Moralitys Biological Nature Essay example -- Biology Essays Research

Morality's Biological Nature: Implications for the Attribution of "Good" and "Evil". "A man who has no assured and ever present belief in the existence of a personal God or of a future existence with retribution and reward, can have for his rule of life, as far as I can see, only to follow those impulses and instincts which are the strongest or which seem to him the best ones. . . . If he acts for the good of others, he will receive the approbation of his fellow men and gain the love of those with whom he lives." - Charles Darwin In my last paper "Serial Killers: Just trying to feel normal, it's not my fault" (4) I addressed the question as to whether biology can make us murderers. In my paper I catalogued multiple instances in which biology seems to consistently differ between 'normal' people and individuals who have been dubbed the most immoral, inhuman and evil predators of society. Though I found many biological differences between the normal brain and the murderer's brain, it was not necessarily explained that 'morality' is a common, biologically based aspect of human behavior. The nature of my prior paper was to ascertain whether there is a difference in our brain from that of a killer, but in this paper I explore the biological function of 'morality' and its natural occurrence in the catalogue of human behaviors. Discussing 'morality' as a phenomenon that is inherent in humans will then allow the further exploration of the implications of deviation from this 'norm'. Can these individuals be labeled as 'evil' and be held accountable for their behavior? As the former paper posed implications pertaining to the 'accountability' of a murderer, this paper proposes that these individuals have strayed from the underlying... ...CA/Mail/xmcamail.1997_11.dir/0086.html 3)Brain: The neurobiology of morals. , A small, applicable article. http://www.nature.com/news/1999/991021/full/991021-6.html;jsessionid=DC80A23979EBD5D46DCA819DFA12AC26 4)Serial Killers: Just trying to feel normal, it's not my fault, My last paper. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web2/Solano.html 5) Origins of Human Mind Revisited, A short article that touched upon some new ideas. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/brainyapes980511.html 6) To the objectives for Good Natured., Commentary upon de Waal's book from a college class. http://mlabar.swu.edu/Animal%20Behavior/Comments%20on%20Good%20Natured.htm 7) The Impact of Psychological Research on Christian Beliefs and Practices , A source of challenges, insights and reminders. http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/cis/jeeves/lecture3.html

Reconstruction after the Civil War Essay

Black political activity during the Reconstruction after the Civil War came from the experience of after war slavery or what was called servitude. A strong sense of community grew out of shared racial oppression and contributed to the formation of a political stand for the black freedman. Even though this formation was important it really did not become very strong after the Civil War. Emancipation was confusing to most blacks and the wartime disorder didn’t help the uncertain situation. Freedmen moved very cautiously to explore what changes were happening in their lives. They were more interested in individual measures to enhance their freedom and avoided becoming politically active. One of the freedmen’s first desires was to leave anything having to do with slavery behind. They wanted to define their new status different than the slavery they had known. What many blacks did first after becoming free was to leave the plantation that had enslaved them. Some looked for family and other headed for towns and cities, but most wanted to leave. Autonomy was a key issue that arose out of emancipation. At first the freedmen hoped their needs would be met by the federal government. Inspired by wartime confiscation of planters land, and the promise of the Freedmen’s Bureau, the former slaves waited for their â€Å"forty acres and a mule†. The Freedmen’s Bureau was a temporary agency set up to aid the former slaves by providing relief, education, legal help, and assistance in gaining land or employment and came from the Reconstruction period. The problem of how to reconstruct the Union after the South’s military defeat was won of the most difficult challenges faced by American policymakers. The Constitution didn’t provide any guidelines. The farmers had not anticipated a division of the country into warring sections. Emancipation was a major force for the Northern war aims, but the problem became larger when questions arose on how far the federal government should go to secure freedom and civil rights for former slaves. The debate that followed led to a major political crisis. Advocates of a minimal Reconstruction policy favored quick restoration of the Union with no protection for the freed slaves beyond the prohibition of slavery. Proponents of a more radical policy wanted readmission of the southern states to be dependent on guarantees that loyal men would displace the Confederate higher ups in position of power and that blacks would gain some of the basic rights of American citizenship. The White House wanted the lesser approach and congress endorsed the more radical approach of Reconstruction (Divine, Breen, Fredrickson & Williams, 1987, p. 457). The tension between the President and Congress on how to reconstruct the Union began during the war. Lincoln never had a plan for bringing the states back together, but he did take some initiatives that indicated a more lenient and forgiving policy towards Southerners who gave up the struggle and denounced slavery. Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863 that offered a full pardon to all Southerners, except certain classes of Confederate leaders, who would take an oath of allegiance to the union and acknowledge the legality of emancipation (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. 