Redstorm Rising Book Report :: essays research papers

Red Storm Rising is a book about the Soviet Union and Russia's attempt to overtake the Atlantic so they can launch an offensive against the United States of America and maybe other NATO countries such as England and Germany.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story begins in 1980 at a very productive but old, Soviet oil refinery in Nizhnevartovsk. The refinery is blown up by Islamic terrorists that hope to be 'heard' by their God Allah by commiting this violent action. The devestation of the refinery leads Russia into chaos with a much smaller supply of oil. The story escalates as the Russian army makes a push on Iraq to gain control over the precious oil fields to setup refineries and also an attack on Iceland. Conquering Iceland is an important step because this allows the Russians to reach farther into the Atlantic and possibly into North America with their aircraft. The Russian's greed for land control is immense and they are desperate for more resources and materials to manage more war campaigns. The Soviet Union soon decides that to gain ultimate power, Russian military must first cripple NATO and start the worst non-nuclear war imaginable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book is unique because the story is told through many different character's points of view. Tom Clancy tells the story through eyes of NATO and Russian naval captains who command both surface and underwater boats. Most of the character's actions would seem reasonable at war time, making the story realistic. Almost every chapter in the book takes place in a different location during the war, on both the Russian and NATO fronts of battle.

Differing Perceptions Effecting Communication

How have differing perceptions affected your communication with others? What steps might you take to avoid misunderstandings created by perceptual differences? I believe that differing perceptions between people is the greatest cause of misunderstanding in communication. Our text defines perception as â€Å"awareness of the elements of the environment made possible through our senses† (Walker, R. , 2011, pp. 22). The perceptual process is very much like the use of mental models that determine not only how we make sense of the world, but how we take action.It can significantly influence our overall approach in how we communicate with another person. Although there are many different steps one can take to avoid misunderstandings created by perceptual differences, there are two that I believe have the greatest impact. The first step is through expanding your intrapersonal intelligence. Our text defines intrapersonal intelligence as â€Å"the ability to form an accurate model of oneself and to use this model effectively† (Walker, R. , 2011, pp. 26). Intrapersonal intelligence is developed through the process of reflexivity.Our text defines reflexivity as â€Å"reflecting on our thoughts and actions to understand what motivates those thoughts and actions† (Walker, R. , 2011, pp. 26). Slowing down to better understand what is motivating our thoughts and actions allows us to make adjustments in our perceptions prior to communicating. This helps in avoiding perceptual inferences such as negative stereotypes and attribution. The second step is through expanding your interpersonal intelligence. Our text defines interpersonal intelligence as â€Å"the ability to understand other people: what motivates them, how they work, and how to work cooperatively with them† (Walker, R. 2011, pp. 26). Utilizing the skill of inquiry will aid in growing your interpersonal intelligence and ultimately reduce the impact the perceptual process may have. The more educated you are about another person’s position the better prepared you will be understand them and communicate with them. The power really comes in combining both of these steps while communicating. I’ve been using the skills of reflection and inquiry since learning about them last semester. I use them successfully at home with my wife and children and on the job with co-workers.Although I believe I have developed greater intrapersonal intelligence, I believe the increase in interpersonal intelligence has helped me even more while communicating with these people. In the past I didn’t take the time to understand what their motives and positions were while communicating. Now I make sure I better understand their position, including the perceptions supporting them. This allows me to see the situation from more angles before developing a response. Reference Walker, R. (2011). Strategic Management Communication for Leaders (2nd Edition. ) Mason, Ohio: South-Western , Cengage Learning.

A comparative study of Omani employees’ perception toward managers’ leadership styles and management competences in public and private sectors.

