Learning in a Group Essay

1. What do you learn from working in a group? I learnt that by working in a group, we work towards a shared purpose and common goals in doing so shared our varied experiences and skills and in the cooperation with each other. Students are much likely to perform well when they work effectively in a group. This is because good group work creates synergy – where it combine effect of the group is greater than the sum of individual effort. Working together as a group can apply individual perspectives, experiences and skills to solve complex problems, creating new solutions and ideas that, and be beyond the scope of any one individual. As well as enhancing class performance. Good group work benefits individual too. It enables mutual support and learning, can generate a sense of belonging and commitment. I also learnt the following benefits on working in groups: †¢Apply a mix of skills that go beyond the scope of one individual. †¢Solve complex problems that take more than one mud. †¢Generates new ideas. †¢Provide support and help group members. †¢Give students a sense of belonging. †¢Enhance communication. †¢Help students to learn from each other and develop. †¢Generate commitment. Q.2 what do you think can be done to make this course (Lifelong Education/ more interesting. INTRODUCTION Lifelong learning skills are wide concern in tertiary education. Fostering these skills requires reconsideration and changes to traditional approaches to teaching and learning. We are living in a time of knowledge explosion. University or colleges are unlikely to be able to teach all the essential knowledge a student needs for their whole career within a four-year period. Moreover, much of the knowledge student learn in the university will be out of date when they leave, because of the rapid technical developments. This means student and have to master a self-learning method and a set of lifelong learning skills in order to meet the demand of their future, professional lives. Quality teaching and learning in tertiary education should aim to develop student’s lifelong learning skills. Each teacher  should make a contribution in developing these skills when teaching a certain course. How to make the course (lifelong Education) more interesting includes †¢Group working tutorials; workshop tutorial classes are aimed at developing student’s self directed leaving, group work and interpersonal skill the classroom for intervals should have movable desk and class. Each interval class should contain about 15 student and last one hour. The tutor will ask question to guide students to think and to work together to determine potential solutions to a problem. Some questions will challenging and relevant to real world, while some are from previous lectures and assignments. Student in each group are expected to work with each other, to share their ideas to discuss, and to debate and convince each other, thus creating an active and interactive learning environment. One student in each group will be asked to give a short presentation to the whole class. †¢Interaction in lectures Whatever the similarities and differences in learning styles and intelligence among your student, you can help your entire student by employing a range of active learning approaches (talking and listening, writing, reading, reflecting) and by using varied teaching techniques and strategies. †¢ The course lifelong education is suppose to be handle by a professional lecturers, people like Prof .M.B Shitu, Mal. Sani Bala Hassan, those who during the lectures will give students the opportunity to think and talk, and set some time during lectures for asking question or encouraging student to answer and ask question: In this way student understanding can be assess and make them engage with the activity. There is also need to introduce hardware demonstration in lectures. Although software demonstration are cheap and convenient, it is a virtual world . When doing demonstration let student predict what will happen next, and ask them to observe things going on and explain the theory behind it .Some question may follow to make the student learn interactively and to establish connections between pre-existing knowledge and new information. In this way student are expected to develop observational skills and thinking and these will make the course more interesting. †¢The lecturer supposes to use two o three case studies in the course. Case studies tell real and complete story, usually interdisciplinary and set in a real world context, and have academic and  professional significance and social implications. With case studies, students can develop problem solving skills for seeking and assessing information and interdisciplinary knowledge. †¢Students should be taught according to their aptitude. Give excellent student’s additional training. For example, a few exemplary students will be encouraged to give mini lectures to review material or less important sections. Thus, they develop oral and leadership skills from the process of searching for information and inquiry about classmates understanding. †¢Lecturers for the course must consider the features of their courses and the characteristics of their learners before they think about what kind of knowledge and skills students will learn from the course. Then they must decide which teaching strategies are suited to their course. They should try and adapt contemporary teaching strategies to create a more student – centred teaching and learning climate for developing students’ lifelong learning skills. Students are expected to develop problem solving skills, lateral thinking skills, group work ability, self-directed learning skills, and communication skills in the cause of lifelong education. †¢Lecturers’ must adopt student-centred approaches in teaching and learning. The so called student-centred approach means that teachers should think about how the learners learn and make the student actively involved in the teaching process. In most cases, a combination of several teaching outcomes. Lectures in this course should work out the suitable strategies for themselves, the students and the course content. CONCLUSION Teaching and learning is a cooperative process between teachers and students. Before a lecturer tries to teach in a different way, he/she needs to introduce students to new teaching and learning theories. And also need to seek colleagues support and finds to implement appropriate changes. The work may be challenging and time consuming. Hopefully, opportunities will coexist with challenges. A good lecturer motivates him/her self in pursing quality teaching.

PEST analysis †Public Bank Essay

Procedure (a) The organisation’s annual report is evaluated (b) Market research and Internet survey has been done to gather more information about the latest news. (c) Interviews were held with suppliers, dealers, stuffs, customers and the publics. Findings About Public Bank Public Bank commenced business on 6 August 1966 and was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) on 6 April 1967. Public Bank remains a leading integrated financial conglomerate in Malaysia. With trust and strong support from the public and commitment from its management and staff, the Public Bank Group remains focused on providing all aspects of banking and financing services which include commercial banking, hire purchase, merchant banking, leasing and factoring, stock broking, sale of trust units and management of unit trusts, and related financial services such as nominees and trustee services, and investment holding. To further strengthen the Group’s performance, Public Bank has begun to further rationalise its Group operations after its successful acquisition and integration of the former Hock Hua Bank in 2001. This rationalisation involves the privatisation of Public Finance to achieve economies of scale, improve cost efficiency and to enhance the market presence of the Group. This rationalisation also helps the Group to achieve its objective of being a preferred one-stop financial service provider in Malaysia. The management and staff of the Public Bank Group are fully committed to  achieve its corporate vision of being ranked among the top 100 banks in the world. In 2002, Public Bank’s world ranking by The Banker improved to the 173rd position, up from 216th in the preceding year. A high standard of customer service is the hallmark of the Public Bank Group that puts it ahead of its competitors. The bank-wide ISO 9001:2000 certification for the Provision of Customer Service at the Front Office in 2001 was a reaffirmation to ensure that courtesy, efficiency, accuracy, empathy, and integrity of customer service are upheld at all times throughout the Bank. Meeting quantitative service standards such as the 2-minute Standard Waiting Time and the 1-minute Standard Processing Time for core transactions for greater customer convenience has become the norm for the Group. To further enhance its customer service standards, ISO 9001:2000 certification for Provision of Customer Service in Loan Delivery has been secured for selected branches in 2002, and this will be extended to all branches in 2003.

Leadership Development Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership Development Paper - Essay Example After all, the ideal score for MA should be within the range of 2.5 to 3.5. The ideal score for TA should be equal to 4.0 to 4.5. On the other hand, the idea score for MP and PA should be less than 2.5 and 2.0, respectively. This means that the sub-averages at some point and in general have failed to reach the ideal limit required for the ideal scores. Based on Figure 2, my scores are not actually far from the others. However, it is remarkably obvious that I almost follow the same pattern with Sub#3. We both have higher scores when it comes to MP and PA, which is quite the reverse case of Sub#1 and Sub#2. In order to define my consistency across others, it is important to include the ideal scores in the actual comparison. As noticed in Figure 3, it follows that I might have become one of the other samples with remarkable pattern when it comes to the actual result and the standing with reference to the ideal scores. I remarkably have closer resemblance of my result to Sub#3, whereas, Sub#1 and Sub#2 have closer consistency with the ideal scores somewhere in MA, MP and PA. However, when it comes to II, IM, IS, IC, and TA, I have the same consistency with others because of my scores on these factors that are somewhere at least one unit below the limit, like any of the other samples. Based on the illustrations shown from Figures 1, 2 and 3, I can say that I got higher scores in MP and PA, which are higher than the ideal scores. For this reason, among the important weaknesses that I may have to work on in my leadership is the thing about being too passive. I scored higher in passive leadership, which means that I have to improve my ability to become more active, or at some point, eliminate the possibility of being too passive. On the other hand, my important strength lies on the point that I am somewhere good to become inspirational motivator, because of the strong association to ignite influence, intellectual stimulation and so

Acquisition Reform Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Acquisition Reform - Research Paper Example Now, it is evident that there exists mutual dependency between the US military and the economic performance of this country. In this context, it becomes logical to evaluate the eminent relationship between them. Therefore, the defense department depends so much on the economic sector of the American population. The military’s economic dependency is depicted in the budget allocation and on other aspects like military logistical acquisition. Based on these facts, the US government has seen the need to blend these two sectors together to harmonize their dependency on each other. This led to the formulation of the acquisition reform program (Hanks, 2005, p.234). Acquisition reform is an exercise meant to integrate the United States military with the civil business practices. The US department of defense acknowledged the need to integrate the civil industrial sector with the military. The economical production of the US had direct relations with the military in terms of logistics p roduction and supply. From the late 1980’s through 1990’s to the present times, the US department of defense has undertaken numerous exercises meant to develop an optimal program to integrate these two sectors. The goals of the reform exercise are aimed at streamlining the performance of the US military by initiating close relationship between the civil logistics producers and the defense department.... These deliverables were to provide an insight into the objective purpose of the acquisition reform process. The main objective of the reform exercise is for the civil economic sector to respond efficiently to the military needs. Based on this goal, the project designers saw the need of integrating the national industrial base into the military systems (Lorrel & Graser, 2005 p. 70). In this case, the Department of Defense considered adopting the ideal customer processes in their relationship with the US industrial sector. Since the program’s inception, the numerous modifications are aimed at focusing on the long-term emphasis of the business problems and solutions of the military. Some of the projected deliverables is meant to encourage commercial industries to work with the defense sector. Based on this underlying objective, every acquisition reform process is aimed at considering the policies, behavioral or cultural changes and the business values that will facilitate the ach ievement of the reform goals (Dirk, 1994 p. 38). Now, it is clearly understood that the main aim of the acquisition reform program is to address the issue of commercial relations between the military and the industrial sector in terms of logistical supplies and service provision. Before this program, there was an inherent problem in the military concerning the economical processes of acquisition and usage of military equipments and services. The producers of these equipments and providers of the services were the major stakeholders in the US civil industrial sector. Therefore, the masterminds of this program aimed at articulating the procurement practices of the defense department by blending the concepts of commerce and the consumer

Language Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Language Community - Essay Example One needs to be disciplined in their life. It has been instilled in our minds, since the word go that discipline is an essential ingredient for a successful life. My family and friends also encourage a healthy balanced educated life. Education has always been given a priority in my family. Good grades, good educated life and eventually good careers have been central to my family’s values. My father believes that in the conquest to conquer the ones who read and who are the most educated of the lot outcast the rest. It is precisely due to their firm belief in such values that most members in my family and friends circle are well settled in their respective careers. My family and friends also values strong recourse and obligation to our religious and cultural values. Men and women of the family are encouraged to dress decently and revealing clothes are a strict no for girls. The dress code of the family female prompts them to be well covered. Small skimpy clothes are not allowed. Men on the other hand, are allowed to dress in both formal and informal jeans, tees, and corsets. On Fridays, they dress in traditionally because Friday prayers hold a lot of value in our family. Various other religious and cultural obligations are strictly adhered to by my family. This includes paying Zakat regularly, praying five times a day and fasting in the month of Ramadan. We also encourage good healthy friendly relations within neighborhood in our family. Alcohol and drugs are strongly prohibited. I live in an Arabic community; hence the language practiced in my community is strictly Arabic. The language holds a lot of importance not just in my part of the world but all over the Arab world because of its association with our holy book, The Holy Quran. It is the native language in my community so most of us converse in this language in all circles, be they friend circle or the family