11). This policy was meant to shorten the war. The President hoped that granting pardon and political recognition to oath-taking minorities would weaken the southern cause by making it easy for disillusioned confederates to switch sides. But Congress was unhappy with the President’s reconstruction experiments and in 1864 refused to seat the Unionists elected to the House and Senate from Louisiana and Arkansas. A minority of congressional Republicans, who were strong anti-slavery radicals, wanted protection for black rights as a precondition for the readmission of the southern states. These Republican militants were upset because Lincoln had not insisted that the constitution creators provide for black suffrage. The dominate view in Congress was that the southern states had definitely forfeited their place in the Union and that it was up to Congress to decide when and how they would be readmitted. Congress passed a Reconstruction bill of its own in 1864. The Wade-Davis bill which required that fifty percent of the voters must take an oath of future loyalty before the restoration process could begin (Divine Breen, Fredrickson & Williams, 1987 p. 452). Those who would swear that they had never willingly supported the Confederacy could vote in an election for delegates to a constitutional convention. The bill did not require black suffrage, but it did give federal courts the power to enforce emancipation, but Lincoln used a pocket veto and refused to sign. Congress and the President remained stalled on the Reconstruction issue for the rest of the war. But during the last months in office Lincoln showed some desire to compromise. He showed much interest in getting the governments in Louisiana and Arkansas that he started, with the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863, to gaining full recognition but Lincoln was warming up to the ideal of including black suffrage in all of this. Sadly Mr. Lincoln died before anyone knew the outcome of the struggle between congress and this man. Andrew Johnson’s attempt at reconstruction also put him on the defensive with Congress creating the most serious crisis in the history of relations between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. During the war Johnson endorsed Lincoln’s emancipation policy and carried it into effect. He viewed it primarily as a means of destroying the power of the planter class rather than as recognition of black humanity (Divine Breen, Fredrickson & Williams, 1987). Johnson’s presidency was a huge surprise and really wasn’t suppose to happen considering that he was a southern Democrat and a fervent white supremacist. But the root of the problem was that he disagreed with the majority of Congress on what Reconstruction was supposed to accomplish. A believer of the Democratic states’ rights he wanted to restore the prewar feral system as quickly as possible, with the only changes being that states would no longer have the right to legalize slavery or to secede. Many Republican’s believed that if the old southern ruling class were to gain power they would devise a plan to subjugate blacks. Emancipation had removed the three-fifths clause of the constitution that counted slaves as only three-fifth of a person now they were to be counted in determining representation. Congress favored a Reconstruction policy that would give the federal government authority to limit the role of ex-confederates and provide protection for black citizenship (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. 48). The disagreement between the President and Congress became irreconcilable in early 1866 when Johnson vetoed two bills that had passed with overwhelming Republican support (Fitzgerald, 1989, 81). The first was to extend the life of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the second was a civil rights bill meant to nullify the black codes and guarantee to the freedmen full and equal benefit of all laws and security of self and property as the white had. Johnson was successful at blocking the Freedmen’s bureau bill but later a modified version did pass. The Civil Rights Act won the two-thirds majority needed to override the president’s veto. The main fact was that recovery would not happen or even begin until a new labor system replaced slavery. It was widely assumed in both the North and South that southern prosperity would continue to depend on cotton and that the plantation was the most efficient way for producing the crop. But rebuilding the plantation economy was hindered by lack of capital, the belief of southern whites that blacks would work only if forced, and by the freedmen’s resistance to labor conditions that were still basically slavery (Divine, Breen, Fitzgerald & Williams, 1987). Blacks wanted to be small independent farmers rather than plantation laborers and they believed that the federal government would help them to attain their dreams. General Sherman, who had huge numbers of black fugitives follow his army on a famous march, issued an order in 1865 that set aside the islands and coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina for only black occupancy on forty acre plots. The Freedmen’s Bureau was given control of hundreds of thousands of acres of abandoned or confiscated land and authorized to make forty acre grants to black settlers for a three year period. After that they would have the option to buy at low prices. Over forty thousand black farmers worked on three hundred thousand acres of land they thought were going to be theirs (Berlin, 1976, p. 141). But the dream of forty acres and a mule the government promised was not going to happen. President Johnson pardoned the owners of most of the land assigned to the ex-slaves by Sherman and the Freedmen’s Bureau and along with the failure of congress to propose an effective program of land confiscation and redistribution the land blacks could not gain title to the land they had been working. The ex-slaves even without land and in poverty still were reluctant to settle down and commit their selves to wage labor for their former masters. They were hoping for something better and some still expecting grants of land while others were just trying to increase their bargaining power. The most common form of agricultural employment in 1866 was contract labor. Under this system workers would commit themselves for a year in return for fixed wages that the bulk of would be paid after harvest. Many planters were inclined to make hard bargains, abuse their workers or cheat them at the end of the year. The Freedmen’s Bureau took the role of reviewing the contracts and enforcing them. Buy the bureau officials had differing notions of what it meant to protect blacks from exploitation. Some stood up strongly for the rights of the freedmen; others served as allies of the planters, rounding up available workers, coercing them to sign contracts for low wages, and keeping them in line (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. 