Management Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example Complementary skills in team members are necessary for it to be able to function effectively and produce results. In case a team starts out with all of its members having only one skill set, and they need some more to be able to produce results, it would either need to induct more persons with the required skills, or its members would have to acquire the skills themselves, if they have to continue as a unit of any significance. The members of a team would have a common purpose or vision, articulated performance goals, and an accepted way of doing work in order to reach those goals. They would also hold themselves "mutually accountable" for what the team did or did not achieve. If I achieved something as part of the team, I would be willing to share the credit with the others; if someone in there made a boo-boo, I'd be willing to take the flak as well. Does the above definition of a team - a text-book one actually fit the real world It should, since the definition itself, we must remember, is also derived from observing that real world. However, as work conditions and situations get more diverse and complex, our definitions and understanding of how teams work must evolve from the simplistic to include complex aspects of their functioning. Teams can be extremely powerful when they work well. Of this there can be no doubt. ... Apart from the simple arithmetic of two plus two making four, in the case of a team operating well, the two plus two could make five or seven or even ten. 'Synergy' (from the Greek word 'synergos' or working together) happens when the combined effect of two or more persons working together is more than an aggregation of the individual members' efforts. It is interesting to reflect that Adam Smith, the originator of the science of Economics, was in fact referring to this synergistic effect of increase in production, when he stated that division of labor (the process of production being divided into many parts, with each part being performed by a different person) resulted in a higher output. Smith's model, which did not even consider it necessary that the worker be happy, still produced a higher output. Such is the power of synergy. (Hines 1996, para 3 ) However, synergy can go terribly wrong too, and work negatively. Negative synergy can undo all the benefits that possibly accrue from working as a team. To understand this better, let's take the analogy of a person working by himself and another with a computer. The computer's output can be a hundred times more than that of the person working unaided. But let a computer make an error - it would probably take hundreds of persons working hundreds of hours to make the kind of error that a computer could make in a nano-second! And synergy is just that. When working positively, it produces much more than disparate individuals can; negatively it destroys quicker and faster than an aggregation of individuals working separately. A real life example of the operation of negative synergy has been mentioned by Ghoshal, Piramal and Bartlett in the working of

Written communication and skills. Reflection Paper Essay

Written communication and skills. Reflection Paper - Essay Example I’ve always been inclined to read and have interest in reading a variety of novels, books and other literary pieces; however, due to some reason I could never write effectively. Whenever it came to writing even something as simple as my college admission essay, I would take hours to pen down my thoughts. Although I had consulted few books to learn how to write effectively, I could never be confident of my work. This course took me a step ahead in my endeavors to become an ardent writer. At first I would speedily begin writing without any outline or draft. This led me to skip a lot of important ideas that would come to mind later on. Fitting in these ideas on an ad hoc basis also disrupted the flow of my academic work so that later when I used to read it I found it nothing more than a haphazard summary of ideas. Upon taking this course, however, amongst the first things that my instructor taught was to prepare an initial draft of the prose and to proofread that draft before fin alizing it. This practice ensured that there were no dramatic leaps in my work and that all paragraphs were connected. The assignments I’ve worked on have developed in me the habit of proofreading all my work prior to submission. This has been a very effective strategy as it allows me to rectify any careless mistakes that I may have overlooked while speedily inking my thoughts. There have been cases where (during proofreading) I changed the sentence structure to break the monotony and replaced some words with their synonyms to increase the overall impact of the prose. This would be particularly useful for me when writing a cover letter for my job since any grammatical mistakes in this could put up a negative impression of me and cost me my job. It has inculcated in me the spirit of critically evaluating my work from all possible angles which allows me to explore various approaches to the same topic. This has overall improved the quality of my argumentative essays by equipping me with the skills to craft un-biased and convincing arguments by considering both sides of the topic. So, for instance, when putting up a project proposal to the Board of Directors as a manager in future, I would be able to analyze the feasibility of the project (including its pros and cons) in order to put up a strong argument and suggest strategies for overcoming the drawbacks. Surprisingly, these assignments did not require students to work in isolation (as one may expect from an ‘academic writing’ class). Instead, there were assignments which required students to reflect on the ideas of their peers which have provided us with the basis for producing peer-reviewed academic work. Not only has this led to an improvement in my written skills but also oral skills due to constant verbal communication and interaction during the assignments. In future, I see this as an important skill as I would be required to consult my boss/superior at work as well as my team prior to a rriving at a decision. Perhaps one of the most useful academic skills that I learnt in my assignments was that of referencing my work. In my initial assignments, my referencing was weak which would result in high plagiarism. However, with the use of electronic media I was able to provide all relevant referencing for ideas that I borrowed from other authors. Considering that plagiarism is a crime, the assignments taught me how to paraphrase ideas rather than merely quoting them. This has also contributed to my language skills as paraphrasing requires the use of synonyms and producing variations in sentence structure while sticking to the original idea. I find these skills very useful for preparing reports and documents at

