Why is Leadership an important but controversial area of Essay

Why is Leadership an important but controversial area of Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example The present research has identified that leadership for the purpose of this paper refers to the managerial process in which the manager of an organization guides, supports, motivates subordinates so the latter can fulfill their duties accordingly to the plan and goal of the organization. In short, it refers to the process of accomplishing organizational goals through others. The researcher states that organization behavior, on the other hand, is about studying the impact of individuals including leaders, groups, and structures on how people behave within organizations. Its roles include promoting organizational performance, organizational development and also the satisfaction and performance of people in the organization. This paper then asserts that leadership is important to promoting organizational effectiveness or organization performance because of the important functions that a leader would do to attain goals and objectives. It is the leader that defines that tasks and how to d o the same through other people in organizations. In doing the same, he would most probably need followers or group of individuals who would have to work with the said leader. It is clear that the leadership must be very if tasks need to be done by people, who would have to influenced, directed and motivated to action. Without a leader who calls the shots, it is hard to see a group moving towards a direction.

HR Outsourcing WalMart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HR Outsourcing WalMart - Essay Example In the case of WalMart, although the company does deal with manufacturing as well, the main business deals with retailing. Hence here it is not advisable to outsource the human resources process. The company requires keeping complete records and all decision making within the same locations. This allows better and faster response time to any human resource problem. Although outsourcing will prove to be beneficial for the company and will provide the company with reduced duties to be carried out directly, the strategic decision making will not be in complete sync with the main objectives of the company. Strategic HRM can be more powerful and success when it is carried out within the organization. In making strategic decisions it is crucial that the objectives and other strategic decisions made by other teams are also considered (Brown and Wilson). By outsourcing the HRM functions and the processes to different locations, the company can clearly be faced with issues of keeping complete records and also maintaining the staff effectively.

'In company reporting, the measurement of the amount of impairment of Essay - 1

'In company reporting, the measurement of the amount of impairment of many types of assets is so subjective as to be meaningless - Essay Example Some assets can't be reported simply, so the subjectivity arises from the choice of impairment modeling and accounting presentation: Like trying to map a 3-dimensional sphere on a 2-dimensional plane, inevitable distortions crop up no matter what approach one takes to presenting the data. Yet other assets, while objectively declining in value, do so at a rate that is impossible to determine, so any presentation is subjective because it is a choice as to what data to include and what not to, what prediction to make. Yet even this incomplete, subjective picture is far from meaningless for investors, auditors and stakeholders. Asset impairment is defined as, â€Å"An unexpected or sudden decline in the service utility of a capital asset, such as a factory, property or vehicle. This could be the result of physical damage to the asset, obsolescence due to technological innovation, or changes to the legal code. Impairments can be written off† (InvestorWords, 2011). Assets can declin e for a variety of reasons. Simple wear and tear can make an asset less than its expected new or even used value: For example, a vehicle that operated in difficult conditions such as snow or sand could be below the expected market value for a vehicle of that age. In this sense, asset depreciation is a subset of asset impairment. But this determination can be subjective: It requires guessing the cost of the additional damage which could vary from potential buyer to potential buyer. Technological innovation can make some objects obsolete: Certainly, computers have obsolescence and an incredibly high rate of turnover. But anticipating that requires expecting Moore's Law to continue operating, as well as treating the computer as a unified asset, yet different parts of the computer depreciate at different rates and accounting standards are always changing to reflect that for different electronics (Ward, 2011). A legal change could make a piece of machinery become illegal in a particular country, but then the asset could be sold elsewhere, which could require a degree of subjective currency anticipation and assessment of liquidation risk and benefit. This is why goodwill is recognized as the standard for impairment of many assets, and it is commonly accepted that there is a great degree of subjectivity in making this determination. â€Å"We are facing a new era of economic development with a growing significance of intangible assets. Goodwill constitutes a significant asset for numerous companies, especially those which are operating in high technology industries. According to the growing importance of intangibles there has also been a significant change in standards associated with accounting for goodwill† (Jerman and Manzin, 2006). In particular, using fair value accounting for goodwill and for determining the need for disclosures leads to inherent subjectivity: â€Å"The fair value may be determined by using different approaches such as using available ma rket prices, present value techniques, prices for similar assets and other valuation techniques. Users of financial information should consider that market values are not always on disposal. Consequently fair value estimates are based on subjective judgment† (Jerman and Manzin, 2006, 222-223). One of the reasons why there is so much subjectivity is because investors rightly demand disclosures of

