Ground Response and Seismic Slope Stability Coursework

Ground Response and Seismic Slope Stability - Coursework Example In this report, two parts are considered. In the first part, a ground response analysis for two sites is run while the second part proposes possible design accelerations on basis of the analysis in designing of an embankment structure that will support the proposed roadway. Both of the proposed sites are located in Jamaica. With regard to ground response analysis, edushake analysis program is made use and the results obtained are as displayed in the various tables displayed throughout this report. The input data used are as provided in the coursework materials while the thickness is obtained through calculation of the difference between the depths. A table from the web forms the basis of assumptions made with regard to respective soil’s unit weight. Each soil type has its respective stress (), pore pressure (u) as well as effective stress (’) associated with it (Bhandari and Sharma, 2001). Two equations, one for sand and the second one for clay are used in in calculatio n of maximum shear stress based on the literature from the book of Steven Kramer’s. ... Width of crest: 15m Height of embankment: 11m Traffic loading surcharge: 15kPa Design PHA (horizontal acceleration): 0.3500g from the ground response analysis 0.3500g from the ground response analysis 0 The embankment is designed using a 1.56 safety factor to facilitate long term and short term stability. With the help of STB2010, the embankment’s parameters were generated using the ordinary method of slices also referred to as Fellenius method for static and seismic stability analysis. The necessary soil characteristics are provided in the table below: Drained strength with strength parameters: c’=0kPa and Ã'„=25? Unit weight of water: ?w = 9.81kN/m2 Undrained strength: c’=85kPa Unit weight of placed material: ? = 20kN/m2 It should be noted that the water table is located at the toe of the embankment. All the assumptions and calculations for the design of the embankment are shown from the Figure 3.1 to the next page. The data as provided in the spreadsheet is as shown below: Basing the divisions on four slices, the ordinary method of slices for design of embankments for drained as well as undrained soil is used. The initial embankment was generated based on the six slices. Consequently, an angle (?) was established in the middle of each slice at the horizontal’s base after which sin (?) and cos (?) were obtained. The equation given below was used in evaluation of the length of each individual slice: The height was measured from the middle of each slice. Additionally, the height (hw) was measured from the middle base of each slice to the point of the water table after which the pore pressure at the base of the slice base was calculated based

Enron Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Enron - Research Paper Example top, what exactly went wrong, and how this wrong was further fueled by an individual’s personal quest for gains, eventually turning the company into nothing more than a mere sand dune. A significant part of this research would also attempt to highlight circumstances under which auditors for the firm, Arthur Anderson failed to play its role as well as the failure of the federal government in its part to detect cracks in Enron’s policies and financial reporting to its shareholders. â€Å"In an attempt to identify the relationships, organizational and individual, that played a part in Enron’s fall, I will highlight the reasons that led to the eventual failure of Enron, the role played by individuals serving the management of Enron to hide information from their employees, stakeholders and the general public to elude failures and heavy losses incurred due to malpractices and willful fraudulent activities.† Based in Omaha, Nebraska, InterNorth was a very large company with investments in businesses ranging from plastics to petroleum exploration and so on. Primarily a gas pipeline manufacturer, InterNorth was also distinguished in its operations of the largest gas pipeline spread across North America. A legacy of Northern Natural Gas Company founded in 1932, InterNorth was formed as its holding company in 1979. Later in 1985, InterNorth took over Houston Natural Gas Company in 1985, in pursuit of expansionary production opportunities. For a while, the company was renamed HNG/InterNorth after the takeover, later named to Enron in just a few months. After the takeover, HNG/InterNorth fell into depth of $ 4.2 billion (Gavridis) following the acquisition of the company. In view of the critical situation, Kenneth Lay, then CEO of HNG, used Employee Stock Ownership Program to pay off the debt. After the settlement, the company, initially planned to manage two headquarters in Omaha and Houston, moved all its operations to Houston, Texas where HNG was initially based,

Toyota Product Development System Essay Example for Free

Toyota Product Development System Essay Toyota’s LPDS starts with the customer who is represented by the Chief Engineer. Toyota uses the Chief Engineer’s concept paper as a guiding tool to align thinking on the planning process. They very efficiently use the Obeya (big room) to bring together the members of divergent teams and allows them to function as a unit. The teams are structured so that all of the voices that need to be heard, from the designers to the managers of the factory, who can provide input on the impact decisions will have on the workers and the final produce, are there. One of the advantages to Toyota’s process is that it allows them to retain valuable employees. Their system of â€Å"Creating a Leveled Product Development Process Flow† means that workers will not be overworked and will be able to focus their full attention on the project at hand. When the project is finished, they are provided with new challenges to help them grow. The process of innovation is woven into the fabric of the organization. Toyota supplements its processes with a culture that is finely aligned with the process. They have also developed a number of tools to serve the process such as the already mentioned Obeya, a system of checklists which until recently were kept in three ring binders, Hansei, teardowns, A3 reports which summarize problems and help to ensure alignment. All of the processes at Toyota are highly standardized, and their culture ensures that the standardization process continues. Toyota has a corporate structure that reinforces and perpetuates itself. Sakicki Toyoda learned the loom business from the ground up, and this instilled in him a belief that to be successful, one must understand all aspects of the business. He used this knowledge to build an empire and it his conviction that one must learn by doing that still guides the thinking of Toyota employees. Power is gained through merit with all engineers working their way up â€Å"through the ranks. † Unlike other automakers who hire the