Leadership and decision making Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leadership and decision making - Research Paper Example based on the consultants summary regarding the candidate’s personalities. F.C. is an extravert. Extraversion shows how comfortable an individual is with the external environment (Michael 94). Extraverts enjoy being around people. They employ both informal and formal leadership styles and can be described as sociable, talkative and enthusiastic. They dominate conversations most of the times and are not good listeners (Griffin and Moorhead 580). On the other hand, introverts like A.M. and J.T. score poorly on the extraversion scale. Introverts would rather choose to work alone as opposed to working in groups. They are quite serious and maintain high levels of privacy in their affairs at work. F.C.’s extravert trait will be vital in leading the loan officer’s group. This position requires lots of team work in performing activities of accessing credit worthiness and characters of those seeking to secure loans from the bank. It is important to be sociable in order for the group leader to easily fit into the team she will be leading. This quality lacks in A.M. Even though J.T. is an extravert, F.C.’s personality is superior since she does not have a strong desire to dominate her peers. A passion to dominate others would lead to internal conflicts within the loan officers’ team leading to ineffective operations and lack of cooperation which is necessary if the team is to succeed in performing its duties. Agreeableness is a personality which determines how well a person is likely to get along with other people. This factor approximates the point at which a person tires from being defiant and submits to the pressing situation. This is mainly determined by qualities such as being cooperative, good-natured, forgiving, understanding, compassionate and trusting (Hilsenroth, Segal and Hersen 47). One needs to be able to accommodate others in order to be referred to as agreeable. From this point of view, individuals can be classified as chal lengers, negotiators or adapters. Challengers are sceptical, guarded, persistent, tough and competitive. They are viewed at times as rude, hostile and self-centred. Negotiators seek a win-win solution to problems. They therefore shift between being cooperative and being competitive. Adapters are viewed as humble, tolerant and accepting. They come across as naive, conflict-averse, submissive and at times unprincipled since they easily yield to pressing circumstances (Silverthorne 73). In order to lead the loan officers, the preferred candidate should be a negotiator. This will assist in the negotiations associated with the processing loans. Adapters are more likely to give out loan to highly risky borrowers without proper ways to mitigate the risk for the benefit of the company. Challengers are more likely to set the bar too high disqualifying potentially good borrowers and thus reducing the likelihood of the bank earning from interests accruing from such loans. F.C. has been describ ed as competitive even though she does not exhibit â€Å"a strong desire for dominance†. This shows that she is a negotiator scoring well in the perspective of agreeableness. The next personality dimension which is vital in evaluating leadership qualities in an individual is conscientiousness. This shows the extent to which a person is dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented and persistent. Conscientious leaders are good at making long-range goals and do well at organizing routes to

Self-discovery and change while attending the University of Bridgeport Term Paper

Self-discovery and change while attending the University of Bridgeport - Term Paper Example Identifying with these domains can result to our senses being taken over by endless thoughts or floods of emotion, a suffering that most people know well. That is what I was going through upon realizing that I had cancer. In the spiritual world, the domain of consciousness or awareness arises. People become detached from the domains of thought, emotions, and body. It seems like 'nothing matters' because they think they do not exist. It is important to integrate the domain of awareness into one's life. The misconception I had was that I failed to realize that in order for me to integrate myself with the spiritual world, I must be fully aware of my present situation first. People believe they are being spiritual by holding themselves in the domain of consciousness. An integrated person will move freely from one domain to another. No domain is of higher value than another. When people experience through the domain of emotions, it would be a mistake to talk as if they are in the domain o f awareness. The ideology of 'nothing matters' is not applicable when it is evident that a person's feelings is important. Upon the realization of my situation, I have yet to discover myself. I was able to achieve this during my study at Bridgeport University. People have different needs, which depends on which domain they are experiencing their reality through. Each domain has its own needs that are absolutely natural for every being. The consciousness domain needs the body mind to exist, whereas the domain that caters to emotion needs love (Powers, 2000). An essential theme in literature is that of self-discovery, which can come in different ways to different characters. For some, a moment of understanding occurs, an epiphany in which the individual suddenly sees more clearly. For others, it comes only after several years of developing awareness slowly. For many, both can be true at the same time, as years of understanding can coalesce in a moment of epiphany. Both Pip in Charles Dickens's novel "Great Expectations" and Gabriel in James Joyce's "The Dead" spent their lifetime learning before they were able to achieve a fuller understanding of some of the aspects of their world. Pip's life is bound with issues of social hierarchy and class. The concept of parents plays an important role in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, wherein parentage determines one's social status. As for my case, I have spent time in Ecuador before coming into realization, which transpired upon my attendance at the University of Bridgeport. In one of the short stories among the nine stories called Teddy, Teddy and the student discussed a variety of topics. Throughout the discussion, the extent of Teddy's knowledge surprised Nicholson. Teddy shared his insights about the nature of the universe. His explanation of the relationship between space and time closely reflected the Vedanta Karma theory and he claimed to remember details about his previous lives. Teddy revealed that in his p revious life, he was a man in India who was inclined towards spiritual advancement, but stopped meditating after meeting a woman. He discussed about enlightenment and how to elevate spiritually by purging oneself of logic. Through reading Teddy's explanations, I was able to take myself into the real logical world, thus guiding me to taking life as it is. My journey began when my parents did not want to accept that my arms needed to be cut off, so they sought for

