Issues Relating to the Sharing Economy-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Write a business report that investigates and analyses the issues relating to the sharing economy from a business perspective by reading and analyzing relevant scholarly articles, using contemporary examples and providing a personal reflection. Answer: Introduction Share economy can be easily defined as the sharing of assets and services between private individual by the help of internet. It generally focuses on providing production, distribution, and consumption of goods which are mainly served by various people and organization (Hamari, Sjklint and Ukkonen, 2016). Sharing economy also focuses on providing a peer to peer platforms along with making use of the providers so as to exchange and purchase of goods. The main benefits which can be obtained from new technologies are driving sustainable economic and large number of benefits to environmental (Zervas, Proserpio, and Byers, 2017). This can be achieved only by cutting down on costs, conservation, and reduction of a large number of environmental impacts. Consumers, suppliers and on-demand technology are considered to be critical elements for the sharing economy. The report mainly consists of an explanation regarding sharing economy. After that, a brief description of the benefits and limitation of sharing economy has been provided. From the list of crowdsourcing websites, a suitable website has been selected. After that, a reflection has been provided share economy and its importance in the workplace. An analysis has been done regarding the future of sharing economy. Discussion Explanation of Sharing of economy Sharing of the economy is new kind of concept or idea in which various kinds of IT-based products or services are used, sharing along with leased for individuals and organization (Schor, 2016). It generally allows multiple kinds of end users to easily develop and consumption of a large number of IT services. It also focuses on purchasing and maintaining of them on individuals standards. Sharing economy is also known to be share economy, peer economy, mesh economy and makes it is known to be collaborative consumption. It generally targets economic targets individuals and organization (Cusumano, 2017). Sharing economy is for the individuals and organization which cannot easily target the cost of buying and maintaining of various kinds of IT based solution. This kind of concept is generally implemented by making use of consumption of the various kinds solution provided by the IT service providers. Crowdsourcing is considered to be another kind of platform which can easily help the engin eers, developers and other kinds of IT resource for the creation of application by working together for benefiting the end products and services. Cloud computing is known to be focused on sharing economy (Acharya et al., 2017). It is much focused to provide infrastructure for a largely established economy. Benefits of sharing economy The benefits of share economy have been described below: Resource utilization: It focuses on efficient utilization of resources which can easily provide better kind of matching in a particular kind of segment. The consumer is generally considered to be pivot or center in which the whole economy revolves (Edelman, Luca, and Svirsky, 2017). As the world becomes mobile, it is expected that most of the consumer can easily make use of information and services which are present at the bottom of it. On-demand services and other kinds of information related to work are considered an efficient basis. Job Creation: Sharing economy focus on increasing in a number of opportunities around the globe. With the emergence of sharing economy, a road to self-employment was made easier (Martin, 2016). Various kinds of technology platform focused on the creation of massive kinds of opportunities for employing delivering the address. Social Mobility: Share economy has focused on providing employment market to a large number of workers present in the market (Mhlmann, 2015). One of the vital benefits provided to the platform is the creation of a large number of job for people. Skill Development: Sharing economy allows people to make better utilization of skills and talents. Technological development has ultimately led to the improvement of technological skills. In addition to boasting of the technology of unorganized workforce, it also leads to investing in the behavior of skills of a large number of drivers (Ert, Fleischer and Magen, 2016). Limitation of the sharing economy There are several disadvantages of sharing economy some of them are listed below: Concern regarding the privacy and security: There exists the requirement of peoples on both sides of the transaction and they also need to forfeit some of the privacy in sharing economy. For example, whenever renting of a house is done it means that the strangers are being invited to the house but still the individual providing the rent has trust on the renters to be respectful and law-abiding but they cannot be 100% sure about what they follow through (Dillahunt and Malone 2015). This type issue is also applicable whenever a ride is being shared, selling or renting of an item is being done I an online marketplace and many other platforms. There exists few or no guarantee at all: Whenever a resource is being shared with others then it is also assumed that the risk of wont getting paid or the item that is being shared will be damaged. So it is better to say that there always exists the risk of damage to the item that is being used and also the risk of not getting paid as well (Dillahunt and Malone 2015). For example, in a talent marketplace, there exists a typical finite number of jobs for which an individual is qualified but there exists no guarantee of steady income or getting payments for the work that has been completed and the buyer is not satisfied with the work. Cooperation with others: Despite the benefits of sharing economy there still exists the need of cooperation between the people of each side of the transaction. This might also lead to tradeoffs which are responsible for putting constrain over the independence or self-reliance of an individual (Dillahunt and Malone 2015). This can be better understood with the use of an example that is when a co-working space is used means that the resources are being shared. The reason behind the use of crowdsourcing website