born male infants including baby Jesus. The Mexicans add a comic twist to the day as they play pranks on each other just like the April fool's day. The Christmas season continues merrily into the Three Kings Day which symbolises the arrival in Bethlehem of The Wise Men bringing gifts for baby Jesus. Reyes Magos is the Mexican version of the Santa Claus and on every January the 6th the native Mexican children hope to receive toys and gifts from this mythical figure. The Mexicans with their merry culture and strong family ties make the Christmas festivities a treat for the eyes and the soul. The final Candlemas is on February the 2nd officially marking the end of

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Personal health and safety at the construction site Essay

Personal health and safety at the construction site - Essay Example A high level of risk is inherent in the construction work. The heavy equipment, channels of electric supplies, and mechanical operations all make construction work very risky from the point of view of safety. Almost a third of all fatalities in the construction projects happen during the execution of a project (hes.gov.uk, n.d.). If the CDM coordination is not done appropriately, the finished structure might be unsafe for use and maintenance, and lack its potential to deliver good value for investment to the client. Ideally, the CDM coordinator is appointed while the project is in its conceptual stage before the completion of the initial design work of the project (hse.gov.uk, n.d.). This provides the CDM coordinators with an opportunity to decide the feasibility of the project and identify possible constraints related to client’s expectations and project’s execution. It is crucial to appoint a CDM coordinator before the commencement of the detailed design. The client h as to appoint a CDM coordinator when the duration of a project is more than 30 days or when the number of person days of work exceeds 500 (cdm-regulations-uk.co.uk, n.d.). This requirement also stands for the planning supervisor, though a CDM coordinator, unlike a planning supervisor, needs to help the client fulfill the duties, particularly the adequacy of arrangements of other duty holders. Before the appointment of a CDM coordinator, nothing more than the initial design work should be completed. The CDM coordinators that are appointed on the construction sites assume the responsibilities declared in the CDM 2007. These responsibilities include cooperating and coordinating with the organizations for the personnel’s health and safety benefits. The CDM coordinators need to ensure that their training is up-to-date and the work is done safely. They need complete briefing before doing work that is high in risk. The CDM coordinators should get appropriate certifications to do the work competently (newlifecleaning.com, n.d.). A CDM coordinator can provide a principal contractor with assistance in numerous aspects of health and safety including development and implementation of a documented plan and rules of the construction site, advice on the facilities of site security, evaluation of the appointees’ competence, and advice on the site induction training (SHERWOOD SURVEYORS, 2013). Evaluation of the duties and responsibilities of a CDM coordinator suggests that he assumes a major role in the entire project life-cycle starting from the concept of the project through to the feasibility studies, design, execution, monitoring and control, and the delivery of the project. As the name of this job suggests, the CDM coordinator ensures coordination between the design, construction, and management of the project. This includes all aspects that are directly or indirectly related to the work, such as management of health and safety of the personnel, protection o f environment, and flow of communication between the project parties. Analysis of these responsibilit

Monday, September 23, 2019

Science News Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Science News - Article Example However, in Asimov’s words, the future is not safeguarded and humanity is staring at disaster. This is evident in issues of overpopulation, global warming, and inter-ethnic conflicts that threaten existence itself. Overall, a belief in an interesting future remains the only gateway to a pleasurable life. There are equally scientists who have attempted to defy norms that have been considered taboos. For instance, the story of the tycoon who attempted to defy gravity is the best case study. In the movie Gravity, two spacecraft astronauts try to oppose the gravitational pull occasioned by severe orbital altitudes. Unfortunately, the phenomenon of inverse square law weakens gravity but still, does not after the effects of the gravitational force (Johnson 1). Likewise, the strength of gravity on terra firma is a huge phenomenon that accounts for more than 13 percent when assessed from the International Space Station. It, therefore, concludes that the actors in Gravity would depart space at the speed of 17,000 mile per hour. Astronomy faces a hazy future if the right plans are not implemented to safeguard most its gains over the last centuries. According to Dennis Overbye, the foundation of the Lick Observatory marks the beginning of a collaborative initiative with the University of California to collect $700,000 in the acquisition of bigger telescopes. On that account, the purchase of the Thirty-Meter Telescope has resulted to acrimony amongst astronomers who fear that the Observatory maybe closed. It implies that they would lose valuable educational and research tools that have shaped astronomy in the institution for many years (Overbye 1). Similarly, Telescopes at Lick were instrumental in the research on dark energy that earned the university the Nobel Prize in 2011. Therefore, a move to interfere with its operations is tantamount to suppressing the success of adaptive