Topical Analysis of Hamlet and Henry IV part 1 Essay

Topical Analysis of Hamlet and Henry IV part 1 - Essay Example In the times when all these topics were impossible to write on Shakespeare made a great move and wrote on these topics with immense care. This essay would further describe how Shakespeare used all these topics in these times with his skills so that these topics became acceptable not only on the page but also on the stage. Henry IV Part I is a story about a King and his rebellions. It revolves around the greed for the kingdom and the betrayal of king. King Henry leads the story as the king but soon faces problems at the hands of the people because of whom he has reached the throne. King Henry is not content with the actions of his son Prince Harry who is more diverted towards the materialistic world. Prince Harry not only does involve in drinking but he also makes friends with liars and burglars. This creates a gap of misunderstanding between the King and the Prince. However the change in the plot takes place when one of the loyal noblemen of the King betrays him and shows his greed for the attainment of the throne of King Henry. Hotspur is the name of the character that betrays the King and forces a civil war to pertain in his kingdom. Furthermore, he also gathers allies in order to fight the army of the King and defeat him, but it is later known that most of his allies refuse to take part in the war . Seeing the situation of a civil war in the state King Henry calls upon his son to fight in the battle. Prince Harry comes back to the throne only to fight and win the war for his father. Hotspur is defeated by the army of King Henry with the help of his son and both the father and son get back on good terms. In this sequel Shakespeare tells about the greed one has for the throne and the inner conflicts which a kingdom can face. However in those times it was impossible to point out at the royal kingdom and the greed which people have for the throne. But this

The business plan of Super Stars sports facility Essay

The business plan of Super Stars sports facility - Essay Example This paper discusses that Super Stars will be a sports organization which will be focused on enhancing and inculcating sports values among the community members in Bradford city in the United Kingdom. Currently, there are very few multi-sports facilities in Bradford and hence the company hopes to fill this gap. The kind of sporting activities that will be trained includes swimming, skiing, skate boarding, athletics, rugby, golfing, gymnastics, football and hockey. The organizations planned keys to success involves putting the customers wants first and working hard towards satisfying them. The organization will also use appropriate marketing facilities for its services, creating a conducive environment for its operations, purchase quality sports equipments and hiring qualified staffs to assist in the management of the activities. The Super Stars sports facility hopes to target people who have the passion for getting physically fit. It will provide all the necessary facilities that are required in order for people to exercise and attain maximum satisfaction. The members will be both adults and the children and it involves both genders. The sports facility will be a member’s only facility. The membership will be divided into a adult membership, students membership and junior membership. The juniors include children between the age of 5 and 14 years. The adults are those above the age of 14. The membership fee for the junior plan will be 40 pounds plus a 240 pounds annual subscription fee. The adults’ membership fee shall be 50 pounds plus an annual subscription fee of 360 pounds. ... However, students will be granted a fee waiver to encourage them to engage in sporting activities which include a 45 pounds membership fee plus a 300 pounds annual subscription fee. At the beginning of its operations, Super Stars sporting organization will use funds from the government and community contributions to finance its operations. The government has advanced 9,000,000 pounds towards the setting up of the facility. It hopes that the community will contribute 2,000,000 pounds. These funds will be used to purchase the necessary equipments, setting up the entire business, hiring trainers, and maintenance of the facility and equipments. The organization hopes to achieve 52, 000 pounds at the end of the first financial year. By the end of five years the facility hopes that the profits will have increased to around 250,000 pounds per year. Vision Statement The vision statement is a description of the picture of the organization in the long term or in the middle term. It is a clear picture of the organization that describes its desired outcome that seeks to energize, inspire, influence, and enables one to have a mental picture of what the organization hopes to attain( shank, 2005,p.75). It represents a framework for an individual’s comprehensive strategic planning and refers to the inspiration of the organization. It involves the articulation of the organizations dreams and hopes. It helps the organization in making a choice between the current and the future courses of action. It puts together the goals and objectives of the organization. In connection to sporting activities, the vision statement is set so as to provide it with a blueprint for success and set a foundation for what the long term goal is (Elitesportleader, 2012, p. 1). An effective vision

Intro to Cultural Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intro to Cultural Anthropology - Essay Example Body art has the ability to express one's individuality as well as one's group identity. In terms of American culture, one of the things that body art is often used to portray is one's status in society. With just a quick glance, we can often tell what status someone is. While upper class people could easily wear old, raggedy clothes and not spend a lot of money on stylish hair cuts, manicures, jewelry and so forth, they choose to do so in order to portray their high status and achievements. Another example of a message portrayed by body art in America is the rebellious stage known as adolescence. It is not uncommon to witness teens displaying body art such as hair dyed an unnatural hair color or clothes that are all black or somehow different from traditional, acceptable clothing. For other cultures around the world body art can be used not only to portray status and rebellion, but it can be used to signify the coming of age, membership in a tribe or gang, or appealing or connecting to spirits or ancestors, among other things. One of the consequences of body art on society is its potential for misinterpretation. The messages that body art conveys to the people in one culture may not translate the same way to people from another culture. For example, a woman living in America may wear revealing clothes, such as a short skirt and a sleeveless or low-cut shirt.

Authentic Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Authentic Leadership - Essay Example As the essay discusses authentic learning has been proved to be a valuable tool in order to preserve the important elements of human history but also to achieve a significant level of development based on the knowledge that has been tested on the experimental field. The reason that authentic learning has been chosen as a subject for research is because of its very important role on the preservation and the further development of knowledge in all particular theoretical and empirical fields. The combination of authentic learning with leadership has also proved that the effective control of the educational activities can lead to the development of students’ level of knowledge no matter their usual performance in the school environment. As the paper declares a potential scheme of ‘authentic learning environment’ is proposed in order to prove the role and the function of authenticity in the learning procedure. The reference to an existed project dealing with this specific issue has been added in order to present the operation of similar strategies in the educational environment. A series of possible recommendations has also been added in order to identify possible areas that need improvement from a personal point of view. Traditionally, an implicit assumption of educators has been that classroom learning will more or less be transferred to other problems encountered at work, at home, or in other classroom settings.