best and brightest out of college and immediately give them a great deal of responsibility, Toyota takes the best and brightest (discovered through a rigorous and highly selective process) and has them go through a mentoring system where they are judged at each phase of the training. It is a socialization process that produces an employee who is trained in Toyota standards and procedures. It takes many years for a newcomer to be given a large responsibility such as a Chief Engineer. Consequently, the Chief Engineer is imbued with respect, as the entire organization knows that person has obtained the rank through perseverance, hard work, accomplishment and a deep understanding of the â€Å"Toyota Way. † Toyota is fiercely loyal to its employees, retaining them even in times of economic downturn. Even employees who are not living up to Toyota’s exacting standards are retained, however, they are given jobs with no responsibility; a great humiliation in an environment that values achievement. This has given Toyota a reputation as an excellent employer, and jobs there are highly prized. One realizes when one takes a job at Toyota that you are a highly valued part of the family, and the success of the rest of the family rests directly with you. This surely makes new employees dig into their work with great zest and humility. By studying from the ground up, the workers are able to gain insight into the whole development process. They can see how their work literally fits into the larger structure. This harmony is further reinforced by their mantra of â€Å"Customer First. † When trade-offs are presented, the overruling concern is that of the designer, as the designer is the customer. For items that are not necessarily â€Å"Customer First† issues, Toyota has developed â€Å"trade-off curves† and decision matrices to standardize decision-making. PROCESS PRINCIPLES Anyone who has spent a long time at Toyota will have absorbed the Toyota Way. † The processes of the LPDS will be firmly engrained in minds of the employees. It is difficult to separate the â€Å"lean thinking† of Toyota employees from the LDPS. They reinforce each other. The process principles of LPDS are a manifestation of the lean thinking that is a part of Toyota’s culture. By defining the customer as the starting point of the entire LPDS process, Toyota is able to align the thinking of the entire organization. It also sets the goal of eliminating waste to greater serve the needs of the customer. Other companies have tried to adopt Toyota’s processes without success. This is due to the fact that the process is only one part of Toyota’s success, the other, and in some instances, more compelling part of the success, is Toyota’s ability to create a culture indoctrinated in that process. The culture subverts ego, and turns problems into learning opportunities. Toyota has developed the most effective â€Å"knowledge job shop† in the automotive industry. It beauty lies in its ability to bring together representatives of all facets of the production process in harmony. In thinking about Goldratt’s principle of identifying and bottlenecks, you can see that Toyota has developed a process to dramatically reduce the number of bottlenecks it will face. By using standardization of parts and platforms and bringing in the right representatives to the Obeya to discuss problems before they are built into the design, Toyota is able to smooth out the potential bottlenecks before they occur. There is a great deal of alignment between all members of the team, so one is not operating in a vacuum; trying to solve problems without seeing how your solution fits into the larger product. Toyota’s focus on a leveled product development process also helps to eliminate bottlenecks by keeping the batches of work at a manageable level, eliminating variability and keeps utilization levels constant. As mentioned before, standardization is extremely important in creating a successful innovation environment. Standardization creates a common language that fosters greater communication. It even promotes communication of best practices over time as the best practices are engrained in the process by being adopted a standards. It enhances the scheduling process by allowing anticipation in the schedule, which in turn leads to great synchronization of efforts. It allows platforms, technology and subsystems to be reused in different designs saving time and money. As a result of their standardization process, Toyota is often able to eliminate the expensive prototyping phase of vehicle development. This can be done because with so many â€Å"tried and true† components being used in consistent ways, prototyping would be redundant. Standardization is one the key element to Toyotas speed in developing new vehicles. PEOPLE PRINICPLES Toyota uses a matrix system rather than a skunk works operation to develop new vehicles, Toyota’s LPDS is fully integrated into Toyota’s structure. They assemble a cross functional team that has representatives from the full range of functions involve with design, manufacturing and sales. Unlike other cross functional teams, where there is some ambiguity as to who the employee serves, Toyota is able to get an extremely high level of productivity out of them. This is due to several factors. Toyota’s culture where employees have a high level of trust for one another and deep understanding of the process thanks to the leadership to the Chief Engineer. The Chief Engineer (CE) is the head of the development project. This position is given to a senior engineer with a proven track record as an outstanding engineer and as one who is successful in using the â€Å"Toyota Way. † Management chooses CEs based on their ability to handle challenges and then tasks them with developing a vehicle that satisfies an overarching strategic direction. The CE acts as the voice of the customer who is the main focus of the LPDS. As such, the CE articulates the overall concept for the vehicle in a concept paper. This concept paper is the guiding principle that aligns the entire team working on the project. The CE is not the direct supervisor of the engineers working on the program, however, the CE does have full responsibility for the design’s success from development through sales and the concept paper ensures accountability. Unlike the â€Å"heavyweight project managers† the CE is imbued with more authority. Even without direct supervisory responsibilities, the position of CE is highly revered within the Toyota organization and commands great respect. Many within the Toyota family strive to achieve the role of CE. In fact, it is the continual striving for excellence that has helped Toyota to develop and maintain a culture of continuous learning. When an employee starts at Toyota, they undergo a long mentoring and socialization process. The socialization process that Toyota employees go through instills them with the spirit of Kaizen, which says that there is always an opportunity to learn and that