138). After 1867 the bureau’s influence was fading and a new arrangement come from direct negotiations between planters and freedmen. Unhappy with gang labor and constant white supervision, blacks demanded sharecropper’s status. This meant that they wanted the right to work a small piece of land independently in return for a fixed share of the crop produced on it and that was usually half. With the shortage of labor this gave the freedmen enough leverage to force this arrangement on those planters who were unwilling. But many landowners found it to their advantage because it did not require much capital and forced the tenants to share the risks of crop failure or a fall in cotton prices. Blacks at first viewed sharecropping as a step up from wage labor and a direction towards land ownership, but in reality it was just a new kind of slavery (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. 140). Croppers had to live on credit until their cotton was sold, and planters or merchants seized the chance to give them at high prices and huge rates of interest. Creditors were entitled to deduct what was owned to them out of the tenant’s share of the crop and this left most sharecroppers with no net profit at the end of the year, some with debt that had to be worked off the next year (Fitzgerald, 1989, p. 141). Blacks moving to cities and towns found themselves living in an increasingly segregated society. The Black Codes of 1865 attempted to require separation of the races in public places but most of the codes were set aside by federal authorities as violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, but that was defeated by private initiatives and community pressures. In some cities blacks successfully resisted forced separation on streetcars by appealing to the military during the brief period when it exercised authority or by organizing boycotts. But they found it almost impossible to gain admittance to most hotels, restaurants, and other privately owned establishments that catered to whites. When black supported Republican governments came to power in 1868, some of them passed civil rights acts requiring equal access to public facilities, but little efforts were made to enforce the legislation (Berlin, 1976, p. 249). Some forms of racial separation were not openly discriminatory and blacks accepted or even endorsed them. Freedmen who had belonged to white churches as slaves welcomed the chance to join all black denominations which gave freedom from white dominance and a more congenial style of worship. The first schools for ex-slaves were all black institutions established by the Freedmen’s Bureau and various northern missionary societies (Berlin, 1976, p. 285). Blacks had been denied any education at all after the war and blacks viewed separate schooling as an opportunity rather than as a form of discrimination. The Freedmen’s Bureau was a government agency that was to give assistance and protection to the Southern ex-slave after the Civil war. It gave assistance to the relief of the needy of both white and black. Its main job was to improve labor relations, administering justice and developing a black educational system. The Bureau influence though suffered in the North and was mortally damaged in the South by corruption, especially those that were connected with promising Republican control of the black vote. These excesses strengthened resistance to black suffrage and encouraged secret organizations like the Ku Klux Klan (Sehat, 2007). The bureau was established under the War Department and was suppose to exist for one year after the war. It was strengthened and its life extended in 1866 when Johnson attempted to veto. Its Director was a Christian general by the name of Oliver O. Howard and functioned through ten districts. Each had an assistant commissioner with the power to control all individuals that were refugees and freedmen. The Freedmen’s Bureau became the strongest single instrument of Reconstruction. Even though it was ended in 1869 its educational activities were extended to 1872 and its soldiers’ bounty payments till 1872 and had an expenditure of about $20,000,000 (Divine Breen Fredrickson & Williams, 1987). Reconstruction failed because it was inadequately motivated, conceived and enforced. But the causes of this failure remain in shadow. Some explain it in terms of an underlying racism that prevented white Republicans from identifying fully with the cause of the black equality. Others use the clash between the class interests of those in charge of implementing and managing Reconstruction and the poor people of the South who were supposed to benefit. But the basic issue raised by Reconstruction was how to achieve racial equality in America and that was not resolved during that era and is still in conflict even today. Reference: Berlin, I. (1976). Slaves without masters. New York: Vintage Books Divine, R. A. , Breen, T. H. , Fredrickson, G. M. and Williams, R. H. (1987). America past and present, 2nd. Ed. Illinois: Scott , Foresman and Company. Fitzgerald, M. W. (1989). The union league movement in the deep south. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. Gibson, G. J. (1957). Lincoln’s League: The league movement during the Civil War. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Illinois. Sehat, D. ( 2007, May). The civilizing mission of Booker T. Washington. Journal of Southern History, 73(2), 323-362.