Reflection on the History & Systems of Psychology Essay Example for Free

Reflection on the History Systems of Psychology Essay Pre-modern, modern and postmodern frames of reference have all helped shape important, contemporary psychological theories and issues. In this paper I will attempt, in a reflective manner, to walk through and revisit the areas we covered in course, the end aim being to gain a measure of insight into where the field of psychology stands today, particularly with regard to oppressive forms of ethnocentric monoculturalism. In terms of pre-modern perspectives, in the course we first discussed historical issues concerning the mind-body problem. I stated the nature of the relationship between body and mind and whether they are one and the same or two distinct substances, which is the center of the debate between monists and dualist. Descartes, the most well known dualist, argued for a separation of mind from soul and body. Also an interactionist, Descartes held the mind influenced the body as much as the body impacted the mind (Goodwin, 2009). Plato, his predecessor from antiquity, was also a dualist and an interactionist arguably, and believed the body and soul/mind were temporarily at one during life; each came from a completely different place, the body from the material world and the soul from the world of ideas. At the moment of death, the body withered away in time and space, the soul or mind returning to the world of forms and there realizing universal truths (Wozniak, 1992). Delving deeper into pre-modern views of the mind-body problem I touched upon Spinoza. Spinoza, a contemporary of Descartes, dismissed Descartes two-substance view in favor of what is called double-aspect theory (Wozniak, 1992). Double-aspect theories hold the view that the mental and the physical realms are varying aspects of the same substance. For Spinoza, that single substance is God, perceived as the universal essence or nature of everything in existence. In Spinoza’s view, there is no partition of mind and body, therefore. Instead they are of a single substance, in a pre-established coordination, reflecting the divine essence. In reflection, I continue to side with Spinoza and double-aspect theory in terms of pre-modern perspectives. I do believe that there is a pre-established coordination between mind and body that is reflective of the divine creation. I am therefore I think is my continued response to Descartes. In terms of modern perspectives in the course we examined the origins of psychology as a subject discipline. During the course I stated that psychology first appeared as a subject discipline in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt started a psychology lab in Germany at the University of Leipzig. The laboratory devoted itself to the analysis of conscious thought in its basic elements and structures, which was uncovered through a process of introspection (Gross, 1996). What differentiated this ‘new psychology’ at the time from philosophy was its use of measurement and control as well as its emphasis on the scientific method to study mental processes relevant to human consciousness. Due to his influence on Edward B. Titchener, Wundt’s frame of reference arguably helped give birth to structuralism. Indeed Wundt’s disciple, Titchener, is credited with developing and labeling structuralism in an 1898 paper called â€Å"The Postulates of a Structural Psychology (Goodwin, 2009). In the paper he compared and contrasted structuralism with functionalism, which he claimed infested most US universities, save Cornell where he was cultivating what would come to be  called the â€Å"the Cornell school of psychology.† Notwithstanding, Goodwin (2009) has stated that Titchener and the Cornell view of psychology was extremely narrow largely because of its insistence on introspection and due to Titchener’s attitude that his way was the only way, a position that often does not bode well in academia. In this vein and perhaps arrogantly so, Titchener, likened structuralism to anatomy, its purpose being analysis he surmised whereas functionalism he likened to physiology, stating that functionalists examine how the mind is able to adapt one to his or her said environment, wh ich to Titchener was a waste of time without a deep understanding of structure. As one needs to know the ins and outs of human anatomy before being able to fully delve into physiology, so thus was the  functionalist at a loss, in his view, without the ability to outline the structures of human consciousness via a highly difficult process of systematic, experimental introspection as stipulated by him in almost cult like exclusivity, which spawned criticism. Accordingly, his movement never gained the momentum it needed to win American hearts and minds, falling into the dustbin of history in favor of functionalism. Nevertheless, in spite of Titchener’s unpopularity in the US, his enduring contribution is that he helped create a place for the lab and experimental psychology in all colleges and universities with programs in psychology. While functionalists were also interested in looking at mental processes such as consciousness in so far as assessing human behavior in terms of how it aided people in adapting to ever-changing environments, they did not, unlike followers of Titchener, emphasize introspection (Goodwin, 2009). Psychologist James R. Angell, a follower of John Dewey, the founder of functionalism in America, became its most outspoken spokesperson, criticizing Titchener and drawing a sharp contrast to him in a 1907 popular paper called â€Å"The Province of Functional Psychology.† It was a damning response to Titchener’s 1898 paper. For Angell, the structuralist was  interested in the â€Å"what?† of conscious thought, whereas the functionalist psychologist wished to know the â€Å"how?† and â€Å"why?† of it, asking what is consciousness for? (Goodwin, 2009). This way of viewing psychology in terms of its practical applications, became an important influence in modern times, because it led to the study of topics such as developmental and abnormal psychology, in addition to examining the individual differences of mind, (which Titchener and the Cornell school remarkably had no interest in). When asking how psychology can be used to solve everyday problems in a practical way, we are taking from the functionalists and their movement. Perhaps the most prominent movement in the field of modern 20th century psychology was behaviorism. Behaviorism began essentially due to the work of Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov who did not consider himself a psychologist, but, rather a physiologist interested in the process of digestion in dogs, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1904 (the year B. F. Skinner was born) in Physiology and Medicine. In the course of his research, Pavlov observed that the dogs would often start salivating before any food being given to them, when they would see the food or the food’s container, or when they heard the footsteps of the lab assistant who was on his way to feed them. His observations led to the study to what we now call classical conditioning (Gross, 1996). The first attempt to apply Pavlov’s findings on conditioning to humans was made by John B. Watson in a dubious and arguably unethical experiment on a small boy named Albert, showing that the fear of rats can be deliberately induced (Watson and Rayer, 1920). The experiment served to popularize a new behavioral approach to psychology that would within a decade become the dominant force in America, Watson its founder, propagator and publicist (Goodwin, 2008). To the modernist Watson (1913), psychology is an objective natural science,  its theoretical goal the prediction and control of behavior. Wundt and Titchener’s view on introspection has no place in its methods, nor is consciousness addressed or studied. There is no marked borderline between people and animals. Due to Watson’s input and influence cats, dogs, rats, and pigeons became the major source of psychological data. As ‘psychological’ now meant ‘behavior’ rather than ‘consciousness,’ animals that were easier to study and whose environments could be more readily controlled could replace people as experimental subjects (Gross, 1966). B. F. Skinner, also a behaviorist and modernist, went steps further than Pavlov and Watson, casting behavior in a more interactive light. He made a distinction between respondent and operant behavior and argued that most animal and human behavior is not brought about in the way Pavlov and Watson indicated and surmised. Skinner, like Edward Thorndike before him, was interested in how animals operate on their environment and how this operant behavior brings about particular consequences that can determine the likelihood of that behavior being repeated. In experiments he used a variation of Thordike’s puzzle-box, a Skinner box, which was made for a rat or a pigeon to do things in, rather than escape from. Fundamentally, Skinner saw the learner as much more actively involved than did Pavlov or Watson, for whom behavior was due to stimuli, unconditioned stimuli before learning and conditioned stimuli after learning. In addition to behaviorism, modern views of psychology took twists and turns. As a reaction to both Titchener’s structuralism and Watson’s behaviorism, the Gestalt psychologists of the 1920s and 1930s in Germany and Austria were primarily concerned with perception and held that perceptions could not be deconstructed in the way that Wundt and Titchener wanted to do with thought, and that behaviorists had sought for with behavior. Their belief could be  succinctly stated as follows: ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ (Gross, 1996, p.3). The whole is essentially destroyed when you break down perception and behavior into parts, the Gestalt psychologists held. There are organizing principles of perceptual organization which were voiced by Gestalt’s founder Max Wertheimer. These principles are frequently highlighted in units on perception in general psychology textbooks and are as follows: the principle of proximity, the principle of similarity, the principle of continuation. All of the organizing principles have in common what is called the law of simplicity or what Gestaltists term Prà ¤gnanz. This refers to the tendency for perceptions to mirror reality as closely as possible (Goodwin, 2009). In the course I gave an example of gestalt thinking, which in reflection I would like to return to as it clearly remains in mind. I used the example of a bus stopping at a bus stop in one’s neighborhood. On a given day the bus stops at the same corner the person is accustomed to, and is recognized to be that bus. The person gets on, but has made a mistake. She did not realize that there was a route change that morning and the bus she took was numbered differently. What gives? Is it only a matter of not paying attention? In Gestalt inspired, top-down conceptually driven processing, we begin with one’s prior knowledge, motivations, expectations and beliefs. In the bus example, the inability to see and decipher or register a different number on the bus and get on it, means it was recognized it to be the customary bus due to top-down processing (Danner, 2009). If one were to notice the different bus number, however, that would entail bottom-up processing, because such processing is data driven. The different number is perceived in terms of information in the sensory input, in conjunction with top-down processing, revealing to the person that it is not the customary bus. Perhaps after realizing her mistake, the person in  the example will be more careful next time, thereby exercising more bottom-up processing. If Austria was home to some of Gestalt’s most prominent members and adherents, it was also home to Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. Freudian psychoanalytic theory was the first to state the significance of innate drives and define abnormal and normal behavior in relationship to the role of the unconscious mind. Its importance is that the theory of personality popularized contextualizing human behavior in terms of the id, ego, and superego, notating development in five psychosexual stages. Each stage was marked by shifts in what Freud believed were the underlying modes of gratification: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital (Glassman, 2000). In reflection, I continue to find merit in Freuds concept of stages for sure. I would still prefer to call them development stages, however, and not necessarily put a sexual meaning on them, as Freud and his supporters have done and continue to do. There is no need to detail the well-known limitations and criticisms of Freudian theory, which according to Glassman (2000) are its falsifiability, the great deal of emphasis put on case studies, and its cultural bias towards women. Regardless of such naysaying, his supporters would passionately argue for and be adamant about such a sexual narrative of the human person, which if not fodder, certainly has entertainment value. In fact, Freudian theory is fascinating to me largely due to the dramatic (almost cinematic) conflicts and challenges that mark each psychosexual stage. Perhaps the most well-known of these is the Oedipal conflict (which occurs in the so-called phallic stage). It was interesting to read that some analysts called the fe male variant, the Electra conflict, but Freud himself did not use the term (see Freud 1924). Perhaps the most attractive modern theory of personality, in my view, would belong to Carl Rogers. In Carl Roger’s theory, a person is the source of his  or her basic needs such as food and water. He or she is also the source of a growth motive which he called an actualizing tendency, which is an innate drive that is reflective of the desire to grow, to develop and to develop one’s capabilities (Glassman, 2000). It is the actualizing tendency that stimulates creativity, causing a person to seek out new challenges and skills that motivate healthy growth in one’s lifetime (Gross, 1996). According to Rogers (1961, but originally proposed in 1947): Whether one calls it a growth tendency, a drive towards self-actualization, or a forward moving direction tendency, it is the mainspring in life†¦ It is the urge which is evident in all organic and human life – to expand, extend, become autonomous, mature and develop. In reflection, I continue to feel that Roger’s influence and continuing popularity in the psychotherapeutic community give his theories merit. APA members have been asked which psychotherapist they believe to me the most influential figure in the field (Smith, 1982). In 2006, this survey repeated in the Psychotherapy Networker. In both surveys, Carl Rogers was the â€Å"landslide† choice. While this does not prove Rogers to be correct, certainly it gives his theory of motivation more credence than not, increasing its believability. Certainly, I feel influenced by Rogers as I move forward in my career. While Rogers theory of an actualizing tendency and the overall nature of the client-centered approach may be controversial due to its allowance to let the client call the shots and as stated by Goodwin (2009) for its overemphasis on the the self at the expense of the importance of the community, in addition to being clearer what it was against than what it was for, it is nevertheless, a credible postulation in terms of its application in therapy and remains my preference over Freud. Accordingly, I continue to feel that all clients  innately wish to be successful in life and to be praised as contributors to their own selfactualization. They wish to expand their knowledge and achieve  higher levels of success beneath all the guises that seem otherwise. When clients are not performing to their fullest potential, praise and support can help ignite the actualizing tendency in a manner that would otherwise have remained dormant. When exploring postmodern views of psychology we have to inherently speak about cultural narratives and meta-narratives. What is psychology today and who defines it? What is psychology’s story, who told that story historically, and who gets to tell it today? When we look at psychology as a practice, historically and today, is important to bring to the fore the ethnocentric monocultural aspects that were oppressive to women and continue to be to minority groups in reinforcing white male Euro-American culture as the normative and desirable culture. Indeed, therapists and helping professionals should try to help deconstruct and unveil monoculturalism whenever it rears its despicable head. When oppressive forms such as heterosexism, ageism, gender and sexism come to the fore in therapy, for example, therapists should not reinforce them but try to encourage reflection on such prejudices with the aim being for the client to indentify for what it is – and to grow accordingly. The field of psychology itself is not immune but remains at risk to the debacle of monoculturalism. According to Yutrzenka, Todd-Bazemore and Caraway (1999) even though the data forecast that by 2050, ethnic minorities will make up over 50% of the US population, this quickly changing demographic has minimal effect on the number of ethnic minority psychologists. This is particularly true for Native Americans, who are far more underrepresented than any other ethnic body. Though the APA as stated by Goodwin (2009), is vigorously addressing this entire issue at present, with such efforts to be praised, still the legacy of ethnocentric monoculturalism is a stain on the profession, and will remain so until  significant numbers of minority psychologists abound. In spite of the barriers confronting them, women and minorities have made many notable, valuable and vital contributions to the field of psychology. During the course I discussed Eleanor Gibson who received the National Medal of Science in 1992 for a lifetime of research on topics dealing with the development of depth perception to the fundamentals involved in reading, faced discrimination while at Yale from psychologist Robert Yerkes who wanted no females in his lab (Goodwin, 2009). While she was able to get her PhD there under the guidance of the neobehaviorist Clark Hull, she unfortunately went on to experience difficulties at Cornell (where her husband had gained a position) forced into an unpaid research associate position in spite of winning competitive and prestigious research grants. As a result of these grants, however, she was able to carry out pioneering studies on depth perception with Richard Walk. When Cornell, home to Titchener’s legacy, removed its nepotism rules in 1966, only then did she become a full professor. Furthermore, as discussed in the course, African-Americans have also made outstanding contributions to psychology. Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark again come to mind in terms of their best known research titled Racial identification and preference in Negro children (Goodwin, 2009). In this research it was shown that black children showed a preference for white dolls over black ones when asked which they would like to play with and looked more like. The Clarks concluded, according to Goodwin (2009) that one insidious effect of racial segregation was its negative influence on African-American self-esteem. As a result of this research, in part, the Supreme Court was compelled to do the right thing and reverse the racist separate but equal doctrine in Brown v. Board of Education. The Clarks’ contribution to psychology and the contributions of other AfricanAmericans preceding them were not without struggle. Their mentor at Howard University, Francis Sumner faced huge obstacles when attempting to get a graduate degree and gain employment in academia. African-Americans have often had their basic intellectual abilities questioned (Goodwin, 2009). The legacy of white racism and of the field of psychology’s complicity by not taking a firmer stand until only recently is without question a significant reason why African-Americans remain heavily underrepresented in the profession, in spite of the gains made for women. 60 percent of doctorates in psychology are awarded to women today, while Native Americans as we discussed and African-Americans continue to be awarded a paltry percentage in turn. Such dismal figures have nothing to do with intelligence. We know that early intelligence tests were normed on just Caucasian, middle-class populations and only recently has such bias been addressed and perhaps abated. This also was the case for the MMPI personality tests as well. In the case of the MMPI, many of the original items became dated and according to Kassin (2008), to bring the test up to the 21st century and more postmodern views, new items were written in, and a more diverse cross-section of the US was sampled. The result of that updating is the newer 567-item version called the MMPI-2. In reflection, my guess is that similar advances have been made or are being considered in IQ testing as well; otherwise we would have to call into question whether biased IQ tests are valid for minority groups. Accordingly, great care should be taken when formulating test questions as well as interpreting the results of test-takers from different cultural groups and urban tribes. Fundamentally, it is crucial that test makers be made aware of cultural differences when putting together IQ test questions, as recommended for the MMPI (Church 2001). Exercising caution does not mean  minority groups are treated with kid gloves, but rather that a lens of understanding is in place and that can come about as a result of the test makers and assessors informing themselves. Otherwise an IQ tests validity for minority groups is at issue. Pre-modern, modern and postmodern frames of reference have all helped shape important, contemporary psychological theories and issues. Accordingly, I have attempted in a reflective manner to revisit the areas of psychology’s history we covered in course. If psychology as a profession is to continue to grow and develop, it will occur through a similar process of reflection, followed by action. It is important for psychology to know its origins, its history and respective story. However, in realization of the depth of ethnocentric monoculturalism, its leadership, particularly in the APA, must act on the call to bring about the inclusion of more minorities. Otherwise, the oppressive stain of monoculturalism shall abound and continue to blemish the profession we hold dear. References Angell, J.R. (1904). Psychology. New York: Holt. Church, A.T. (2001). Personality measurement in cross-cultural perspective. Journal of Personality, 69, 979-1006. Danner, N. (2011). Psychology: ORG5001 survey of psychology I. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions. Freud, S. (1924) A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis. New York: Washington Square Press (reprinted 1952). Glassman, W (Ed.). (2000) Approaches to psychology. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Goodwin, C.J. (2009) A history of modern psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Gross, R. (Ed.). (1996) Psychology, the study of mind and behavior. London: Hodder Stoughton. Kassin, S., (2008). Psychology in Modules: ORG 5002 Survey of psychology II. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing. Rogers, C.R. (1961) On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Smith, D. (1982) Trends in counseling and psychology. American Psychologist, 37, 802–809. Watson, J.B. (1913) Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 15877. Watson, J.B. Rayneer, R. (1920) Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1-14. Wozniak,R. (1992) Mind and body: Renà © Descartes to William James. Retrieved from http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/INTRO_TEXT/Chapter%206%20MindBody/DUALISM.htm. Yutrzenka, B.A., Todd-Bazemore, E., Caraway, S.J. (1999). Four winds: The evolution of culturally inclusive clinical psychology training for Native Americans. International Review of Psychiatry, 11, 129- 135. ProQuest: 43479524.

