Atkinsons Case

Case requirements Atkinson Atkinson have been trading as a department store on the Moor In Sheffield for over 50 years. Two of the directors are friends of your parents. They have asked you and a small group of your colleagues to cast an eye over the business and offer some Impartial advice as to its future direction. You were provided with the publicly available statements of the group, data from FAME Is also available on the Internet through literates.. Whilst passing through the Meadowland Centre you notice that there are some new units being developed.A number of businesses such as Deadbeats and Thornton have outlets In both Sheffield and Meadowland whilst others such as House of Fraser have moved out of the city centre altogether. You have contacted Meadowland Properties PL and have received a letter in return which sets out the availability and costs of leasing a new unit in the Meadowland Centre. You have also acquired information from Sheffield City Council containing demogra phic and other information http:†www. Creditworthiness. Co. UK/ http:†www. Sheffield. Gob. UK/your-city-council/Sheffield-facts-figuresYou are required to attend a meeting with the two directors to make a presentation (power point facilities are available) on your findings. Assessment weighting Learning outcomes Weighting % 1 . Identify subject skills and knowledge appropriate to problem this is reflected In outcome 2 2. Assess difficulties in clearly defining problem areas (Including analysis of position) 30 3. Apply and integrate previously acquired subject skills outcomes 2/4 4. Acquire, classify organist and evaluate Information In a suitable format for the application of decision making techniques 30 5.Communicate proposed course of action and answer questions 40 Meadowland Properties PL Sheffield Dear Sir Thank you for your recent enquiry concerning the leasing costs for the units to be completed at the Meadowland Centre in late 2008. To give you some idea of the s ize of the units, Deadbeats occupies a site of 125,000 square feet. Leases will run to the December 2032 and will be renewable at that date subject to negotiation. All rents will be increased annually in line with the change in the retail price index excluding mortgage payments. Size Annual rent Unit 1 125,000 square feet unit 2 60,000 square feetIEEE,OHO unit 3 40,000 square feet IEEE,OHO In addition to these rental costs, there is a service charge payable to ourselves. At the moment this is EH. 30 per square foot per annum for the first 25,000 square feet, half this rate for the next 25,000 square feet and a quarter of this rate for anything over 50,000 square feet. This charge covers all communal areas, supervision of car parking etc. Tenants are, of course, responsible for the payment of business rates. We thank you for your interest and look forward to hearing from you in the near future. Yours faithfully Alexander Goodyear (Customer Services Director)

Michelangelo and Mannerism

Michelangelo Bonaparte has come to be known as the greatest artist of his time, and one of the all time greats for sure. Albeit unlike other artists of his time he was recognized for his greatness while he was alive. He was also torn between his patronage, of the Medici family in Florence, and the Catholic church in Rome. He was born in 1475 and died in 1564 a ripe age of 88 or 89 years old. Michelangelo is also attributed with development in Mannerism. Mannerism emerged in 1520, about 40 years before Michelangelo death. Mannerism is a rich period of European art that was later replaced by Baroque erred.Mannerism is basically taking a turn after the High Renaissance from the sweet angelic ideals to a more basic, tense, unstable perspective and is often credited with the growth of intellectual sophistication. By the end of the High Renaissance some of the younger artists felt that everything difficult to be done to prove yourself in the art world had already been done, thus the develo pment of a new style, Mannerism. The Last Judgment, or better known as the Sistine Chapel, shows strong tendencies of the Mannerist Period. The exaggerated muscles on the naked bodies is strong example.Also the way the bodies are positioned in such pained poses also points towards the Mannerist style. The overly ornate and intricate style of painting and the over the top color scheme and overall grandeur of the fresco also points towards the Mannerist period. Another piece of art that exemplifies the Mannerist period by Michelangelo is his sculpture of David. Although its a sculpture he is trying to show the human soul personified by the ornate and obscure structure of the human body and musculature. He is showing you a man in a seemingly natural position.But in reality this pose would be hard to hold over a period of time. And if a closer look is taken it can be seen that the musculature of this sculpture is not exactly anatomically correct. With Mannerism developing towards the mi ddle of his life, Michelangelo got to paint not only during the High Renaissance but the Mannerist period as well. Although I only listed two examples, Michelangelo had many more paintings and such that exemplify the styles of Mannerism. He was a great artist who contributed to the Mannerist period in many ways. Michelangelo and Mannerism By gingering

40th Anniversary Celebrations of Hot Wheels

HOT WHEELS ® Kicks Off 40th Anniversary With Diamond-Encrusted Car At N. Y. Toy Fair Year-Long Celebration of Activities by  HWC Press 02-15-08 Hot Wheels ® today announced its year-long plans to celebrate the brand's 40-year heritage at the 105th American International Toy Fair ®. Anniversary activities were kicked off with the unveiling of a custom jeweled 1:64-scale Hot Wheels ® car, designed by celebrity jeweler Jason of Beverly Hills.This one-of-a-kind car, the most expensive in Hot Wheels ® history, was made to commemorate the production of the four-billionth Hot Wheels ® vehicle. The diamonds on the custom-made jeweled car, valued at $140,000, total more than 2,700 and weigh nearly 23 carats. The car is cast in 18-karat white gold, while the majority of the vehicle is detailed with micro pave-set brilliant blue diamonds, mimicking Hot Wheels ® Spectraflame ® blue paint. Under the functional hood, the engine showcases additional micro pave-set white and black diamonds.The Hot Wheels ® flame logo found on the underbelly of the car is lined with white and black diamonds. Red rubies are set as the tail lights, while black diamonds and red enamel create the â€Å"Red Line ®Ã¢â‚¬  wheels. The custom-made case that houses the jewel-encrusted vehicle also holds 40 individual white diamonds, signifying each year in the legacy of the Hot Wheels ® brand. | â€Å"Collaborating with Mattel on the jeweled Hot Wheels car was a dream project for me,† said Jason Arasheben, president ; CEO of Jason of Beverly Hills. The car is truly spectacular and will be a brilliant addition to anyone’s collection. † The vehicle was unveiled by multi-platinum recording artist and car enthusiast Nick Lachey, who grew up playing with the die-cast car line. In late 2008, this unique Hot Wheels ® vehicle will be auctioned off to benefit Lachey's charity of choice. â€Å"Since its introduction, Hot Wheels has revolutionized boys' toys and insp ired automotive trends,† said Tim Kilpin, general manager and senior vice president, Boys and Entertainment, Mattel Brands. â€Å"The historic ctivities we have planned are a fitting tribute to the brand's heritage and will allow us, and our fans, to celebrate this milestone year in true Hot Wheels style. † In 2008, Hot Wheels ® will honor the partners that have helped make the brand successful and will take to the road to celebrate the brand's heritage with its faithful fans. These activities include: Hot Wheels ® Designer's Challengeâ„ ¢ For the first time in its history, Mattel went outside of its in-house design team to seek new car designs and to honor the automotive partners that attributed to the success of Hot Wheels ® cars over the years.Car designers from Dodge, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Lotus and Mitsubishi designed their version of a Hot Wheels ® concept car based on the brand's attributes of speed, power, performance and attitude. Each submitt ed design was created in a 1:5-scale model and unveiled this past October at the 2007 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas. In late March the 1:64-scale versions will be available at retailers nationwide as part of the Designer's Challengeâ„ ¢ product line. I’ve been involved in multi-million dollar concept car designs but not everyone can relate to these kinds of projects,† said Amaury Diaz Serrano, creative designer, General Motors. â€Å"But, everyone can relate to a Hot Wheels. Regardless of age, race or background, everyone has fond memories of playing with them. To be able to design for Hot Wheels is the closest I will ever get to winning an Oscar. † Hot Wheels ® Cross-Country Road Trip This summer, fans across the country will be invited to celebrate the 40th anniversary as Hot Wheels ® travels Highway 40 to bring together automotive enthusiasts of all ages.Kicking off at Mattel's headquarters in El Segundo in mid-August, the road trip will make stops at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah; Speed, KS; Indianapolis; and Detroit, before culminating in a grand finale celebration on September 5 in Watkins Glen, NY — home to American road racing. There, Hot Wheels ® will partner with the Grand Prix Festival of Watkins Glen to participate in the annual celebratory kick-off event honoring the history of the town and race track. At each road trip stop, Hot Wheels ® will host a free event that will be open to the public.Each event will feature life-size Hot Wheels ® cars, kiosks where people can create their own custom Hot Wheels ® â€Å"drivers license,† family-friendly activities, and the opportunity to receive a commemorative 1:64-scale Hot Wheels ® car created especially for each stop, available in limited quantities. â€Å"40 years. Four billion cars. It is a year of exciting milestones for Hot Wheels,† said Geoff Walker, vice president, Wheels Marketing, Mattel Brands. †Å"We just can't wait to get on the road to celebrate with the millions that share the Hot Wheels passion. â€Å"

Write an essay in response to the passage from Roger Schank that

Write an in response to the passage from Roger Schank that appears at the bottom - Essay Example te to us hence we can describe best what we pass through rather than what other people pass through thus experience becomes the best teacher of what we are to narrate to others. The following examples are to support my argument that experience is the best teacher. Interest towards something can assist us in telling a very interesting story about our history. Having the interest in what we like doing helps in focusing on the things we look after and ignore the things we are not prepared to deal with. Therefore, our mind is not ever occupied by irrelevant things hence can easily remember our history more easily. Additionally, since we can easily understand things that relate to our experience, it is actually very different to bear things that people say to us that are not interpretive via the incidences (experiences) we go through. Of course, interest develops the ability to recall whatever we have passed through to get to the point we are in the present (Roger, 2005). We cannot forget to pinpoint that a man is to an error and most of the time we tend to forget our past once we get to a new beginning. Therefore, when we get an opportunity of a remainder, we can understand better in the course of what we are being told about some things experienced. Having backups affect the way we understand events. For example, different people learn the same story differently precisely because the story they already know is different. It will take a broader historical view to developing a creative process to literary come up with someone else story and narrate it fluently without skipping any detail about the people we opt to talk about their history. Therefore, having a backup either in computers, phones or disks will help to tell others a history of someone they need to know. Overall, it becomes difficult to learn from these backups because the degree of accuracy is in doubt. For example, we do not understand how actual the history is framed. Therefore, it wil l only become