Developing strategic thinking Essay

Introduction My research interest in strategic thinking started in 1993 when I interviewed 35 senior executives for a longitudinal study on the changes in strategic planning and strategic management in large organisations between 1982 and 1993. These senior executives were responsible for strategic planning, strategic management or corporate development in 35 of the 100 largest manufacturing companies in Australia. The interviews lasted between three and four hours and one of the questions I asked concerned the problems that they had experienced with their strategic planning or strategic management approach in the preceding five years. The main problem identified by the majority of senior executives was strategic thinking. Interestingly, strategic thinking was a problem regardless of whether the companies had a formalised strategic planning system or used a non-formalised approach. For example, one senior executive from a company with a formalised strategic planning system stated: Our senior exec utives tend to get carried away by details and lose their strategic perspective. Abstract Lack of strategic thinking by senior managers has been identified as a major shortcoming in organisations. Draws on concepts in management and psychology to present a framework that can be used to remedy this situation. Argues that strategic thinking needs to be addressed at two different, but interrelated levels: the individual level and the organisational level. Organisations that successfully integrate strategic thinking at these two levels will create a critical core competency that forms the basis of an  enduring competitive advantage. Europe, East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the United States† (p. 242). The ability to think strategically, however, is crucial to remaining competitive in an increasingly turbulent and global environment. Considering that the average life expectancy of US Fortune 500 companies is only between 40 and 50 years (de Geus, 1997) and that only 49 percent of the 100 largest manufacturers in Australia in 1982 were still among the top 100 manufacturers in 1993 (Bonn and Christodoulou, 1996), the need for strategic thinking has never been greater. This paper presents a framework that can be used to increase strategic thinking in organisations. It argues that strategic thinking needs to be considered at two different, but inter-related levels. Organisations that successfully integrate strategic thinking at these two levels will create a critical core competency that forms the basis of an enduring source of competitive advantage. The debate on strategic thinking There is no agreement in the literature on what strategic thinking is. A number of authors have used the term interchangeably with other concepts such as strategic planning or strategic management. Wilson (1994) for example notes that: Similarly, a senior executive from a company without a formalised planning system reported: It is a major challenge to get our decision makers to think in strategic rather than operational terms. This lack of strategic thinking is not restricted to organisations in Australia. As research from the Institute of Directors in London has shown, 90 per cent of directors and vice-presidents â€Å"had no induction, inclusion or training to become a competent direction giver of their business† (Garratt, 1995a, p. 242). According to Garratt (1995a), this percentage â€Å"seems to hold good in The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com/ft This continuing search for improvement has profoundly changed the character of strategic planning so that it is now more appropriate to refer to it as strategic management or strategic thinking (p. 14, italics in original). Other authors have focussed on strategic management processes and either stated explicitly that good strategic planning contributes to strategic thinking (Porter, 1987) or assumed implicitly that a well designed strategic management system facilitates strategic thinking within an organisation (Thompson and Strickland, 1999; Viljoen, 1994). Mintzberg (1994) suggested a clear distinction between strategic thinking and  concepts such as strategic planning. He stated that â€Å"strategic planning is not strategic thinking† (p. 107) and argued that each term focuses on a different stage in the strategy development process. In his view, strategic planning focuses on analysis and deals with the articulation, elaboration and formalisation of existing strategies. Strategic thinking, on the other hand, emphasises synthesis, using intuition and creativity to create â€Å"an integrated perspective of the enterprise† (p. 108). He claimed that strategic planning is a process that should occur after strategic thinking. Garratt (1995b) argued along similar lines. He defined strategic thinking as a process by which senior executives â€Å"can rise above the daily managerial processes and crises† (p. 2) to gain a different perspective of the organisation and its changing environments. Heracleous (1998) made the distinction between strategic planning and strategic thinking by an analogy to single-loop learning and double-loop learning. In his view, the former is analogous to strategic planning, the later to strategic thinking. He claimed that single-loop learning involves thinking within existing assumptions and taking actions based on a fixed set of potential action alternatives. Double-loop learning, in contrast, challenges