Introduction Leaders are fast becoming recognised as the key to success for organisations across the globe and as such studies on how leaders are created and how leaders interact with others are becoming much more prevalent (Chemmers, 1997). That said, the area of leadership in the Oman context has been largely overlooked when it comes to academic study and it is here that the research is going to focus. Leaders within business are increasingly being perceived as those who are responsible for either the success or the failure of the organisation in question and therefore their role within the organisation and the perception that others have of them are likely to be critical to their actions. Leadership has both an extrinsic and an intrinsic role. Firstly, it could be argued that leadership reflects the way in which the public view the company or the perceptions that those outside of the organisation have of how the company manages its operations; secondly, leadership looks at the way in which the employees and those who work directly with the managers are inspired and encouraged to perform in a suitable manner to meet with the organisation’s goals (Chemmers, 1997). Merely defining what is meant by â€Å"leadership† and the various styles that are seen to be available for such leaders is an academic study in itself, with one of the most accepted definitions being that of Chemers (1997, p.1) who stated that leadership is seen as â€Å"a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task†. This type of collaborative approach will form the basic underlying concept of leadership, regardless of the jurisdiction in which it is operating. Following on from this background understanding the research will then go on to look at how leadership in Oman can be developed to achieve greater commercial success with reference to the distinction between public and private sector organisations. Background of the Study Although there has been a large amount of general literature in the area of leadership and the emergent theories of leadership that have come about in recent years, there has been a small level of understanding regarding the role of leadership within the developing region of Oman. It has been suggested by Dorfman in 2004 that one of the main difficulties is that organisations in Oman are typically not very transparent with their operations and this can make it harder to identify any form of business strategy, let alone one that is rooted in the perceptions of individual employees. Taking an internal view of the way in which an organisation works is a crucial element of then looking at the role of the leader and how they can influence the performance of employees. It is argued here that one of the key issues is, in fact, that the political context of the region has a real and direct impact on the organisation and the types of leadership that are likely to be effective. Crucially, it i s also necessary to look at the cultural and political factors that are at play within Oman and not to simply assume that Arab culture will prevail. As a further point, by way of background, it is also noted by Dorfman that in Oman (as is the case in many developing regions) the public sector is often the driving force with internal practices, such as leadership development emanating from public sector agendas. Finally, it is worth noting that Oman itself is a relatively small country when looking at population, with a total of 3.5 million. On the face of it, the country has many similar characteristics with its Arab neighbours and is also subject to rapid economic growth; however, it is suggested in this paper that Oman has a unique geographical and political scope which encourages the organisations, both public and private, to outperform other countries in the same region (Haligan, 2007). There are arguably multiple factors that are likely to impact on how leadership is dealt with in Oman and these will be considered in greater detail in the thesis when comparing the approaches in the public and private sectors. These are briefly identified by Haligan in 2007 and include the political development in the region and the British influence, in particular. Issues of religion and culture are also thought to be important in the region and these are arguably factors that remain prevalent, even where there are economic changes or there are factors that may otherwise impact on the operation of the business. Problem Statement The problem statement for this research paper is to look primarily at the comparison between the public sector and private sector leadership skills, with reference to the employees’ perceptions of their leaders. Although this is a relatively specific area of study, there are potential issues that need to be looked at surrounding the study, in order to ascertain the impact that the various leadership styles have on the perceptions of employees and therefore on their ultimate behaviour. Employee behaviours are arguably linked to the leadership style, but it is also expected that other underlying factors, such as religion, culture and politics will have an impact. A comparison between public and private sectors may provide a greater understanding of these issues and the ways in which leaders can improve their own behaviours, in the future, to influence the performance of their employees. Research Question and Objectives The question here is to undertake a comparative study of the role of the managers and their leadership styles, from the point of view of employee perspectives, in both the public and private sectors in Oman with a view to presenting overall findings. In order to be able to provide a balanced response to this research question, there are several other objectives that need