Pressure ulcer prevention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pressure ulcer prevention - Essay Example It is the health care professional who is entrusted with the assessment of risk of pressure ulcers in a person, usually suffering from some health issue where the patient is bedridden, or in the elderly population with decreased mobility. Although ulcers can be prevented using aggressive measures, it is found to be having a â€Å"floor effect† with the probability of another ulcer developing in the same area. Strategies for prevention include assessment for risks of developing pressure ulcers in outpatients or inpatients. Perry et al. (2010) have discussed the prevention and treatment protocols for outpatients and inpatients that offer recommendations for assessment, prevention and treatment on a continuous basis. While a list of questions are used to assess risk for outpatients, risk assessment among inpatients uses standard tools like the Braden (Q) Scale, Norton Scale or the Waterlow Scale (EPUAP & NPUAP, 2009). Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk (Braden Scale) Braden Scale is the most widely used risk assessment tool for pressure ulcer development and is found to be an enhancement of the Norton Scale and is used as a general tool for predicting pressure sore risks on four different scales based on six factors. The six factors or sub-scales include: sensory perception, activity, mobility, skin moisture, friction, and nutrition. The scores of Braden Scale assessment determine the level of risk of development of pressure ulcer in inpatients, and this scale provides a systematic and quantitative risk assessment aiding interdisciplinary team communication for effective prevention and treatment by the health care professionals (Reilly et al., 2007). Figure 1 below represents the Braden Scale factors: Figure 1: Braden Scale factors. Source: (Reilly et al., 2007). It is seen that a risk factor score of

Cost and Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cost and Management - Assignment Example ant, or a management accountant must â€Å"perform their professional duties in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and technical standards (1996, 23).† Lis proposal clearly violates laws, regulations and technical standards by incorporating her personal assets in order to increase the companys assets, as well as making her employee shoulder temporarily a part of the expenses in order to increase the companys income. Aside from violating the standard of competence, Lis proposal also violates the standard of integrity, which according to Horngren, Bamber & Stratton, accountant should â€Å"refrain from engaging in any activity that would prejudice their ability to carry out their duties ethically [and to] refrain from engaging in or supporting any activity that would discredit the profession (1996, 23).† The philosophy behind accounting is to come up with reports that will show the performance of the company to people with vested interests to the company, such as the government, for the taxes, and the companys investors such as shareholders and creditors. With accounting, fair and accurate information is desired to be produced for the purpose of objectivity, another ethical standard for accounting. Only with objective information will people such as investors and creditors will put their trust on the company, investing on the company for the hope of gaining some return through competent management in the process. This will be violated with Lis proposal, as well. A. Using the Weighted Average method, prepare a production cost report (following the 4 steps outlined in the text) for the Strings department for October. Round to 4 decimal places for unit costs and to the nearest dollar in the production cost report. C. Assume that in order to remain competitive, the company undertook a major cost-cutting program during February. Would the effects of this cost-cutting program tend to show up more under the weighted average or under the FIFO method? Explain your

What Did Robert Adam Learn From the Grand Tour Essay

What Did Robert Adam Learn From the Grand Tour - Essay Example This essay stresses that many people seemed to like and appreciate these new designs, the idea of making fittings and other movable elements in houses prompted a great demand for their house designs as well as conference structures. Robert Did not fully create the designs that he had learnt on Rome and France, instead he decided to inculcate his own creativity into the final designs, something that brought about totally new methods of building houses and different structures. One of the motivations in their deign was to create houses to the simplest element that one may want to have in his house. To this effect, it can be said that the success that Adam brothers enjoyed was arose from their decision to create architectural designs down to the smallest detail. This creativity received great demand by many people in Britain and other places because it was said to create a sense of unity in their house design. This paper makes a conclusion that the great tour that was undertaken by Robert Adams is said to have had a great impact not only to the architectural designs of that time, but also to the modern time approaches in architecture. The Adams family pioneered most of the classical architectural designs used in modern practices in this industry, the desire to establish unique designs that would be used by many generations prompted Robert to take a tour and learn from different people.

Module 2 SLP Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Module 2 SLP - Coursework Example MWPVL is an awesome website that contains financial data for industries across Europe and America. It offers insights of the forces of demand and supply in various industries in these regions by reviewing how each of these entities influences supply of commodities to the market and price determination strategies employed respectively. The food industry is among the few industries that are reviewed in the website thus the significance of this particular reference. This source is vital for this analysis as it contains consumer related information ranging from consumer behavior to buying patterns in the food industry and specifically with Kraft foods as the case firm. It formulates data of the current patterns in consumer demand and preferences and how buyers influence the prices. It is basically a financial analysis of Kraft food that refines all information within the business environment of this firm. In the internal report, the section of substitute products in the market is covered thus proving information that will be handy to assist us in our review. That notwithstanding, it has a pool of information about competition that the firm is facing from rival business organizations that are offering substitute products. However, it fails to provide a conclusive analysis of the level of threat that substitute products pose to Kraft foods. YouGov SixthSense is an insider report that refines the market position of Kraft foods in the industry. It provides information on market segmentation among the major players together with the strength of each firm in controlling major decisions that affect the entire food industry. The issue of competition in the food market in America has been analyzed in detail thus making it a worthy source. Carnegie Research Inc. (2009). Kraft Foods Inc.: A Guide for Selling and Increasing Sales at Kraft Foods Inc. Legal and Regulatory Issues. Retrieved from

Analyze Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analyze - Research Paper Example According to the article, the US possesses inclusive free-trade agreements with nearly 17 nations comprising both Canada as well as Mexico. The article emphasized that the different service providers that encompass law as well as bank firms to reap maximum benefits from the idea of international trade of the US with other various nations (The New York Times Company, 2013). Government Influence The governmental interventions in global business provide significant implications upon different significant aspects that include employment and inflation among others. From the viewpoint of the aspect of employment, the governments influence global business by encouraging the business procedures of different organizations as well as by generating ample job opportunities. In relation to inflation, the governments influence global business by ensuring that there does not lay any sudden rises especially in the prices of the products (The New York Times Company, 2013). ... order to combat particularly against corruption, terrorism and different cross-border criminal activities like drug smuggling (The Washington Post, 2013). 2. Important aspects of Global Business in relation to Foreign Exchange and Rates Foreign exchange rates are fundamentally regarded as an imperative determinant in the business activity of any nation in the global context. It can broadly be stated with foreign exchange rates, it is possible for a nation to conduct its business transactions nationally as well as internationally by a considerable level. The major significance of foreign exchange rates is that the exchange rates extensively enhance the trade level of a particular nation. There are numerous factors that influence foreign exchange rates by a significant degree. In this connection, the factors comprise dissimilarities in the interest charges, public debt and financial performance among others. In accordance with the reports of a recently published article, it has been vi ewed that Egypt adopts a latest system by which they can purchase as well as sell foreign currencies. The prime objective of the nation i.e. Egypt to introduce a new system of transacting foreign currencies is to provide an active support particularly to the finance related policy makers while facing problem linked with foreign-exchange reserves. The country strongly believed that by introduced such system it can safeguard the reputation of Egypt as a business nation in financial international markets (The Wall Street Journal, 2013). 3. Important aspects of Global Business in relation to International Business Strategy and Country Evaluation and Selection In the context of providing a global strategy for pursuing various business transactions, it has been viewed in a recent article that a

The impact of Korean TV dramas on Taiwanese consumers Annotated Bibliography

The impact of Korean TV dramas on Taiwanese consumers - Annotated Bibliography Example The paper also shows how globalization has affected the consumers in Taiwan (Chih, & Yang, 2008). The article is reliable because it establishes its conclusions on a research from the field; participants were asked to fill survey questions both online and offline. The study has also used a variety of references, but there is no clear conclusion in the paper. The author narrates how Korean television soap operas have influenced Taiwanese students’ preferences for various clothing. Hsu has found out that varying frequency of watching the soap operas influence students’ preferences for clothing differently (Hsu, 2012). Students prefer various clothes based on the attention they attract, period, and motivation to purchase such attire. The researcher’s conclusions are based on real data from nine hundred and thirty seven students of Taiwan. The paper has also used sufficient references, but the author has failed to include a literature review section in the discussion. The literature review would help to show the previous clothing purchase behavior of students in the country. Kim, S., & Wang, H., 2012. From television to the film set: Korean drama Daejanggeum drives Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Thai audiences to screen tourism. The international communication gazette 74 (5). 423-442. This paper discusses how a Korean drama known as Daejanggeum influenced Taiwanese consumers to travel to South Korea to watch the drama live at Daejanggeum Theme Park (Kim, & Wang, 2012). The article also gives an account of behavioral changes among the consumers. The authors have used simple language and numerous resources, and they have based the discussion on a research in which consumers participated by filling in questionnaires. However, the findings of the article are based on responses from consumers belonging to different