From the list of website, Kickstarter is considered for this report because this website is considered to be useful for creating a large number of projects like the album or writing a book (Yoon, 2017). Kickstarter is considered to be funding platform in which creator can easily gather or share interest on a particular topic. It totally works by making use of crowdfunding which means that it makes use of general public money. In this website, every project is independently crafted while various kinds of funds can be easily gathered from the return of products. Creators can easily set a particular kind of page for displaying all the details of the project. Various kinds of project creators set up a funding goal along with deadline (Schor, and Fitzmaurice, 2015). It also focuses on providing or seating of a large number of goals at different levels. Kickstarter is considered to be a great platform as not every kind of people gets approval from it. All or nothing funding is considered t o be core or important part of Kickstarter. It generally provides a large number of advantages like It is generally considered to be less risky for a large number of people. Without the help of funds various kinds of backers cannot be easily charged (Malhotra and Van Alstyne, 2014). In many cases, it is seen that it motivates by adding a sense of urgency which ultimate focus motivates the whole communities. It focuses on providing for funding goals for the organizations. Sharing economy funding request The whole idea or logic of share economy is considered to be too old. Sharing is generally known to be the best way for a gathering of a large number of resources. In many cases, it has been seen that this is much cheaper along with being sustainable for many peoples (Cohen and Kietzmann, 2014). The whole logic of share economy is generally known to be broader one and as it does not have any kind of sharing model associated with it. Crowdfunding is proven to provide a large range of investors. Likely of a request for succeeding Crowdfunding provides a sharing economy which can bring benefits to various kinds of stakeholders. Around the globe, this whole process claims to provide crowdfunding which is taken to have the best kind of ways for raising the capital. It also addresses to make use of resources, social mobility by providing a large number of jobs to people. Revenue seems to be lost if is considered to be unused in a large number of private sectors (Sundararajan, 2016). The final result of sharing economy would include the creation of a request for more job opportunities. Share economy is proven to provide transformation along with providing benefits to many people. Sharing talent focus providing transformation and providing benefits to a large number of people. Sharing economy is also associated with providing the development for a certain number of skills and also focus people to easily make use of a large number of resources. The contribution of the project to share economy Definitely the project would be providing a lot of benefit in an improved and better way and this would be done by providing a large number of ways so as to minimize and exchange the various kinds of services. After assembling along with innovation platform it will ultimately focus on increasing large number of goods and services for the people (Sundararajan, 2016). Transportation generally provides a platform which can be easily used for creating flexibility to a large number of users. Reflection of sharing economy for personally at a workplace Share economy can easily result in any kind of digital transformation which focus on peer to peer communication for various kinds of goods and services. The shared workplace has easily undergone a large number of ways for understanding the transition. Co-working is known to be shared workplace in which is an idea has been providing regarding traditional services (Sundararajan, 2016). Co-working is generally occupied by various kinds of independent workers which tends to work outside the home. Sharing economy can easily transform the composition of the various kinds of the workforce and many kinds of organization which can easily have the possibility of linking their headquarters. Sharing economy is not only associated with the transformation of the whole composition of the workplace but this has also been designed so as to provide a work environment where it is possible for anyone to hold the impact (Sundararajan, 2016). Share economy is considered to have various kinds of the digita l platform which can easily make use of different goods and services. When the projection of untapped kind of market is done then it will ultimately lead to the boosting up of the confidence of investor while starting the co-working with others. At present co-working spaces are being largely used for independent kind of cost-effective place which is generally considered to be outside the home. It claims to provide flexibility, lower cost of value and attraction of a large number of solution. Future of share economy Share economy is a well-known topic which claims to have gathered a lot of attention in short span of time. Sharing can be easily defined as a kind of economy in which various kinds of resources can be easily used in much cheaper and efficient way (Sundararajan, 2016). The whole world has witnessed a steep rise and penetration of share economy which has been aided by the growth of digital platform and also the willingness of various kinds of a platform for peer to peer based business models. Now people are moving where a large number of people are making use of resources and produces goods and services. Various large companies make use of this digital platform for drawing a large number of resources (Sundararajan, 2016). Sharing economy makes use of individuals and group members for making money from the huge amount of resources. In the near future, the crowd based capitalism is expected to spread in a large number of sectors. Although the healthcare sector is expected to have sluggi sh in the domain of various kinds of advancement and digital kinds of the platform which offer non- emergency along with health services which are emerging to be marked as a reader of future development economy. Conclusion The above report concludes us to the fact that sharing economy is known to be vital for the various organization in near future. An explanation has been provided