existing assumptions and  develops new and innovative solutions, leading to potentially more appropriate actions. Heracleous argued that like single-loop learning and double-loop l earning, strategic planning and strategic thinking are interrelated in a dialectical process and are equally important for effective strategic management. This article supports the view that strategic thinking and strategic planning are two different concepts and that strategic planning is a process, which takes place after strategic thinking. My analysis in the following sections demonstrates that strategic thinking manifests itself at two different levels: the individual level and the organisational level. This approach integrates the micro domain’s focus on individuals and groups with the macro domain’s focus on organisations and their context. In other words, it acknowledges the influence of individual characteristics and actions on the organisational context and vice versa, the influence of the organisational context on individual thinking and behaviour. As Chatman et al. (1986) have argued: When we look at individual behaviour in organizations, we are actually seeing two entities: the individual as himself and the individual as representative of this  collectivity . . . Thus the individual not only acts on behalf of the organization in the usual agency sense, but he also acts, more subtly `as the organization’ when he embodies the values, beliefs, and goals of the collectivity. Thus, understanding strategic thinking requires a dual-level approach that investigates the characteristics of an individual strategic thinker as well as the dynamics and processes that take place within the organisational context in which the individual operates. For instance, to obtain an accurate picture of the effects of differing leadership styles on strategic thinking, we can look at their impact on individual managers and on the way they influence the wider organisational climate, culture and structure. Strategic thinking at the individual level Strategic thinking at the individual level comprises three main elements: 1 a holistic understanding of the organisation and its environment; 2 creativity; and 3 a vision for the future of the organisation. Each of these  elements will be addressed in the following sections. A holistic understanding of the organisation and its environment A crucial element of strategic thinking is the ability to take a holistic perspective of the organisation and its environment. This requires an understanding of how different problems and issues are connected with each other, how they influence each other and what effect one solution in a particular area would have on other areas. As Kaufman (1991) has expressed it: Strategic thinking is characterized by a switch from seeing the organization as a splintered conglomerate of disassociated parts (and employees) competing for resources, to seeing and dealing with the corporation as a holistic system that integrates each part in relationship to the whole (p. 69). Taking a holistic approach requires the ability to distance oneself from day-to-day operational problems and to see how problems and issues are connected to the overall pattern that underlies particular details and events. Senge (1990) has called this approach â€Å"systems thinking†. He argued that: We must look beyond personalities and events. We must look into the underlying structures which shape individual actions  and create the conditions where types of events become likely (p. 43). Such an attention to the underlying structures of complex situations requires thinking in terms of processes rather than events to enable a reconciliation of apparent contradictions and the development of innovative solutions. Mastering complexity in organisations also requires managers to be familiar with the dynamics of organisational life. Stacey (1996) argued that managers need a thorough understanding of how organisations and managerial actions  change over time and of the feedback processes that lead to such changes. This includes being sensitive to the subtle interactions between the different parts of the organisation and understanding the structural causes of behaviour and their effects on other parts of the organisation. Finally, a holistic view requires recognition that organisations are components within large and complex systems, such as markets, industries and nations. Strategic thinkers need to understand how organisations are embedded within this wider context and h ow they are influenced by the dynamics, interconnection and interdependency of these systems. Strategy is about ideas and the development of novel solutions to create competitive advantage. Strategic thinkers must search for new approaches and envision better ways of doing things. A prerequisite for this is creativity, in particular the ability to question prevalent concepts and perceptions (de Bono, 1996) and to recombine or make connections between issues that may seem unconnected (Robinson and Stern, 1997). According to Amabile (1998), creative thinking refers to â€Å"how people approach problems and solutions  ± their capacity to put existing ideas together in new combinations† (p. 79, italics in original). This involves challenging the â€Å"tyranny of the given† (Kao, 1997, p. 47) by questioning prevailing beliefs or mental models in the organisation. Senge (1990) has described mental models as â€Å"deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action† (p. 