White Collar Crime and Corporate Crime. To what extent are the Essay

White Collar Crime and Corporate Crime. To what extent are the regulatory regimes for White Collar Crime (WCC) and Corporate Crime (CC) working - Essay Example The reason behind these concerns is simple, regulations have always prioritized street crimes over WCC and when it comes to corporations, regulations take these offences lightly. It seems governmental regulations seek their benefit in every 'large scale' crime. Apart from the legislator concern, public uphold the opinion in the following words: "There is always a lingering suspicion that the white-collar criminal is getting off leniently in our justice system". (Poveda, 1994, p. 4) In this respect, an awareness of white collar and corporate crime officially encourages us to think critically about the nature of crime and how regulations deal with it. One of the defining characteristics of white-collar crime is their conflicting characteristic both on the one hand of upstanding citizen, in terms of their contribution to voluntary civic activities for example, and on the other criminal, displayed through the harm they caused through their illegal activities (Benson, 1984). Economic or white-collar crimes are performed on a large scale, sophistically such as fraud committed on behalf of organization or against any corporation, and antitrust violations are notoriously difficult to quantify because victims often do not know they have been subject to a criminal offense. Since they are committed on a broader spectrum, therefore government is not much concerned about them as compared to other crimes. Therefore, there is no central regulation or survey application or reporting mechanism to combat with these sorts of crimes or the losses occurred by their frauds. Apart from the critics if we analyse regulatory efforts, it is clear that Government regulatory agencies after crime occurrence collect the original figure of fraud thereby reporting them as they see fit. However, it is often difficult to verify their methodology of reckoning accurate figures that can be compared in any meaningful way. Behind the continuous growth of such crimes, is the organised criminality left over from the operation of licit markets and their regulation to suggest that governmental interventions are having the unintended consequence of generating organised criminal activity within and without national boundaries. (Edwards & Gill, 2003, p. 143) Therefore, unlike violent or street crime, WCC and CC is not analysed or measured through investigations like victim surveys, or comprehensive surveys of the incidence or cost of white-collar crimes. Similarly there is no sampling methodology like fingerprints and crime definitions are seldom transparent, making comparability across crime particularly difficult. However, if the estimates are to be believed, white-collar crime causes tangible losses far in excess of tangible losses associated with street crimes. The regulatory regimes of such broad offences first determine what counts as crime in a particular society. 'Crime and Punishment' gets this right; 'Crime and Society' doesn't. Yet law, a commodity with which the state is endowed, defines and shapes not only spheres of 'outright illegality' like WCC and CC crime, but also certain 'zones of ambiguity'. The ambiguity in the state's relation to law may be evoked by saying that the state has for ages been favoring illegality directly or indirectly. This is nowhere clearer than in the way that state exaction, regulations, and prohibition influence and even determine the incidence of criminal and organized criminal activity (Farer 1999, p. 251). More than any other form of state intervention, it is

Alternative-Fuel Vehicles Essay Example for Free

Alternative-Fuel Vehicles Essay Atmospheric pollution is a major problem nowadays. So it is important that we should immediately find alternative fuel sources for petroleum and reduce the emission of harmful gases in the atmosphere. This has been the dream of many scientists because this will significantly reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, a green house gas, to the atmosphere. Most of these fuels can be manufactured domestically so I cut the costs of importing from other countries. Some are even derived from renewable sources. Electric cars are now being manufactured globally. Unknown to many, electricity-powered cars came into the automotive scene before its diesel and petroleum counterpart. But due to the limitations of the technology in the past, its development was stopped and diesel cars became the standard car. Most of the problems electric cars faced points to the battery. Batteries were heavy and required recharging. But there are new developments in this technology. A battery now has longer life and comes in much lighter forms. The main drawback of this car is the distance it can travel before the batteries run out. If there are enough recharging stops, like gas stations, the electric car will prove itself as a fuel-efficient and environment-friendly car. Natural gas cars are also gaining popularity. The promise of being able to fuel the car at one’s own home is hard to deny. Honda calls it a personalized solution to the fact that gasoline stations don’t sell natural gas. The Honda model Civic GX is coined as the cleanest internal combustion engine-powered vehicle ever tested by Environmental Protection Agency. However, natural gas is not renewable. A potential advantage of Hydrogen cars is that it can be used over and over again by the process of electrolysis. Although the supply hydrogen is not limited as fossil-fuels, production of such cars doesn’t come at a cheap price. Hydrogen has many advantages if used to fuel cars, but currently it is very expensive. Some car companies offer to convert diesel cars into hydrogen cars, but most of the time the price of conversion is much more expensive than the original price of the car. Also, hydrogen in normal temperature is gas and to be used as fuel it should be squeezed in high pressures so it is somewhat difficult to contain. Fuel cell cars are definitely a technology to watch for. It has the potential to minimize the use of energy while reducing harmful emissions at the same time. What sets it above the others is that it can make its own energy through certain chemical processes. Also, fuel cell cars don’t emit pollutants. But the price is almost the same for hydrogen cars, if not higher. The developments in fuel cells is rather young, it is not yet tested as compared to other alternative fuels, so it would be a risk if we utilize this technology right away. Among these alternative sources of energy, I choose natural gas. The other alternatives may score a higher grade in terms of energy advantage and minimal emission, but they are too expensive. The economy will suffer as we save the environment using Hydrogen, Electric, and Fuel Cell cars. Natural gas is widely distributed around the world. New natural gas reserves are discovered as time pass, it is just waiting for us to harness fuel from it. Most countries will be able to tap their own resources and strengthen one’s economy. The production of cars and fuel supply for natural gas cars is also very feasible compared to the other alternatives. Atmospheric pollution is increasing during each day. And since natural gas is the cheapest, we can immediately put it to use. This is the realistic approach concern the threat of global warming. We put into use something that works and will be a benefit for both the economy and environment. And after we became successful in harnessing natural gas, and the economic condition permits it, it is the time to upgrade to hydrogen or fuel cells and completely eliminate harmful emissions from vehicles.