to be looked at, so that the answer to the research question can then provide future guidance, which can add value to those involved in corporate Oman. Firstly, there is a requirement to understand the various leadership styles that may be employed by leaders and the way in which these are likely to develop within the workplace. Factors that may impact on the choice of leadership approach will also be looked at, with reference to the corporate climate in Oman. For example, it may be thought that the political context is relevant to the leadership style and that this will then be different in the public and private se ctors. Similarly, it may be argued that religion or culture plays a much greater role than whether or not the organisation is public or private sector orientated. Secondly, as well as the actual factors that influence leadership styles, the next part of the research is to look at the impact that leadership styles have on employee perceptions of the leaders themselves, or indeed the organisation. The ultimate aim of this research is for those involved in leadership to be able to understand how they can influence employee behaviours to the benefit of the organisation, in the future. With this in mind, the research question will need to be broken down, to understand the factors that are present but unchangeable and those which can be influenced, so as to create a more balanced view as to what leaders and managers can do to change the operation and the perceptions of their employees within the workplace. Background Literature Review Despite the fact that there is a large amount of literature available in terms of leadership styles, all of which will be looked at as part of the main research, the real essence of this research will be to look at leadership in the context of Oman and Omani culture. Over the years, it is argued that Omani culture and how it deals with politics, in particular, is that it has supported a participative leadership approach as being the dominant form of accepted leadership within the culture. This was the subject of the discussion in the paper of Eickleman, (1987) who found that the people of Oman, in general, operated by consultation, with leaders being largely selected based on merit, rather than on succession. This type of underlying culture is important as a means of understanding the prevailing culture and the likely employee perceptions of their leaders. Specific research in the area of Omani business has also taken place, identifying that the way in which leaders are selected by p riests within the community by merit from a religions context which offers an opportunity for further analysis within the commercial context. Arguably, this type of social selection was also seen to be prevalent when Al-Ghailani researched the area, in 2005, considering how this then influences human resources practices. It was found in this research that the use of social criteria was often seen as important when it came to recruitment and promotional decisions. This was evidenced in the 2005 research by the fact that it was found that many religious leaders were petitioning the public sector to recruit family members into certain roles. He found that there were essentially two different leadership structures in operation, the first looking at merit and the notion of recruiting to fill a need and the second based on family and cultural issues. This two fold approach suggests that leadership is unlikely to be a black and white scenario and perceptions are going to vary from person t o person not just from organisation to organisation. By looking at other areas of research into leadership and therefore the employee perceptions that emerge as a result of the leadership, it can be seen that there are very distinct opinions, with those such as Farazmand, (2006) noting that this social element in fact complements leadership and improves perceptions, rather than being a detriment to the European and Western approach. A specific research paper that looked at the leadership values in Oman was undertaken by Neal et al (2005), which found that positive leaders were seen as those displaying attributes of strong charisma, being largely interactive and also having a degree of authority inherent in their attitude. This indicated that those successful leaders in Oman were not actually far remote from the Western ideals. In particular, Neal et al. found that an effective leader in Oman needed to be concerned with the personal welfare of all of the employees and that a further level of respect is given to the use of legal authority, which is seemingly logical given the high level of bureaucracy within the region. Methodology The methodology that is going to be used in the research here is inductive in nature, as it will look at the observations and actions of the various different managers, before then attempting to produce an overall theory that could ultimately apply across both private and public sector organisations. The first step of this research, therefore, is to undertake a full literature review and analysis of the leadership approaches and those factors that theoretically have a means of determining the different perceptions which are going to emerge from employees in relation to the leadership skills displayed. From this general theoretical understanding, primary research in the form of case study interviews will then be undertaken, with the author looking specifically at two organisations, one in the public sector and one in the private sector. Although it is recognised that ideally several different organisations should be looked at, it is noted that the reality is such that focusing on two organisations will allow for sufficient depth of comparison between the