Attachment Theories in Social Work Practice

Attachment Theories in Social Work Practice Demonstrating knowledge of relevant Theoretical frameworks (John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth and Vera Fahlberg), discuss the challenges faced by social care workers in promoting attachment with clients in their agencies. Essay should include practice examples to support your argument. Introduction It is the purpose of this essay to discuss the challenges faced by social care workers in promoting attachment with clients in their agencies. This essay will be broken down into three main sections. Firstly, in understanding the basics of attachment theory as a broad outline to the essay, secondly a consideration of attachment theory in particular in relation to the challenges of social work, and thirdly a more specific consideration of attachment in relation to working as a secure unit for boys aged between 12-16, which is the specific situation faced by the author. Although the essay will be broken down into these three key areas, it is to be expected that there will be a certain amount of overlap between these three areas, and in particular than an understanding of the issues face by social care workers will also be present in the first section as well as the latter two sections. Understanding Attachment Theory Attachment theory, in as far as we understand it here has developed largely from the work of Bowlby and subsequently Ainsworth. Green (2003, p13) notes that ‘The attachment framework has for some time now been very influential and relevant to clinicians. As a theory it has offered a systematic way of understanding and measuring a primary, innate need. It lays emphasis on observable interactions that characterise the qualitative aspects of the inter-relationship between two people’. Not only is it relevant to clinicians but also to those working on the field of social care and welfare, as it seeks to both define and to explain the relationship between a care worker and those in care, providing a framework of action and expectation of the eventual result of the transaction of care. Holmes (1993, p.67) states that ‘attachment theory is in essence a spatial theory: when I am close to my loved one I feel good, when I am far away I am anxious, sad or lonely’. Many of the problems that are dealt with via the means of social care can be often as a result of a lack of this attachment, a disattachment as it were of the individual from the spatial relationship (often, but not necessarily the mother) that has promoted this sense of well-being and comfort. As Simpson and Rholes (1998, p.6) indicate, ‘attachment theory robustly demonstrates, as Steele argues, the need for a secure base. It posits our drive for a warm, safe relationship as a fundamental motivator. Well-being, in the first instance, depends on the maintenance of a secure bond.’ Therefore, attachment behaviour which demonstrates the lack of this bond, such as that potentially demonstrated by young offenders, shows evidence of either the weakness of lack of this bond, and should be re ctified. An important part of this from the social care workers perspective is an awareness of the family unit of the individual within their care. This is particular the case in our current study of adolescents aged between 12-16, recognising that, as do Simpson Rholes (1998, p.101) that ‘from an attachment point of view the discovery that the children who were classified as securely attached to their mothers with psychiatric symptoms more often developed later problems than did the children who were insecurely attached to symptomatic mothers’. Working with an understanding of the wider family situation therefore is of vital importance in recognising, diagnosing and treating those with such problems. Attachment Theory and Social Work Challenges There are, of course, particular challenges brought about by attachment theory in a social work setting. These raise questions that need to be answered by a social care worker in the context of their clients. There is this sense, already mentioned in the previous section, of the history of the client. This is not just to be dealt with by the social care worker, but will often involve a dialogue between the care worker in the client, for as Fahlberg (1991, p.6) notes, ‘it is difficult to grow up as a psychologically healthy adult if one is denied access to one’s own history.’ One particular challenge in promoting attachment in terms of social work is that the client’s social worker will not practically be available in a twenty four hour way in the same that perhaps the person’s primary caregiver has been in the past (although this may not have been the case at all). If the client has a number of different social care workers, this may make it very difficult to promote attachment if the care worker is intended to be viewed as a primary (or only) caregiver. Atwool (1997) notes that ‘consistency in the response of the caregiver is an important factor in building secure attachments. Where the environment is chaotic and the primary caregiver is not available to the child secure attachment will not be possible.’ It is important therefore in such situations and in the context of attachment theory, that as much consideration is given to the availability of the caregiver as possible, and also that there should be a high level of consiste ncy in the behaviour and action of this caregiver, if powerful and successful attachments are to be made. There may indeed be cases where a social care worker is, for many reasons, potentially the first secure attachment that an individual has had. This may particularly be the case in terms of adolescents who have had a difficult life thus far. Goldberg, et al. (1993, p.45) note how Ainsworth altered our understanding of this issue, in that ‘Ainsworth contributed the concept of the attachment figure as a secure base from which an infant can explore the world’. Social care work therefore, is a challenge, but can itself if successful provide this secure base from which clients can explore the world anew and afresh. Attachment Theory in a Secure Unit This third section will focus more specifically on the social work challenges involved in promoting attachment in a secure unit for boys between the ages of 12-16 who are serving sentences of anywhere between one month and four years in detention. Cassidy and Shaver (1999, p.368) note that ‘adolescent boys from father-absent homes tend to show, relative to father-present adolescents, more antagonistic attitudes toward femininity and toward women, exaggerated masculinity, and a relatively exploitative attitude toward females, with sexual contact appearing important as conquest and as a means of validating masculinity (Draper and Belsky, 1990)†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. This will not be the case for all such young boys, but for almost all of them there will have been a sense of disattachment, and quite likely a failure in ability to form a narrative competence. This narrative competence, as described by Holmes (1993, p.9) states that ‘securely attached children tell coherent stories a bout their lives, however difficult they have been, while insecurely attached children have much greater difficulty in narrative competence, either dismissing their past or remaining bogged down in it, and in neither case being able to talk objectively about it.’ Part of the role therefore of social care work in this context is to begin the process of developing this narrative competence while enabling attachment to gradually take place at a much stronger level than it has done before. We now understand that attachment is so much more than just between two people, but that people develop multiple attachments. In the context of the secure unit therefore, it is important to develop the attachments not only between the adolescent and the social care worker, but also to do as much possible to promote the attachments within the family unit. Clearly depending on the history and nature of the family, this may not be practical, but where it can be done, it should be attempted, and can be a major key in breaking the cycle of criminal activity. Holmes (1993, p.66) states that ‘secure attachment provides an external ring of psychological protection which maintains the child’s metabolism in a stable state, similar to the internal physiologic al homeostatic mechanisms of blood-pressure and temperature control’. For those 12-16 yr old boys, they are at the cusp of their childhood attachments and towards making attachments as adults, and they should be taught and shown by modelling behaviour how to achieve these secure attachments and to improve their lives. Providing the correct environment is vital, as detention can be seen as a fearful place for young minds. Ainsworth, et al. (1978, p.20) state ‘how crucial it is in a potentially fear-arousing situation to be with a trusted companion, for with such a companion fear of all kinds of situation diminishes, whereas when alone fear is magnified. Attachment figures are ones most trusted companions’. Conclusion We have considered therefore, a basic understanding of attachment theory, as well as applying it in a wider sense to social care work. We have also considered some specific challenges of application of attachment theory in the case of a secure unit of young offenders. Attachment theory has much to offer social care work, but there are also challenges in promoting attachment in a social care setting. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ainsworth, M.D.S., Blehar, M.C., Waters, E. Wall, S., 1978, Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Atwool, N, 2003. Attachment as a Context for Development: Challenges and Issues Available at: http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/attachment.html [Accessed 25th October 2008]. Cassidy, J. Shaver, P.R., 1999, Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications. New York: Guilford Fahlberg, V.I., 1991, A Childs Journey Through Placement. Indianapolis: Perspective Press Green, V., 2003, Emotional Development in Psychoanalysis, Attachment Theory and Neuroscience: Creating Connections. New York: Brunner-Routledge Goldberg, S. Muir, R. Kerr, J., 1993, Attachment Theory: Social, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives. New York: Routledge Holmes, J., 1993, John Bowlby and Attachment Theory. London: Routledge Howe, D., 1995, Attachment Theory in Social Work Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan Simpson, J.A. Rholes, W.S., 1998, Attachment Theory and Close Relationships. New York: Guilford

Napoleon Bonaparte Essay -- biographies bio biography

Napoleon Bonaparte is regarded as one of the greatest military and political masterminds in the history of man. Napoleon’s brilliance led him through extremely successful Italian campaigns, major battles against the Third Coalition and helped him rule politically to keep the gains of the revolution. Napoleon, through his military conquests and political alterations, made France a great nation. Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15th, 1769 in small town of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. He had seven siblings, and his father was a lawyer whose family stemmed from the Florentine nobility. In 1779, Napoleon went to school at Brienne in France. There he took a great interest in history, especially in the lives of great ancient generals. Napoleon was often badly treated at Brienne because he was not as wealthy as his fellow classmates were, and being short for his age did not help. Along with those shortcomings he did not speak French well, because mainly Italian was spoken in Corsica. He studied very hard so that he could do better than those who mocked him. Napoleon attended the Ecole Military School in Paris in 1784. This is where he received his military training to become an artilleryman and an officer. Napoleon finished his training and joined the French army at the age of sixteen years old. He was appointed to an artillery regiment, and commissioned as a lieutenant. Napoleon spent the next seven years reading the works of the philosophers, and educating himself in military matters by studying the campaigns of great military leaders of the past. The French Revolution and the European wars broadened Napoleon’s sights and presented him with new opportunities. Napoleon was a supporter of the French Revolution; he went back and forth between Paris and Ajaccio, working for the Republic. Napoleon rose quickly through the ranks and became a captain in 1792. At the age of 25, only one year after becoming captain, Napoleon performed so well that he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. He was given command of the artillery at Toulon, and in December of that same year, the French forced the English out of Toulon. The commander in chief wrote: â€Å"I have no words to describe the merit of Bonaparte. Much science, as much intelligence, and too much bravery.† In August of 1794 Napoleon was arrested because he had been a supporter of Robespierre, a radica... ...aty of Pressburg Napoleon made himself king of Italy, his brother Joseph, king of Naples, and another brother Louis king of Holland. In October of 1806 Napoleon went to war again. He defeated the Prussians in the battle of Jena, and captured Berlin. The Prussian king fled to Russia and Napoleon advanced through Poland. While away he was in constant communications with Paris. He received word every day of its internal affairs even though he was 1500 miles away. On February 8th, 1807, Napoleon fought a battle with the Russians at Eylan Germany to a draw. Then on June 14th he destroyed the Russian army at Friedland, Germany. After this battle Napoleon and Alexander I met at Tilsit. Together they divided Europe with Napoleon obviously claiming the larger share. Now except for England, the Bonaparte family now ruled the whole of Western Europe. ix Napoleon Bonaparte is regarded as one of the greatest military and political masterminds in the history of man. Through his extremely successful Italian campaigns, his revolutionary changes in the French government and battles against the Third Coalition Napoleon gave France total domination over Western Europe and to become a great nation.