regarding sharing economy and it has been provided after reviewing a large number of scholarly articles. Various benefits and limitation of share economy have also been described in details in this report. A various crowdsourcing website is there but, a particular website has been chosen for this purpose which is kickstart. Various reasons have been provided for making use of this website. Along with this, an idea has also been proposed regarding the crowdfunding request associated with its alignment with the share. The economy has been choosing in this way. A list of reasons has been put forward for the fact that whether the request will be successfully implemented or not. In the end, a list of reasons has been provided regarding the fact that sharing economy is and contribution in the various kinds of the workplace. After that, an idea has been provided regarding the future of share of the economy. Various kinds of benefits of share economy like utilization of resources, job creation, social mobility and development of skill have been provided in the above pages of the report. In the above pages of the report, an analysis has been done regarding crowdsourcing and its importance in the creation of various kinds of IT solutions. References Acharya, V. V., Bergant, K., Crosignani, M., Eisert, T., McCann, F., Economy, R. (2017, September). The Anatomy of the Transmission of Macroprudential Policies: Evidence from Ireland. In16th International Conference on Credit Risk Evaluation, Interest Rates, Growth, and Regulation, September(pp. 28-29). Cheng, M., 2016. Sharing economy: A review and agenda for future research.International Journal of Hospitality Management,57, pp.60-70. Cohen, B. and Kietzmann, J., 2014. Ride on! Mobility business models for the sharing economy.Organization Environment,27(3), pp.279-296. Cusumano, M.A., 2017. How traditional firms must compete in the sharing economy.Communications of the ACM,58(1), pp.32-34. Dillahunt, T.R. and Malone, A.R., 2015, April. The promise of the sharing economy among disadvantaged communities. InProceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(pp. 2285-2294). ACM. Edelman, B., Luca, M. and Svirsky, D., 2017. Racial discrimination in the sharing economy: Evidence from a field experiment.American Economic Journal: Applied Economics,9(2), pp.1-22. Ert, E., Fleischer, A. and Magen, N., 2016. Trust and reputation in the sharing economy: The role of personal photos in Airbnb.Tourism Management,55, pp.62-73. Fraiberger, S.P. and Sundararajan, A., 2015. Peer-to-peer rental markets in the sharing economy. Hamari, J., Sjklint, M. and Ukkonen, A., 2016. The sharing economy: Why people participate in collaborative consumption.Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology,67(9), pp.2047-2059. Koopman, C., Mitchell, M. and Thierer, A., 2014. The sharing economy and consumer protection regulation: The case for policy change.J. Bus. Entrepreneurship L.,8, p.529. Malhotra, A. and Van Alstyne, M., 2014. The dark side of the sharing economy and how to lighten it.Communications of the ACM,57(11), pp.24-27. Martin, C.J., 2016. The sharing economy: A pathway to sustainability or a nightmarish form of neoliberal capitalism?.Ecological Economics,121, pp.149-159. Mhlmann, M., 2015. Collaborative consumption: determinants of satisfaction and the likelihood of using a sharing economy option again.Journal of Consumer Behaviour,14(3), pp.193-207. Schor, J., 2016. DEBATING THE SHARING ECONOMY.Journal of Self-Governance Management Economics,4(3). Schor, J.B. and Fitzmaurice, C.J., 2015. 26. Collaborating and connecting: the emergence of the sharing economy.Handbook of research on sustainable consumption,410. Sundararajan, A., 2016.The sharing economy: The end of employment and the rise of crowd-based capitalism. Mit Press. Yoon, S., 2017.TRANSITIONS OF TRUST ACROSS DIFFERENT BUSINESS CONTEXT: IMPACT OF THE SHARING ECONOMY ON THE LODGING INDUSTRY(Doctoral dissertation, University of Nevada, Las Vegas). Zervas, G., Proserpio, D. and Byers, J.W., 2017. The rise of the sharing economy: Estimating the impact of Airbnb on the hotel industry.Journal of Marketing Research,54(5), pp.687-705

Areopagitica By Milton Essays - Book Censorship, English Civil War

Areopagitica By Milton What is the meaning of virtue? Milton answers this question in his speech Areopagitica. Milton will dicuss his meaning of virtue and show his anger at Parliament in the speech. He knows by their actions that Parliament does not know the true meaning of virtue. To understand Areopagitica, you must first understand the reasoning behind the writing. Milton, being a Puritan, did not agree with the beliefs upheld by the Roman Catholics. Free will and free speech was the center of his soul, and to have them governed and censored by Parliament was an outrage. He knew that they did not truly understand what virtue was and did not want to hear any explanation. "In Areopagitica he definitely adopts the doctrine of free will and turns against the predestination of the Presbyterians" (Tillyard 136). Milton's beliefs at the time of his writing was that man is born with the seeds of good and evil and if the opportunity arises, some men will choose the evil way. He wants everyone to understand that man, no matter who the person is, has a choice in determining which road to take. Milton is realistic when he Henderson 2 writes because he knows he is fighting a battle that is weighted against him. He feels the power of the Parliament, but he knows the possibility for victory is evident. Even this possibility does not deter him from realizing that he is still dealing with man who has the choice to do good or evil. "But in Areopagitica beneath the excitement of hope there can be detected the whisper of doubt" (Tillyard 135). Milton tries to explain the meaning of virtue in his writing with the hopes that Parliament will heed what he is saying. Milton explains to them that good and evil walk hand in hand and that man has the choice of free will. This choice gives man the chance to say no to evil and choose to do good. He writes of how Adam had the choice to do good, but instead he chose to eat the fruit and evil was introduced. From this deed, man has to make the choice of his own free will. "He that can apprehend and consider vice with all her baits and seeming pleasures, and yet abstain, and yet distinguish, and yet prefer that which is truly better, he is the true warfaring Christian" (Milton 778). The free will of man means the ability to choose what to read, speak or do, and to censor these choices of life is not the true Christian way of life. Milton wanted Parliament and the Roman Catholics to understand this no matter what it cost him. Bibliography Milton, John. John Milton: Complete Poems and Major Prose. Ed. Merritt Y. Hughes. New York: Macmillan. 1957 778 Tillyard, E. M. W. Milton. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc. 1967. 135-136