styles of leadership. This will then be used to produce a theory and a set of suggestions as to how the information can then be applied to establishing a set of recommendations for managers across Oman and indeed across other similar jurisdictions. Limitations / Ethical Considerations A key limitation which has been identified is that the case study element will only look at one organisation from the public sector and one from the private sector. It would be desirable to look at a broader range of organisations and even to undertake such research over a period of time, to ascertain how these issues change and the long term impact of culture and politics, at that point in time. There may also be concerns that the employees will not be as open as they could be, due to concerns about what their manager will think; therefore, anonymity is crucial and is something that needs to be taken to the forefront when collecting data. References Al-Ghailani, R. (2005). Equal opportunity in public office in principle and practice: An empirical study of the Omani Civil Service. Doctoral dissertation, University of Hull, Hull. Al-Hamadi, A., Budhwar, P., & Shipton, H. (2007). Management of human resources in Oman. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(1), 100-113. London Chemers M. (1997). An integrative theory of leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, CA, Publishers. Dorfman, P., & House, R. (2004). Cultural influences on organizational leadership. In R. House, P. Hanges, M. Javidan, P. Dorfman, & V. Gupta (Eds.), Culture, leadership and organizations, the GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Farazmand, A. (2006). Public sector reforms and transformation: Implications for development administration. In A. Huque & H. Zafarullah (Eds.), International development governance. Boca Raton, FL: CRC/Taylor and Francis. Halligan, J. (2007). Leadership and the senior service from a comparative perspective. In B. Peters & J. Pierre (Eds.), Handbook of public administration (pp. 63-74). London: Sage. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Jabbra, J., & Jabbra, N. (2005). Administrative culture in the Middle East. In J. Jabbra & O. Dwivedi (Eds.), Administrative culture in a global context. Whitby, ON: de Sitter. Neal, M., Finlay, J., & Tansey, R. (2005). â€Å"My father knows the minister†: A comparative study of Arab women?s attitudes towards leadership authority. Women in Management Review, 20(7/8), 478-498. Riphenburg, C. (1998). Oman: Political development in a changing world. Westport, CT: Praeger. Winckler, O. (2000). Gulf monarchies as rentier states: The nationalization policies of the labor force. In J. Kostiner (Ed.), Middle East monarchies: The challenge of modernity (pp. 237-256). London: Lynne Rienner.

Leadership In Action

A.   IntroductionThe paper to be shown herein particularly highlights the leadership skills of an IT Operation’s Team Chief in a Call Center Agency.   Call Centers are primarily known for assisting clients in facing troubleshooting issues with the client’s computer-operating procedures. Through a phone call from the client, the agents are able to connect themselves with the problem and thus be able to solve the issue though instructional details given over the phone towards the clients.The work of Call Center agents is most likely ranging from 24/7. This means that the shifting of schedules are reshuffled every now and then for the agents to be able to meet the 24-hour operation of the company. Indeed, seeing this situation, it could not be denied that this type of organization certainly needs an enthusiastic set of managers who are supposed to lead the tea, in getting the best results of the company while giving the clients the best service that they ought to recei ve.   In this particular manner, the author of this interview report decided to talk to one of the managers of the said Call Center Agency so as to be able to look deeper on how managers of the said type of organizations keep up with the challenges of meeting the different responsibilities left in their care which includes keeping up with business competition and empowering the workers in giving a quality performance for the entire organization.B.    Manager’s Basic InformationsFor the sake of privacy purposes, the manager noted here in would be referred to as â€Å"Mr. Team Chief†. The said individual agreed with the said title to be used in behalf of his identity to be able to cover his true name. He is among the ten other team chief managers of the IT operations management team. Like the others, he is assigned to a certain pool of agents whom he has to work with everyday. For at least two months, they are given the chance to empower a certain group, then after w hich they are transferred to other groups for the sake of establishing camaraderie among all the workers and inciting better motivational procedures to all the employees. (Goleman, 2000)Each pool of agents consists of at least 15 members each. The organization gives incentive to the agents who are able to reach an 80% performance level with the calls that he or she assists each wee. It is then the responsibility of the Operational Management’s Team Chief to help the employees reach this particular goal. Through assisting them with the difficulties of answering some of the most technical questions, the manager is able to give them the support that they need at work. However, the responsibility of a Team Chief does not end there. Aside from particularly supporting the team, he is also responsible for motivating them in a way that although the work id quite tiring, the agents would feel that what they are working for is all worth the efforts. Facing the different conflicts that the employees engage with every now and then is also left in the care of the team chief to resolve.C.   