Beers Critical Path Method

Beers Critical Path Method Beers Critical Path Method Introduction Background: This essay analyzes the transformation of a business-unit (Alpha) of a large public sector undertaking (PSU) company Beta. Alpha was set up with an intention of manufacturing x product for y market. Until December 2003, the primary mission of Alpha of about 900 people was the development, support and maintenance of product x, which was developed and implemented using sequential development method (App-2). The clumsy nature of the employed process and bureaucratic structure of the company was resulting into consistent delays into deliveries of low quality and over budgeted products. The unit had not been able to produce cost-competitive product with high-quality. It had been running without making profit for last three consecutive years. In 2004, newly elected governments inclination towards disinvestment of underperforming PSUs forced Beta to mull over the rationalization of its underperforming business-unit. Consistent pressure from the competitive market and senior managers from head-quarter (HQ) inevitably forced head of Alpha to revisit the units structure and processes. It was decided to come up with design and development of product with superior quality and cost competitiveness within a limited budget and time (i.e. Eighteen months). Revisit to the existing process and structure highlighted the major problems, which were due to lack of coordination and participation among functions in addition to sequential product-development methodology. Consequently, management decided to change the existing structure, and adopt concurrent engineering methodology (App-3) to produce x moving forward. Change Analysis Nature and type of change: Nature of change at Alpha can be analyzed by applying TROPICS test (Paton McCalman, 2008). Based on analysis, this change can be located at the Flexi/Grey area of change spectrum. Although time scales, control and sources factors are identified hard, but as a whole, change is inclined more towards soft end of the spectrum. Problem at Alpha can be considered messy as it involves soft complexities due to the introduction of a new working model and process method (Open university, 1985, cited in Senior Fleming, 2006). TROPICS Test (Modeled on source: Paton McCalman, 2008) Dimensions of the change CCP (Content, Context and Process) model (Pettigrew Whipp, 1991), widely used in organizational change analysis, can be applied in this case to understand the changes at Alpha. Although this model was originally developed to analyze private sector organization but later on, its application was extended to other fields and sectors (Pettigrew et al., 1992). Overall framework focuses on what (content), why (context) and how (process) dimensions of the organization change. CCP Framework (Modeled on source: Pettigrew Whipp, 1991) Context (Why): Traditionally, PSUs are considered to have bureaucratic culture (bureaucratic organization-structure and process culture) (Deal Kennedy, 2002). Such culture is generally hierarchy-driven, procedural, regulated, ordered, cautious, and power orientated (Wallach, 1983). The purpose of bureaucracy is to restrict individuals capacity exerting control over decision-making processes and activities (McHugh Bennett, 1999). According to Hofstede (2003), bureaucratic structure is based on rigid rules and processes, and competencies tied to the positions; where employees are accustomed to systemic but precise way of working, which operates on ‘one person, one job basis and require high degree of job specialization. Therefore, business knowledge and skills are owned by individuals; this makes knowledge sharing very problematic. De Long Fahey (2000) argue that the organization culture plays vital role in determining the people and specific business knowledge relationship. Alpha had been facing similar issues; due to the bureaucratic culture, decision-making was traditionally made at the top without much coordination with and participation of functions. Sequential-development approach used is linear in nature, which does not provide tangible results and product visibility until the product development lifecycle end (Martin, 1991; McConnell, 1996). Lack of individuals participation and knowledge sharing, conflict of authorities in conjunction with slow decision-making speed and cumbersome sequential nature of the product development used to induce significant delays in product delivery and implementation, causing low product-quality and high cost-per-product. Fig- can be used to show cause of realized changes using multiple-cause diagram. Multiple-Cause diagram (Modeled on source: Paton McCalman, 2008) Primary drivers for change can be identified by using a classical change management tool, Force-field analysis (Lewin, 1947). Main purpose for using this tool is to understand context (driving forces) and content (objective, goal, and restraining forces) and determine the process (ways to enhance positive factors and lessen negative factors) (Giardino et al., 1994). This tool confirms the nature and type of change at Alpha confirms, analyzed by TRPOICS test. The primary restraining forces indicate that most of the barriers to change involved soft aspects, such as senior management, existing culture and employee related barriers. Field force analysis (Modeled on source: Lewin, 1947) Content (What): Existing situation at Alpha was not conducive for proposed concurrent development approach either. This approach follows iterative process, which calls for authoritative and speedy decision-making activities along with team culture (Cockburn, 2002). However, bureaucracy structure hinders speed (Martin, 1991) and is not suitable for highly dynamic and complex business processes (Carnall, 2003). Crozier (1964, cited in Hughes, 2003) feels that static working patterns and fixed procedures are not beneficial in a dynamic and volatile business environment. Hence Alpha not only required change in product-development process but also to organization structure. Process (How): Changes at unit were managed and implemented using Beer et al.s (1990) critical path to corporate renewal. This six-step planned-change model needs to be executed in sequence to achieve a successful change. The critical path process in the present case was led by unit head with a middle management team. 1. Mobilize commitment to change through joint diagnosis of business problem: Prior to any effective change effort, it is important to have business problem clearly defined . Management should help people in developing a shared diagnosis of the problem (Beer et al., 1990) and realizing the need for change in existing status quo (Richardson Varkoi, 2003). Kotter (1996) describes the need for a powerful guiding coalition with involvement of key members of the organization. The number of such key members can be small to start with, and can gradually be increased as project gains momentum (Borjesson Mathiassen, 2003). At Alpha, initial step taken by the unit head to review the business broadly. Sticking to Lippits ‘golden rule (1959), an external consultant with his assistant was brought in to lead the change, and to develop the guidelines for the change management. External consultant was allowed to form a coalition-team with a senior researcher, five managers from various functions and six key expert employees from units production-department. Team together investigated existing and past product performances, results and artifacts. In order to analyze problems effectively, they also visited and observed many successful manufacturing companies. Through the analysis of their observations, customer satisfaction surveys and previous performance data, team formed a common understanding of the problem. Team recognized the flaw in the existing product methodology and lack of shared knowledge among employees due to which there were consistent and significant delays in product-delivery with poor p roduct-quality. They came up with two page fact sheet to support their analysis. At this point, team began to realize the need for an alternative organization model and development methodology. 2. Develop a shared vision of how to organize and manage for competitiveness: Once a problem is analyzed, coalition should align employees core tasks with vision of the organization, and lead them towards a task-aligned vision with redefining employees roles and responsibilities (Beer et. al, 1990). Objective of such new arrangements is to have better information-flow coordination pattern across all cross-functional departments. Moreover, these arrangements do not encounter much resistance as they do not cause any formal changes in systems and structure such as compensation or titles (Beer et. al, 1990). However, communications is essential to achieve such arrangement (Jones et al., 2004). Developing vision and strategy is generally a messy and time consuming process that results into guidance for future, which is feasible, desirable, flexible, and focused (Kotter, 1996). In order to develop vision, team executed future workshop to focus on democratic and creative idea generation from the participants. Future Workshops, a user-driven and participatory design technique, is used to help participants play an important role in designing vision for future, by actualizing a common problematic-situation (Greenbaum Kyng, 1991). This workshop is normally conducted in three phases: critique, visionary and realization phase (Jungk Mullert, 1986). The participants, at Alpha, consisted of management team and carefully chosen key employees. In critique phase, participants formulated their critical views regarding existing shared values and working procedures. At the end of this phase, participants were asked to prioritize the most important issues considered the barriers for the u nits development. In visionary phase, participants formulated the visions for units future direction, which brought in new suggestions and ideas for business activities improvement. In realization phase, participants identified actions to realize the visions most effectively as a response to critical issues. Relevant inputs gathered from participants of this process can be utilized while preparing overall change implementation plan (Jones et al., 2004). Based on cost-benefit analysis, future workshop and two-page factsheets, team carried out a SWOT analysis and developed a new organization model (refer fig-), along with a new methodology, concurrent development method, for product development and implementation. Intention of new model was to eliminate hierarchal and functional barriers to information sharing; whereas to adopt new product development approach to avoid delays and improve quality along with cost-competiveness of the product. Such organization-level changes do need an adequate support from senior management (Small Downey, 2001). therefore proposal of these changes was proposed to senior management team at HQ. While they were delighted to notice units pro-active and positive steps, they were not convinced with the new approach to resolve the critical issue as existing approach was working very well for rest of the organization. Eventually after few rounds of discussions, they got ready to lend their support and approved the proposal, despite their reservations. New organization model (Cross-functional Teams with their respective responsibility area) 3. Foster consensus for the new vision, competence to enact it, and cohesion to move it along. Beer et al. (1990) feels that just simply helping employees develop a new vision is insufficient to make change successful. Employees need to understand the positive impact of new structure and approach to be committed to that vision. Therefore, it is vital to share and communicate the vision to employees in overcoming resistance to change and developing required competencies to make new organization work. Change process can be successful only when there are clear, concise and realistic change-plan and implementation-plan in place; otherwise process runs at risk of adding further resistance to change (Mathiassen et al., 2005). In order to communicate the vision to all employees, a conference with presentation and discussion was held. Senior management team from HQ along with all the employees, were in attendance. The change-plan with new structure and methodology, and implementation-plan with goals, objective, risks and mitigation plans, training plans, and milestone and measurement plans were also presented. Presence of senior management in the conference boosted the morale and confidence of units management team. Subsequently, internal meetings took place and goals, strategy and vision were circulated. Once new roles and responsibilities are defined, people need to foster the skills to make the new arrangement work. In fact, changes in the relationships due to these new roles, responsibilities will push people towards learning, and foster new attitudes and skills. Changed coordination pattern also increases sharing of information, employee collaboration and participation; this, in turn, reduces resistance level which arises as a result of incorrect information and rumours (Kotter Schlesinger, 1979). Team took the help of human resource team, not only to make sure employees were clear about the changes, and their roles and responsibilities but also to understand the required skills and trainings for the employees. Required trainings were imparted to employees to develop their skills. Beer et al. (1990) advocate replacing those managers who despite all the support and guidance do not want to or cannot change in order to function in new setup. Having said that such decisions can sometimes backfire as not only there is a threat of losing valuable skills and knowledge but also it can make other employees demoralized, that can hamper the change progress. Introduction of new model and development approach caused restructuring resulting into redundancy of staff in small number. Uncertainty created by the situation also made few employees depart during the transition process. Few managers and employees were replaced and few were given promotion. Few key employees including managers, who were very much accustomed to past bureaucratic culture could not find the new working model and culture suitable for them and subsequently, left the organization. 