learning is ongoing. This is reinforced by Toyotas practices of Hansei (reflection). Toyota builds in time and encourages its workers to step back and reflect on the work that they are doing. Toyota’s culture that embraces problems, because problems combined with Hansei can lead to Kaizen. This gives them a huge advantage over American car companies were problems are not valued and people will often cover up problems that they are having in order to maintain their status. By not embracing their problems, the problems get compounded as they are often discovered too late. TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY The best thinking to be used in choosing supporting technology is to think about it in terms the broader framework of your company’s people and processes. Toyota uses this thinking very effectively. At Toyota, technologies do not stand alone. On the contrary, their product development systems are all seamlessly integrated into their V-Comm system. This enables information to be passed quickly and efficiently to all team members. Toyota also adheres to a belief that technology should support your processes and not drive it. Consistency of process is valued at Toyota more highly than keeping up with the latest advancement. They chose technology to solve specific problems and do not look for a one size fits all solution. Finally, Toyota makes sure that the technological solutions are the right size for the problem rather than constantly going for the biggest and best. While Toyota uses this principled approach to technology, their tools that support successful innovation and organizational learning are not technology driven. Along with the V-Comm system mentioned earlier One of the first tools that is used is the CE’s concept paper. This paper is used to align the thinking of the product development team. It provides enough guidance that it allows the team to work in harmony, but at the same time, it gives the team enough flexibility that they are able to be creative. They also use a simple device called the A3 report, which distills problems and solutions down to their essence. It is really the process of reducing a problem to one sheet of paper that helps to hone the thinking and promote learning. However, the A3 also facilitates increased communication. They also use teardown analysis performed by the engineers who are working on the project and have a system of checklists that provide guidelines for product design. One of the most effective tools in Toyota’s arsenal is their constant and codified post-mortem process of Hansei. The standardization of Toyota’s processes allows the learning from this reflection to be captured and implemented. THREE CONCEPTS In looking at Toyota, one might say that they are an ambidextrous organization. Or one could say that they are successful because they have achieved a strong balance between the red and green quadrants of the Competing Values Framework. Much like Dell computers, Toyota’s culture looks very red on the surface. The strict adherence to checklists and standardization seem to indicate a company that is focused on control. But like Dell, the rigorous structures that the put in place are actually innovative (green). And in fact, the reason that Toyota and Dell are able to be successfully innovative is that they have these supporting structures in place. It is an interesting dichotomy to be at once extremely controlled and very innovative. However, by balancing these two aspects of the corporate culture, Toyota has gained great success. Toyota has also developed strategies that help it to avoid the â€Å"enemies of innovation†. First they use standardization to speed the innovation process to avoid lengthy development times. Second, by using tools like the concept paper, the Obeya, Hansei and standardization they are able to coordinate their efforts to a high degree. Third, they have come to grips with the risks that they are willing to take and have a high degree of trust throughout the organization. Finally, the CE truly understands the customer and has done much anthropological work to foster that understanding. KEY TAKE-AWAYS There were three main take-aways I gained from reading â€Å"The Toyota Product Development System: 1. Creating a culture that is aligned with your strategic goals is the greatest goal a manager could achieve. The Toyota LPDS works because it is engrained in the culture of the organization. The great reward for an engineer is to become a CE and lead a team in producing something that will best serve the needs of the customer. In order to become a CE, you have to demonstrate that you can work effectively within the systems of Toyota. This gives one a great incentive to work within the structure of Toyotas system. 2. Do not let technology drive your process, let your process drive technology. I was amazed to learn that a company with such advanced capabilities in development used checklist bound in three-ring binders to ensure that its processes were followed. It seems that most people, including myself, feel that newer and faster technology will lead to productivity breakthroughs. We are usually disappointed with the results. Toyota shows us that the problem is that technology without a solid process to back it up seldom works. If one can find technology that will improve a successful process, then it has great potential to have that breakthrough quality we expect. Toyota did this with their V-Comm system, which made the information previously stored in three-ring binders more accessible. 3. Structure leads to greater innovation It always seem counter-intuitive to me that by being more structured, one could be more creative. Having been trained as an artist, I often bristled at structure and standardization as I felt it stifled creativity. But Toyota’s LPDS made me realize that structure is the platform that allows innovation to happen. I then began to realize that within jazz music, there is a great deal of standardization. Jazz musicians spend years studying chord progressions, scales and modes and learning the songs that make up the jazz repertoire. They also spend years listening to other players and absorbing many of their ideas. This provides a foundation for musicians to communicate. Many people often ask me how it is that a group of jazz musicians who have never met before can come together for the first time and create great music together. It is because of the standardization of the repertoire that they are able to do that. The musicians know and understand the structure of a song and the â€Å"rules† for performing. This provides them with a common language to communicate their ideas to each other. In my own business, I see increasing our standardization preventing us from constantly reinventing the wheel. It is the best ways to promote and capture organization learning. The great challenge will be to change the culture, which I have created, from one that is adverse to structure to one that embraces it.