Organizational Behavior Management SectionIt has been mentioned earlier that the manager interviewed herein is held responsible for motivating, assisting and disciplining at least 15 call canter agents left in his care every time he goes to work. Not to mention that his job also requires him to possess a certain amount of considerable knowledge about IT operations, he also is accountable for having and applying sound judgment when several difficult situations arise. TO breakdown the topics on management that have been discussed by the author of this report with the manager, the following subtitles shall separate the issues basing from their impact on human behavior management procedures:People MotivationIt is the company’s protocol to reward a call center agent who was able to reach at least 80% satisfaction on the calls that he or she received in a week. It is then the r esponsibility of the team chief to assist others in reaching that particular goal. To be able to do so, â€Å"Mr. Team Chief† said that he opt to have empowering meetings 15 minutes before each shift. Once he is on the floor, he makes it a point that he is not just staying in his sit but instead he roams around the work areas of his team and sees to it that they are simply doing the right thing, Once a successful call has been delivered by an agent, he never forgets to acknowledge them and give them commendation. He added that in this job, he learned that making the people feel that they are of great worth to the company and the hard work that they put forward for the organization is given high regard is much better than motivating them in terms of monetary allowances.Punishment and PoliciesSince the shift of the agents is reshuffled every now and then, the organization allows at least a lee-way of three minute on floor preparation before the actual job. This means that the t ime listed on the schedule sheet given to the agents are at least three minutes earlier than the actual hour of operation. Hence, there is no excuse for being late. However, there are at times those agents who simply cannot arrive early because of some circumstances. Hence, what he does is to allow them three times of being late then on the fourth, they are held form work for at least an hour away from their schedule, this way they would not be paid for the first hour of their job even though they would work. This is just among the policies that â€Å"Mr. Team Chief† deals with. He usually deals with this particular problem making it one of the most overused policies in his team.Decision MakingThe usual; decision made by Mr. Team Chief is naturally on the track of whether to consider a call successful or not. The 80% satisfaction in the customer service given by the agents to their clients is scaled by the managers themselves. There is not a machine-based program that determi nes this particular progressive report. Hence, it is in their discretion if they are to flag a certain call successful or a failure. This then subjects them to being highly objective, not being influenced by favoritism and is completely guided by the essence of professionalism in their job. (Collins, 2001).Facing ConflictsAt some point, the employees get stuck with conflicts with each other, particularly because of their individual dispositions at work. Form this particular perspective, Mr. Team Chief tries it so hard to become much objective in listening to the disputes of the employees while trying to assess the roots of the problem. Once the root of the dispute has been resolved, the manager tries to fix the issue through helping the employees see the situation in each other’s perspectives, putting each other in other’s shoe on the aim of helping them see the situation in the implication of values depending on the personality of each employee. (Gottee, 2000)Pursuing the Breaking Ground for TeamworkIt is very important to work as one towards one [particular goal for this type of organization. This is the reason why for the manager, it is important to understand what is it that actually empowers his people to work on their performance in giving their job the best shot that they could provide the clients and the organization as well.   (Brown, 2002)The Implication of Leadership PrinciplesIn the book Spiritual Dimension of Leadership, the authors of the said reading material deliver their points of views on how to develop the intellectual insight regarding and spiritual beliefs. Based on the achievements of the authors Dr Paul D Houston and Dr Stephen L Sokolow, their main points are to express by public education the true meaning of faith in leadership and how to become a more enlightened leader, by having a common purpose and common vision. Through the said book, they discussed their hopes and dreams for themselves as well as for the public ed ucation, for the different leaders and for the world.Their major goal is to build a strong public education that will help the children to easily enhance their skills, and to support the needs of the students primarily with regards the moral and spiritual values. Thru public education, the different kinds of beliefs can easily be discussed in formal and legal ways, and public education is the best opportunity to build different essential concepts that will connect the people within the human society. Another goal that these two authors frequently develop is the â€Å"Dimension of Leadership†, though leadership is a great privilege to a person who has the chance in having the skills needed for it, the authors define the exact value of what are the valuable insights that a perfect leader should have. Also the responsibilities of the leader, which