Review of Rain Man Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Review of Rain Man - Research Paper Example There are a number of critical perspectives on Rain Man that argue the film positively contributed to society’s understanding of autism and individuals with mental disabilities. In this context of understanding one considers Kim Peek, the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman’s character in the film. It’s understood that following the film Peek found a new degree of confidence and heightened sense of mission (Treffert). In these regards, Hoffman’s depiction of autism is interpreted as empowering and beneficial to social understandings. Another understanding is that as the film demonstrates Raymond’s significant emphasis on routine -- among other peculiarities -- it allows individuals greater insight and understanding for people with autism that exhibit similar character traits (Solomon). This is a perspective that was shared by the filmmakers, including writer Barry Morrow who cried during an award acceptance speech and noted how the film positively change d perspectives on autism (Perring). Although many argue that the film’s depiction of autism is unrealistic, converse perspectives contend that the film did not try to specifically depict one form of autism, but is instead a conglomeration of many disparate elements ("debatewise"). Ultimately, it’s clear the film shifted perspectives on autism in many positive ways. ... Critics have noted that in addition to demonstrating new perspectives on autism, the film also demonstrated Raymond’s emotions and challenges socially relating to his brother (Giordano). It follows then that these emotions, which greatly contributed to the narrative, also allowed the audience to significantly identity with the Dustin Hoffman character. Through this identification the film was able to change perspectives and increase autism awareness, giving it significant social utility, and making it important. While there exists a great degree of positive views on the film’s depiction of autism, others argue that the film changed social perspectives in negative ways. One major perspective in this mode of investigation considers that Raymond -- Dustin Hoffman -- is depicted as better off in the mental asylum. It’s been argued that this depiction is harmful to individuals with autism as it glamorizes the asylum environment, subsequently restricting the freedom of people with autism (Solomon). Other criticisms of the film argue that rather that the film glamorized autism and shifted public perception such that a wave of self-diagnosis took hold that is actually harmful for individuals that are truly autistic ("debatewise"). While such arguments constitute perhaps the most scathing criticisms of the film, other have argued along less stringent lines. One such perspective contends that the film, while accurately portraying a savant, stilted public perception of autism (Lacob). In these regards, critics argue that the vast majority of individuals with autism lack such savant-like abilities, yet the film changed social perspectives to a belief that this is an element that is

How did the physicians and the literate lay people in the 18th century Essay

How did the physicians and the literate lay people in the 18th century explain disease and what did they think were the roles of doctor, the individual, and the state in responding to and preventing it - Essay Example The state had not been involved previously in the maintenance of health and health related issues but many writings and works led to the initiation of the intervention of the government in these issues. This century could not be considered as an era of great medical development because it did not reach very close to the actual concept and meaning of medical practice. But the advances and progression in this regard was great enough as compared to the previous centuries. The concept of disease was previously considered to be the problems encountered by a patient. It was the presentation of the symptoms and signs by the patient which laid the basis for the explanation of the disease. This practice was very much common till the start of the eighteenth century. This is clearly presented by an example which was put forward by Alexander Morgan who was a surgeon in Bristol. He put forward a case which he encountered with a patient in 1744 when the patient presented him with his problems. This was the period when the doctor was not the person solely governing the pathology with which the patient was suffering and the prescribed medications. It was rather the doctor and the patient who discussed the problems together and reached to a conclusion regarding the treatment to be prescribed to the patient. It is said that during this time it was actually the patient who ruled the right to reach to a conclusion regarding his problem and medicine and practice basic ally lay in the hands of the sufferer. During this time patients explained the reasons for their diseases. They could actually stand against the treatment given to them by the doctor. The reasons explained for illnesses ranged from sudden changes in temperature to the curse of god. Not only were there vague reasons for diseases but treatments were also of a similar range. By the middle of the eighteenth century certain changes to these concepts were noticed. Hospitals were created by this time. And the other

The SWOT Analysis of Beyond Product Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The SWOT Analysis of Beyond Product - Essay Example The Beyond company has a significant strength from the Peter, who is a vital shareholder and has experience in the business. The participation of Peter in the business plan completion helped him to win the competition that provides knowledge he used to formulate business the strategy that helps in achieving their objectives of introducing the snowboards in the market. His partner who had complementary financial and accounting skills also helped in the product and business plan development. The Italian and Belgian engineering companies and the significant chemical company motivated Peter to develop hybrid binding with positive features that proved that the market was ready for a new product. However, the company faced severe challenges in product development and marketing strategies because it was costly, and the company was limited to financing methods. Meanwhile, lack of assurance to the inventors due to slow product development of the product in the market caused Peter to lose the only partner, who was supporting the company financially. The beyond product has a significant opportunity of achieving its mission to provide a range of high-quality products by allowing business angels to invest their equity of pounds 300,000. Meanwhile, the company will encounter potential threats from generating the interest of importers at the ISPO fair because the sales would be much lower than expected that will jeopardize the future of the company. The snowboarding is the quickest growing sport in the United State with the average growth rate of 11.4 percent that will offer Peter a sizeable market opportunity for its products. Meanwhile, there are seventeen million snowboarders active globally that account for every one-third of the total winter sports population, and since the peter product is designed for this purpose it will benefit from these buyers.