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Great Gatsby and the American Dream Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby and the American Dream Essay As Lenny Wilkens explains, the American Dream is not an inevitable realization. There is no certainty that one can obtain their American Dream. One must work hard and be dedicated in order to achieve it. However, this dream is sometimes out of reach and impossible to obtain. For example, during the 1920’s many individuals pursued the dream of becoming rich and prosperous. Then, in the early 1930’s the Great Depression hit America and their hopes were destroyed by a dwindling economy. F. Scott Fitzgerald presents the same idea of an unattainable dream in the novel, The Great Gatsby. One of the main characters, Jay Gatsby, falls in love with Daisy, but he is unable to stay with her because he is poor. He devotes his life to fulfilling his American Dream of marrying her and living the rest of his life with her. However, he cannot see that Daisy has moved on with her life without him. Through the use of episode, character and symbol in the novel, we can see that Gatsby pursues his American Dream, determined that he will achieve it, however, oblivious to the fact that it is unattainable. During the episode when Nick explains Gatsby’s early encounters with Daisy, we can see that Gatsby is lured into the illusion that he can be with Daisy, but he doesn’t see that his dream is not possible. When Gatsby first meets Daisy, he puts on a persona that allows him to temporarily be with her: â€Å"However glorious might be his future as Jay Gatsby, he was at present a penniless young man without a past, and at any moment the invisible cloak of his uniform might slip from his shoulders†¦ eventually he took Daisy one still October night, took her because he had no real right to touch her hand† (156). Because of Gatsby’s social status, he does not belong with Daisy. However, he is so obsessed with the idea of being with her that he lies to her and shows that he is a wealthy person. He thinks that he can become wealthy enough in the future and earn the right to marry her. However, this accomplishment would take far too long for Daisy to wait for him. When Gatsby is a young man, he realizes that he cannot be with Daisy at the moment because of his social status: â€Å"He found that he had committed himself to the following of a grail†¦ She vanished into her rich house, into herrich, full life, leaving Gatsby—nothing. He felt married to her, that was all† (156-157). Gatsby realizes that it is impossible to be with Daisy while he is poor, so he commits himself to obtaining material possessions to impress her and get her to love him again. What he cannot understand is that Daisy does not feel the same way about him as he does about her. Gatsby creates an illusion that she will wait for him until he is worthy of her social status, but his illusion is misleading. Daisy cannot wait for Gatsby because she wants to move on with her life: â€Å"She wanted her life shaped now, immediately—and the decision must be made by some force—of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality—that was close at hand† (159). After Gatsby left for the war and did not see Daisy for a long time, his love for her was still strong. However, her ephemeral love for him could not last. Daisy believed that she should find someone who could love and support her. She did not wait for Gatsby because she needed to find someone and move on with her life. Gatsby cannot come to the realization that he had lost her in the gap of their social statuses. Therefore, he dedicates himself to an unattainable American dream. Through the episode explaining Gatsby’s initial interactions with Daisy, the novel shows that a person can be lured into following the ghost of an American dream. The character Jay Gatsby is determined to achieve his dream of marrying Daisy, but he is unable to see that this dream cannot be reached. Nick, the narrator of the novel, explains that Gatsby has a significant quality of pursuing his dreams: â€Å" If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away† (6). Gatsby has the quality of determination to get what he wants. His dream of marrying Daisy seems like a promise of life to him and he expects it to come true . Although this dream is very distant, Gatsby has no doubt that he will succeed in achieving it. When Gatsby meets up with Daisy for the first time in years, he becomes very nervous and acts in a different manner: â€Å"Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes† (91). When Gatsby is finally face to face with his ultimate dream, he does not want to mess up the situation. Daisy is very important to him and he has a lot of pressure on him to impress her. He is overwhelmed by this pressure and seems to be very uncomfortable with the fact that he might lose his dream. Nick explains that Gatsby’s dream is one built on immoral grounds: â€Å"It is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men† (6-7). Gatsby is so obsessed with being with Daisy that he cannot understand that what he is trying to accomplish is both immoral and selfish. By seeking Daisy’s love, he is trying to end Tom and Daisy’s marriage. His desire to be with Daisy creates an illusion in his mind that Daisy had never loved Tom and had only loved him, but he cannot see that this is not the case. He doesn’t understand that Daisy had moved on without him and that his dream cannot come true. Through the use of the character, Jay Gatsby, the novel exemplifies the fact that the American dream is sometimes out of reach. In