Immigration To Canada Essay -- essays research papers

Immigration to Canada The first immigrants to the territory now constituting Canada were from Western Europe. The first great influx began early in the 19th century when large numbers of Europeans left their homelands to escape the economic distress resulting from the transformation of industry by the factory system and the concurrent shift from small-scale to large-scale farming. At the same time, wars, political oppression, and religious persecution caused a great many Europeans to seek freedom and security in Canada. The century following 1820 may be divided into three great periods of immigration to Canada. During the first period, from 1820 to 1860, most of the immigrants came from Great Britain, Ireland, and western Germany. In the second period, from 1860 to 1890, those countries continued to supply a majority of the immigrants; the Scandinavian nations provided a substantial minority. Thereafter the proportion of immigrants from northern and Western Europe declined rapidly. In the final period, from 1890 to 1910, fewer than one-third of the immigrants came from these regions. The majority of the immigrants were natives of southern and Eastern Europe, with nationals of Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Russia constituting more than half of the total. Until World War I, immigration had generally increased in volume annually. From 1905 to 1914 an average of more than a million aliens entered Canada every year. With the outbreak of war, the volume declined sharply, and the...

There Were No Great Women Artists in the Renaissance

When we think of great renaissance artists the first names that would come to most peoples mind would be Leonardo Di Vinci or Michelago. When it is looked at into more depth it would then lead to Giorgio Vasari and the father of Italian renaissance Giotto Di Bondone. Even when you type into Google ‘Great renaissance artists‘ the first names that come up are Michelangelo, Raphael, Sandro Botticelli, Titian, Donatello, Masaccio, Filippo Brunelleschi and other great male artists. As these names are being stated it shows that there is a visible pattern that they are all males and it is rare to recognize a great female renaissance artist. This then leads to the statement â€Å"There were no great women artists in the Renaissance†. During the renaissance period, women artists weren’t recognised as much as male artists and had difficulties getting themselves in the art world. The renaissance was not a time where women artists were accepted and the education given to them were limited. Women during this time were expected get married and start a family and were unwanted in male dominated careers. In Giorgio Vasari’s, ‘The Lives of the Artist’ which is accounts of artists he knew personally and knew of. He included artists such as Masaccio, Michelangelo, Antonio Pollaiuolo and in fact most of the artists he included in ‘The Lives of the Artists’ are predominately all males and only four female artists are mentioned in the whole six parts of the books, the artists were Rossi, Sister Plautilla, Madonna Lucrezia, and Sofonisba Anguissola. This correlates back to the statement â€Å"There were no great women artists in the Renaissance† as this could be evidence that through Vasari’s eyes women artists just weren’t as good as the male artists or it could just be the fact that the female artists didn’t have as much exposure as the males. To reference Linda Nochlin’s, ‘Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? ’ there is a quote that says, â€Å"There are no great women artists because women are incapable of greatness† which was what most people would have believed during the renaissance period. It also stated that there is a difference between the â€Å"greatness† of women’s art in comparison to the men’s. As there is a different style in the women’s art to the males. Nochlin states that women’s art has a more distinctive and recognizable femininity and it differs from the male’s artworks by both its formal and expressive qualities on the different situation and experience that they have been through. The different style between the women’s artwork to the males could have affected how the audience viewed the women’s work as the audience could have had a different idea of what art was since it art was such a male dominated area. Frances Borzello, â€Å"A World of Our Own; Women as Artists† tells us that women went through a lot of struggle to compete with the male artists. It says that women had to fight for basic training and a chance to practice their art making. For a women to make it as an artist during this time they had get themselves trained to a professional standard, then to practise and be accepted. To go through these steps came with difficulty as women were sometimes excluded from training programmes of apprenticeship and academy or apprenticeships had to be paid for and in those times it was rare to see a parent pay for the education for their daughter as mentioned before, they were expected to marry and have kids. This would have affected the amount of female artists there could have been as they were often deprived of the education and training needed to start the beginning of becoming a great artist. Although being a female artist during the renaissance period was extremely hard. Some women were very fortunate to be a daughter of an artist, which granted them the training and publicity from their fathers that could lead them to making a living as an artist. Some female artists that had an artist as a father that guided them were Caterina van Hemessen and Sofonisba Anguissola. In conclusion, the statement â€Å"There were no great women artists in the Renaissance† could be answered differently varying the person, as that is what is great about art. That everyone has their own opinions and perceptions of how they view ‘great’ art. Although, renaissance women artists aren’t as widely known as the male artists and had many disadvantages of becoming a successful artist they still existed during the renaissance. Bibliography: http://voices.yahoo.com/women-artists-during-renaissance-6013740.html?cat=37 11/7/13 http://knell63.hubpages.com/hub/History-of-Female-Renaissance-Artists 11/7/13 http://www.artcyclopedia.com/hot/women-artists-of-the-renaissance.html 13/7/13 http://albertis-window.blogspot.com.au/2009/12/vasari-and-female-artists.html 13/7/13

Movie Tsotsi Role in Society Essay

In the beginning of the movie Tsotsi role in society is the gangster. Him and his gang lurk around the urban area of South Africa looking for people to mug. In this movie you can see how his sub-culture has a effect on him also the conflict theory by Karl Marx and Web DuBois comes to play. The conflict theory states that Conflict is a part of our progression. It actually causes the change. The with the main character in this movie is a young man who plays the role of a gangster hiding the fact of his traumatic experience at a young age, when his abusive father killed his mother and kicked the family’s dog. This experience changes him and makes him more of a harsh person. Later on him the movie Tsotsi commits a robbery for a woman’s Mercedes-Benz he takes the lady out of her car and shoots her then takes off with the car. What he didn’t expect was the lady had her baby in the back seat of the car. When he realizes the baby in the back seat of the car he follows a woman with child home and forces her at gunpoint to feed the child. This might sound like a very hostile act to some but why would a â€Å"gangster† put a gun to a woman to feed a child that is not his. This shows a change in his way of thinking because now he is thinking of another life other than his. Then he goes back to the house where the baby lives with his gang as an attempt of robbery but in actuality he is going to get the babies bag from his room. Now he goes back to the lady for the lady that he put at gunpoint to feed the child for another feeding and she realizes that the baby is stolen and tells him to give the baby back he already took the woman’s legs at least give her back her child and he listens. Now you can see how the conflict theory comes to play he changes from a gangster to a father of a stolen baby now he’s listen to a woman he hardly even knows to do what’s right for that child’s life. He leaves is counterculture (gang) and does the right thing knowing that he will be going to jail for kidnapping, car theft and attempted murder.