Leadership in Organizational Settings

Leadership in Organizational Settings Leadership can be defined as the ability to influence, motivate, and enable other people to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members (McShane, S.l., Von Glinow, 2010). The competency perspectives try to identity the characteristics of effective leaders. The leaders might have specific personality characteristics, such as positive self-concept, integrity, drive, and leadership motivation, knowledge of the business, cognitive and practical intelligence, and emotional intelligence. Besides that, the behavioural perspective of leadership identifies two types of leader behaviour, people-oriented and task-oriented (McShane, S.L., Von Glinow, M.A., 2012). The contingency perspective of leadership takes the view that effective leader diagnose the situation and adapt their style to fit the situation. There are four leadership styles in path-goal model: directive, supportive, participative, and achievement oriented and several contingencies relating to the characteristics of the employee and of the situation (Bolman Deal, 1991). According to the founders, there are two other contingency leadership theories include the situational leadership theory and Fiedlers contingency theory. Transformational leaders create a strategic vision, communicate that vision through framing and build commitment toward the vision. In this topic, cultural values also influence the leaders personal values, which is turn influence men or womens leadership practices. 1.2 Background of the Company: AirAsia In this assignment, we try to probe the leadership style of AirAsia. AirAsia is an airline company in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is focusing on low-cost with the dream of making flying possible for everyone. Tony Fernandes, the CEO of the AirAsia, who is the founder of Tune Air Sdn. Bhd. He is the one who introduced the budget no-frills airline. Now AirAsia is the largest low cost airline in Asia. AirAsia group operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 400 destinations spanning 25 countries. Its main hub is the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) which is located at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The vision of AirAsia is to be the largest low cost airline in Asia and serving three billion people who are currently underserved with poor connectivity and high fares. There are four mission of AirAsia: to be the best company to work for whereby employees are treated as part of a big family; to build a globally recognised ASEAN brand; to accomplish the lowest c ost so that everyone can fly with AirAsia and sustain the highest quality product, enchanting technology to reduce the cost (Company Profile of AirAsia Berhad, 2013) 2.0 CONTENT 2.1 Competency perspective of leadership Competencies encompass a broad range of personal characteristics, including knowledge, skills, abilities, and values. Personal characteristics significantly influence leadership emergence the perception that someone is a leader in a leadership situation. (Steven L. McShane, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). Leadership competencies can be grouped into seven categories such as: Emotional intelligence The important attribute of effective leaders. The leaders ability to monitor his or her own and others emotions, discriminate among them, and use the information to guide his or her thoughts and actions. Integrity Integrity refers to the leaders truthfulness and tendency to translate words into deeds. This characteristic is sometimes called authentic leadership because the individual acts with sincerity. Drive Drive represents the inner motivation that leaders posses to pursue their goals and encourage others to move forward with theirs. Drive inspires inquisitiveness, an action orientation, and boldness to take the company into uncharted waters. Leadership motivation The leaders need for socialized power to accomplish team or organizational goals. Effective leaders try to gain power so they can influence others to accomplish goals that benefit the team or organization. Self- confidence The leaders belief in his or her own leadership skills and ability to achieve objectives. Effective leaders are typically extroverted such as outgoing, sociable, talkative, and assertive, but they also remain humble. Intelligence The leaders above-average cognitive ability to process enormous amounts of information. Leaders have superior ability to analyze a variety of complex alternatives and opportunities. Knowledge of the business The leaders tacit and explicit knowledge about the companys environment, enabling him or her to make more intuitive decisions. 2.2 Transformational leadership Transformational leadership is about leading changing the organizations strategies and culture so that they have a better fit with the surrounding environment. Transformation leaders are change agents who energize and direct employees to new set of corporate values and behaviors. They create, communicate, and model a shared vision for the team or organization, and they inspire followers to strive for that vision. Next, Transformational leadership is particularly essential in organizations that require significant alignment with the external environment. There are several elements of transformational leadership: Create a strategic vision It refers transformational leaders establish a vision of the companys future state that engages employees to achieve objectives they didnt think possible. Strategic vision creates a higher purpose or superordinate goal that energizes and unifies employees. A strategic vision might originate with leader, but it is just as likely to emerge from employees, clients, suppliers, or other stakeholders. Communicate the vision It refers transformational leaders communicate meaning and elevate the importance of the visionary goal to employees. They frame messages around a grand purpose with emotional appeal that captivates employees and other corporate stakeholders. Framing helps transformational leaders establish a common mental model so that the group or bring their visions to life through symbols, metaphors, stories, and other vehicles that transcend plain language. Metaphors borrow images of other experiences, thereby creating richer meaning of the vision that has not yet been experienced. Model the vision Modeling the vision is also important because it builds employee trust in the leader. The greater the consistency between the leaders words and actions, the more employees will believe in and be willing to follow the leader. Build commitment toward the vision Build commitment toward the vision which is transforming a vision into reality requires employee commitment. Transformational leaders