4. Spread revitalization to all departments without pushing it from the top. With a new structure is in place for the unit, departments and functions do have to rethink about their authorities and roles in the organization. Effective interaction between them and new organization structure enables members of team to become effective by letting employees participate actively in team decisions (Beer et al., 1990). At Alpha, where managers of production department looked the most spirited and passionate about the changes, managers of engineering department were more hesitating. They had always been a dominant force at Alpha and these changes were perceived as threat to their authority. In the past, they always shown less concern whether production department could manufacture products based on their design specification. However, with new organization structure and method in place, engineering department had to collaborate with product department in product development activities. This actually forced them to re-visit their approaches to manage and organize their own department, and rethink over their roles. Often when speedy change is required, leaders tend to force the issue throughout the organization; this generally short-circuits change-process. The best way is to let each functions and departments find their own way to the new organization (Beer et al., 1990). In case of Alpha, departments were encouraged to apply general concept of teamwork and coordination to their own situation. For nearly a year, engineering department had to suffer agony in implementing theses concept and accepting the new structure. Decision of their move to new structure was natural; since it was their own choice, team members showed commitment to learn the required attitude and skills. 5. Institutionalize revitalization through formal policies, systems, and structures. In any change process, sequence of activities should be carefully considered as activities suited at one particular time tend to backfire, if initiated little too soon. This is especially applicable to activities related to changes in systems and structure. Leaders should institutionalize changes only when right employees are in place and new arrangements are up and running. Beer et al. (1990) argues that none of formal structure and systems is perfect but employee commit to them, as they work in structure and learn about required interdependencies. If the implemented change becomes part of the culture of organization then it is considered successful (Senior Fleming, 2006). The units revitalization was successful as it enabled employees to change their views about their roles and responsibilities. They actually became convinced that change would bring a difference. This eventually resulted into a striking improvements in value added per employee, gross inventory per employee, scrap reduction, quality, and profits. To their credit, business unit was able to achieve all these without further control system, compensation or restructuring. However, eventually when opportunity came, there were few change were made in the formal organization. For example, vice president of operation was asked to leave organization and that position was eliminated altogether. 6. Monitor and adjust strategies in response to problems in the revitalization process. In order to sustain the benefits of changes and being able to adapt to dynamic competitive environment, an organization should know the effective use of continuous shared monitoring of the change process (Mathiassen et al., 2005). Keeping such measurement criteria provides multiple advantages, such as i) it keeps people, with direct involvement in the change-process, motivated; ii) it gives management a sense of direction in which change-project is moving iii) it also depicts a relationship between achieved result and invested effort. Even after successful change implementation, it is essential to re-examine the original plan regularly and revise it with respect to current circumstances and situations (Senior Fleming, 2006). Stating clear objectives and process measurements criteria explicitly in the implementation plan was very helpful. Measurements were gathered at the end of pilot-study and appropriate process benchmarking was set, after comparison with previous internal and cro ss-industry data. In order to monitor revitalization, several mechanisms were put in place. Internal surveys and feedbacks were introduced to monitor attitude and behaviour patterns. A monitoring team was formed to keep regular watch over the processes and plan for new challenges. This team consisted of managers and key members of respective functional teams and human resource and finance teams. Outcomes and lessons Outcomes: Use of critical path model in present case proved to be an effective way to evoke organization renewal without actually enforcing it. Beer et al.s (1990) believe that employees resistance to changes can be managed effectively through task-alignment approach. This turned out to be a key success factor in case of Alpha. Once core task aligned with organizations vision, employees discovered that new structure and product-development method are more effective. They started willing to accept changes, which otherwise they may have resisted. Adoption of concurrent development method along with change in existing structure, improved not only speed of decision-making but also employee-participation and knowledge-sharing among functions and departments. This enabled company to reduce product-manufacturing and delivery time significantly; this, consequently, improved product-quality and cost-competitiveness and therefore, the profit. The problems associated with the new development method and s tructure is now believed to have eased with increase in employees familiarization of new structure, and development approach. Despite all that, change-project at unit cannot be entirely considered successful. Beer assumes the approach of the changes through critical path model to be always top-bottom. However, the change-project in Alpha was initiated by unit head and carried out by his middle-management team with the help of an external consultant. One of the necessary steps was to gain approval and support from senior management teams of HQ, who was not roped in right from the word go. Negotiations with them caused notable delay in the implementation of the planned changes. The combined effect of not having senior management from HQ directly involved in the coalition, and resignations of senior researcher along with few key members of coalition while restructuring impacted the speed of the changes and its desired results. Although, change-project is claimed to be successful by the management team; but absence significant key performance indicators at the beginning for measuring the success, raise question mark over their claim. In fact, this change-project would be considered a failure if measured against traditional performance indicators, such as cost (in budget) and time (on time). Present study raises a few reservations over the critical path model itself. Basic flaws with this model are the lack of provision for pilot-project, and feedback-loop (iteration) at each stage. Pilot-project is considered to be very handy while implementing new process, which enables people to view new aspects of the process. This approach also gives an idea to people how process will work in actual and assists convincing others, particularly management, about the benefits of new process (Borjesson Mathiassen, 2003). At Alpha, pilot-project approach was employed effectively and it was successful, which convinced senior manager at HQ that the change-project was moving in right direction. Measurements gathered during pilot-project were also helpful in maintaining concentration and sustaining improvements. However, coalition did not realize the importance of feedback-loop at each stage, which caused uncertainty in employees mind, particular during restructuring. This resulted into dep arture of key employees, leaving long-term impact on the unit (Fodor Poor, 2009). Being effective only at organization-level changes, the model either not considered or overlooked specific aspects of concurrent-development approach; this gives rise to need for a more specific and tailored framework to manage such process-level changes. Bibliography Fodor, P., Poor, J. (2009). The Impact of the Economic and Financial Crisis on HRM and Knowledge-Management in Hungary and Slovakia Empirical Research 2008-2009. Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, 6 (3), 69-91. Nadler, D.A and Tushman, M.L. (1989).Organizational Frame Bending: Principles for Managing Reorientation.The Academy of Management Executive,3 (3), 194-204 Paton, R.A. and McCalman, J. (2008).Change management: a guide to effective implementation, 3rded. London: SAGE Publications. Lewin, K. (1947). Frontiers in group dynamics. Human relation, 1, 5-42. Senior, B., Fleming, J. (2006). Organizational Change, 3rded. London: Prentice Hall. Kotter, J. (1996). Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Lippit, R. (1959). Dimensions of the consultants job. Journal of Social Issues, 15 (2), 5-11. Miles, M., Huberman, A. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis, 2nd ed. New York: SAGE Publications. Richardson, I., Varkoi, T. (2003). Managing for Change when Implementing Software Process Improvement Initiatives. In: European Software process Improvement Conference, EuroSPI 2003. Borjesson, A., Mathiassen, L. (2003). Making SPI Happen: The IDEAL Distribution Effort. [Online] http://www.computer.org/plugins/dl/pdf/proceedings/hicss/2003/1874/09/187490328b.pdf?template=1loginState=1userData=anonymous-IP%253A%253A86.12.199.139 (Accessed on: 07 Mar 2010) Small, A., Downey, E. (2001). Managing Change: Some Important Aspects. [Online] http://downeysmall.com/pdf/iemc2001rp_web.pdf (Accessed on: 06 Mar 2010) Mathiassen, L., Ngwenyama, O., Aaen, I. (2005). Managing Change in Software Process Improvement. IEEE Software. 22(6), 84-91 Jones, J., Aguirre, D., Calderone, M. (2004). 10 Principles of Change Management. [Online] http://www.strategybusiness.com/ (accessed on: 27 Dec 2009), Kotter, J., Schlesinger, L. (1979). Choosing Strategies for Change. Harvard Business Review 57(2), 106-114 (1979) Jungk, R. Mullert, N. (1996). Future Workshops How to Create desirable futures. London: Institute for Social Inventions. Greenbaum J., Kyng M. (1991). Design at work: Cooperative Design of Computer Systems. New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates. Beer M., Spector B. A., Spector B. (1990). The Critical Path to Corporate Renewal. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Pettigrew, A., and Whipp, R. (1991). Managing change for competitive success. Oxford.: Blackwell. Hughes, O. (2003). Public management and administration. London: Palgrave, Macmillan. Pettigrew A., Ferlie E., McKee L, (1992). Shaping Strategic Change The Case of the NHS in the 1980s. Public Money Management, 12(3), 27-31. Wallach, E. (1983). Individuals and organisations: The cultural match. Training and Development Journal, 29-36. Deal T. E. and Kennedy, A. A. (1982).Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. McHugh, M. and Bennett, H. (1999). Introducing team working within a bureaucratic maze.Leadership and Organizational Development Journal. 20 (2), 81-93. Carnall, C. (2003). Managing change in organizations, 4th ed. UK: Prentice-Hall. Cockburn, A. (2002). Agile software development. Boston: Addison-Wesley. Hofstede, G. (2003). Cultures and organisations—Software of the mind. London: Profile Books. De Long, D. W., Fahey, L. (2000). Diagnosing cultural barriers to knowledge management. Academy of Management Executive, 14(4), 113-127. Martin, J. (1991). Rapid application development. New York: Macmillan. McConnell, S. (1996). Rapid development—Taming wild software schedules. Washington: Microsoft Press. Giardino A. P., Giardino E. R., MacLaren C. F., Burg F. D. (1994). Managing change: A case study of implementing change in a clinical evaluation system. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 6 (3), 149 153.

Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership

Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership There is no doubt that one of the major elements of research in organizational behaviour is Leadership. With a quick overlook on the last decade researches, we can find that the researches which are related to leadership have captured the interest of a large portion of researchers all over the world. A relational based approach to leadership using leader-member exchange theory seems to be a significant leadership research stream. Beside of this, based on the assumptions of major researches we can find that Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory illustrates the dyadic procedure by which responsibilities and anticipations are developed for a leader with each subordinate (Dansereauet al., 1975; Graen and Cashman, 1975). According to the suppositions of this theory, we can find few differences between the qualities of the exchange relationship, because this element frequently differs from one subordinate to another. In Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory we have two kinds of relationship, f irst one is high exchange relationships and the second one is lower exchange relationships. In one hand, High exchange relationships are developed with some subordinates, in the other hand in contrast lower exchange relationships are expected to be developed with other subordinates (Graen and Cashman,1975). There are three dimensions which can describe and characterize High-exchange relationships: high-level of trust, liking, and respect, and they engage with expectations of mutual exchange. In organization we can find some kinds of balance between behaviour of leaders and subordinates; the leader provides and prepares outcomes desired by subordinates, such as motivating and exciting tasks, extra responsibilities and consciousnesses, and larger compensations. In the other hand, in exchange for preparing these desired outcomes, the subordinates are supposed to be committed to the work and loyal to the leader and organization. In low-quality exchange relationships, because of the natu re of relationship subordinates are only expected to do the formal and official necessities of their normal jobs, and additional benefits and promotes are not offered by the leader. Beside of that, Exchange relationships develop and extend slowly after a while and are emphasized by the behaviour of the leader and the subordinates. In the preliminary version of LMX theory, having some kind of diverse exchange relationships was viewed as typical and beneficial and trustable and reliable for a leader, but Graen and Uhl-Bien (1995) later suggested that a leader have to try to develop high-exchange relationships with as many subordinates as is feasible. Based on the result of a large number of researches, High LMXs suggest a number of helpful and positive outcomes for a leader and there is no doubt that LMX was correlated positively with few elements like subordinate performance, satisfaction with supervision, overall job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and role clarity. A more recent review by Erdogan and Liden (2002) reminded further positive and helpful outcomes of LMX, including more innovation, less job stress, and greater workplace safety. Most of the research on the correlates of LMX has focused on ending results rather than antecedents (Erdogan and Liden, 2002).While these researches are important to our overall understanding of the LMX concept, there is little evidence of personal or interpersonal attributes associated with these relationships (Phillips and Bedeian, 1994). According to result of many researches and their results, for getting better and increasing our understanding of the LMX relationship and its formation, research is needed on the antecedents associated with the leader-member exchange procedure. In this study I am going through investigate two significant antecedents thought to be related to the quality and excellence of the subordinate-supervisor relationship: demographic similarity and emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is one of the most widely discussed topics in current industrial, work, and organisational psychology. The concept of EI was firstly introduced by Salovey and Mayaer as a Type of social intelligence, separable from general intelligence, which involves the ability to monitor ones own and others emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide ones thinking and actions. In a later effort, they (Salovey Mayer, 1990) expanded their model and defined emotional intelligence as the ability of an individual to perceive accurately, evaluate, and express emotion; the ability to access and generate feelings and emotions when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and rational and intellectual growth. Researches have shown that emotional intelligence is the common factor that influences the different ways in which people develop in their social s kills, lives, and also in their jobs; control their emotions; get along with other people; and handle frustration. It has been discovered that the difference between a simply brilliant person and a brilliant manager is due to a persons emotional intelligence. Finally, it is emotional intelligence that dictates the way people deal with each other and understand emotions. Thus, emotional intelligence is considered very important for business leaders because if business leaders are insensitive to the mood of their staff or team, it may cause frustration and, therefore, not get the best out of people (Anonymous, 2004). Turner (2004) has stated that emotional intelligence is the softer component of total intelligence and that it contributes to both professional and personal lives of people. Traditional IQ is the ability of learning, understanding, and reasoning. It is now thought to contribute only 20% to ones success, whereas emotional quotient (EQ), which is the ability of understandin g oneself and interacting with people, contributes 80%. EQ is very critical to effective leadership. IQ has been linked to job performance and is a key factor and element in recruitment. However, EQ is obvious in the managers/leaders ability to retain their positions and be successful in their roles. In fact most of the firms hire for intelligence (IQ) and sack because of attitude (EQ). 1.2 Statement of Purpose The present study aims to examine the relationship between EI, demographic issues (age, gender, and race) as a moderator variable and LMX. Two hypotheses would be tested. First, there will be a significant and positive relationship between EI and higher LMX quality. Second, there will be significant positive relationship between quality of LMX and the mentioned demographic issues. 1.3 Significance of Study More research has been conducted on the outcomes of LMX than on its determinants, but several antecedents have been identified (Liden et al., 1997; Nahrgang et al., 2009; Schriesheim et al., 1999). A favorable exchange relationship is more likely when the subordinate is perceived to be competent and dependable, and the subordinates values, attitudes, and demographic attributes are similar to those of the leader. Some personality traits for the leader and subordinate (e.g. agreeableness, extroversion, positive affectivity) may also be related to LMX. However, the number of studies on traits is too small to reach any firm conclusions, and the studies did not include mediating variables such as emotional intelligence to explain the relationship. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Leader Member-Exchange Theory The concept of vertical dyadic linkage or LMX was introduced in the 1970s (Dansereau et al., 1975). The original idea was born out of the fact that ratings that different followers report for the same leader have a variance that goes beyond simple measurement errors and appears in fact to reflect something meaningful. Graen and colleagues (e.g., Dansereau et al., 1975) assume that this variance is due to the different behavior that the leader shows towards different followers. Instead of viewing leadership as a phenomenon a leader shows towards a group, leadership is regarded as a dyadic phenomenon, happening between one leader and one follower. More recent developments of this stream of research focus more extensively on the quality of the relationship between leader and follower (for an overview see Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory suggests that a leader will develop an exchange relationship over time with each subordinate (Dienesch and Liden, 1986; Graen and Cashman, 1975; Graen and Scandura, 1987; Graen and Uhl-Bien,1995). Empirical studies have found a positive correlation between LMX quality and several indicators of leadership effectiveness (e.g. Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995; Harris et al., 2009; Schriesheim et al., 1999). In a meta-analytic study Gerstner and Day (1997) found that a favorable exchange relationship was related to higher subordinate satisfaction, greater organizational commitment, better job performance, and lower turnover. Erdogan and Liden (2002) reported additional positive outcomes of a favorable exchange relationship, such as more creativity, less job stress, and better workplace safety. More research has been conducted on the outcomes of LMX than on its determinants, but several antecedents have been identified (Liden et al., 1997; Nahrgang et al., 2009; Schriesheim et al., 1999). The development of LMX may also be affected by contextual variables (Liden et al., 1997). It may be more difficult for the leader to develop favorable exchange relationships when the work unit or team has many members, when the members are only temporarily assigned to the team, when the members are widely dispersed and seldom interact with the leader, when the leader is overloaded with responsibilities and has little time for interaction with individual members, or when the leader has little power to provide rewards and benefits desired by members. As we know Leader empathy, ethical values, and relations-oriented behavior all appear to be relevant for effective leadership, A recent study found that LMX is correlated more with relations-oriented behaviors than with other types of leadership behaviors (Yukl et al., 2009). The relations-oriented behaviors included providing psychological support, recognizing subordinate contributions, developing subordinate skills, consulting with subordinates to learn about their ideas and concerns, and delegating more authority and responsibility to subordinates. It has been more than three decades since researchers focused on the role of social exchange in leader-member relationship (Scandura, 1999). The leader-member exchange (leader-member exchange) theory basically argues that leaders develop differentiated dyadic relationships with their subordinates. Social exchange theory sees the interactions between the leader and members as interdependent and contingent on the actions of the other party (Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005). Social exchange is said to evolve when employers takes care of their employees. Over time, this reciprocal relationship evolves into a trusting and loyal relationship. High quality leader-member exchange is characterized by mutual trust, liking, respect and reciprocal influence between the leader and team members (Liden and Maslyn, 1998). Low quality leader-member exchange is marked by a relationship that is based strictly on the terms of the employment contract (Liden and Maslyn, 1998). The research on LMX has captured the interest of researchers in many parts of the world. Hassan et al. (2009) highlight the role of LMX quality and communication with supervisor as an antecedent of team-oriented commitment among Malaysian workers. Bhals (2006) work mentioned earlier involved Indian IT workers. Schyns et al. (2008) found support for the effect of personality traits such as Need for Leadership and dependence on follower rating of LMX quality among Dutch workers. A study involving German employees by Schyns and Wolfram (2008) indicates that the key concerns that followers have in assessing the quality of LMX they have with their leader are different from the concerns that leaders have. Whereas leaders are primarily concerned with performance, followers are concerned with consideration. However, the ability of a leader to address the concern for consideration will lead to followers reciprocating by delivering performance. 2.2 Emotional Intelligence Emotional Intelligence enables people to deal with everything with a measure of balance and maturity. Emotionally intelligent people have a deep rooted sense of self that helps them to understand other people, keep things in proportion, retain focus, and understand what is important. Moreover they retain a positive viewpoint approximately all of the time, they are successful in everything that they choose to do, they have high work performance, they have high personal productivity levels, and they consequently enjoy greater job satisfaction. Performance measures that often exclude the soft skills fail to reflect any positive consequences of EI development that may be occurring within the organization. Emotional elements underlie the dynamics of many aspects of modern and new organizations, and the role of EI must be considered while devising organizational policies, processes, and procedures. Lubit (2004) considered social competence to be an important and main component of EI, making it very valuable and significant for teams. Welch (2003) has said that EI makes teams able to boost their performance. In an era of teamwork, it is necessary to find out what makes teams work. His research has shown that the same as individuals, the most effective teams are the emotionally intelligent teams and that any team can improve and achieve higher levels of EI. In his study, teams with same aggregate IQ were compared, and it was discovered that teams with high levels of EI outperformed teams with low levels of EI by a margin of two to one. He highlighted two significant points. First one is that, there is evidence that EI in teams is an important factor. And the second one indicates that, there is the assertion that EI can be developed. He also proposed that these five EI team competencies build on individual EI skills: inclusiveness, adaptability, assertiveness, empathy, and influen ce. However, these competencies are not enough on their own. Trust is the foundation of teamwork for it to be a truly joyous undertaking; it allows people to examine where they can improve without becoming self-critical or defensive. 2.3 Research Questions Research Objectives Research Questions: RQ1: Is there any significant and positive relationship between EI and LMX quality? RQ2: Is there any significant and positive relationship between demographic dissimilarity and LMX? Research Objectives: RO1. Investigation the relationship of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) RO2. Investigation the relationship of Demographic issues and Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) 3. Methodology Leader emotional intelligence will be measured with four items from a sub-scale of the questionnaire on emotional intelligence developed by Wong and Law (2002). Each item had six Likert-type response choices (1-strongly disagree to 6-strongly agree). Only the four items with positive wordings were used. Sample items include: My manager is very aware of how other people are feeling. My manager is a good observer of emotions in other people. LMX will be measured with the LMX-7 instrument developed by Scandura and Graen (1984). Graen and Uhl-Bien (1995, p. 236) provided additional support for the validity of this questionnaire. Each item had five anchored response choices with unique anchors that are appropriate for the item. The wording for the response choices in a few items was slightly changed to reduce ambiguity. Sample items include: How well does your boss understand and appreciate your talents and potential; How much confidence does your boss have in your ability to do the work; How willing are you to do extra work to help your boss deal with a difficult problem; How would you describe the relationship between you and your boss

Invisible Man: Plot Summary :: Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man opens with a prologue describing the main character in time after the begining of the body of the book. In the prologue, Ellison tells of the main characters invisibility. It is not a physical invisiblity, but rther he is not recognised, and therefore persieved, by the world at large. This is coupled with the fact that he is constantly trying to be someone else, other than himself, creates for his a complete loss of identity, and he becomes a man without a soul.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story begins with the main character being forced to partisipate in an archaic and animalistic free-for-all in order for him to be allowed to give his speach that will determine wheather he will be accepted to the 'college'. He is accepted and goes through two of his years at the college uneventfully. He is ejected from the school during his junior year when the trustee who ws in his care while visiting the school fell ill and is taken to a local bar to get some alchohol. He is given seven letter of what he suposes to be recomendation to give to people in New York. He moves to Harlem and delivers the letters. He finds out that these letters were not recomenation but rather advisments against hiring him. The seventh reciever of a letter gives him a job in a paint factory. He does not derform well there and evetually causes he own dismissal by ignoring hes work and getting knoked out by an explosion that is his fault. He joins a black power group called The Brotherhood and is sent out to spread the word of the group. He meets a man named Clfton, his first real freind, and clifon is shot by a police officer. He speaks at Clifton's funeral and the Brotherhood does not like what he says. he befriens a middle aged white woman whao flirs with him a good bit. one night while with her is is asked to come to Harlem and come a riot that is occering. Invisible Man: Plot Summary :: Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man opens with a prologue describing the main character in time after the begining of the body of the book. In the prologue, Ellison tells of the main characters invisibility. It is not a physical invisiblity, but rther he is not recognised, and therefore persieved, by the world at large. This is coupled with the fact that he is constantly trying to be someone else, other than himself, creates for his a complete loss of identity, and he becomes a man without a soul.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story begins with the main character being forced to partisipate in an archaic and animalistic free-for-all in order for him to be allowed to give his speach that will determine wheather he will be accepted to the 'college'. He is accepted and goes through two of his years at the college uneventfully. He is ejected from the school during his junior year when the trustee who ws in his care while visiting the school fell ill and is taken to a local bar to get some alchohol. He is given seven letter of what he suposes to be recomendation to give to people in New York. He moves to Harlem and delivers the letters. He finds out that these letters were not recomenation but rather advisments against hiring him. The seventh reciever of a letter gives him a job in a paint factory. He does not derform well there and evetually causes he own dismissal by ignoring hes work and getting knoked out by an explosion that is his fault. He joins a black power group called The Brotherhood and is sent out to spread the word of the group. He meets a man named Clfton, his first real freind, and clifon is shot by a police officer. He speaks at Clifton's funeral and the Brotherhood does not like what he says. he befriens a middle aged white woman whao flirs with him a good bit. one night while with her is is asked to come to Harlem and come a riot that is occering.