the novel, a green light at the end of Daisy’s dock symbolizes the unreachable dream for Jay Gatsby. Nick sees Gatsby standing at the edge of the water, gazing toward Daisy’s house: â€Å"He gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily, I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away† (25-26). Gatsby views this green light as a representation of Daisy and the future. Its presence alone gives Gatsby hope that one day he will achieve his dream. However, this light is far away, across an entire lake, representing Gatsby’s inability to fulfill his desired future. After Gatsby discusses the green light with Daisy, he believes that his dream is not so far after all: â€Å"Daisy put her arm through his abruptly but he seemed to absorb what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever† (98). Gatsby and Daisy meet up for the first time and tour his mansion. Daisy seems impressed, but Gatsby views her reaction as more significant than it actually is. Now that Gatsby thinks that his dream is becoming real, he views the green light differently. To Gatsby, it no longer symbolizes the fact that Daisy is far away. In this manner, Gatsby is lured into believing that his dream is obtainable. Nick explains that the green light signified hope for Gatsby, but he didn’t realize that this hope was false: I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him†¦ Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us†¦ So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past (189). The green light was a guiding force for Gatsby in that it would remind him of the great future that he thought he could have. He had worked so hard to obtain his dream, but his future was not certain, like he believed it was. Nick explains that Gatsby was never moving toward the future, but he was always stuck in the dissatisfaction of the past. The green light is a symbol of Gatsby’s impractical American dream; despite his overwhelming desire to be with Daisy, Gatsby’s dream cannot be reached. Jay Gatsby, through his obsession with Daisy, creates an illusion that Daisy had always loved him and wanted to be with him. He becomes tempted to pursue his dream of being with Daisy, but he is oblivious to the fact that she does not share the same goal. While she moves on with her life, Gatsby is stuck trying to solve the problems of his past. He follows a dream that was never possible to achieve. Although Gatsby is determined to fulfill his dream and dedicates himself to it, his dream is impossible. Gatsby is ultimately lured into pursing an unattainable American dream, one that leaves him lost in the past.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Comparing Eastern and Western Management Styles

Comparing Eastern and Western Management Styles Nowadays, organizations exist in the competitive business environment where theres rapid development which lead to high failure rate and difficult to stand up among the strong competitive environment. Turbulent business environment caused lots of organizations to face bankruptcy; however, there are still many successful organizations which have great success through their hard work. For those successful organizations, the main objectives are to maximum their competitive advantage and increase their market shares in the market place. However, such aim cannot be accomplish without the combination of instrumental and conceptual knowledge in their management practices. In fact, every successful organization needs competent people who have the all- around knowledge of leadership. Every business has a person to lead the organization to achieve success. The ability of this person to lead is essential to sustain the performance and growth of any businesses. Such person is sometimes seen as a charismatic leader, or even a competent manager can help to growth a business by manage the employees and operation effectively. In fact, the person who was seen as a leader of the organization is mostly the CEO of that organization, the decision and every single action that the CEO take will have massive impact on every single employee within the organization. The ability of a CEO to become a leader is essential in today competitive environment since CEO which has the ability to lead and create follower can create a vision for the organization and every people in that organization will be unite to achieve that vision. Mullins (2005) and Huczynski Buchanan (2007) also pointed out the important of leadership existing in the organizations. Hence, this essay will focus on the instrumental and conceptual knowledge of leadership by comparing two leaders from different culture and situation. 1.0 Introduction to Leadership Leaders are perceived as the heart of a business which inspire the whole organization and create vision for that particular business. Leadership is no longer a new word in the organization, but it is still a controversial word that many scholars concern with, because of the role we assume it plays in the organization is crucial. And there is always lack of the competent leadership in the society. In that case, lots of authors and scholars define the term of leadership through their understanding. In 1950, through long times study, Stogdill defined the term of leadership as the process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts towards goal- setting and goal achievement (cited in Huczynski Buchanan, 2007: p. 716). According to Robbins Decenzo (2005: p. 240), leader may be defined as persons with managerial and personal power who can influence others to perform actions beyond those that could be dictated by those persons formal (position) authority alone. Moreover, as leader in the recent year, their responsibility is coordinating the others and followers