Venus in Furs Book Review

'Venus in Furs' Book Review Not many writers have the distinction or the notoriety of having a psycho-sexual term named after them. The astonishing and ingenious sexual cruelties in the Marquis de Sades works, particularly in The 120 Days of Sodom, have made his name a byword, and in 1890 the German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing introduced the word sadism into medical terminology (even though the sole manuscript of The 120 Days of Sodom had yet to be discovered and published, the full fury of which would wildly intensify the meaning of the term). Historian and Progressive Thinker Fittingly in the shadow of the overpowering de Sade, the Austrian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch inspired the term for sadism’s flip-side, masochism, which was also introduced by Krafft-Ebing. Von Sacher-Masoch was a historian, folklorist, collector of stories, and progressive thinker, but even though he produced dozens of books in any number of genres, he’s almost solely known for his infamous novella Venus in Furs (its the only work translated into English). Initially meant to be part of an epic novel-sequence called (Sacher-Masoch abandoned that plan after a few volumes), Venus in Furs was published as the fourth part of the first book, which was entitled, Love. Each book was named after one of the â€Å"evils† that Cain introduced into the world, and with this underlying premise- that love is an evil- von Sacher-Masoch reveals a seriously uneasy view of human relations. Venus in Furs - Beginnings The book starts with an epigraph from the Bibles book of Judith, which narrates the story of a clever and powerful woman beheading Holofernes, an Assyrian general. An unnamed narrator, then, opens the book with a strange dream of an icy Venus, who wears furs and who leads a philosophical discussion about how women’s cruel nature increases mans desire. When the narrator awakens, he goes to meet with his friend Severin, to whom he relates his dream. ​ Introducing Severin Severin is a strange and sober man who at times, the narrator relates, had violent attacks of sudden passion and gave the impression of being about to ram his head right through a wall.† Noticing a painting in Severins room depicting a northern Venus who wears furs and holds a lash that she uses to subjugate a man who is clearly a younger Severin himself, the narrator wonders aloud if the painting perhaps inspired his dream. After a short discussion, a young woman enters to bring tea and food for the pair, and to the narrator’s astonishment, a very slight offense on the woman’s part causes Severin to berate, whip, and chase her from the room. Explaining that you have to â€Å"break† a woman rather than let her break you, Severin produces a manuscript from his desk that tells how he was ostensibly â€Å"cured† of his obsession with being dominated by women. Confessions of a Suprasensual Man Entitled â€Å"Confessions of a Suprasensual Man,† this manuscript comprises all but the last few pages of the rest of the novel. Entering into this frame, the narrator (and the reader) finds Severin at a Carpathian health resort where he meets and falls in love with a woman named Wanda, with whom he draws up and signs a contract that makes him her legal slave and gives her full power over him. At first, because she seems to like him and enjoys his company, Wanda shies away from the degradations that Severin asks her to subject him to, but as she slowly allows herself to take up her dominant role, she takes greater pleasure in torturing him and increasingly grows to despise him for how he allows her to treat him. Leaving the Carpathian mountains for Florence, Wanda makes Severin dress and act like a common servant, forcing him to sleep in disgusting quarters and keeping him isolated from her company unless needed to serve some whim or another. These changes make Severin feel the palpable reality of his desires- a reality that he was in no way prepared for- but although he loathes his detestable new position, he finds himself unable to resist (and to keep from requesting) new humiliations. At times Wanda offers to put an end to their game  because she still has feelings of affection toward him, but those feelings fade as her mantle of power gives her free rein to use Severin for her increasingly twisted devices. The breaking point comes when Wanda finds a nearly superhuman lover in Florence and decides to make Severin subject to him as well. Unable to bear subjugation to another man, Severin ultimately finds himself â€Å"cured† of his need to be dominated by women. Telescoping back to the novel’s outer frame, the narrator, who’s seen Severin’s current cruelty toward women, asks him for â€Å"the moral† to all of this, and Severin answers that a woman can only be a man’s slave or despot, adding the caveat that this imbalance can only be remedied â€Å"when she has the same rights as he and is his equal in education and work.† This egalitarian last touch squares with von Sacher-Masoch’s socialist leanings, but clearly the events and stresses of the novel- which were mirrored closely in von Sacher-Masoch’s personal life, both before and after writing it- prefer wallowing in inequity much more that eradicating it. And this has been the novel’s main appeal for readers ever since. Unlike the works of the great de Sade, which soar as striking feats of both writing and imagination, Venus in Furs is much more of a literary curio than an artistic piece of literature. Its symbolic orders are muddled; its philosophical excursions are both ponderous and corny; and although its characters are vivid and memorable, they too often fall into â€Å"types† rather than exist as fully explored individuals. Still, it’s a curious and often enjoyable read, and whether you take it as literature or as psychology- or as erotica- there’s no question that this book’s whip will leave a distinct mark on your imagination.