W.H. Audens Musee des Beaux Arts and Pieter Bruegels The Fall of Icar

W.H. Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts and Pieter Bruegel's The Fall of Icarus W.H. Auden and Pieter Bruegel were both keen observers of the ordinary. In Bruegel’s painting â€Å"The Fall of Icarus†, he is able to look past the tragedy of the death of Icarus and focus on the simple scene surrounding the event. Auden’s poem, â€Å"Musee des Beaux Arts†, has the same qualities: it glazes over the nature of tragedy, and chooses to instead examine the fact that life goes on while disaster occurs. Arthur F. Kinney highlights this idea of calm in the face of tragedy in a critical essay entitled â€Å"Auden, Bruegel, and Musee des Beaux Arts†. Kinney explores Auden’s inspiration for the theme of the poem. The theme, Kinney explains, is not merely generated by â€Å"The Fall of Icarus†, but also two other Bruegel pieces. â€Å"The Numbering at Bethlehem† portays Joseph and Mary arriving at Bethlehem, while â€Å"The Massacre of the Innocents† shows a torturer and his horse in a town square. Both pieces conv ey the same main theme as â€Å"Musee des Beaux Arts†: the complex nature of a substantial event, contrasted with the simplicity of every day life. Each of the paintings reflects on human nature, in the context of apathy amidst tragedy. In his critical article â€Å"Auden, Bruegel, and Musee des Beaux Arts† Kinney asserts that â€Å"the same statement [is] made by two art forms†, and that Bruegel’s painting and the poem it inspired, â€Å"Musee des Beaux Arts†, â€Å"juxtapose the unique and the commonplace.† â€Å"The Fall of Icarus†, the only one of Bruegel’s paintings mentioned by name in Auden’s â€Å"Musee des Beaux Arts†, concludes the final octet of the poem. The plowman in the foreground, not the splashing legs of Icarus, is what the canvas is centered on. Bruegel’s focus on the sim... ... Works Cited Bible, King James Version. Luke 1-5. 12 Dec. 2005 . Auden, W. H. ""Musee Des Beaux Arts"" The Longman Anthology. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Longman, 2003. 2789-2790. "Daedalus in Greek Mythology." Mythography: The Legend of Daedelus in Myth and Art. Loggia. 12 Dec. 2005 . Kinney, Arthur F. "Auden, Bruegel, and 'Musee des Beaux Arts'" 7: 529-531. EBSCOhost. Homer Babbidge Library, Storrs. 11 Dec. 2005. Keywords: Auden + Musee Des Beaux Arts. "Musee des Beaux Arts." 2003. Poetry Pages. 12 Dec. 2005 . Pieter, Bruegel. The Fall of Icarus. Musee des Beaux Arts. Pieter Bruegel Oil Paintings. 12 Dec. 2005 . Pieter, Bruegel. The Massacre of Innocents. Musee des Beaux Arts. Pieter Bruegel Oil Paintings. 12 Dec. 2005 . Pieter, Bruegel. The Numbering at Bethlehem. Musee des Beaux Arts. Pieter Bruegel Oil Paintings. 12 Dec. 2005 .

Essay --

Definition: Surfactant flooding is injection of one or more liquid chemicals and surfactants. The phase behaviour properties in the oil reservoir is effectively controlled by the surfactant, which then help to mobilize the trapped crude oil by reducing interfacial tension (IFT) between the injected liquid and the oil. So for the oil to move through the narrow capillary pores a very low oil or water IFT is needed. Surfactant flooding also increases the economic productivity. In order to improve the properties of the surfactant solution, co-surfactants are being mixed up into the liquid surfactant solution. This co-surfactant actually acts as a promoter or as an active agent in the mixed surfactant solution. This is to provide optimal conditions with respect to temperature, pressure and salinity. Reservoir has a certain physical characteristic, thus due to this characteristics e.g. adsorption; the binding of molecules to the rock and trapping of the fluid in the pore structure, considerable losses of the surfactant may occur. The stability of the surfactant system at reservoir cond...

The links between school bullying and mugging and there affects on individuals lives