at most of the time. From goal focus to human behaviour focus, or from autocratic leaders to democratic leaders, they all demonstrated that leadership is more and more important for any organizations. Leaders versus Managers However, there are distinguishing between leaders and managers which we should realize before analysing the leadership within the organization. Some argue that manager is not a leader, but the roles of a manager require them to become a leader (Huczynski Buchanan, 2007). As Robbins Decenzo (2005: p. 244) suggest not all leaders are managers, nor are all managers leaders. There are differences between a manager and a leader, manager manage but a leader lead. Robbins Decenzo (2005: p. 239) defined manager as persons whose influence on others is limited to the appointed managerial authority of their positions to reward and punish. Manager manage the rules, follow the procedures and manage everything according to the system and structure establish by the company, they manage the people by the power and authority they have, people are managed not because of the manager, it is because the authority and power that the manager have. However, some argue that leader can create follower and make people to believe without any power or authority, people are willing to follow the leader on their own behalf and will (Huczynski Buchanan, 2007). Thus, there are no clear line that separate a manager and a leader, a CEO can have the characteristic of both which make them more competences to manage and lead the company to a greater success. It is undeniable that in today competitive environment, both leading and managing role are critical success factor for a CEO to have in order to achieve greater achievement (Kyle, 2004; Kotter, 2001). As De Wit Meyer (2004: p. 497) argue, Every leader must perform some managerial functions, even though every manager cannot take a leadership role. Wit Meyer (2010) argues that: the leader controls the allocation of the attention focus of the participants in the organization in any organization where managers dominate, structured rules tend to influence the allocation of attention, but the leader will try to capture the attention focus of the participants so that their attention is allocated to the areas that the leader considers important. Leaders to Discuss and Compare This paper will discover two successful leaders Jeff Bezos from the west and Akio Toyoda from the east by comparing their leadership style and other aspects related to leadership in order to discover the differences of leadership in different culture and background. Jeff Bezos from the West Jeff Bezos is the founder, president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Amazon.com (New York Daily News, 2008). He founded Amazon.com in 1994, and launched in 1995. As a founder and CEO of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos is a pioneer in e-commerce (Spiro, 2009). As shown in Fair (2002): At the end of 1999, Amazon had raked in over a billion dollars in sales à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in 2001, Amazon reported a fiscal loss of $1.4 billion, and had laid off over 200 workers in the last year à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Instead of giving up, Bezos had an idea: recruit other companies to sell their products online through Amazon as well. The idea worked. Companies such as Target, Toys R Us, Old Navy, and many others have agreed to sell their items through Amazon. Although Amazon is not directly responsible for inventory through these companies, they do get part of the sales, creating a profit for all involved. Since the inception of the idea, Amazon is now back on its feet and remains one of the most popular online vendors in the world today. Akio Toyoda from the East According to Los Angeles Times, 2009: Toyota tapped Akio Toyoda, grandson of the Japanese automakers founder, as president of Toyota à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The U.S.-educated Toyoda, 52, is the first founding family member to take the helm at Japans No. 1 automaker in 14 years. He promised a reaffirmation of the companys core principles, such as valuing ideas from the ranks a management approach called kaizen, [also known as Toyota Production System] that has made Toyotas production methods famous in industry circles around the world. 2.0 Comparison of Leadership Style and Culture 2.1 Participative Leadership Style and Charismatic Theory Jeff Bezos is more like a charismatic leader that practiced participative leadership style. Although he faced some obstacle in the early years, he managed to overcome the entire problem and bring Amazon to become one of the most innovative companies in the e-commerce industry. He launched Amazon.com and being persistent in persuading his aspiration, one of the characteristic of leader as describe by Mullins (2005). Jeff Bezos has the criteria as a charismatic leader as he has the ability to create a vision for the future and make everyone within Amazon believe in his visions that make him a charismatic leader. A vision should create enthusiasm, bringing energy and commitment to the organization (Robbins Decenzo, 2005: p. 246), while Ingbretsen (n. d.) argues that a charismatic leader has the ability to articulate a vision that touches an emotional chord with an audience. Jeff Bezos manages to lead people by making them believe that his innovative idea of online bookstore will be a s uccess. He had prove his vision are achievable and people believe in him since he lead everyone in the company to work hard and achieve the goal and objective to become the innovative player within the e-commerce industry, and people believe in him since he managed to turn the situation of Amazon around. As