A Challenge to Traditional Theory

A challenge to traditional management theory Ed Weymes Introduction Modern management theories are focussed on how individuals contribute to organisation and corporate performance while the performance of the chief executive is dictated by the organisation’s ? nancial returns and share price. While organisations espouse the principles associated with total quality management, learning organisations, high performance organisations and implement balanced score cards, the chief executive’s primary focus is ? ated on retaining control of the organisation to meet shareholder expectations. As we enter the new millennium the corporate world has been rocked by the scandals involving Enron, Worldcom and Adelphia in the USA and in Europe by Parmalat and Mannesmann. These, and a host of other organisations, have been publicly criticised for fraudulent accounting practises or excessive personal gain for the chief executive and senior members of the administration while creating a ? nancial catastrophe for employees and shareholders. The public no longer trusts the corporate world.The World Economic Forum’s (2004) global surveys on trust in 2004 and 2002 indicate that people’s trust levels in global and large domestic companies remain very low with less than 10 per cent of respondents reporting â€Å"a lot of trust† in these institutions operating in the best interests of society. (The results for 2004 show some improvement over 2002. ) In Europe, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the subject of many boardroom discussions and in the USA the Dow Jones publishes a CSR index on the premise that many investors believe ? ms who practice social responsibility provide better long term ? nancial returns. The intent of CSR is to add value to society, to leave the world in a better position for our grandchildren by building environmental and social responsibilities into the traditional economic equation. Proponents of CSR claim that this approach will restore public trust and respectability in the corporation, while the â€Å"non-believers† state that the concepts of CSR only re? ect appropriate standards of corporate governance and there is no need for CSR as a separate movement.Twenty years ago similar sentiments were expressed about â€Å"quality† but the quality movement ensured that the concept is now a necessary but not suf? cient condition for effective competition. As we enter the twenty-? rst century the concept of corporate citizenship has captured the attention not only of corporate leaders but also society. The corporate scandals associated with Enron in the USA and Parmalat in Europe together with the collapse of Arthur Anderson, the respecting accounting, auditing and consulting global giant, The author Ed Weymes is Associate Professor at the University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand.Keywords Management theory, Philosophy, Social responsibility Abstract Thi s paper challenges the philosophy underlying traditional management thinking. The historic and possibly arcane purpose of business, to maximise shareholder wealth, is no longer a relevant proposition. Academics and managers need to rethink the philosophical framework of management theory. For the past 50 years the management literature has adopted a more â€Å"human† approach to the management of organisations yet the importance of systems and process and performance measurers associated with the scienti? c theory of management prevails.With the growing importance of knowledge creation and the corporate social responsibility movement it is timely to re? ect on the purpose of business as adding value to society and rejecting the focus on accumulation of personal wealth. Knowledgecreating enterprises are founded on the development of sustainable relationships within the organisation and with stakeholders and thus require a different philosophical perspective. Electronic access The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/researchregister The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. meraldinsight. com/1463-6689. htm foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · pp. 338-348 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited  · ISSN 1463-6689 DOI 10. 1108/14636680410569911 338 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes has signi? cantly reduced worldwide public trust in the corporate community. In the recent World Economic Forum (2004) survey on trust, only 7 per cent of respondents reported that global companies operate in the best interests of society. While this ? gure is a small improvement over the 2002 survey public trust in the corporate community is low.Organisations are seen as pro? t generating and wealth enhancing for the select few. The scale of the public outcry against unethical behaviour has turned the spotlight to wards the importance of corporate citizenship, ensuring that organisations focus on social and environmental issues as well as the economic returns. Public attention appears to be less focussed on individual wealth creation but on the manner in which wealth is created. Individuals who exploit others for personal gain or who exploit society or the environment for their own advantage will not be tolerated.In 2003 a PricewaterhouseCoopers (2003a) survey found that 75 per cent of chief executive of? cers (CEOs) surveyed stated they would forgo short-term pro? ts in order to implement a sustainability programme. Yet the highlight of the business news remains stock market performance and share price. Despite the move towards a greater focus on people in the organisation and concern for the environment, organisations remain numbers driven and subject to the vagaries of the ? nancial markets. Chief executives measure their success by their impact on EPS and not their contribution to the soc ial or environmental issues.But today’s CEO also recognises the core competence of the organisation lies in the knowledge and skills of its people. Gone are the days when product design, production process or customer service could create competitive advantage. It is the skills and abilities of the individual staff members that dictate the future of the organisation. Thus, the organisation must ensure staff are challenged and suitably rewarded and today we see organisations offering attractive remuneration packages including child care and a host of other bene? ts.But are such packages attractive if they are designed to buy the soul of the employee and not build trust between the individuals within the organisation? Today the chief executive is challenged with the task of building trust and integrity in the organisation. When trust pervades the organisation there is commitment from the staff and support from the external community. Trust is based on shared values and value sy stems lie at the heart of human behaviour, behaviour that cannot be controlled through systems and processes, the traditional operating standard for many organisations.If corporate social responsibility is vested in gaining the trust of stakeholders, inside and outside the organisation, then the fundamental philosophy must be based on the organisation’s ability to build relationships. Relationships are established between people and cannot be mandated by strict adherence to systems and processes. The people within the organisation must subscribe to the values of the organisation and those outside the organisation must admire those values. The organisation must be values driven.Thus the organisation that espouses corporate social responsibility must develop an environment where people in the organisation work together in a harmonious manner and external stakeholders form an emotional connection with the organisation while maintaining its commitment to the ? nancial investors. Traditionally, the dilemma of the CEO has been described as â€Å"balancing shareholder demands with achieving longevity or sustainability†. Perhaps the dilemma should be rewritten; â€Å"providing an environment that espouses individual freedom while ensuring the ? ancial and non-? nancial targets of the organisation are met†. Individual freedom provides the basis for creativity, innovation and building trust between individuals within and outside the organisation. Critics would argue that in an environment where individual freedom abounds, anarchy prevails. Organisations need control, but controls, when imposed from above, can dictate behaviour and constrain creativity. Performance criteria will remain key factors in the life of the organisation and the longevity of the CEO.However, the organisation and its senior executives need to shift their focus from one that is numbers based to one vested in the establishment of an environment designed to build trust and to mai ntain the appropriate performance measures which are acceptable to its staff. Thus the dilemma becomes not control or individual freedom but control with the ability for individual self-expression. In the East this is seen as the balance between the yang (bright) and the yin (dark). This paper explores how such a balance may be attained in an organisation.Challenging traditional management theory While Descartes (Scruton, 2002, p. 3) is often cited as the father of modern philosophy the roots of philosophy can be traced back to Plato (Scruton, 2002, p. 3) and his scholar Aristotle (Vanier, 2001, p. 2). Their writings on human nature, humaneness and their search for a human identity still bear relevance today. Human behaviour is vested in the individual but humaneness, human nature, is presented as happiness, a virtue that cannot be attained in isolation. For Plato, the guiding nature of a relationship is to be found in love and friendship; 39 A challenge to traditional management th eory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes through friendship we seek to improve ourselves and help others to improve. Aristotle further developed this point when he described human nature as â€Å"the good to which all things aim†. As human beings we strive to do good and good actions promote happiness; a virtue that Aristotle describes as the keystone of human behaviour, the perfect activity. Happiness is the virtue that bestows honour on ourselves and on others. It was Marx’s (Scruton, 2002, p. 23) vision of the individual being constituted through social activities, de? ned as labour; language, customs and institutions (speci? cally economic institutions), that was to move philosophical theory away from relationships and towards individual material gains. Adam Smith (Scruton, 2002, p. 224) attempted to demonstrate that free exchange and accumulation of private property, under the guidance of self-interest, not only preserves justice but also promotes the social wellbeing as a whole, satisfying existing needs and guaranteeing stability. This subtle, but signi? ant, shift in philosophical focus from human relationships to individual personal gains in? uenced the development of the theory of bureaucracy, whose purpose was to command and control the behaviour of many for the gain of the few, a philosophy in direct opposition to that of Aristotle and others. The social landscape of the Western economies in the early 1900s was being transformed as the industrial revolution gained momentum and the capitalist society emerged. Organisations were, and to some extent remain, characterised by; a hierarchy of authority, impersonal rules that de? e duties, standardised procedures, promotion based on achievement and specialised labour. Those responsible for the operation of these facilities required a system to control behaviour. Weber opined that bureaucracy was capable of attaining the highest degree of ef? ciency and the most rationally known means of exercising authority over human beings. F. W. Taylor (1911) adopted this philosophy, developing the scienti? c approach to management, which stated that jobs could be speci? ed, work methods improved and rationalised through careful study and scienti? c analysis.The driving force of the organisation was ef? ciency, increasing output and the wealth of the owners. Employees were not to be trusted and required stringent controls to ensure their behaviour was focussed on increased productivity. The era of command and control had arrived and the â€Å"robber barons† prospered with personal fortunes being amassed by the select few. Human rights were ignored as were environmental concerns with many factories polluting the land, water and air in their vicinity. As early as the 1950s the Tavistock Institute in England and the Quality of Working Life inSweden were challenging this mechanistic approach to organisation structure. Douglas McGregor (1960) challeng ed the scienti? c approach to management in his book The Human Side of Enterprise. Theory X postulated that people had to be driven by extrinsic rewards, by punishment or by bureaucratic control. Theory Y opined that individuals could be intrinsically motivated by interesting work and could be directed and managed by their own behaviour. For the next 40 years, theory Y was to be treated as the â€Å"soft side† of management while â€Å"real† ? ms, whose motive was to maximise shareholder wealth, sought operational ef? ciencies through speci? ed procedures and rigid controls. The period 1945 to early 1970 was one of growth and expansion in the West. Markets were growing and the multinational ? rm became established. Pro? ts grew, not by gains in market share but by increasing market size. Inef? ciencies and poor management practices were hidden. Then in the mid-1970s the ? rst oil shock occurred. Poor management practices were exposed. The good times were over and the W est struggled to readjust to the new market conditions.The â€Å"new† approaches to management The 1980s saw the introduction of the total quality management movement, founded by W. E. Deming (1982), which promoted a participative style of management. Although Deming was a statistician he believed that a new approach to management was required to replace the scienti? c approach to management with its associated systems and procedures. At the end of WWII, he volunteered to travel to Japan to assist in the reestablishment of Japanese Industry. Here he could implement his new concepts that were willingly adopted by the Japanese ? rms.In 1979, Deming’s work in Japan was broadcast on American television and overnight TQM became the saviour for American industry. By the early 1980s productivity in the West was abysmal and the US Government introduced the Baldridge Quality Awards in 1987 to promote the importance of quality. These quality awards have since been adopted around the world and are based on the 14 criteria speci? ed by Deming. In 1990, Peter Senge (1990) published his book The Fifth Discipline which was to challenge the scienti? c theory of management by introducing the concept of systems theory to organisational design.While the scienti? c theory was founded on the assumption that an organisation was a closed system, where activities within organizations could be broken down into discrete activities, systems 340 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes thinking was suggesting the organization should be considered as an open system and not a series of discrete parts. The writings of Charles Handy, Margaret Wheatley, Peter Drucker and a plethora of others have supported the work of Senge.By the mid-1990s, the concept of the high performance organisation had emerged. Every CEO wanted to be a HPO but there was no universal de? nition of high performance. Like quality this was something that could be recognised but which escaped de? nition. However, Edward Lawler (1996) did present six principles that captured the essence of the HPO: (1) organisation can be the ultimate competitive advantage; (2) involvement can be the most ef? cient form of control; (3) all employees must add signi? cant value; (4) lateral processes are the key to organisational ef? iency; (5) organisations should be designed around products and customers (not functions); and (6) effective leadership is the key to organisational leadership (Lawler, 1996, p. 22). For over 20 years organisations have espoused the principles of TQM, they have re-engineered the organisation and purported to be high performers. Organisational theory appears to be spurning the scienti? c approach to management. Cloke and Goldsmith (2002) titled their book The End of Management and the Rise of Organizational Democracy: Autocracy, hierarchy, bureaucracy and management are gradually being replaced by democracy, ? t, collaboration and self managing teams. Permanent, stockpiled, one -size-? ts-all policies are giving way to innovative, just-in-time, evolving, made to order initiatives. Silos and competitive departments are being deconstructed into living evolving webs of association. Isolated, cynical, immature, apathetic employees are being transformed into connected, motivated, value driven, responsible employee owners (Cloke and Goldsmith, 2002, p. 4). Today the social evolutionary process appears to be increasingly dominated by values and emotions and less by individual goal-orientated rationality.As the chairman of Phillips (2002, p. 2) states: Building sustainable development into our business processes is the ultimate opportunity. By its very nature the journey towards sustainability requires the kind of breakthrough thinking that results in true innovation. It calls for partnerships and true cooperation as well as open honest dialogue with stakeholders inside and outside the company. The command and control environment was designed to modify or control behaviour and not to build trust between individuals through the formation of sustainable