8). He argues that such models are often tacit and beneath our level of awareness, yet they have a strong influence on organisational behaviour: . . . new insights fail to get put into practice because they conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting (p. 174). Thus, the ability to reflect on mental models and to challenge prevailing assumptions and core beliefs is crucial for the development of unique strategies and action programs. This requires strategic thinkers to understand their own behavioral patterns as well as existing concepts and perceptions within the organisation. Strategists should enjoy the challenge of thinking â€Å"out of the box† and of using imagination and creativity to explore whether there might be alternative ways of doing things. De Bono  (1996) has made this point very clear: Without creativity we are unable to make full use of the information and experience that is already available to us and is locked up in old structures, old patterns, old concepts, and old perceptions (p. 17). Creativity is a process that begins with the generation of ideas. As de Bono (1996) has noted . . . strategy is too often seen solely as a reduction process in which various possibilities are reduced to a sensible course of action (p. 72). Creativity Creative thinking is needed to imagine multiple possibilities and to search for alternatives to conventional approaches. The creative process also involves the selection and development of ideas. Good strategists are able to recognise the potential of a new idea at a very early stage. To visualise the value of an idea that has been put forward by people from different organisational levels might be even more important than the generation of original ideas by the strategist. As Robinson and Stern (1997) have observed: The larger the company, the more likely it is that the components of creative acts are already present somewhere in it, but the less likely it is that they will be brought together without some help (p. 15, italics in original). Finally, there is the need for translating the new idea into practice. Senior management must provide the resources that are needed to implement the idea. As Amabile (1998) has noted: . . . deciding how much time and money to give to a team or project is a sophisticated judgment call that can either support or kill creativity (p. 82) A vision for the future Strategic thinking should be driven by a strong sense of organisational  purpose and a vision of the desired future for the organisation. A genuine vision  ± as opposed to the popular â€Å"vision-statements†  ± conveys a sense of direction and provides the focus for all activities within the organisation. For Senge (1990), a genuine vision is â€Å"a calling rather than simply a good idea† (p. 142, italics in original). In his view, visions are â€Å"pictures or images people carry in their heads and hearts† (p. 206). They represent what one truly wants, based on fundamental intrinsic values and a sense of purpose that matters deeply to the people in the organisation. Evidence for the importance of a clear vision has been provided by Collins and Porras (1998). Their research showed that visionary companies outperformed nonvisionary companies significantly. One dollar invested in a general market stock fund on January 1, 1926 would have grown to 415 dollars by December 31, 1990, while the same dollar invested in a visionary company stock fund would have grown to 6,356 dollars, a difference of over 1500 percent. According to Collins and Porras (1998), the visionary companies did not attain this extraordinary long-term performance because they wrote one of the elegant vision or mission statements that have become popular in recent years. They pointed out that â€Å"Just because a company has a `vision statement’ (or something like it) in no way guarantees that it will become a visionary company!† (p. 201, italics in original). Instead, leaders in visionary companies place strong emphasis on building an organisation that has a deep understanding of its reason for existence and of its core values, those fundamental and enduring principles that guide and inspire people throughout the organisation and bind them together around a common identity. Thomas J. Watson, Jr. (1963), former IBM chief executive, made this point very clear: I firmly believe that any organization, in order to survive and achieve success, must have a sound set of beliefs on which it premises all its policies and actions (p. 5). consistent alignment (p. 229, italics in original). Developing a genuine vision and building it into the very fabric of the organisation must be a central element of the daily work of strategic thinkers. A vision that is shared throughout the organisation fosters commitment rather than compliance and creates a sense of commonality that permeates the whole organisation. It inspires people’s imagination and provides a focus that allows individuals to contribute in ways that make the most of their expertise and talents. Ultimately, as Collins and Porras have shown, a genuine vision helps to achieve superior performance in the longterm. Strategic thinking at the organisational level The organisational level provides the context in which individual strategic thinking can occur. Organisations need to create the structures, processes and systems that: 1 foster ongoing strategic dialogue among the top team; and 2 take advantage of the ingenuity and creativity of every individual employee.