words, symbols, and stories build a contagious enthusiasm that energizes people to adopt the vision as their own. Leaders demonstrate a can do attitude by enacting their vision and staying on course. Their persistence and consistency reflect an image of honesty, trust, and integrity. Lastly, leaders build commitment by involving employees in the process of shaping the organizations vision. Application Competency Perspective of Leadership 1. Leadership motivation Toni Fernandes was a leadership motivation leader. He was very accessible to the media was entirely committed to his business. He tries to gain power and influence others to accomplish goals that benefit the team or organization. For example, he wore AirAsias official T-shirt and office red rap cap to almost every official function and sometimes he will serve the customers on the plane together with employees. (Tony Fernandes, 2012) He had done this action because he wanted to motivate his employees move toward together to achieve the goals. Besides that, Tony Fernandes was an outgoing, sociable and talkative person. He gave his phone number to all the media representatives, and was himself advertisement for his company. Although he was a Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia, but he also remain humble in front of others. Because of his personal characteristic and attitude, he was able to achieve their companys objectives and goals. He had became a good example for his employees, so that employees willing to follow him to accomplish the goals. 2. Intelligence Tony Fernandes was an intelligence leader. He had superior ability to analyze a variety of opportunities and alternatives. He had a good vision of the future because he was exploited the markets opportunities well. AirAsias vision is to be the largest low cost airline in Asia and serving the 3 billion people who are currently underserved with poor connectivity and high fares. (AirAsia Corparate Profile, 2012) Although the context was not very beneficial to enter the market, but Tony Fernandas chose to take the risk. He believed that he and his management team were able to analyze and manage the opportunities and alternatives with their intelligence. For example, Tony Fernandes had used his intelligence and finally transformed AirAsia from a heavily-indebted subsidiary into an industry player. Besides that, Tony Fernandes had started a hotel chain, Tune Hotels which is based on the no-frills concept by using his intelligence. He had involved in different industry in the marketplace. 3. Knowledge of the business Tony Fernandes had the knowledge about the business and companys environment which can enable him to make more intuitive decisions. For example, Tony Fernandes was the first person who entered the market segment of low costs and no frills. He did not take risks only by taking over AirAsia, but also in its drastic changes. Since the creation, he continually brought a lot of innovative concepts, such as, booking services for hostels, travel insurance, online booking and check-in, car rental, holiday products, credit card or medical care. He also deeply changed the business model of the airline company which is choosing a low-cost and no-frills strategy and moved down the value chain. Throughout the changes that had made by Tony Fernandes, we believe that Tony Fernandes had enough knowledge about the business. With this knowledge, he was able to achieve companys objectives and goals. 4. Drive Tony Fernandes was a leader who motivates and drives his employees (Allstars) to pursue their goals and encourage them to move forward with him. In AirAsia, Tony Fernandes had tried to introduce something in the management philosophy, where he wants people to pursue their dreams, pursue their passion. For example, Tony Fernandess childhood dreams included running an airline, owning an English football club and an owning Formula One racing team. (Tony Fernandes, 2012) Thus, Tony Fernandes decided to achieve and fulfill his dream by buying an existing airline and started to transform it into an industry player. At the same time, Tony Fernandes also encourage his employees (Allstars) to pursue their passion and drive them to move toward the goals. He had created an environment where people can learn, grow and do what turns them on. Because of this, employees were being motivated by Tony Fernandes and they started to pursue their goals together with Tony Fernandes. Transformational leadership 1. Create a strategic vision Tony Fermandes is a chief executive officer or director AirAsia Berhad and he is transformational leader because the business model of the airasia are changed by him which is Now everyone can fly a low-cost and no-frills strategy and moved down the value chain. It also has successful swiftly broken travel norms around the globe and has risen to become the best of the world. Tony Fermandes mortgaged his home and sank his savings to invest Airasia Company (Alesia Sion, 2012). Tony Fermandes have develop strategic vision of the company to which is Airasia be the largest low cost airline in Asia and serving the 3 billion people who are currently underserved with poor connectivity and high fares. As we know that, nowadays many airplane companies come out different strategies to make their company better than competitors so he has create a good vision for doing their business once he takeover the company. Form the year 2004, Airasia had achieved the low-cost airline awards is the low cost airline in the world. It proved that he successful to accomplish his company vision. 2. Communicate the vision Next, Tony Fermandes work hard to create an environment where employees can learn, grow and do what they should do in company. He also encourages employees to pursue their passions love their jobs at AirAsia based on their environment. Besides that, the nice quoted part every month he spends a day as a baggage-handler; every two months, a day as a cabin crew; every three months, a day as a check-in clerk (Shashank Nigam, 2009) to describe he always change jobs to get experience with different department. He also established a culture department to pass the message and hold parties. The workplace are different the traditional hierarchal Asian population which open plan workplace so that all employees can meet him by anytime. 3. Model the vision He also modeled the vision of the company which is to prove that he not only talks also enacts it to let everyone fly by providing low-cost airfares. Furthermore, the CEO Airasia Tony fernandes personal credo is dream the impossible, believe the unbelievable, and never take no for an answer. There was a real example which is started AirAsia Thailand, Tony was asked by a women about she wanna be a pilot, then tony replied that if she qualify he will hire her as a pilot. Lastly, she did and became a first officer and subsequently now she is a full-time captain and flying in the plane (Chris Forrest Harvey, 2012). This show that he let everyone can fly and also let everyone have the opportunity to become his workers help them to achieve their own dreams. 