should always be his major priority for the benefits of his community; this will lead to a wellness and successful organization in th e society that he serves. Wise leadership in spiritual, moral, and educational program is one of the major keys in a certain country’s future success; it is the best way to create a fruitful result that can give hope to the citizens of a particular society.Moreover, in order to build and have better leadership status in the future, the authors of book entitled â€Å"Spiritual Dimension of Leadership† provide some important guidelines that will fit to the prospective leaders. They offer the eight key principles that can lead to a prospective leader to become a valuable and enlightened leader, it is important to discussed this eight key principle in order to understand and enlightened the important point of views on how to become a better leader and spiritual adviser to the societies and communities. These are the following guidelines that a prospective leader should have to seriously apply and understand carefully in order to empower his leadership.Intention- In leaders hip it is important to know what is the real intention of the leader in his activities and programs, because all the related activities that are usually directed by the leader and provided by the members will always reflect his physical and moral values.Attention- A true leader must always visualize the needs and benefits of his team; in order to develop a progressive idea the leader should always give his full attention to the programs and activities that are very beneficial to the community.Unique Gifts and Talents- Special skills and talents are God given gifts to every individual; it is also temporarily stored to human body, by building and developing a set of better programs and activities, leaders are extending their best to use their skills and intellectual thinking to provide a humanistic and unbiased leadership to his community.Gratitude- Leadership is not all about the giving of commands and duties, in order to achieve the main goal; an acting leader should have an interpe rsonal emotion, greater acceptance, and dipper appreciation for handling a serious obligation, also by receiving a lively sense of favors grateful acceptance is also required in order to have a better leadership practice application.Unique life lessons- Though leadership is always creating some comparisons, developing uniqueness is a big factor to create a better relationship towards other members, by using personal experience to provide a useful knowledge, â€Å"Unique life lessons† is a big contribution in having an enlightened leader.Holistic Perspective- This kind of principle is also required to inspire the members to also achieve their goals. By emphasizing the importance of the members in the society, through the implementations of the holistic perspective true leadership will be more effective.Openness- To achieve a wise leadership especially in education, openness is a big impact to create a better leadership. Leaders should always be open-minded in terms of the idea s and theories that are represented by the members of the public constituents. Any problems should seriously be discussed properly.Trust- The most important things that the leaders in spiritual and educational area should apply is trust, leaders should always create their different perspectives as well as the progressive idea on how to lead a certain group; however, trust is the major factor in continuously aiming and becoming a leader. However, trust remains to be the core reason needed for the leadership skill applications to be successful enough for the organizations being served.If the insights written within the pages of the book being discussed in here will always prevail within the society’s leaders, it could be easily expected that better days are ready to come ahead as the future generation of human civilization sprouts out to serve the different countries around the globe. The book indeed provides the most necessary inspiration that leaders need to posses in leading the nation or any other social organization, trust and knowledge that would lead to a more successful future and a more effective leading procedure.ConclusionFrom this particular presentation, it could be noted that managers are expected to deal with different arenas considering human resource empowerment as well as improving their performance level for the sake of establishing a fine reputation for the organization through the works of the agents. It is very much appealing how Mr. Team Chief insisted on the fact that what managers usually forget is that the motivation needed to fire up the interest of the workers in performing at their best is not at all times based on monetary measures. Sometimes, simply acknowledging them for a job well done already does the trick of motivating them to work well. The sincerity of the manager to help the employees bring out their best makes the essence of management a real gift to any business organization.Interviewee:Patrick Mendoza. (2007) Clie ntlogic Philippines. (Online Interview Through Chat Permission from the Clientlogic Administration). Loakan, Baguio City, Philippines.Further Readings:Collins, J. (2001). Level 5 leadership: the triumph of humility and fierce resolve. Harvard Business Review, 79(1), 67-76.Goffee, R. & Jones, G. (2000). Why should anyone be led by you? Harvard Business Review, 78(5), 62-70.Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 79-90.Brown, L. M. (2002). Click here  to access a review of Kouzes and Posner's book, The Leadership Challenge.Paul D. Houston , Stephen L. Sokolow. (2006). The Spiritual Dimension of Leadership: 8 Key Principles to Leading More Effectively. Corwin Press.