Ethical Decisions Essay

Every individual is faces with ethical decisions every day in both their personal and professional lives. To avoid making unethical decisions, one must know what leads to poor decision making. Once a person knows what leads to the poor decision, they must find ways to resist making an unethical act. A person cannot make the right choice if they do not know how to avoid it. A leader must also know how to inspire ethical decisions within their staff. This paper covers ways to avoid making poor decisions and ways to making ethical ones. Poor Decision Characteristics While there are many ways one can be ethical, Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt suggest there are three essential traits one makes when a poor decision is made (1966/2010, p. 115). The fist common mistake of poor decision-making is when one forgets the goal that was previous set by him or herself or the organization. A person or the organization must keep all of their goals in mind when making decision, and many times individuals forget these goals. Overconfidence is another trait of poor decision-making. One aspect of overconfidence being that nobody will notice a little mistake made for correction later. For example, a manager may take a few dollars from the business expecting to put it back later and then a few more and later still more. However tomorrow never comes and before long, that first few dollars turns into hundreds or thousands. In the organization of my employment a small loan company as well as the owner’s stock car team on the side exists. The loan company sponsors the racing, and a year ago, the organization moved from the Midwest to the heart of NASCAR country. Once the owner arrived, he decided to buy the best equipment for the race team using funds from the loan company. While the spending spree may have been ok in the past, the owner did not take into account that need of hiring and training of new employees. When the new employees made poor lending decisions, combined with his spending, the organization almost went bankrupt. The other aspect of overconfidence is confirmation bias or â€Å"we  must be doing things the right way because all has gone well in the past† (Mallor et al., 1966/2010, p. 116). The overconfidence shows in the example of the overspending by the owner of the organization’s statement: â€Å"Oh, it will all work out, because it always has†. The last trait of poor decision-making occurs when the issues are too complex and not realized for their complexity. Individuals may not realize the complexity of the issue and underestimate the issue. In the lending business, should we as an organization not know the laws of each state when it comes to lending, we can face serious legal issues should we make a loan to a resident of a state in which short term lending, such as we do, is illegal. Resisting Unethical Acts Resisting unethical acts, many times, is easier said than done. In order to do so, a person must first recognize that what they are about to do is unethical (Mallor et al., 1966/2010, p. 116). The first way to avoid making an unethical decision is to buy some time before acting. An individual must take some time, analyze the situation, and if need be, find other ways to accomplish the task at hand without being unethical. The next tactic is to seek out help from a mentor or support group. While an individual may not have the ethical solution to a problem at hand, many times others will. There have been many times when I have sought the advice of others prior to making a decision, which I think may be unethical. Using the previous example of making a loan to someone in a state in which it is illegal, I may ask the advice of a co-worker before I make the loan. The last way to resist making an unethical act is to find a better solution in which everyone wins. This goes hand in hand with one buying some time before acting upon an unethical act. Analyzing the situation, and getting all the facts may lead to a decision in which one makes an ethical decision while meeting the requirements of the direction one has been given. Leading Ethically When leading other individuals, it is imperative that one be ethical themselves, in order to lead ethically. A person, who is unethical, is going to inspire unethical behaviors in others. When members of an organization see that nothing happens to their leaders, others will fall  into the same unethical behavior and rationalize that what they are doing is ok as well (Mallor et al., 1966/2010, p. 119). Leaders must set the example of ethical behavior for others. Leaders must also communicate ethical values of the organization to the staff. How can an individual know what they are doing is unethical in the eyes of the organization, if they do not know what is expected of them? The leader must continually communicate to the staff and remind them of what is ethical behavior. Another way to lead other ethically is to reinforce ethical behavior in the staff. When a leader sees an ethical decision made by a staff member, recognize their action. This will help that employee continue to make the right decision, and show others what is ethical behavior. Conclusion In order to be ethical, one must know what makes ethical and unethical decisions in their lives. Recognizing what makes an unethical decision, and ways to avoid making them, will help one to makes the right choice. Analyzing the situation, weighing other options and alternatives will help one to make an ethical decision. For a leader, these tools will also help their staff make ethical decisions as well. References Mallor, J., Barnes, A. J., Bowers, T., & Langvardt, A. W. (2010). Business law; The ethical, global, and e-commerce environment (14th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. (Original work published 1966)

Why Cosmetology

I haven't had an actual job related to this career, other than doing freelance Jobs when asked to. It is because of the freelance work Vive done that I decided to take this career path for now. I thought to myself, why not make more money off something I do already anyway? Like Jessica, from Real Stories, I have changed my mind a lot about the kind of career I want to. One thing I am sure of now though Is that I don't want to be a cosmetologist for the rest of my life.I can definitely see myself In a Job that Is unrelated to Cosmetology. My goal Is to make a change in people's lives, and I feel Like this Is one way of doing that. If making people feel better about their appearance gives them self-confidence, I have done my lob. This relates to the career I actually want which Is to be a Youth Probation Officer because I want to make a change In young people at an early age. A cosmetologist and a probation officer are two completely different careers, but when you really hint about it they both try and make an impact in people's lives.I am sometimes concerned that I will go through what Jessica from Real Stories went through. I am scared that the career I want is nothing like what I expected. If I were Jessica I would have done more research on the work environment of the job. Online research is always good, but there is nothing like interviewing someone that is exactly where you want to be. They have been there and can tell you exactly what to expect. We should always have options in life.I personally get bored of the same routine. This could affect my decision of the career I want in the long run. So, I think it is a good idea to attend graduate school to expand our options. We never know how a job really is until we actually start working it. It doesn't matter the amount of research we do on a specific career because everyone's experience is different. We are individuals, and some might love it and others might hate it. We should always have options and be pr epared.