4. Build commitment toward the vision Lastly, Tony fernandes build commitment toward vision which transforms the vision in reality. He desire to start low-cost airline company then he has create the good vision of the company to let everyone can fly in reality. Therefore, AirAsia keep promote promotion package with low prices for customers to enjoy low prices fly to different places. AirAsia fares are significantly lower than those other airline service providers, websites fares also cheaper than frontline counter price and having free seats promotion to give the customers opportunity to enjoy and also for those who cannot afford the prices. It is to accomplish the vision everyone can fly in reality. Besides that, He break down hierarchy to encourage employees to speak out and breaking down walls for example he sit with his employees in an open floor plan and also let his contact number to his employees so they can just call, e-mail and SMS him directly and solve it quickly which do not need go through any department. Ev en the lowest ranking officers also can have his phone number to contact him directly which means he treats everyone as equal and willing to commit to their needs (Shashank Nigam, 2009). Disadvantages One main issue in related with Air Asia in leadership in organizational settings in which the competency perspective of Tony Fernandes may have several limitations. The leadership that Tony Fernandes applied might assume that the same personal characteristics are equally important in all situations. This may be false assumption as this perspective is too complex to have universal list of traits to apply to every conditions. Other than Air Asia, Tony Fernandes is the chairman for the Queens Park Rangers Football Club. Tony Fernandes keeps defend the football club with his own competency perspective that QPR football club that the club can overcome their conflict. This shows that Tony Fernandes had used the same personal characteristics equally in all situations whether in Air Asia or the QPR football club. The second limitations would be that the leadership Tony Fernandes has might influence only peoples perception that someone is leader, not whether Tony Fernandes makes a difference to the organizations success. This perspective only shows Tony Fernandess leadership potential instead of leadership performance. Therefore, it doesnt shows that the effectiveness of Tony Fernandess leadership compares to other perspective of leadership. One issue we can see that in the Air Asia wordpress showed that Tony Fernandes had cheated on the price of the shares of Air Asia. But then it was found out by the Australians effective enforcement that Melboure Federal Court imposed a huge fine of Aussie dollars 300,00 on Air Asia and Air Asia X for this misleading website information cheating its customers concealing charges of taxes. Why does this issue happen? It is simply because the dropping by the angry customers whore also the shareholders that would not trust anymore on Tony Fernandez and Air Asia over their scamming businesses deals and unfair deals to the customers. As for transformational leadership applies by Tony Fernandes, it can be only mention in general that leaders that are transformational when they successfully bring out the change, rather than when they engage in certain behaviors we call transformational. Therefore without the success done by Tony Fernandes towards the vision of Air Asia, Tony Fernandes would not be entitled of this perspective leadership. 3.0 RECOMMENDATION Competency perspective of leadership A company can achieve success if the leader can execute that the competencies that is difficult for others to replicate. In this competency perspective of leadership, Tony should organize a team to identify new directions or actions for the whole management. Besides that, he should often organize a meeting of the employee to discuss and clarify what they will need to do differently as a result of changes in the company. Problem solving or decision making process with the management team will be another alternative for Tony to have a better competency perspective of leadership. Emotional intelligence is an important skill that a leader required to influence his/her employee to perform well in their job. Therefore, Tony should have a good management for his emotional to prevent a conflict with his employee or having a wrong perspective decision due when his emotional level is low. Good leaders know their strengths and limitations, so they able to control their emotions and behaviors. Thus, Tony needs to strive for his personal development by engaging in continuous learning. Based on the learning, Tony should be able to adapt to stressful situations and be able to maintain a balance between his work and non-work lives. Lastly, Tony should have a leadership to maximize the potential of others and motivate them to attain shared goals. He must be able to manage individual and group performance with an understanding of group dynamics and team building. Tony needs to provide the drive for his employees to make them have better work performances. He should be understanding and be empathic toward individuals emotions and be able to resolve conflicts in a respectful manner. One of the ways to motivate the employee is to create a slogan of company to improve mutual relationship between company and employees. Besides that, Tony should play as a role model with competency attributes for his employees, and that will create a drive to make them set Tony Fernandes as a target to surpass. Transformational leadership Transformational leaders have the capability to successfully achieve the objective because of four attributes which including charisma, the ability to provide inspirational motivation, the ability to stimulate intellectually, and the ability to offer individualized consideration. According to Barnerji and Krishnan (as citied in Kasturi, 2012) a good transformational leader must possess the ability of articulating a convincing and realistic vision and focus others towards a new critical path. In certain circumstances, a company may need to be redesigned to support the whole transformational leadership. As we know, create a strategic vision is a fundamental element of a transformational leader to become successful. Tony Fernandes need to create and communicate his vision thus stimulate discussions with his subordinates. For example, he may run brainstorming meetings with the subordinates to present