Lnternational Marketing of Coca Cola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Lnternational Marketing of Coca Cola - Essay Example This study looks into Coca Cola Enterprises Limited that intends to introduce a new energy drink in Chile. The drink is Lucozade which is made by using Glucose Fructose Syrup, orange juice from Concentrate, Citric Acid and Sodium Benzoate. The company has already made the decision for the selling price by establishing a price which should not be more than 5% difference with existing drinks in the market. The packaging shall be done in both 275ml plastic bottles and 250ml cans. The company intends to Launch Lucozade brand in Chile. Most of the consumers are health conscious and prefer the low calorie energy drinks. The promotional activities will include endorsements by sports personalities and mass advertisements. The company has set enough financial resources for the operations and timelines for the execution of the marketing plan. The marketing organization includes the chief marketing director, the territory directors, the area directors and the public relations personnel. A situa tional analysis is the foundation of the marketing plan. The situational analysis will include a thorough examination of the internal and external factors which affect the introduction of Lucozade drink in Chile. It will enable Coca Cola to understand the factors which will influence the market growth in the future. Internal analysis will consider the strengths and weaknesses of Coca Cola enterprises Limited. The internal analysis will consider the company culture and image, the staff, the operational efficiency and capacity. (Kotler 2010). The internal analysis will also consider the weaknesses which hinder the launch of the Lucozade drink in Chile and which may impair the growth in market share and profitability. The external analysis will evaluate the suppliers, the trade partners, customers, new technology, competitors and the economic environment prevailing in Chile which may enhance the operations of Coca Cola Enterprises Limited in Chile (Dibb, Simkin, Pride and Ferrell 2005) . The external analysis will also consider the treats which exist in the market which could curtail the achievement of the Coca Cola Enterprises objectives in Chile. 2.1 Market Summary Coca Cola Enterprises Limited is the world’s largest bottler of non-alcoholic drinks by volume. The company produces, sells and distributes its drinks using a wide distribution channel which covers all the continents in the world (Kotler 2010). Coca Cola Company is the largest bottler for the Coca Cola Company since it produces 20 percent of the entire Coca Cola drinks world wide. 85 % of its products are classified as carbonated soft drinks while the rest are non-carbonated soft drinks. The company annual revenue was $ 21.65 billion in 2009 while the net income from its operations was $ 731 million. 2.1.1 Market demographics This section of the marketing plan will include analyzing the customers in terms of the demographic features such as the age, the race, gender, educational attainments, ma rital status, income levels, attitudes and beliefs, and the household size. Chile population comprises of 15,166,500 people but the population has been on the decline due to controlled birth rate. It is estimated that the population is likely to hit 20 million people by 2050. About 80 percent of the populations live in urban areas with the population mainly concentrated in Greater Santiago. Chile population consists of all races including European and Indians. The most dominant religions are Roman Catholics and Evangelical (Kotler 2007). Spanish is

The SWOT Analysis of Beyond Product Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The SWOT Analysis of Beyond Product - Essay Example The Beyond company has a significant strength from the Peter, who is a vital shareholder and has experience in the business. The participation of Peter in the business plan completion helped him to win the competition that provides knowledge he used to formulate business the strategy that helps in achieving their objectives of introducing the snowboards in the market. His partner who had complementary financial and accounting skills also helped in the product and business plan development. The Italian and Belgian engineering companies and the significant chemical company motivated Peter to develop hybrid binding with positive features that proved that the market was ready for a new product. However, the company faced severe challenges in product development and marketing strategies because it was costly, and the company was limited to financing methods. Meanwhile, lack of assurance to the inventors due to slow product development of the product in the market caused Peter to lose the only partner, who was supporting the company financially. The beyond product has a significant opportunity of achieving its mission to provide a range of high-quality products by allowing business angels to invest their equity of pounds 300,000. Meanwhile, the company will encounter potential threats from generating the interest of importers at the ISPO fair because the sales would be much lower than expected that will jeopardize the future of the company. The snowboarding is the quickest growing sport in the United State with the average growth rate of 11.4 percent that will offer Peter a sizeable market opportunity for its products. Meanwhile, there are seventeen million snowboarders active globally that account for every one-third of the total winter sports population, and since the peter product is designed for this purpose it will benefit from these buyers.