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Research Paper Example These technological advancements led to the introduction of the internet, which most sectors have been put in use in their operations. The essay that follows is a research on the potential of the internet for building and establishing communities with reference to specific online groups. The internet is a communication medium that people use in their daily life activities due to its viability. The idea of its use has a long history line where people in the past years used to communicate to others, but discoveries and advancements in communication technology by visionary people brought changes in its current usage in the present society. These discoveries aimed at creating a new communication where people would effectively communicate with others, putting in mind how proper use of the internet can impact the community (Riel, 2013). Most of online programs rely on the internet for their operation, a quality which has made its use rampant in the various activities. The internet and Soci al Networks The internet contributes in a large percentage the way social media operate, since operation of online groups like blogs, online chats, YouTube, multiplayer online games, Facebook, twitter, video conferencing, among others relies on the internet (Bertho, Crawford & Fogarty, 2008). The high rate of globalization in the world is as a result of the rise of internet usage. This is because the internet breaks the limit made on human interactions since there are no political borders among the users. There are a number of websites that people different countries use to enhance communication among their citizens. For example, an individual with Chinese origin or descent can visit China.com and communicate with other citizens who share the same characteristics (Bertho, Crawford & Fogarty, 2008). Citizens from Filipino can communicate with other Filipino citizens across the world by visiting Tinig.com and share issues concerning their country. Tsinoy.com connects Filipinos who hav e a Chinese accent, while Scottish accent people meet at ElectricScotland.com. These among other sites make people share various issues affecting their communities as they contribute to their development. Yahoo has a large number of sites that bring together different cultures. Participants in these sites engage in chats with each other, which provide a medium for discussions and organization of events geared towards community development (Bertho, Crawford & Fogarty, 2008). Through these sites people too can access newspapers and also listen to their local radio stations daily, and this maintains ties between people in the diaspora with their families and homeland. However, the ability of the internet to impact on people depends on the ‘end-to-end design (Bertho, Crawford & Fogarty, 2008). It is designed in a way that its impact relies on the end users. The web effectively utilizes this design in that every user participates in providing the content of the web even with little knowledge or capital equipment (Bertho, Crawford & Fogarty, 2008). This enables the users not only to use a website, but also have the ability to create it, giving it a democratic feature. The internet creates a wide accessibility of information on a website as opposed to a newspaper or magazine, and this gives those who lack enough access on resources to communicate with other people in a different community. Through the potential the

Choose a business firm and discuss What is consumer's perception about Term Paper

Choose a business firm and discuss What is consumer's perception about the firm and its product - Term Paper Example Apple Inc This paper chooses Apple Inc for the study of consumer’s perception about goods, because Apple Inc has emerged to be one of the most successful and powerful brands around the world. It is an American based multinational company that designs and produces computers, peripherals, digital players, phones and software etc with greater emphasis on innovation and technology, and markets them through own-retail outlets, online stores and third party sellers (Sander and Slatter, 2009, p. 81). Apple Inc always thrived on innovation (Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz, 2005, p. 395) especially through on-going product and brand differentiation. The relentless efforts of Apple to focus on ease of use, simplicity, utility, efficiency and fun has helped the company make its new variants of products such as iPhone, iPhone-3G, iPhone- 4-G etc to be very different species than that of its competitors (Newsweek, 2007). Consumers of Apple products expect unique values and technology advantag es from Apple’s computers as well as its digital players and phones. The company is very particular about the value propositions and almost all of its efforts including R&D are meant to satisfy consumers’ expectation of values and innovation. ... l different factors that may impact the perception, the real experiences of consumers after using or buying a product brings the true perception in their minds. Miller, Miller and Miller (2007, p. 16) described that a consumer’s perception about a company or its offerings is based on their past experiences with the company or its offerings, companies that offer similar products or services, and information they have got from friends, family and colleagues. Consumers almost always compare the values, benefits and general features of two or more similar products and services and this comparison in turn form perception in their minds. It is thus closely related to brand positioning and brand image. Consumers’ perception about Apple and its products Though there are discussions regarding Apple’s brand image and consumers’ perception before and after the resignation of its founder Steve Jobs (Hughes, 2011), one thing remained constant that Apple is well known f or its technology. Until 1990s, Apple was costing on borrowed technology, but Steve Jobs realized that a company cannot stay long on ‘technology leader’ strategy without becoming a technology creator. After 1997, Apple made four segmentations of its products and innovated in the way it produced and marketed its products (Betz, 2002, p. 194- 195). As Hoskisson, Hitt and Ireland (2008,p. 133) noted, Apple’s market effort was to develop computers and other offerings that are highly differentiated with help of latest technology. The product differentiation strategy that has implemented has thus created a unique history of its own through very distinctive products ever-available in the market such as iMac, iBook, iTune, iLife, iMusic, iPad, iPod, iPhone and so on. The company approached its market and