Caretakers' Emotional Responses to Providing Care to Elderly Loved Essay

Caretakers' Emotional Responses to Providing Care to Elderly Loved Ones in Assisted Living Facilities - Essay Example ructured interviews allows for responses such as 'I started feeling a little resentful' (p10), an emotion which may not be typically associated with ailing relatives. There are fewer assumptions being placed on the data being collected, which leaves more room for hypothesis generation. Weaknesses of the Research by Sanderson & Meyers (2008) There are strengths, outlined above, of qualitative data that are applicable to this study. Correspondingly, there are weaknesses. Firstly, it can be hard to generate data and representations of this data for use in the published paper (Thorne, Kirkham & MacDonald-Emes, 1997). This can make it difficult for both readers and researchers to visualize the topic in a meaningful way (Carr, 1994). This lack of data also makes comparisons with other studies and individuals within the study more difficult, as the qualitative data collected is more difficult to graph. There are ways around this. One way to generate a more numeric version of the qualitative data is to use a technique called coding, which relies on giving mentioned words certain values and evaluating them in this way (Holloway & Wheeler, 2009). In the context of nursing, many heath bodies want results that can be applied in a meaningful way to the healthcare industry, and this can often be a challenge for qualitative data (Carr, 1994). Another issue with qualitative research that applies to this essay is that because of the complex nature of collecting data via interview or analysing long-answer responses to a questionnaire. This means that the sample size of qualitative studies is often far smaller than those in quantitative studies, making it harder to generalize the results to the population (Kuper et al, 2008). Sanderson & Meyers (2008) recognize this, and suggest that... This paper has primarily focused on the weaknesses of the study thus far. There are, however, many strengths as would be expected from a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal. The paper clearly explains the aims of the research, and this is reflected in the succinct title and abstract. Generally, the paper achieves what it sets out to do, which is give detailed responses from those with relatives in assisted-living facilities to illustrates the difficulties of putting the elderly in care. The research design was appropriate for this, because they wished to get detailed responses, which could not have been gathered using a quantitative study. Sanderson & Mayer clearly understand the limitations of their study and incorporate this into their discussion, whilst forewarning about generalizability and making assumptions. The research also performs well ethically. The researchers recruited people from an event, and therefore the participants were well-versed on how the study would proceed and what their responses would be used for. In this sense, the paper succeeds in achieving its aims whilst behaving in an ethical manner. There is no clear indication of the relationship between the researcher and the participant but it can be assumed that this was anonymous, confidential and private from the description of the interview location

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Economics - Essay Example (Simpson, et al., 1) The Federal Reserve System is made up of twelve regional banks located in San Francisco, Dallas, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, Cleveland, Richmond, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Private banks own stock in the twelve regional banks, this is what funds the twelve Federal Reserve Regional banks. The twelve regional banks are made up of regions listed below: Another component of the Federal Reserve System is the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors is appointed by the President of the United States of America, but confirmed by the Senate. The seven member board serves can only serve a maximum of fourteen years, with a member serving one term at time of two years. The only exception is the Chairman of the Board and the Vice Chairman, who serve four year terms. However, the fourteen year limit also applies to them. The only way a board member can be removed is by the president for cause. The current board members are Ben S. Benmanke, Chairman, Donald L. Kohn, Vice Chairman, Susan Schmidt Bies, Kevin M. Warsh, Randall S. Krosnzer, and Frederic S. Mishkin (The Federal Reserve Board). This Board of Governors is an independent governmental agency. They oversee the twelve regional banks, plus the numerous private banks owning stock in the regional reserve banks. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is a committee made up of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, plus four other Federal Reserve Regional Bank presidents that serve on a alternate schedule. This committee reviews the open market. The open market being the buying and selling of government securities. This way the committee can determine monetary and credit conditions. The FOMC also oversees the foreign currency exchange rate. The FOMC is extremely important part of the Federal Reserve System,

Defining leadership as a process and property

Defining leadership as a process and property In defining leadership Jago (1982, p.315) states leadership is both a process and a property. The process involves influencing group members to undertake activities that will lead to the accomplishment of the group objective, while the property refers to the set of characteristics believed to be held by those with influence. Leadership theory began by focusing on traits but has since followed a varied course in the search for conclusive evidence on the factors that affect leadership. In this report we will focus on the dyadic process of leadership, looking at the leader as an individual (Lussier Achua, 2009) and will assume that leadership effectiveness will only be understood by looking at the influence of the leader on their followers. We will concentrate on three major theories trait, behavioural or style and situational. Trait Lussier Achua (2009, p. 16) proposes that leadership trait theories attempt to explain distinctive characteristics accounting for leadership effectiveness. Traits were initially thought to be innate or heritable qualities of the individual(Zaccaro,J.S,2007)   This perspective shifted to include all the other enduring qualities that distinguished leaders from Non-leaders. (Kiripatrick and Locke,1991 as cited in Zaccaro,J.S.,2007) There is strong evidence to prove that traits contribute significantly towards leader effectiveness, leader emergence, and leader advancement.