Robbins Decenzo (2005: p. 247) suggest, Charisma leadership appears to be most appropriate when the followers task has an ideological component or when the environment involves a high degree of stress and uncertainty. However, based on the other perspective that goes against charismatic theory, Raelin (2003) suggest that follower will follow the charismatic leader is just because the publicity make the leader look so powerful and great. The fancy packaging with the help from media had made the charismatic leader look like a legend, a myth that everyone believe is true. Levesque McNeil (2003, p. 215) strongly argue that as followers interact, they begin to define a social reality of leadership representing special mythical qualities endowed only by very special people. Raelin believes that followers are predisposed to look for a cause and a leader for whom they can become true believers (2003, p. 66). The critics for charismatic leader are that without massive publicity, there will be no charismatic leader; people will not recognize that leader at all. If Jeff Bezos is not good at making himself high profile by attending conferences, posting his own comment or opinions on the web, attending public events, accept a lot of interview and so on which make him highly expose to the media and make publicity for himself and the company as well, there will be no quoted as a charismatic leader for him. He was being quoted as a charismatic leader as people know what he done through the media and all the fancy publicity which make him look as great as a hero. There are many leaders around the world, even if we do not know their names or what great things that they have done, it didnt make them less an effective or great leader. Charismatic is not the only recognition for a great leader, people recognize the leader that they respect within their heart, even without the media spreading that lea der legend, people will still respect that leader, even he or she is not a charismatic leader. Indeed, some of the most significant CEO in the history of the visionary companies did not have the personality traits of the archetypal high-profile, charismatic leader (Forster, 2005, p. 30). 2.2 Autocratic and Collaborative Leadership Style On the other hand, Akio Toyoda practiced the autocratic leadership style and until now, the belief of autocratic leadership style still remain within the organization and most managerial level personnel practiced the same autocratic leadership style to manage their people. The main reason autocratic is effective at Toyota mostly based on the power-cultural that Japan always have. Akio Toyoda as president of Toyota is reaffirming its commitment to collaborative culture and methods (Rosen, 2009). Although being autocratic, Akio Toyoda practiced Genchi genbutsu or see it for yourself fits squarely into collaborative culture and methods of Toyota (Liker, 2004). As leaders, Akio Toyoda suggests that manager needed to hold themselves accountable for all their decisions, which they required their people to execute very quickly. Collaborative leadership and autocratic style of Akio Toyoda doesnt make him stay away from their unique kaizen production method, but to collaborate more with the implementation of lean production plant which was known as the Toyota Production System (Liker, 2004). Toyota Production System distinguished from its competitors and hard to duplicate since it is underpinned by just-in-time delivery (JIT); product quality; employee flexibility and the elimination of waste. This unique lean production system was buttressed by principle such as teamwork, continuous improvement, quality circles and employee development. 2.3 Traits Theory Although both leaders practiced different leadership style, they have their own personality traits that made them a great leader. First of all, based on the instrumental knowledge, the traits theory also call traits- spotting is argued even in recent years, for the reason of that leader is nature born or make. Although, there are thousands of successful leaders existing in the world, all of them have their own traits which can be summarize as six leadership traits including ambition and energy, desire to lead, honesty and integrity, self- confidence, intelligence and job- relevant knowledge. Hence, instrumental knowledge indicated that the traits are the distinguishing personal characteristics of a leader through six leadership traits (Robbins Decenzo, 2005: p. 256). However, not every leader has all of the personal traits instead of maybe some of them. And lots of examples tell us that leader with different traits also can obtain successful in every area. For instance, Jeff Bezos a nd Akio Toyoda have total different characteristics and personal traits, but both of them acquired big successful in the business world. However, in contrast with the instrumental knowledge, the conceptual knowledge holds that it is difficult to identify whether any people is naturally born with trait, or they might just gain those ability through their life experience and learn from it. Besides, different countries which have different culture will need leader with different characteristic. Thus, every leader which is required in different country will need to have different trait. For example, people from the Western countries and people from the Eastern country will have different culture or ways of doing things (Hofstede, n. d.). Thus, different leadership style need to be implement in different countries, if that particular countries are afraid of uncertainty and have a high level of avoidance for confusion, such as China, Japan and others, the Autocratic style might be more appropriate. Therefore, there is no one universally accepted set of traits for all leaders. Every single individual are different, their abi lity and skills, knowledge and experience will be different as well and they will be accepted in the mind of different people which appreciate their traits. 