relationships. Relationships develop when there is a sharing of alues, attitudes and beliefs between the people in the organisation. Those within the organisation subscribe to the values and those outside the organisation admire the values. Thus relationships are established between people and cannot be mandated by systems and processes. At the turn of the twentieth century, competitive advantage was in? uenced by an organisations ability to produce goods ef? ciently: the production era. The production economy was followed by the market economy, the service economy and today competitive advantage is determined by an organisation’s ability to develop intellectual property: the knowledge economy.When knowledge creation becomes the key to competitive advantage an organisation needs to foster an environment where individu al creativity and innovation can ? ourish. Such an environment can be established when; the individuals in the organisation are committed to the purpose of the organisation, when the organisation is driven by common values and shared beliefs, when the fear of failure has been eliminated and the individuals within the organisation do not feel constrained by rules and regulations, systems and processes.But organisational performance remains vested in key performance indicators. For public companies, shareholder expectation drives performance and the future of the CEO. The ? nancial press remains focussed on stock market performance and corporate ? nancial results remain the highlights of the business news. When an organisation is numbers driven, systems and processes are designed to ensure that targets are achieved. But such measurers in? uence and constrain individual behaviour, thus limiting the opportunity for creativity and innovation.If the reader accepts the above three premises ; the move to a people focused organisation, the move to encourage creativity and the restoration of public con? dence, then the dilemma of the chief executive can be rewritten to, â€Å"providing an environment that espouses individual freedom and bene? ts society while ensuring the ? nancial and non-? nancial targets of the organisation are met†. If such an approach is adopted the focus of the organisation must be transformed from the traditional concepts associated with bureaucracy, to a philosophy vested in humaneness.A people focused organisation that facilitates the generation of new and innovative approaches, fosters a harmonious working environment and builds trust and integrity for all stakeholders. A new philosophical approach is required to provide the foundation of management theory, one which is not based on the Marxist perspective, that individuals are focussed on materialism and seeking self ful? lment, but one 341 A challenge to traditional management theory f oresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 . . Ed Weymes focussed on a social perspective vested in the norms and values of society.Thus we appear to be faced with a dilemma. Human nature is vested in individual freedom and the need for the individual to live their life according to their own values but society, in which the individual lives, can only be managed through the adoption of systems and procedures. Since both arguments are correct no one single Western philosophy can be applied to manage today’s society which requires a perspective that balances the need for individual freedom with rules and regulations required to ensure an orderly society. . . To love men – the equivalent of benevolence.Only the man of humanity knows how to love people and to hate people – to hate evil. To be respectful in private life, be serious in handling affairs and to be loyal in dealing with others. To master oneself and return to propriety is humanity. To overcom e the sel? sh desires within ourselves, to cultivate the mind and heart within ourselves so it can be extended to every aspect of our life allowing good will to ? ow to others. Eastern philosophy While there is no one dominant Eastern philosophy the region has provided a mosaic of philosophical perspectives on life and the meaning of life.From Hindu to Dao, from Islam to Tao from Buddhism to Confucianism there may be few common themes and while all are religions, Confucianism is considered to be more of a philosophy than a belief. Master Kung (Confucius) was born into a poor noble family in 552BC in the State of Lu in China. This was a period on China’s history known as the â€Å"hundred schools† with teachers wandering from town to town expounding their theories on how the various rulers could improve their ? efdom. Sun Tzu taught the art of warfare and strategy while Kung’s teachings were of a more philosophical nature.Popular Confucianism emphasises family va lues; dignity, diligence and education, where there is no disparity between the self-cultivation of the individual and the interests of the community. The individual and the community are part of one harmonious whole represented in Confucian philosophy as Li (rituals) and Ren (benevolence or humaneness). Chief executives are faced with the balance between individual freedom (Ren) and the need to achieve shareholder expectations through the application of systems (Li).Traditionally, the focus has been on the development of systems but perhaps it is time to turn our attention to the people in the organisation. The work of Confucius adapted this approach to prescribe an ordered ad sustainable society. Confucius considered Ren (humaneness) to be at the centre of his teaching while many of his scholars, including Mencius, placed equal emphasis on the Ren and Li. Ren is not considered to be a virtue but the fundamental virtue that de? nes human nature.Translations of Ren include benevolen ce, perfect virtue, human heartedness and humanity. While the concept was never clearly de? ned by Confucius the following are considered representative de? nitions (Liu, 1998, p. 17): Confucius presents a perspective similar to the early Western philosophers, from the writings of Aristotle (Vanier, 2001, p. 7), who encourages us to â€Å"look within ourselves to ? nd that inner structure to act correctly and speak the truth†, to Kant (Scruton, 2002, p. 155) who opined that â€Å"we are all of equal importance to others around us†.In Confucianism, â€Å"humaneness† can only be depicted inside a relationship, â€Å"the humane man, desiring to establish himself, seeks to establish others; desiring himself to succeed, helps others to succeed. To judge others by what one knows of oneself is a method of achieving humanity† (Liu, 1998, p. 18). Similar sentiments are re? ected in the work of Plato and Kant who encourage us to improve ourselves by helping others to improve. Thus Ren can be de? ned as: . a benevolent attitude towards people; . the realisation of the intrinsic value of each individual life; and . resolute commitment to an ideal principle. Confucius developed this humanistic approach to how a ruler should lead his people (or how an organisation should manage its staff) arguing that the moral discipline of the self and the well being of the people cannot be separated. He suggested that when the people are governed by law and punishment they will avoid wrongdoing but will have no sense of honour or shame. But when the ruler leads with virtue and governs by the rules of propriety they will have a sense of shame and more over set themselves right.From the organisational perspective while staff may conform to prescribed systems and processes they may lack the commitment to the organisation that is required to allow innovation and creativity to ? ourish. Confucius recognised that individuals live within a society governed by the rul es of propriety (Li). However, these rules should not be imposed from above, as in a bureaucratic organisation, where rules are designed to modify and control behaviour. The rules of society or an organisation should be vested in Ren so that the members of society or the organisation accept the rules and laws as those that de? e acceptable behaviour. 342 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes Eastern philosophy provides a perspective where the behaviour of the individual is seen as a harmonistic balance between the individual and how that individual interacts in social relationships. Confucianism provides a philosophy that unites the individual right to choose their own destiny while allowing for the appropriate controls and regulations associated with a complex and technologically driven society.The framework, associated with the bureaucratic organisation and traditional management theory, was designed to contr ol behaviour. Modern management theory and practice has demonstrated that bureaucracy is no longer an effective model. Similarly the demise of the market economy, posited by Marx has also proved to be invalid. Today we cannot rely on one philosophical model to provide a framework for organisation design, since individual freedom must be tempered with bureaucratic controls. The relationship between Ren and Li possibly provides a model that may resolve the dilemma.East meets West Great thinkers from opposite ends of the earth interested in the same question: What constitutes right and wrong and what behaviours contribute to a good society? The similarities in their conclusions are remarkable: . the value and importance of ideals – dreams and visions; . the love of learning; . the need for self improvement; . out attitude towards and treatment of other people is important; . to understand others we must understand ourselves – humaneness; . we improve ourselves by improvin g others; . pursuit of wisdom and virtue will lead to the good life; and . elationships are the key to happiness – goodness; Confucius and the early Western philosophers including Aristotle, Kant and Shaftsbury perceived the need for a relationship between the family and the state and argued that shared values and ideals were central to all relationships. The role of education was recognised as the key to self-improvement and living a virtuous life. Both Eastern and Western philosophers believed that individuals seek to do good and that by becoming more virtuous a person could improve their life.Similarly there was an agreement that individuals must seek the courage to do the right thing. Through education, wisdom is attained and the starting point for attaining wisdom is self knowledge. Recognising not only what we know but also what we do not know is the key to the appropriate use of knowledge and to prevent errors caused by ignorance. Confucius considered goodness or human eness to be an individual quality present in, but rarely realised by, the individual. The distractions and temptations of life prevent us from attaining our full potential.We want to be good, to be seen to be good but the temptation to be sel? sh often overpowers our intentions. Just as the CEO wants to create a socially responsible company but a little creative accounting will just increase the share price and thus make the task so much easier and the personal rewards so much greater. While there are many similarities in the teachings of Eastern and Western philosophers there is one fundamental difference. Aristotle believed personal behaviour – humaneness – is focussed on the individual with her own responsibility for selfdiscipline.Personal behaviour did not extend into the social relationships encountered by the individual. This concept remained valid until the writings of Marx when there appears to be a shift from a societal focus to focus on material gains. Recen t Western philosophical writings – Taylor (1991) – are returning to the societal focus with an emphasis on the concept of authenticity. Conversely, Confucius opined that the rules for correct behaviour were social controls, which maintained the social graces resulting in the appropriate manners and conduct of the individual.In the West we value the individual and claim that the individual has control over her behaviour. The net result of the behaviour dictates how social relationships and society behave. Max Weber took this approach to the extreme with his social philosophical writings a century ago that culminated in the rise of bureaucracy and the foundation of management thinking. While modern management thinking has challenged this approach for the past 50 years a philosophical framework has yet to be established to justify the theoretical foundations associated with building an organisation based on values and relationships.The Eastern philosophies provide a persp ective where the behaviour of the individual is seen as a harmonistic balance between the individual and how that individual interacts in social relationships. The original writings of Plato and more recent Western philosophers would not disagree with this approach but it is a philosophical framework that contradicts the work of Max Weber and challenges the foundation of traditional management theory. 343 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348Ed Weymes Building an organisation on values and relationships: the implications (the humane organisation) The concepts of CSR, together with modern management thinking and particularly the move to a knowledge economy is moving management thinking away from the bureaucratic structured organization, relying on systems and processes towards a management style vested in relationships. Thus, if the key success factor for a successful organization is its ability to build relationships and not primarily to generate (excessive) pro? s the foundation for management theory should start with the pre-requisites necessary for the development of relationships and emotions lie at the heart of relationships. Table I Constructive and destructive states of mind Constructive states of mind Build Create Self-respect Con? dence Self-esteem Responsibility Integrity Trust Compassion Passion Commitment Honesty Benevolence Ambition Generosity Motivation Loyalty Love Destructive states of mind Build Create Low self-esteem Over-con? dence Jealousy Irresponsibility Dislike Mistrust Sel? hness Negativity Meanness Deceit Hatred Self-ambition Alienation Complaints Source: Flanagan, cited in Goleman (2003, chapter 3). Emotions and relationships The rood de? nition of â€Å"emotion† can be traced back to motion and direction – â€Å"to every force there is an equal and opposite force†. Thus emotions can be good and bad, positive and negative, constructive and destructive. Professor Owen Flanagan (Goleman, 2003, p. 59) argued that bad, negative or destructive emotions are those that are harmful to oneself or others; contrary to human nature.He also supports the philosophical view, which goes back to the time of Plato and Confucius, that emotion and temperament are constantly pulling us in different directions. Take, for example, the case of the demise of Barings Bank: Nick Leeson the Barings Bank futures trader based in Singapore enjoyed the good life and was soon earning a signi? cant bonus on futures trading in Asia. But as the markets changed Leeson needed funds to cover his exposure. By establishing Error Account 88888 he was able to expose the bank to debts of eight hundred million British Pounds.Personal greed and a lack of compassion together with poor systems in the Bank caused one of the greatest banking scandals of all times. Throughout ? ? the debacle Leeson did not see anything wrong with his behaviour. His values and beliefs supported hi s actions but the only bene? ciary was Nick Leeson (Gapper and Denton, 1997). converse situation is depicted in William Golding’s (1959) Lord of the Flies with its basic themes being that society holds everyone together, and without these conditions, our ideals, values, and the basics of right and wrong are lost.Without society’s rigid rules, anarchy and savagery can come to light. On the island we observe mistrust, self-ambition, deceit and irresponsibility destroying the social norms that once bonded the group of schoolboys. Jealousy, dislike and meanness destroyed a society. As human beings we have a choice. We can attempt to work alone in the pursuit of our own personal happiness and success or we can work with others. The easy option is to work alone but we will not inspire con? dence or trust in those around us in the long term. We will have joined the schoolboys on their desert island.Building relationships is every individual’s social responsibility. The foundation for constructive relationships Emotions are determined by attitudes, beliefs, values and feelings, which are re? ected in personality and dictate the individual’s ability to form relationships. Accepting the premise that dreams and goals can best be attained by working with others the ? rst key lesson in developing a sustainable organization is for all staff to be aware of their own strengths and limitations, of how they react in certain situations and understand why they experience particular emotional reactions in particular situations.As part of the self-discovery process individuals are able to de? ne their own personal inspirational dream; to verbalise their purpose in life. There are many examples of personal dreams: Martin Luther King’s famous speech â€Å"I have a dream†, or J. F. Kennedy, â€Å". . . this nation will land a man on the moon before the end of the decade†. Kennedy had no idea of how America was going to put a man on the moon but his challenge provided the impetus for the NASA scientists to exceed their personal best. There is always the temptation to take the easy way out but is it the right way?Emotional responses drive individual feelings and dictate the nature of relationships in society. Flanagan has classi? ed these positive and negative emotions as constructive and destructive states