Case Study Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case Study Review - Essay Example Criminal activities and drug usage have adverse effects on both the user and the citizens of a nation. A good example of the negative effects is poor judgment as evidenced in the case study of Mike. Mike is a 20-year-old. His age is sufficient indicator that the youth are most susceptible to drug abuse addiction. Involvement in such activities leads one to a jail term of a specified period. On the case of Mike, his release from prison is quickly followed by strict supervision implying he was on probation or trial periods. According to Shifter (2012), drugs and crime have a great relationship as can be identified from the case of Mike who has been involved in crime to a great extent and is also a suspect of drugs usage. The drug used by Mike is cocaine and is an expensive drug. It is worth noting that the need for drugs triggers the involvement in criminal activity (Shifter, 2012). Using the case of Mike, he uses an expensive drug meaning he needs money to acquire the drug. As a result, he is involved in a criminal activity of stealing a car. Individuals suspected to use drugs can be tested after which the result can either be positive or negative. For Mike, on running the test the probation department finds out that he was positive and that he required counseling. Unfortunately Mike’s issues were beyond drug addiction. It is worth noting, that Mike had a personality disorder. In other words, he was self-obsessed such that he had unstable emotions. As a result, he had little regard for the feeling of others. The use of drugs especially cocaine causes anxiety and irritability (Shifter, 2012). Inevitably, this makes Mike more sensitive to the comments of others. Consequently, this triggers the relationship between the people around you. For example, in the case of Mike her fiancà © did break up with him since he only cared about himself. Mike had impaired judgments that, as a result, made

Strategic Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Strategic Marketing Management - Essay Example It is irrefutable that the business arena is evolving into a hypercompetitive environment characterised by the continuous by more intense rivalry among industry players associated with the growth of buyer leverage (Kotler 2002). This trend forces business organizations to rethink their strategies in order to compete more efficiently and more profitably. On the other hand, these developments in the market also present opportunities for business organizations especially in the way they market their products and services to their specific target markets. In order to choose the strategic path that a company should take, it should first identify the strategic marketing options available for it (Kotler 2002). The identification of strategic marketing options is aided through the use of different strategic management tools. Strategic management tools are essential instruments for managers and decision makers. The use of these tools does not only provide a diagnosis for the business organization but prescribe solutions and strategic responses as well (Thomson 2002). This report will look at the different strategic management tools used by business organizations in order to identify the feasible and available strategic marketing options. The first section will focus on the Ansoff Matrix and how it can be used to evaluate the strategic directions that the company can take. The second part will look at the other analytical tools and techniques which can be employed to develop marketing alternative marketing strategies. This paper will conclude with its findings. The Ansoff’s Matrixis is a tool in strategic management which is utilised in order to aid managers in deciding the product and market growth strategy of a business organization. After its publication in the Harvard Business Review in 1957 in an article entitled, ‘Strategies for Diversification,’ this strategic management tool has gained wide popularity and recognition in the marketing world.

THE Breaking the chins of psychological slavery by na'im akbar Essay

THE Breaking the chins of psychological slavery by na'im akbar - Essay Example In order to break out of the chains of mental slavery, it is essential for people to recognize their character. The author advises people to recognize the characters of other people. The author highlights how religion contributed to the emergence of chains of mental slavery. In the first chapter, the author explored the psychological legacy of slavery. This chapter focused on issues such as work, property, leadership, the clown, community division, personal inferiority, and the family and color discrimination (Akbar 2). I agree with the author’s views on these issues. The first chapter gives a historical background of slavery. Slavery caused long lasting social shock and trauma to African Americans. At work, African American slaves were considered as second-class humans. The Africans were subjected to mistreatment and punishment in their workplaces. In addition, they were given dehumanizing duties. It is vital to note that African American slaves did not have any rights in their workplaces. This animalistic treatment of slaves and the cruelty they faced added to the mental and communal distresses suffered by the affected people. In the case of property, African Americans were not allowed to own property since they were considered as property. The author notes that slaves were disqualified to own things because their owners or masters saw them as things. They could only have the necessary things required for the completion of their duties and tasks. The society expected slaves to live a simple life. Slaves were required to take orders from their masters. In most of the instances, the master’s children even gave orders to slaves. In case the slave refused to act on the orders from the master’s children, they were punished and humiliated. The gap between the master and their slaves led to hatred and disgust that led to the destruction of private and public property. There were usually instances of killing and torture of disobedient slaves.