2.4 Behavioural Theory The most popular behavior style theory should be Blake and Moutons Grid which is based on the idea that different in leadership approach are a function of concern for people and concern for production emerged during the 1960s (Doyle Smith, 2001). According to behavioral theory, it is easy to find out which style the leaders are belonging to by identifying the behavior. For example, leadership styles are another important aspect from the management process where different country will have different management style. Huczynski Buchanan (2007) suggest that leader cannot use the same leadership style in their various locations around the world due to the cultural and behavior differences. Japanese leadership style differs from those in the U.S and the most common is that Japanese (Akio Toyoda) and U.S (Jeff Bezos) leader have a basically different philosophy of managing people. For example, Jeff Bezos is heavily individual-orientated and will praised individual with great performance in front of everyone. However, a Japanese saying is, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down which mean that no individual should stand out from the group. Giving out individual reward system in Japan could embarrass a Japanese worker and is not accepted at Japan. Western motivation models are culturally individualistic, applying them to a collectivistic culture is probably inappropriate. As Fujisawa, co-founder of Honda Motor Company stated, Japanese and American management is 95% the same and differs in all important aspects (Keeley, 2001, p. 18; Erez Gati, 2004). U.S leadership style is not appropriate at Japan where the Japanese employees are unable to accept or tolerate participative and individual orientated leadership style. Mintzberg Westly (2001) suggest that Japanese worker dislike emphasize on individual performance and more toward group-orientation, and will felt appreciate if their leader can pay some attention to them at work and also concern a little bit about their personal life, like what Akio Toyoda did as a leader at Toyota. Akio Toyoda was more willing to allow poor performance to continue for a time so that those who were involved would learn from their mistake and to harvest loyalty among employees. The example above clearly showed that there are clearly different ways to work in different culture and it is important for leader to understand such differences and manage the employees based on their own culture. Huczynski Buchanan (2007) argues that leadership styles vary from company to company. There are many different styles of leadership that can bring success to an organization but organization has to make sure that their leadership style is right for the business. Which leadership styles to practice depend on many factors, but the most determine factors that has the biggest influence on management style will definitely be culture and behavior. 2.5 Contingency Theory and Hofstedes Five Cultural Dimensions Fiedler and his associates bring out the contingency theory which combines leadership style and situation during 1960s. In Fielders model, the good performance of the group depends on the interaction of the leadership style and the favorable situation, and a good leadership must be flexible and adaptable in order to appropriate different situation within the organization no matter how hard or soft situation (Huczynski Buchanan, 2007). Thus, there is no single style of leadership which can match to all situations; even the most effective leadership behavior should depend on the situational factors. Hofstede (n. d.) commented that: Western countries have characteristics of high individualism, medium uncertainty avoidance, high masculinity, low to medium power distance, and low long-term orientation. [Thus, based on the situation, it is best for Jeff Bezos to practiced participative leadership style in USA. On the other hand, eastern countries such as Japan] was found to have characteristics of low individualism, high uncertainty avoidance, high masculinity, high power distance, and high long-term orientation Hence, it is more appropriate for Akio Toyoda to practiced autocratic leadership style to suit the cultural and situation at Japan. In order to compare the different culture of USA and Japan, Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions of USA and Japan will be as the following (Hofstede, n. d.): Source: Geert Hofstede, Cultural Dimensions, www.geert-hofstede.com 3.0 Conclusion In conclusion, it is undeniable that Jeff Bezos is a great CEO which made Amazon a famous and innovative online company globally. However, it is too narrow to believe that charismatic leader is everything since Akio Toyoda is still a great leader without being a charismatic leader. Jeff Bezos is a charismatic leader, it might be his style to be one, but charismatic leader style is not suitable for everyone or in different culture, background and country, it might not be essential. Therefore, there is no one universal accepted leadership style that is the most effective one. Great leader are not only charismatic leader, anyone who was seen as a great leader, no matter what his leadership style was, is nothing less an effective leader if they were not quoted as one. Thus, culture differences play a significant role whereby leaders must consistently aware of the cultural change and react to the situation in order to lead their staff with the most appropriate type of leadership. Without acknowledging to the aforesaid, one will never be a good leader.