of mind which have been summarised in Table I. Individuals who are seen as con? dent, responsible and trustworthy possess integrity, selfesteem and compassion. They are people who are committed to a dream or a vision that is focussed on improving the life of those around them. The 344 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed WeymesThe process of identifying and formulating a personal dream (see Figure 1) requires insights into individual values and identi? es the strengths to build upon. The dream represents the individual’s purpose and destiny in life with its magnitude only limited by ambition, by passion and con? dence of that person. Once the dream is identi? ed it must be shared with others. Rarely can we achieve our dream single-handed. Thus the dream should create purpose and meaning for others. Sel? sh dreams, dreams that are designed to promote the dreamholder alone are less likely to be adopted by others since there is little in it for them.Dreams that go beyond the individual and represent a challenge for others are more likely to be shared. Albert Schweitzer is credited with the following statement on visions or dreams: â€Å"I do not know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know. The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. † The process of self-discovery provides an understanding of how and why individuals react in certain situations. People with a high level of selfawareness recognise the danger signs associated with disruptive emotions a nd are more likely to keep these emotions in check.These are the people we turn to in a moment of crisis knowing that they will give a Figure 1 Identifying and formulating a personal dream measured and reasoned response to the situation, not an impulsive reaction. They are the people we trust, people of integrity. They do not criticise but ask questions, gather the facts and seek advice before making a measured response. They are re? ective thinkers. They are the people we admire and interact with. They may be parents, lovers, mentors or ordinary individuals who we turn to in time of need.People who possess a clear understanding of their emotions and their impact on others also possess the ability to recognise the emotional state of those around them. They are people who are skilled in reading body language and recognise the impact that particular circumstances and situations can create in those around them. They understand the mood and the pulse of the situation and are able to bri ng forth the best from those around them. The characteristics of self-awareness, self worth and social worth provide the drivers for the attainment of high levels of emotional intelligence (see Goleman et al. 2002) and provide the foundation for sustainable relationships. They also provide the basis for establishing a dream and a destiny but more importantly providing the ability to share the dream and have others buy into the dream. Some writers may argue that these characteristics provide the skills to motivate people but motivation is a process that causes people to 345 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes act in a particular way. Thus an individual may be motivated to undertake a particular task by the promise of a reward or to avoid an unpleasant consequence.Individuals may be motivated to obey rules through a system of reward or fear of punishment (the foundation of theory X). Thus an individual may be m otivated to perform a task to which they have no commitment. Commitment is achieved when the individual believes in the task and is inspired by the potential results (the foundation for theory Y). Thus inspiration is more important than motivation. People are inspired when they believe in the cause they are working towards. To be inspirational required the individual to share their dream and the wider the scope of the dream the greater the potential for people to â€Å"buy† into the dream.Dreams that promote an individual or an organisation’s stakeholders alone will have little meaning for many of the people employed in the organisation. While a pro? t maximising goal may inspire the pension funds and individual stockholders it does little to motivate the individual on the shop ? oor who will receive the same compensation irrespective of share price. But an organisational dream that seeks to promote a better society has meaning for all those connected with the organisa tion and thus creates a purpose that can be shared by all in the organisation.An example of such a dream or vision can be foun in Merck and Co. ’s organisational vision (www. merck. com/overview/philosophy. html): Mission The mission of Merck is to provide society with superior products and services – innovations and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs – to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities and investors with a superior rate of return. Our values (1) Our business is preserving and improving human life. All of our actions must be measured by our success in achieving this goal.We value above all our ability to serve everyone who can bene? t from the appropriate use of our products and services, thereby providing lasting consumer satisfaction. (2) We are committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. We are responsible to our customers, to Merck employees and their families, to the en vironments we inhabit, and to the societies we serve worldwide. In discharging our responsibilities, we do not take professional or ethical shortcuts. Our interactions with all segments of society must re? ect the high standards we profess. 3) We are dedicated to the highest level of scienti? c excellence and commit our research to improving human and animal health and the quality of life. We strive to identify the most critical needs of consumers and customers, we devote our resources to meeting those needs. (4) We expect pro? ts, but only from work that satis? es customer needs and bene? ts humanity. Our ability to meet our responsibilities depends on maintaining a ? nancial position that invites investment in leading-edge research and that makes possible effective delivery of research results. 5) We recognize that the ability to excel – to most competitively meet society’s and customers’ needs – depends on the integrity, knowledge, imagination, skill, diversity and teamwork of employees, and we value these qualities most highly. To this end, we strive to create an environment of mutual respect, encouragement and teamwork– a working environment that rewards commitment and performance and is responsive to the needs of employees and their families. The organisation’s dream or vision creates passion and pride in those working for and associated with the organisation.Collins and Porras (1994, p. 55) suggest that companies, which only focused on pro? tability, did not perform as well as those whose focus transcended economic considerations: â€Å"Pro? t is a necessary condition for existence and a means to more important ends, but it is not the end in itself for many of the visionary companies. Pro? t is like oxygen, food, water and blood; they are not the point of life, but without them there is no life. † Pro? ts do not inspire the individuals in the organisation and they reward only the select few.Visions or dre ams that go beyond the economic considerations inspire those in the organisation and those associated with the organisation. Visions that encompass environmental and social concepts as well as economic considerations. A revised philosophical perspective for management theory PricewaterhouseCoopers (2003b) de? nes â€Å"a sustainable business enhances long-term shareholder value by addressing the needs of all its relevant stakeholders and adding economic, environmental and social value through its core business functions†. A sustainable organisation has: . a clear purpose beyond pro? ; . is driven by shared values; and . and supported by systems and processes. Proponents of sustainable organisations argue that these organisations require â€Å"breakthrough thinking that results in true innovation. It also calls for partnerships and cooperation as well as open honest dialogue with stakeholders inside and outside the company† (Philips, 2002). They argue that these are not organisations driven by pro? t 346 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes maximisation but are organisations that will forego short-term pro? to ensure longer-term shareholder value. They are organisations that build trust and create an aura of authenticity, building a harmonious and family-like work environment. They are organisations driven by a purpose, values and beliefs that can be accepted by a wide range of societal interest groups and they are organisations that encourage innovation. Such characteristics are not unique to sustainable organisations but are the criteria that have been referenced by many of the writers of modern management theory. There is a danger that the sceptics of â€Å"sustainable organisation† will focus on the pro? ability criteria arguing that an organisation will always be driven by a pro? t perspective. Return on investment has always been a signi? cant performance criter ion and many organisations have found to their detriment that cost reduction increases short-term pro? tability but does little for long term sustainability. While the concept of the sustainable organisation sharpens the focus of modern management thinking the key issue concerns the relevance of traditional management thinking. Traditional management theory has been built on the command and control model developed by Frederick Taylor and based on the work of Max Weber.For Weber the purpose of business was to maximise shareholder wealth. This strategy could be achieved by viewing the organisation as a closed system, subdivided into discrete units with each unit focussed only on its own activities. Staff were required to follow speci? ed procedures and innovation was not encouraged. Systems and processes, rules and regulations, dictated the pulse of the organisation. Return on investment, economic value added and share price are the metrics that dominate discussions relating to corpor ate performance yet modern management theories have focussed on the human side of the business for the past 50 years.Most authors and corporate leaders agree that the age of the bureaucratic organisation is past. Yet the numbers still dictate performance. The daily business reports focus on share price ? uctuations and pro? t warnings and rarely do they report on an organisations performance on environmental or social issues. In 1999 Dow Jones launched a â€Å"sustainability index† to monitor the performance of ? rms engaged in sustainability projects. The rational behind this move was based on the premise that more investors are seeking to diversify their portfolio to include ? rms that have long term environmental and social issues as part of their philosophy.While it is unlikely that ? nancial performance measures will be replaced in the short term, organisations and investors now recognise that while pro? ts are important, how the pro? ts are obtained is a greater concern . A singular focus on pro? t maximisation is driven by a rigid adherence to prescribed systems and processes, requiring a highly disciplined workforce prepared to follow orders without question. Communication is uni-directional and innovation discouraged. Mistakes and errors are ascribed to individuals and a climate of fear pervades the organisation.Performance targets are speci? ed and the attainment of the targets dictates individual performance. The Kaplan and Norton (1996) â€Å"balanced score card† is used to prescribe individual and organisation performance standards. Success is de? ned as an organisation’s ability â€Å"to make the numbers†. But individual and corporate quantitative performance targets focus the organisation, and the individuals in the organisation, on personal, self centred, goal orientated approaches, which do little to foster the development of harmonious relationships in the organisation.Over the past 25 years management theory and pr actice has become more â€Å"humane† with a focus on people in the organisation and by an increasing focus on the importance of values, emotions and social mores. Organisations are attempting to implement the theories of modern management but appear to be unwilling to give up the controls associated with the bureaucratic organisation. Yet modern management theorists and the proponents of sustainable organisations are convinced that the key ingredient to organisational success is the development of trust throughout the organisation.But the fundamental premise underlying Weber’s bureaucracy and Taylor’s scienti? c approach to management is the assertion that the workers are not to be trusted. Tasks must be prescribed and individual performance measured. Thus the basis for performance evaluation lies in the development of effective systems and processes. Rigid adherence to prescribed systems and processes will no longer guarantee success. Today the organisation mus t be ? exible in order to meet the needs of a rapidly changing environment, a discerning customer and a sceptical public.An organisation is still required to make a pro? t but society is now concerned with how those pro? ts are attained. The strategies of the â€Å"robber barons†, supported by the philosophy of Max Weber, are no longer acceptable. Organisations are expected to adopt an ethical and morally acceptable approach to the creation of pro? ts. In the 1980s, the TQM movement focussed on the importance of quality, yet quality was not a new concept. However, it was a characteristic that many organisations were either ignoring or failing to concentrate on.The TQM movement focussed on quality so that today it is considered a necessary but not suf? cient condition for competing. Likewise the 347 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes sustainability movement is focussing on the need for more organisatio ns to focus on the environmental and social impacts of their organisations and strategies. The message is that organisations must pay as much attention to the environmental and social impacts of their business as they do to the economic impact.The traditional approach to management does not focus on these concepts. Successful – sustainable – organisations are founded on open communication and trust. Thus the basis for performance lies in the ability of the individuals within and those interacting with the organisation to form meaningful relationships. Management teaching and practice must now replace the fundamental assumption of traditional management theory – that the worker cannot be trusted – with a focus on building and developing relationships.The organisation’s focus should now be based on understanding the relationships between individuals and not on the design and development of rigid and complex systems. While systems and processes are st ill required to support the organisation they no longer drive the organisation. A corporate vision statement or inspirational dream that encompasses the three pillars of sustainability provides a purpose for everyone in the organisation by integrating individual dream with the dream of the organisation.Through a meaningful purpose or inspirational dream commitment, trust and integrity are built between individuals who work together in a harmonious manner. There is a commitment to exceed one’s personal best and to pay attention to the detail. New ideas can emerge from anywhere. The organisation creates its own future. Quantitative measures are still required to provide information on how the organisation is performing and to provide staff with information that can be used for improvements and innovations but these KPIs should not be used to discipline individuals.The concept of sustainability has focussed attention on the need for all organisations to demonstrate a commitment to the environment and society as well as their own economic wellbeing. Yet the concept of sustainability is still considered to be a â€Å"fringe movement† in the corporate community. However, the survival of the movement is immaterial because all organisations have recognised that that the key competitive advantage lies in the creation of new knowledge. New knowledge cannot be created in an environment constrained by systems and processes and where there is a fear of failure.Knowledge can only be created in an environment where individuals are committed to the organisation and a high level of trust and integrity pervades the organisation. The concept of sustainability or corporate social responsibility provides a framework for the establishment of such an environment. The framework comes in two parts, the yin and the yang, and it is the role of the CEO to balance the tension between the need to create a focus for the realisation of individual dreams and an environment where innovation and creativity ? urish with the necessity for systems and processes to ensure order and the attainment of the ? nancial goals. Traditionally, the CEO has focussed on the design and development of systems and processes while paying some attention to the â€Å"people† in the organisation. Today that focus must change so the people in the organisation control the systems and processes and not have the people controlled by the systems. References Cloke, K. and Goldsmith, J. (2002), The End of Management and the Rise of Organisational Democracy, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Collins, J. C. and Porras, J. I. 1994), Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, HarperCollins, London. Deming, W. E. 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