()The following are some of the traits which each of us believed lacked in us following group discussion: Decisiveness Barlet Decisiveness is often identified as a key trait in leadership (Ghiselli, 1971 as cited in Lussier, 2008). It involves the ability to logically analyze a situation and make a decision in a timely manner. A leaders decisiveness also provides clarity and direction and gives others confidence in that leader. Readiness to make decisions was identified as a key personality trait that predicted a managerial advancement (Howard Bray, 1983 as cited in Hogan, Curphy and Hogan, 1994). Barlet has identified decisiveness as a weakness, especially in high stress situations where a quick and effective decision was required. After discussing with the group and analysing situations where Barlet lacked that ability to make the decision, it has been identified a number of steps to improve decisiveness. One was to have a procedure where a situation could be analysed and decision made quickly. Its also important to trust yourself and not be afraid of making the wrong decision. Motivation Saran Motivation is a key element of any type of leadership, whether the leader is informal, bureaucratic or and expert it is vital for the individual to be motivated. Three types of motivation stand out with regards to leadership. The first is the goals to which human behaviour is directed, the seconded involves how these goals are selected and pursued and the last involves the process of influencing others. (Huczynski and Buchanan, 1991) After discussion of these three factors with regard to Sarans ability to lead, we found some serious flaws in his motivation. The clearest point that emerged from the discussion was that to lead one must be able to achieve the targets of the task, build and develop the team and have concern for the individuals in the team. (Pettinger, 2007)   It was found that Saran had a clear and genuine concern for the individuals he was responsible for. The problems arose when trying to achieve the task. This problem was there because the goals to which his behaviour was directed did not compliment the task. The priority that Saran gave was based on his own goals, what motivates him to do the task in hand was not what necessarily what motivated Saran. This ultimately led to the problem becoming more and more difficult, and in many cases a serious trade off between time and quality had to be made.   This task has lead Saran to look at the basic attitudes towards goals, by changing this we beli eve he will be able to look at the prioritisation of tasks in a whole new light, completely transforming his ability qto   leaded. Self-confidence Jenny Research on leadership traits has consistently shown that self-confidence is considered to be an important characteristic (Hollenbeck Hall, 2004). McCormick (2001, p.) describes self-confidence as the following: Self-confidence refers to peoples self-judgement of their capabilities and skills, or their perceived competence to deal successfully with the demands of a variety of situations.   Up to now Jenny has persistently shown a lack of self-confidence when undertaking tasks and leading others. She feels particularly uncomfortable when she has to make a decision for a group as she usually has doubts about whether or not it is the correct decision. The group suggested that by increasing her task understanding, by breaking it into specific components, and knowledge Jenny could become more confident as she would have evidence to support her decision making. Hollenbeck and Hall (2004) suggests that self-confidence is built up by a process of taking a small risk and making progress to wards achieving a certain goal. Success in this will lead to increased confidence in your abilities. therefore Jenny would need to begin to take small risks also. Initiative Sandy Initiative has been defined as a leading action or a commencing movement, often associated with the first action of a matter. Effective leaders take initiative. This involves being proactive and making decisions that lead to change instead of just reacting to events or waiting for others to take action (Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991). In most situations, Sandy has been finding it difficult to demonstrate initiative because she has high agreeableness, and very often prefer to listen to other members suggestions. She lacks self-assurance that she is uncertain about her own opinion, and therefore finds other peoples opinion more favourable. Research on leadership and personality has stated the importance of initiative and persistence in relation to effective leadership, and so by having other qualities such as conscientious and tenacity which are related to the above traits may help (Judge et.al., 2002). Sandy felt she do not have experiences in taking initiative because she felt she is n ot knowledgeable and informative enough. Our group agreed that Sandy should believe in herself and try to improve by gaining more knowledge, and do not have fear to speak up and be arrogant in a good way. Dominance Athmika Dominance was amongst one of the important traits associated with leadership and leader perception (Mann, 1959, as cited in Lord, De Vader and Alliger, 1986). Smith and Foti (1998) have listed several studies that show that dominance has positive correlations with leadership perceptions and people that score high in dominance tend to find themselves in a leadership position. Anderson and Kilduff (2009) found that people who are deemed as being highly dominant in relation to traits were likely to be categorized by other group members as more competent than they actually are. Athmika has always been a team player and values team opinions over hers. From her personal experiences and while discussing with the team, she realised dominance was a trait she lacked the most. To be more dominant, she should have faith in her ideas and be able to influence her group with her ideas. She can do this by reading extensively about the task which would guide her to make   informed decisions. Also, she should voice her opinion out strongly which would make her feel more in control of the situation. Behavioral Leadership theory progressed from researching traits to looking at the impact of behaviour style. Two main types emerged from the research body; task and relationship behaviours. Task behaviours facilitate goal accomplishment (Northouse, 2004) and relationship behaviours focus on how comfortable subordinates feel in a situation (Northouse, 2004). Communication Barlet Communication is essentially the ability to transmit a message from one person to the other, whether this is information, an idea, a feeling or an emotion (Pardey, 2007). Pardey (2007) also identifies communication as one of five critical skills for all leaders and according to Bass (1990, cited by Bligh and Hess, 2007) as communications distinguishes leaders who are successful and effective from those who are not. An effective leader is one who has a deep understanding of others and has the ability to establish a shared vision and motivate those around them (Parker and Stone, 2003). Effective communication is instrumental for all those things to occur and frequently it is the solution to many difficulties faced by an organization (Ashman and Lawler, 2008). So far Barlet has not been particularly effective in communicating his ideas clearly, and this in some cases has undermined the quality and depth of his work. After discussing this with the team members, it was identified that ora l communication and presentation skills specifically were his weaknesses and it was suggested that thorough knowledge of the subject being discussed as well as practice would help in getting the message through and eventually improve communication. Improving tolerance Saran Tolerance is described in many sources as a prerequisite to leadership, not having it places a cloud over ones judgment and leads to inefficient use of resources. Drucker 1993 believed to achieve results, one has to use all the available strengths the strengths of the associates A lack of tolerant behaviour comes from two elements, ones own ego and personal aspirations, as well as the personality and views held. This as an issue as not being able to get the full use of the people being lead is a poor form of leadership. After discussion it was found that this behaviour became more dangerous when leading people who are described as total miss-fits and poor fits by the eligibility versus suitability quadrant. Trusting others ideas Jenny Jenny sees herself as task focused. When working on projects she has difficulty trusting others to deliver top quality work. She finds herself carefully double checking other team members work and this can make the team members feel degraded. According to Blake Moutons Managerial