Friday, September 20, 2019

New Jersey V. T.L.O. Essay -- essays research papers

The Fourth Amendment to the constitution protects United States citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. Our forefathers recognized the harm and abuses that occurred in the colonies to innocent people by the British, and they made sure to write protections into the U.S. Constitution. Fearing the police state that any nation has the potential to become and recognizing that freedom and liberty is meaningless when victimization by the police is a real and foreboding threat the Fourth Amendment was created. The Fourth Amendment has gone through many challenges and controversies in the past, and currently the issue of how the Fourth Amendment applies to students in public schools has come to be contended in the courts. While it is apparent to me that the Fourth Amendment should be no less applicable in schools than in the general society these essential Constitutional protections have been under fire in recent years and many rights have been taken away from students. The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." No where in this law does it create special divisions or classifications between adults and minors in society, so one should naturally assume that persons under 18 should be afforded the same protections as anyone over 18. The moment when minors are most at the mercy of government officials is while in school, and this is when these Constitutional Fourth Amendment protections are needed. The largest and first assault on the rights of students to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures occurred in the case of New Jersey v. T.L.O. In 1980 at Piscataway High School in Middlesex County, N.J. a few girls were caught smoking in the bathroom. After being brought to the principal's office one of the girls, T.L.O., denied that she had been smoking. The principal then searched her purse looking for cigarettes. After finding a pack of cigarettes the search continued until the principal discovered evidence of drug dealing. This evidence was used to prosecute T.L.O. and ultimately she received a year of p... ...arteries a secret. This I find to be substantially suspect. While I do not argue that the student athletes have a lower expectation of privacy due to their situation in the locker rooms and activities undertaken together as a team, I do not believe that this expectation is nearly low enough to allow an invasion of ones own body for the purposes of a search. Clearly there is no way for anyone to have any indication of what chemicals are contained inside one's own blood by a casual glance or even a thorough study of the outside of one's body. The expectation of privacy regarding one's blood would be equivalent to the contents of a safe hidden and locked inside one's house. While this expectation of privacy is something to be respected it can still be violated by an individual suspicious of guilt accompanied by a probable cause and a search warrant. In that case the blood test or the opening of the safe would be justified in my opinion. But due to the nature of the randomness of thi s search it is obvious to me that it is unconstitutional and this court decision should be reversed. These two court cases are very important in the evolution of the Fourth Amendment in public schools. New Jersey V. T.L.O. Essay -- essays research papers The Fourth Amendment to the constitution protects United States citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. Our forefathers recognized the harm and abuses that occurred in the colonies to innocent people by the British, and they made sure to write protections into the U.S. Constitution. Fearing the police state that any nation has the potential to become and recognizing that freedom and liberty is meaningless when victimization by the police is a real and foreboding threat the Fourth Amendment was created. The Fourth Amendment has gone through many challenges and controversies in the past, and currently the issue of how the Fourth Amendment applies to students in public schools has come to be contended in the courts. While it is apparent to me that the Fourth Amendment should be no less applicable in schools than in the general society these essential Constitutional protections have been under fire in recent years and many rights have been taken away from students. The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." No where in this law does it create special divisions or classifications between adults and minors in society, so one should naturally assume that persons under 18 should be afforded the same protections as anyone over 18. The moment when minors are most at the mercy of government officials is while in school, and this is when these Constitutional Fourth Amendment protections are needed. The largest and first assault on the rights of students to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures occurred in the case of New Jersey v. T.L.O. In 1980 at Piscataway High School in Middlesex County, N.J. a few girls were caught smoking in the bathroom. After being brought to the principal's office one of the girls, T.L.O., denied that she had been smoking. The principal then searched her purse looking for cigarettes. After finding a pack of cigarettes the search continued until the principal discovered evidence of drug dealing. This evidence was used to prosecute T.L.O. and ultimately she received a year of p... ...arteries a secret. This I find to be substantially suspect. While I do not argue that the student athletes have a lower expectation of privacy due to their situation in the locker rooms and activities undertaken together as a team, I do not believe that this expectation is nearly low enough to allow an invasion of ones own body for the purposes of a search. Clearly there is no way for anyone to have any indication of what chemicals are contained inside one's own blood by a casual glance or even a thorough study of the outside of one's body. The expectation of privacy regarding one's blood would be equivalent to the contents of a safe hidden and locked inside one's house. While this expectation of privacy is something to be respected it can still be violated by an individual suspicious of guilt accompanied by a probable cause and a search warrant. In that case the blood test or the opening of the safe would be justified in my opinion. But due to the nature of the randomness of thi s search it is obvious to me that it is unconstitutional and this court decision should be reversed. These two court cases are very important in the evolution of the Fourth Amendment in public schools.