The State as Policy Maker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The State as Policy Maker - Essay Example State powers were supposed to be given to the public authority to avoid superiority in the markets and also individualized and economic relations that had been made private (Alden 160-158). In 1960s and 1970s the key role of the state was to help making plans on how to divide and provide basic necessities. The idea was changed to a policy known as Structural Adjustments Lending (SAL). It was basically meant to explain economic and institutional measures through which, many huge organizations like the World Bank, IMF, and many aid donors would use to get policy oriented loans .Its main aim was to end importing manufacturing regimes bring together a free market and also privatize the government property. In other words SAL was meant to bring in ideas of freedom in the economy, have free markets, private sector projects and also throw away conditions meant to harm the economy of the state (Judd 1992). Public polices of any country are not totally shaped by the politics in the government but by the social policies brought forward by the global organizations like non-governmental agencies. The state was also supposed to play a part in social regulation and provision of basic needs. This was done by development of initiatives and programmes like World Health Organisation (WHO), International Labour Organization (ILO) and many others. The state was also supposed to help in building the Nation after the colonial rule .After colonisation, it was the role of the state to help people in recovering and help.

Metereology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Metereology - Essay Example When a body of air rises, it moves from higher pressure to lower pressure. In so doing it must expand, and as it does so, its temperature is reduced. One can calculate the amount of cooling to be expected when the air is lifted by a fixed amount. If the air is dry and no heat is added or taken away as the air ascends, it cools at the rate of 1.0C per 100 meters. This is known as the dry adiabatic lapse rate. Once a cloud has begun to form, the cooling effects caused by the expansion of the rising air are partially offset by the heat released during the condensation process. Evaporation causes cooling. When condensation occurs, the reverse is true; heat is added. If the rate of ascent of air, which may be called the updraft speed (Sloane and Tesche 1991), is quite high, the air may cool so fast that condensation cannot proceed fast enough to keep the air at saturation. In this case the air may become supersaturated. The equations show that once this happens the smaller droplets grow m ore rapidly than the large ones. The final condition is one with clouds having a narrow range of droplet sizes. The main processes which influences cloud formation are condensation or deposition (Brasseur et al 1999). The difference in temperature always causes a difference in atmospheric pressure, which in turn causes the wind. When the resulting winds are confined to small areas, not more than a few miles in extent, they blow directly from high pressure to low pressure, as one would expect. Weather front can be identified as a boundary between air masses of hot and cold air (Brasseur et al 1991). The main types of fronts are cold front and warm front, stationary front and occluded front. The typical wind circulation about a well-developed low or a well-developed stationary high is often useful in predicting lower-level winds. Several hundred feet above the ground, these circulatory winds blow nearly parallel to the isobars. Fronts are always described as zones of transition, the types of the front depends upon the direction and air masses (Sloane and Tesche 1991). The cold front, extending southward and southwestward from the low center, is also a wedge of cold air underlying warm air -but an a ctive, undercutting wedge, a steeper wedge than the warm front, a wedge that is steadily advancing eastward and southeastward in such a way as to crowd out the warm air more or less violently and to thrust it aloft. The warm front extends east and southeast from the low center, with the warm sector advancing behind it from the southwest and the colder air retreating slowly ahead of it towards the north (Sloane and Tesche 1991). Occlusion is the combination of warm and cold fronts where the latter has overtaken the former. The occlusion itself usually extends gradually southward as more and more of the warm sector is forced above the surface by the closing wedges of colder air. Stationary front is defined as a front which does not move (Sloane and Tesche 1991). Weather Systems: hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms The term hurricane is usually used to describe tropical storms and cyclones. Also, hurricane can be defined as the strongest level of wind according to the Beaufort scale. Unstable air above these steaming areas of warm and azure sea is continually building up