Grid ® she would have an Authority-Compliance style. This makes her concern for results high but her concern for people is at the lower end of the spectrum. Based on this Managerial Grid one way that Jennys behaviour could be altered would be to engage in more people focused activities. She could become more concerned in the interests, needs and problems of her followers (Doyle Smith, 2001). The group suggested that one way to also improve this was match the task at hand to the abilities of each group member, meaning that Jennys trust in them would be increased by her knowledge that they were skilled in that task. Another suggestion was to attempt to communicate more clearly to the group members the task requirements and thus reduce ambiguity. Finally Yukl, Gordon and Taber (2002) suggest that increasing time spent monitoring may make leaders more effective. Giving instructions Sandy As leadership is about gaining power to influence others through communication (Northouse, 2010), it is essential that a leader should be able to give instructions. Lussier and Achua believes that in any supervisory role, such as how well a manager give instructions will directly affect their leadership ability of leading and motivating employees in accomplishing the task (Lussier and Achua, 2003). Sandy finds it difficult to state her objective in a precise and clear manner, due to the lack of confidence and partly because she is not able to use her voice effectively to catch the attention. Therefore, her message becomes difficult to transmit and deliver to other people. Moreover, Sandy described herself as the democratic decision-making leadership style, that she allows people to make their own decisions and only state her opinion in the final stage of the discussion (Lewins leadership style). Therefore, she often fails to give instructions as a leader and become more of a facilita tor when reaching consensus in the group. In order to improve, she should develop a relationship with her group and become more empathic in their needs, as well as checking the receivers understanding to ensure they know what objectives they have to attain. And also make sure these tasks are achievable and have it done by a certain amount of time. Sandy should use her influence power and be more persuasive as an authority to follow up at these situations (Lussier and Achua, 2003). Time Management Athmika Schuler (1979, p. 854, as cited by Macan, 1994) asserted that time management means less stress for individuals, which means more efficient, satisfied, healthy employees, which in turn means more effective organizations. Athmika has always faced problems with proper time allocation of her work. She tends to procrastinate her work until the impending deadline. This leads to unnecessary stress and has also impeded her performance significantly. On discussion with the group, the group suggested that Athmika has to be more task-oriented and should organize her work as described under initiating structure in the Ohio state studies (Stogdill, 1974, as cited in Northouse, 2004). She should prioritize her work by preparing time audits. She also can improve her time management skills by setting realistic and attainable goals. Situational Leadership Fielder (1967) stated that there is no ideal leader, and that both relationship-oriented and task-oriented leaders can be effective if their leadership style fits the situation. Fielders Contingency Theory is one theory where the effectiveness of a leaders behaviour is determined by the situation he or she confronts. Fiedler stated that it was much easier for individuals to find a situation that matched their leadership style than to change their style to fit the situation (Stroh, Northcraft and Neale, 2002). In contrast to this, the Situational Leadership Model suggests that leaders should adopt their style. Hersey and Blanchard (1993, as cited in Fernandez and Vecchio, 1997) stated that leaders are most effective when they employ a leadership style which is most appropriate to the situation they face and to the followers readiness and maturity to complete the task. Path-Goal theory is another model which states that an effective leader is able to clarify the path to various goals o f interest and provide the opportunity/path for the follower to achieve such goals. This then should promote job satisfaction, leader acceptance and high effort (Stroh, Northcraft and Neale, 2002). Delegating situations Barlet Delegating is one of the four leadership styles characterized by Hersey and Blanchard (1977 as cited in Graeff, 1997). It involves the leader passing tasks or responsibilities to an individual or group while the leader is still involved in monitoring the progress. So far, Barlet has not been particularly effective in these situations, and this has often delayed progress and limited performance as he. This has mainly been due to his lack of trust in the team members ability to do a certain task, but also due to his indecisiveness. Hersey (1985) stated that a good leader develops the competence and commitment of their people so theyre self-motivated rather than dependent on others for direction and guidance and in this case, the leaders high expectations causes high performance by the followers. Therefore trusting your people and showing confidence in them by passing responsibility and allowing them to complete a task will get the best out of your team and it is a situation where Barle t needs to improve. While playing vLeader, Barlets natural style was very directing, speaking most of the time and controlling the conversation and kept scenario length very short. In scenario one, Barlet did most of the work in every idea and did not let Olie participate or speak much. While in this case it worked, in many other situations the leader has to focus on the overall objective and delegation becomes more important. This was clearly demonstrated in the Wolfgang Keller case study (Gabarro, 1997 (part of module readings)) where Keller realised that being able to delegate operations was important in allowing him to progress further in the organisation. Supporing situations Sara Supporting situations require a low directive and highly supportive behaviour. (Northouse, 2004)   Ã‚  The S3 square in the four leadership styles is a situation where the task receives more focus than the people.   Being able to act with this leadership quality would allow a leader to flourish in a situation where low motivation   and a some level of skills were present. This situation is becoming more prevalent as Druckers knowledge worker theory become more common place in the work place. Saran finds that when leading a team he does not always actively acknowledge another team members input, this will lead to individuals feeling that they have not been appreciated. After discussion it was decided that Saran should be more empathetic and less task orientated. He could achieve this by   dedicating more time to handing out instructions for the task. Setting goals could also play a part with regular progress reviews forcing a more supportive role. Another strategy could also b e to change his leadership style to a less authoritarian one. Unstructured situations Jenny A situation where Jenny felt she was weak in terms of leadership was one with little structure or direction on how to complete it. Typically in these situations Jenny finds herself being hesitant to direct the group in case she is not undertaking the correct procedure to get a positive end result. Fiedlers Contingency Theory (1964, as cited in Northouse, 2004, p. 109) looks at the impact of a unstructured situation in terms of leadership. Fiedlers Contingency Theory attempts to match the leaders style to the situation as a means of attaining effective leadership. Fiedlers model is based on the leader being