Is it possible that school bullying and mugging are closely linked? If so, can they have permanent side – effects on an individual's life? Too tall, too short, too fat, too thin†¦. I hate my hair†¦ I need a better car†¦ I can't wear that dress as I wore it last week†¦. these are the questions I faced the other morning, the silly thing is that I am confident that millions of other people are waking up and lobbying mini arguments within their minds of similar matters. But why are these matters so important? A very open question, yet in all generalisation can be linked to the word SOCIETY. Blumer (1969) identifies this as noted below: â€Å"Basically human behaviour is not determined by social forces. Rather, people are simply self – conscious beings†¦ † He states that due to ones self consciousnesses, questions similar to the ones asked above arise. The self consciousness of an individual is induced by those labels attached to us through the sub cultures in which we exist. These are closely linked to our childhood educational experiences. Control theory implies that social services will decrease levels of deviant behaviour by strengthening the bond between the adolescent and society. Labelling theory implies the reverse, that the process of formal adjudication through the juvenile court will first stabilize and then increase levels of deviant behaviour. Diversion programs were originally developed as an application of labelling theory, with the objectives of minimizing involvement with the juvenile court, referring adolescents to less stigmatizing social services, and ultimately reducing levels of deviant behaviour. An additional issue has been the effect of gender on service delivery to adolescents in the juvenile justice system. This paper examines these four issues using panel data and multiple regression of follow-up on baseline variables. The term ‘bullying' refers not only to physical and verbal abuse, but psychological attacks intended to inflict fear, distress and to physically harm the victim (Farrington, 1993). Extensive research into the bullying/victim relationship shows that there are two distinct groups (or subcultures). For example, Olweus (1991) found that only one bully in ten was also a victim, while only one victim in eighteen was also a bully (taken from Fishman, Mesch, Eisikovits, 2002). This assumption shows that victims and offenders originate from different parts of society and are in fact judged upon popularity and peer acceptance rather than merit. In fact personal merit i. e. educational achievements, alongside social and physical appearance (Salmivalli, 1998) can turn an ordinary individual into a victim within an educational setting. In comparison, perpetrators saw themselves as being physically fit and popular among their peer group. Those who were victims were often those who felt unpopular and lacked the social skills to form peer relationships. According to Farrington (1993), Adolescents who lack good friends have no support when exposed to an offender's aggressive behaviour. The term ‘mugging' refers to a psychological fear and possible physical attack on a victim. When pupils are constantly being assessed and classified, it is on this basis that they are defined as able or less able. Then placed accordingly in particular sets or streams, entered for particular examinations and given or denied access to certain parts of the school curriculum. Teachers are more likely to define middle rather than working class pupils as the ‘able bodies', the ‘good students' and the ‘well – behaved' based on first impressions or certain stereo-types such as a middle class family is more likely to take interest in there child's education. This in turn disadvantages the working class pupils. A label is a major identifying characteristic. If for example, a pupil is labelled as ‘bright', others will respond to him/her and interpret their actions in terms of this label. There is a tendency for self – fulfilling prophecy to result. The pupil will only act in terms of the label and see themselves as bright, thus fulfilling the prophecy others have made. Muggings are thought of, at times, worse than bullying as the ordeal can leave a psychological scar in the way that person may perceive people in the future. The level of this can vary depending on the loss of items or the ordeal itself. All these factors will cause the victim to look at people in a different way, or even change their own behaviour in the future, asking themselves questions like ‘should I take this much money with me? ‘ or ‘should I tuck this chain in? ‘. Bullying is most commonly thought of as occurring in classrooms but unfortunately has a lasting effect on ones development from adolescence to adulthood to the outside world. It is the ‘name calling' and constant ‘teasing' that makes the individual being bullied i. e. the victim, begin to turn into themselves and think about who they really are. They create questions and insecurities within their own thoughts, as to why they in particular have been singled out as the ‘odd one' that does not ‘fit in'. Questions such as what are they calling me, why are they calling me by such names and what factors of myself do I need to change to avoid being called the latter†¦ (Which takes us back to the very beginning of this analysis) †¦ Too tall, too short, too fat too thin†¦. I hate my hair†¦ I need a better car†¦ I can't wear that dress as I wore it last week†¦. The creation of society! If bullying and mugging were earthquakes, the understanding of the epicentre is imperative, the two tectonic plates grinding, causing the earthquake, would be the Labelling theory and Subculture theories. These two theories lend a hand in explaining how and why anti social behaviour such as bullying may arise and its effects on society at large. The Sub cultural theory suggests that society is made up from several sub cultures that can each be defined by their own set of values and norms, separate from those of the wider society. Members within a sub culture share common values and have similar behavioural patterns, often based around social characteristics, such as ethnicity or styles generated by individuals within a sub culture. Sub cultures usually share some features with the host culture, but may also be oppositional to it. Sub cultural theories attempt to explain why these groups, most of which are concerned with ‘youth gangs' and gang delinquency, engage in deviant acts. The theories also analysed the formation of delinquent youth subcultures within the context of strains and pressures exerted by society. According to Cohen (1955) sub cultures are formed within an educational setting due to status deprivation. This is where a desirable ‘status' such as being popular or accepted by peer groups would be sought after by students and invariably be found through creating a sub culture. For those individuals where status was denied, Cohen (1955) again suggesting this to be a direct result of failure by the educational system leading to failure at work, status deprivation was resolved by the formation of primary groups (the most common form of which was gangs) (Cohen, 1955). By creating specific sub cultures, members, predominately young males, allowed themselves to achieve status positions within a structured group therefore satisfying their desire for some form of status (Cohen, 1955). These sub cultures often resulted to violent and aggressive behaviour towards their peer groups, taunting and victimising other youths, both physically and psychologically. Cohen claimed that if the educational system were to allow an alternative outlet for such status satisfaction, then the need to create a sub culture would be destroyed thus avoiding the anti social behaviour such as bullying. Using Cohen's ideas, it can be said that a bully will be looking for a desirable status. The mugger can be seen as one of these subgroups, and can be seen as a subgroup of bullying (taking it one step further by taking someone else's possessions) or as a subgroup of a gang (where the act is carried out within a group). It is possible for this to give the individual, or an individual within a group, a certain level of status and gained acceptance within a group. Where the Sub cultural theory attempts to explain bullying as a result of social definitions and status, interactionsists suggest that this is not the case. Interactionism, according to Blumer (1969) indicates three central beliefs that characterise social behaviour. Firstly, ‘human beings act towards things on the basis of the meaning that things have for them'. This means that human behaviour is not determined by social forces but rather that people are simply self conscious beings. Secondly, ‘the meaning of things is derived from, or arises out of the social interaction that one has with one's fellow's'. Here Blumer (1969) suggests that meanings are not fixed but are continually tailored and adjusted as individuals integrate with one another. Thirdly, ‘group action takes the form of a fitting together of individual lines of action'. Thus society is not so much a determinant of human action as a product of human activity. Social order is therefore inherently fragile, as it is highly dependant on shared, miscellaneous meanings. So the Interactionism idea would explain mugging as the 1st central belief, ‘human beings act towards things on the basis of the meaning that things have for them'. Thus saying, that a mugger may carry out their act based on what they will gain from it, which could be anything from increased wealth to other possessions. An alternative would be that the person only carries out a mugging based on meanings that are adjusted, such as the person will have carried out the mugging based on a new circumstance or new scenario, which would not have been the case the day, week or year before. Already it is clear to see how these two theories present opposing explanations to bullying and mugging. On one hand the sub cultural theory claims that there are rigid norms and values within society, forcing individuals to comply with the rules. It implies that those who do not conform or are deprived the chance to gain social recognition and desired statuses within society are forced to create their own group in which they can achieve status satisfaction. On the other hand, interactionism argues there are no fixed rules but rather ever changing, shared values that are dependent upon social interaction. It suggests that the extent of bullying and mugging is dependent upon how individuals interact within society. From interactionism stems a new approach which once initiated is widely known as the Labelling theory. The classic formation of this theory is that of Howard Becker 63†², who said ‘.. The central fact about deviance (is that) it is created by society. I do not mean this in the way it is ordinarily understood, in which the causes of deviance are located in the social situation of the deviant or in â€Å"social factors† which prompt his action. Rather, those social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitution deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an â€Å"offender†. The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied – deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label'. Howard Becker 63†² Labelling and bullying both occur simultaneously throughout levels in schools. For example, the breakdown of a ‘typical' classroom layout is that of many diversities and similarities at the same time. There are two different approaches when discussing the relationship between social cognition and social behaviour, and specifically, between emotion and bullying. An information-processing model which shows how aggressive behaviour as resulting from processing biases in one or more steps in a 5 stages social information process (Dodge, Pettit, McClaskey and Brown, 1986; Dodge and Feldman, 1990; Crick and Dodge, 1994). It is this theory when applied to bullies and victims that this social skill deficit model tells us that bullies do in fact have similar deficits to aggressive children. However the victims, on the other hand, lack these social skills of assertiveness and group entry. As a direct result, this in turn means they have less experience in social interaction, in the teasing and play fighting which both in family and peer relationships, may enhance the interpretation processes of emotional expression, social skills, sense of control and self-efficacy (Smith, Bowers, Binney and Cowie, 1993). Labelling and mugging occur early on, during school. For example, the mugger is grouped as being from a poor family or labelled as a ‘trouble maker' by their elders. Giving the child a negative image and possible loss in their confidence to perform to what ‘society' expects. The muggers' emotion can vary; one could say that they lack any compassion to their victim and only have their eyes on their reward. But from another perspective, one could say that the mugger may feel compassion but due to the circumstances they are in, they feel like this would be their only solution. Advocates of this power-based theory (i. e. bullies simply bullying others around them to gain power over other less superior individuals than themselves), argue that bullies' desire for power or control is often strengthened by various social stereotypes about bullying including the negative reinforcement of the media (see the earlier discussion on social tolerance of bullying). It is has been said that bullies behaviour is cold and manipulative and that they are experts in social contexts. The problem of their behaviour can be directly related to the many emotions that surround moral transgression such as guilt and shame. Can it then be questioned as to whether; bullies actually understand other children's emotions but simply do not share them; thus lacking in empathy? Or perhaps they merely are unable to identify the suffering and pain in the victims and therefore they lack social skills? How do they feel during a bullying episode? Can and do bullies feel great for having been tough or have they the human emotion of guilt and feeling responsible for what they have done? If labelling exists within the educational system, and we have seen above how it is valid, then it is not only the behaviour of the bully and mugger that must be reprimanded but that of those who attach these labels. Looking at the educational system, it appears that those in authority, like teachers and others working alongside schools and the pupils inflict these labels upon them. By labelling these individuals, teachers will group these individuals into categories or boxes, thus causing divisions and a hierarchy within the class, and the educational system as a whole. This is because individual will tend to act according to the labels attached to them, thus fulfilling a self fulfilling prophecy. So from this we can see that there is a link between muggers and bullies. It can be seen that both want, in most cases, some level of status or acceptance and that both are categorised and labelled. Any individual that experiences either of these will also be left with psychological scars, which in-turn will change the victim in the way they behave or perceive things. The perception and behavioural changes are not likely to change with ease, and could possibly be detrimental to the individual. Social identity argues that social cooperation is a product of activation of a social identity. Social identity can be thought of as the psychological link between the self and the collective, in this case the school community. Through social identification, the school becomes a positive reference group for the pupil. When a student identifies with the school community, he or she sees themselves as interdependent with this community and he or she behaves cooperatively, upholding the school's rules and values. Tyler 1998, made a similar point. He argued that there were two inter-related aspects to self-worth: the collective and the individual. The collective aspect is reflected in pride in being a member of a school community, in terms of education. The individual aspect is reflected in having respect within this community. Tyler said, â€Å"As self-worth within a community increases in terms of pride and respect, social cooperation within that community also increases†. In other words, what each of us does is strive for a sense of belongingness and significance. Not only meeting our individual needs, but becoming a member of a positive reference group is also importance to us in society. After all, we are social animals. Work by Eliza Ahmed and her colleagues (2000) suggest that one barrier that needs to be addressed is the affective barrier associated with shame. The shame associated with a harmful act acts as a barrier to us thinking of ourselves as a fully integrated member of a community. Indeed, recent findings have shown that shame-management has been found to be an important mediating variable in the understanding of bullying and victimization (Ahmed et al. , forthcoming). The maintenance of bonds is mutually related to emotion: emotions are a means of cohesion. Nathanson (1992) has also argued that shame is the central social regulator that governs our social relations with others. Shame, as such, is closely connected with solidarity (in group cooperation) and alienation (out group competition). Humans are inherently social animals; lapses in important social bonds affect us as individuals. Threatened or damaged bonds create an environment for shame. A long period of unacknowledged shame arises from and generates failure of social connectedness as stated by Retzinger, 1991. Shame can be conceptualised as a thermostat; if it fails to function informatively about the state of our social relationships, regulation of relationships becomes impossible. Thus, shame is an important signal about the state of our social relationships. Shame management involves the search for coherence of identity. Acknowledgment of shame can lead to a greater integrity of the self and our social world; shame avoidance can lead to social alienation and conflict with the self and our social world. To conclude, it is safe to say that the links between school bullying and mugging and their affects on individual's lives are very prominent, and it seems both issues are here to stay in the twenty first century. It seems studies have shown that both bullying and mugging can have permanent side – effects on an individual's life. However, it would appear that if these bullies had not been boxed into groups, thus they would not fulfil their prophecy. Batsche and Knoff (1994) assert that the goal of creating safe schools cannot be achieved unless the issue of bullying is adequately addressed. In order to fully examine the issue of bullying, one would need to pay close attention to the structure of determinants of bullying from personal to social factors; focusing on various forms of relationships that exist in not only our personal lives but in our social lives. For example, relationships between bullies and families, schools and society; all affect the way we behave. It is these other relationships among the victims, bullies and bystanders; as well as relationships between counsellors and other school staff, that are all working together as a team combat bullying. These two theories have shown in this discussion that school bullying and mugging are linked and that bullying can only lead to far worse behavioural problems in the future – both physical and mental.