new organizational models. With this, the employees will be more understand on the company objectives and to have better job performances. Charisma is another important component to which a leader to behaves in commendable ways that cause employees to identify with the leader. Tony also needs to be a role model for their followers with having a clear set of values and demonstrating them in every decision. The leader and followers must build a mutual trust between each other on a solid moral and ethical foundation (Covey, 2007). Besides that, the leader must create an inspirational motivation for the employees as the motivation is appealing and inspiring to employees. For example, Tony Fernandes can communicate optimism about future goals with his employees to provide a motivation for them to perform better in the work field. It is important that this visionary aspect of leadership be supported by communication skills that allow the leader to articulate his vision with precision and power in a convincing and persuasive way. Therefore, a good communication skill is required to complete this element of being a transformational leader. Furthermore, Tony should acts as a mentor or instructor to the employee and listens to their apprehensions and needs. Tony can encompass the need to respect and celebrate with the employees for their individual contribution for the company. Tony can reward to those contributed employees for their good performance in job, this can motivate the employee to have a better commitment on their job. This way not only educates the next generation of leaders, but also fulfills the individuals need for self-actualization, self-fulfillment, and self-worth. It also naturally propels followers to further achievement and growth. According to Burns (as citied in Arachchi, 2012), it show that transformational leader as reflecting the traits and behaviors are required for initiating change. These leaders need to identify themselves as change agents and take responsibility for transformation. Generally, they are risk takers and courageous, believe in and trust people, have a clear values in motivation. In other words, Tony needs to deal with complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty and share his vision with the employees. To fulfill this element, Tony should show his confidence of taking risk in doing business and prove to his employees that he has the ability to do so. With that, the employees will be influenced by his leadership and help the company to achieve the goal. Recommendations Other Relevant Theory Other than competency and transformational perspective leadership, there is another theory that can be applied by Tony Fernandes to solve the problem which is implicit leadership perspective. The competency and transformational leadership perspectives make the basic assumption that leaders make a difference. However, leadership also involves followers perception about the characteristics and behaviors of a leader. This perceptual perspective of leadership is collectively called implicit leadership theory (Steven L. McShane, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). According to the implicit leadership theory, everyone has leadership prototypes which they use to evaluate the leaders effectiveness. Employees are more willing to allow someone to influence them as a leader if that person looks and acts like their prototype of a leader. Tony Fernandes should possess a good leadership prototype as he is the CEO of Airasia. These prototypes can be developed through socialization within the family and society, shape employees expectations and acceptance of others as leader, and this in turn affects employees willingness to serve as followers. Such leadership prototypes not only support Tony Fernandess role as a leader, they also form employees perception of the leaders effectiveness. If Tony Fernandes acts consistently with employees prototypes, they are more likely to believe that he is an effective leader. Besides that, as mentioned earlier, the leadership that Tony Fernandes applied might assume that the same personal characteristics are equally important in all situations, but this may be false assumption as this perspective is too complex to have universal list of traits to apply to every conditions. Therefore, the contingency perspective of leadership plays an important role to help Tony Fernandes to solve the problem. The contingency perspective of leadership is based on the idea that most appropriate leadership style depends on the situation. It assumes that effective leaders must be both insightful and flexible (Steven L. McShane, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). Tony Fernandes should put efforts to choose and enact different styles to match the uncertainty situation. Moreover he must have high emotional intelligence so that he can diagnose the circumstances and match his behaviors accordingly. 4.0 CONCLUSION The studied prove that there are two leadership theories have been implementing in the company, AirAsia: competency perspective of leadership and transformational leadership. There are seven dimensions has been found in competency perspective of leadership such as emotional intelligence, integrity, drive, leadership motivation, self-confidence, intelligence and knowledge of the business. However, Tony Fernandes only apply leadership motivation, intelligence, drive and knowledge of business in his business. Emotional intelligence and drive are recommended implement to the business to prevent the conflict with the employees and to increase the team performance. For the transformational leadership, it emphasizes to create a strategic vision, communicate the vision, modeling and build commitment toward the vision. In this case, Tony Fernandes has successfully applied all the four dimensions of the transformational leadership in the business. In the recommendation part, the need to create and communicate vision thus stimulate discussion with subordinates is a must to Tony Fernandes. He also need to create an inspirational motivation for the employees and communicate with employees will help them perform better in their work field. Hence, a good communication skill is required to being a transformational leader. Besides that, Tony needs to deal with complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty and also share his vision with the employees to influence them perform well to achieve the goal. There are some points can be identified and apply to other relevant theory, for example, implicit leadership theory. Implicit leadership theory emphasize the importance of involves followers perception about the characteristics and behaviors of the leader. And this point not mentioned in the competency and transformational leadership theories.