task or relationship focused. Situational variables are also taken into account and these are characterised by looking at three factors: leader member relations, task structure and position power (Northouse, 2004). This theory does not however offer an explanation of what can be changed if the leader style cannot be matched to the situation. The group came up with several ways in w hich Jenny could improve in this situation. These included focusing on the goal of the task and try to use the other team members to contribute ideas about how to develop a plan to reach it. Jago (1982) also mentions that in such situations one should try to alter the situational variables by training although the usefulness of such training is not unequivocal. Stressful Situation Sandy Sandy often feels difficult in dealing with stressful situations, especially in demanding situations that focused specifically the performance of her work in a social environment setting. There are conventional views of leaders being a crucial and significant impact on their performance in organizations, that they are constrained with respect to different performance outcomes (Thomas, 1988). The Cognitive resource theory also proposed that stress has been a key factor and had a great impact in determining how intelligence can affect performance (Fielder 1987). And therefore in most stressful situations, since intelligence become less important but higher performance is required; Sandy experienced difficulty in using her knowledge to solve problems and these expectations has created an uncomfortable and undesirable feeling in which Sandy felt challenging in accomplishing the tasks. Situational Leadership theory by Blanchard (1985) discussed that different leadership style has to be ap plied appropriately to a given situation, depending on the competence and commitments of the subordinates (Northouse, 2004). So Sandy should try to include both directive (task-orientated) behaviours and supportive (relationship-orientated) behaviours, and focuses on goal achievement, and also be supportive and meet the needs of the subordinates (Northouse, 2004). To improve, Sandy should try to anticipate and plan ahead, establish objectives and goals at an early stage, and to prepare herself for the unexpected. She also needs to reflect on her performance, learn from the failure experiences and make necessary changes. Directing unfamiliar situations Athmika Athmika finds herself handicapped when faced with new, unfamiliar, or critical situations when the team faces a challenge where she is required to take on a directive leadership style. Directive leadership is defined as providing the members with a framework for decision making and action in alignment with the leaders vision (Fiedler, 1989, 1995; Sagie, 1997; Stogdill, 1974, as cited by Somech 2006, p. 135). Being directive requires the leader to communicate their knowledge and expertise to the group and also telling them how to complete the work (Murphy, Blyth Fielder, 1992). In order to lead in such situations, the group suggested that Athmika should have a good working knowledge of the task and a clear vision on how to achieve it. Athmika should play an active role in problem solving and decision making in order to be more directive (Bass, 1981, as cited in Murphy, Blyth Fielder, 1992). Conclusion Hackman and Wageman (2007) believe that despite the reams of research that have been conducted on leadership the field still remains notably unformed. Building on this Zaccaro (2007) states that within the trait theory of leadership a general consensus has also yet to emerge from the research regarding the role of leader traits, the degree of their influence and how they influence leadership, and the part they play in leadership situations. However leadership is still seen as being an important construct to undertake research on as well as being important as a social phenomenon (Hackman Wageman, 2007). Avolio has proposed the idea that new research are required to acknowledge how leaders have learnt from their past experiences, particularly how they respond and cope in difficult situations. Failure and error has provided opportunities for learning than success, and these experiences will generate data to affect ones assumptions and actions for improvements next time (Hackman Wageman, 2007). However, such decisions are not easy because it require an individual to overcome ones own reasoning, mental model, behaviour routines and may provoke anxiety (Hackman Wageman, 2007). One may argue that if we have already developed a leadership style, it will be rather fixed and consistent that will be difficult to change, others may argue that leadership styles should be changed according to situations in order to be more effective. Fielders contingency theory (1964) has introduced the idea that leadership effectiveness is depending on the suitability of the leader assign to a particular cont ext. As a result, different leadership styles will be matched to different situations; and therefore our group believe that there are still room for improvement for our traits and behaviours to match with a specific situation.

Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Holden Caulfield in The Catc

"Dey all useter call me Alphabet 'cause so many people had done named me different names," Janie says (Hurston 9). The nickname "Alphabet" is fitting in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God because Janie is always changing and rearraging, never the same. Janie Crawford was constantly searching for happiness, self-realization, and her own voice. Janie dares not to fit the mold, but rather defy it to get what she wants. On the journey to find her voice, she marries three separate men and each one of these men contribute to Janie’s quest in different ways. In the beginning, the pear tree symbolizes Janie’s yearning to find within herself the sort of harmony and simplicity that nature embodies. However, that idealized view changes when Janie is forced to marry Logan Killicks, a wealthy and well-respected man whom Janie’s Nanny set her up with. Because Janie does not know anything about love, she believes that even if she does not love Logan yet, she will find it when they marry. Upon marrying Logan, she had to learn to love him for what he did, not for that infallible love every woman deserves.  After a year of pampering, Logan becomes demanding and rude, he went as far to try to force Janie to do farm work. It was when this happened that Janie decided to take a stand and run away with Joe. At this time, Janie appears to have found a part of her voice and strong will. In a way, she gains a sense of independence and realizes she has the power to walk away from an unhealthy situation and does not have to be a slave to her own husband. After moving to Eatonville and marrying Joe, Janie discovers that people are not always who they seem to be. While Joe at first seemed to be easy-going and friendly, she wa... ... stay" (Salinger 205). He is repulsed by fake people and wants to be satisfied by something real--something true he can grasp onto. Just as Janie is similar to Holden, Holden is also similar to Janie. Janie is a woman who has overcome the rules and restrictions she was given. Janie was nothing but "a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface but it was kept beaten down by the wheels" (Hurston 72). Eventually, Janie made it her purpose to rebel against this mold. By the end of the story, Janie has accomplished finding and conquering self-actualization, she has reached her enlightenment through the her marriages to Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake. It is apparant when she tells Pheoby, â€Å"You got tuh go there tuh know  there..Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves" (Hurtson 183).