Managing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 2

Managing - Essay Example Foucault was a philosopher from French whose ideas and knowledge along with the statements were highly acclaimed. His work can be identified in the domain of power and knowledge, which has been widely practiced in the present day context. As per the study of the author, knowledge and power are identified to move hand-in-hand in an organisation. They are inseparable aspects to a greater extent. People who are levied with enormous power will also need to have proper grasp over knowledge in order to execute effective decision-making (Plunkett & et. al., 2012). Institutions holding enormous power will be able to create as well as normalise the society with the help of knowledge and truth (Clegg & Handy, 1999). In this context, the particular essay intends to focus on depicting the importance of power relations with regard to the statement made by Foucault (2007). The study focuses on obtaining required insight on subjectification, discourse and discipline through understanding gained fro m secondary studies. Literature will be explored to achieve the aim of the essay and to support Foucault theories.. According to Foucault (2007), power has least resemblance with ethics. Ethics is a moral philosophy, which is least practiced or adhered in the domain of power within businesses or any other sectors. Practices and power relationship are aligned with one another. Subsequently, the author noted that power could be seen in various domains of the society including decision making of the government, operations of business units in different parts of the world and in the political domain among others. Power is considered by Foucault (2007) to be both intelligible as well as acceptable (Izak, 2015). Power is regarded as the ability or the authority of any individual to influence people to work efficiently and meet the desired objectives and goals of

It is a research paper about the topic (Homeless Families) Essay

It is a research paper about the topic (Homeless Families) - Essay Example A majority of these people are thrust into the homeless state by life-altering events that were unexpected. Some tragic life occurrences such as job loss, domestic violence, family disputes, and loss of loved ones can lead to homelessness (Bassuk et al, 2010). Homelessness is by and large a three-pronged problem. It is affected by economic, political, and social factors. The state of homeless families exploded in the early 1980s when federal funds were withdrawn from social assistance and low-income housing programs. The programs were meant to cater for the mentally ill and low-income families. Lack of affordable housing and the rising gap between earnings have left many of families and individuals in America homeless (Nunez, 2000). Economic factors are a central cause, as are social factors such as long-term drug addiction, mental illness, and alcoholism which can contribute to homelessness. Studies show that at least 25 percent of homeless people suffer from a kind of mental illness (NHC 2006). Twenty percent of the homeless are also drug and alcohol addicts, and the lack of access to affordable care can leave them vulnerable to the problem for their entire lives. This paper evaluates various aspects of homeless families such as how hom elessness affects children, and what society is doing to alleviate the problem (Bassuk et al, 2010). The rate of homelessness among American families has grown extensively over the last two decades. Between 2007 and 2010, the number of homeless families rose significantly. In 2007, 30% of the homeless people were in families and the percentage changed to 35% in 2010. This percentage is, however, devoid of the proportion in the suburban and rural areas (Khadduri & Culhane 2011). The affected families experienced frequent moves while in search of employment and secure affordable housing. The turbulence resulting from the movement affects children, and they