Macbeth: The Breakdown Of Character :: essays research papers

The two main characters in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, are Macbeth himself and his wife Lady Macbeth. Their marriage seems to be mainly one of convenience for Lady Macbeth, but for Macbeth it is clearly more than that. He loves his wife, and she takes advantage of that for her own gain. She is continuously making him feel guilty, for being weak, and for not being able to give her a child, as is suggested by her words, "I have given suck and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me". She also challenges his manhood, through words such as, "When you durst do it, then you were a man, and, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.", which loosely means, Be a man, and then I will admire you.Macbeth is originally a hero to Scotland, and a strong character. He is a Lord under the rule of King Duncan, and has no reason to feel unhappy with his position. It is only after the prophecies of the Weird Sisters, that he begins to long for the throne of Scotland, and even then needs Lady Macbeth to convince him to commit the murder.Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, begins as pure evil, and remains that way. She has previously been married, and is therefore presumed older and trickier than Macbeth. She appears to always be using him for her own gain, by using her femininity to seduce him into doing the wrong thing, and in this way she persuades him to kill the king.When Macbeth hears the prophesies of his future, he appears to disregard them, but when he is made Thane of Cawdor (as foretold), he already is considering murdering the king: "My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man that function is smothered in surmise and nothing is but what is not.". It is perhaps for this reason that he writes to Lady Macbeth, as though prompting her for some persuasion for him to kill Duncan, and she later refers to this as his agreement on the murder:"Nor time nor place did then adhere, and yet you would make both"; basically meaning that he was prepared to kill him before, and now he is too weak to go through with it.The breakdown of both characters is revealed through their soliloquies.

First Confession Essay examples -- essays research papers

Mrs. Ryan and the Priest In Frank O’Connor’s story â€Å"First Confession†, Mrs. Ryan and the priest are different. Mrs. Ryan and the priest approach Jackie differently and have different affects on him. Mrs. Ryan makes Jackie feel like a sinner in her approach to him. She teaches him how to examine his heart by asking himself a few questions, â€Å"Did we take the name of the Lord, our God in Vain? Did we honor our father and mother? Did we love our neighbors as ourselves? Did we covet our neighbors goods?†(614). This made Jackie feel like he is a sinner because he feels that he was not honoring his grandmother and feels that he coveted Nora’s penny she got every week from their grandmother. Mrs. Ryan affects Jackie by making him feel that confession is scary. After telling her story about the ma...

Race Class Gender

Chapter 8 worksheet Race, class, Gender 1. the alienated labor is when† private property and its owners hires and controls others and defines labor for them† Instead of results of one’s labor benefiting one’s self, the labor becomes a function that benefits the property owners (184). Therefore, capitalist get to hold on to their money by the â€Å"means of production†(184). In a capitalist society Owners vs. non-owners, conflict the rises between the â€Å"haves† and the â€Å"have not’s† are inevitable.Class structure is maintained by 3 mechanisms; State (ruling class asserting their common interest 185), Ideology (Ideas that support and legitimizes the position of capitalist 185) and the capitalist structure itself due to custom an training views the condition of capitalism a normal process and creates a dependency of workers on the system which makes it hard to resist or rebel. For Ma0rx the important issues structure of econom ic relations that drives everything else(185, 186. His ideology correlates with contemporary society because of the overabundance of productions which then leads to bankruptcy (2009 housing crisis)(188). . There are several factors that contribute to the development of capitalism, accumulation of capital as a result of increased trade and the opening up of the new world. Freed labour power, raw materials, means of production and a new market became available to capitalist. Systems of trade protection and taxes advanced the power of capitalism. There are 3 stages of capitalism: 1. Cooperation is when large numbers of laborers work together productively and efficiently to produce a given product under the mastership of one capitalist (187) 2.Manufacture is a detailed division of labor among workers who have been brought together to cooperate in the production of the capitalists products (187). L No one performs all tasks and each has a specific task to perform (187). 3. Modern (machin e) industry is the development and use of machines and replaces labor power which then increases surplus value for labor. 4. Durkheim’s viewed equality as the movement of society from â€Å"mechanical† to organic solidarity. Mechanical solidarity societies are homogenous and are based on the similarity of individual in it.Organic (modern) societies are distinguished as more complex and advanced. People perform roles so different they become interdependent in order for society to be effective. Durkheim viewed division of labor as central basis for integration in modern societies (202). In contrast Marx viewed vision of labor as the source of basic problems in capitalist society (202). Marx saw regulation in capitalist society as stifling human initiative whereas Durkheim saw moral regulation as necessary for individual liberty and happiness.