Insurance Company Case Study and Analysis

Insurance Company Case Study and Analysis This Life Insurance Company Ltd. is one of the famous insurance companies in India offering various effective life insurance policies. This Life Insurance Company Limited is often known as Tata AIG Life. This Life is a joint venture of the Tata Group and American International Group, Inc. (AIG). Offers many standard custom made life insurance policies. It is one of the oldest and leading business group of India. Tata group has a long association with Indias insurance sector being the largest insurance company in India prior to the nationalization. American International Group INC is leading US board International insurance financial service organization this Life Insurance Company Limited or this insurance company brings to you a wide choice of life insurance policies for individuals, small and large business industries and for ventures. Apart from these, the company also provides additional life insurance coverage to assure the clients an insurance policy designed for them. The Tata Group holds 74 % stake in the insurance venture with AIG holding the rest 26%. Tata AIG Life provides insurance solutions to individuals and corporate sectors. This Life Insurance Company received license for operating in India on February 12, 2001 and started its operations on April 1, 2001. CEO of TATA -AIG is Mr. Ian J. Watts Joydeep K. Roy, the alternative channels. The various life insurance policies and services offered by the Tata AIG Life include:- For individuals: Life Health First MahaLife Gold Life Invest Assure Plus Life Invest Assure II Life Health Protector Life Invest Assure Care Life Invest Assure Gold Life Health Investor Life Invest Assure Extra Life Plus Life Shubha Life Life Easy Retire Life Assure Security Growth Plan Life Assure Money Saver Life Raksa Life Assure Golden Plan For Children: Life Assure 21 years Money Sanchay Life Assure Career Builder Life Star kid Life Invest Assure Plus Life Assure Educated at 18 Retirement Plans: Life Nirvana Life Easy Retire Life Invest Assure Gold Corporate life insurance products offered by this Life Insurance Company Ltd:- The Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited also offers various corporate life insurance products that include Group Pension Employee Benefit Workplace Solution Credit Life THE CASE American Insurance group in USA will have a bearing on its business in India, particularly its insurance business which it is running in collaboration with Tata. However sources in the industry say that policy holders are not required to worry as the financial condition of insurance subsidiaries of AIG in India is quite stable, and they are able to meet all the liabilities emerging out of claims from their policy holders. Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) has also expressed its concern over the recent developments in the United States financial markets. AIG, which is one of the leading insurance group of US, has asked financial assistance from the Federal Reserves. AIG is operating in both the life and non-life insurance sectors. In a statement IRDA said that reports of life insurance and general insurance companies promoted by Tata and AIG as on March 29, 2008 indicated that both companies have satisfactory solvency position which suggests that they have enough assets which is capable of meeting their liabilities. IRDA further clarified that life and general insurance companies promoted by Tatas and AIG are companies registered under the Indian Companies Act and are restricted by the provisions of the Insurance Act . From the reliable sources we found that policy holders should wait for clarification before taking any decision. AIG in USA has a solvency issue but in India there is no liquidity issue due to the intervension of IRDA. So there may not be a problem in the Indian insurance market. Though in many countries, policy holders are in a hurry to cancel their policies, but in India there is no need to take such steps. Thus Industry experts said that there is no need to worry and policy holders should keep their insurance policies intact. This companys general insurance is among the top 5 general insurance companies of the world and has earned a net premium of RS.812 in 2008-09. This company is also one of the leading primary sectors and has earned a yearly premium of Rs.970 corer. Solution of the case One of the officials Tata said that if AIG is not able to survive in the USA is forced to file for insolvency, Tata will buy out the 26% share of AIG in both the companies and the customers interest will remain safe. Then find some other foreign company and sell that 26% to them. So IRDA took the decision that they will seek a new promoter incase Tatas buys out the share or not the policiers interest will remain unaffected. But later on the matter settled down and AIG somewhat regained its lost position and thus Tata decided not to buy off their shares and till date they are continuing their insurance company together. Conclusion In India the insurance market was suffering before but now it has regained its lost status. But still now Life Insurance Corporation of India acquires 64% share of the entire insurance holders followed by ICICI prudential which has only 9% approx. of the market. Tata AIG has almost a negligible Insurance market share which is less than 2%. So they need to work a lot in order to establish their hold in Indian market.

World Bank Report & World Development Report Essay example -- essays r

Starting from the year 1990, the international community has set up plans to eliminate poverty in the world by the year 2015 with a set of specific goals to be achieved by that date. These goals were set up according to the studies done beforehand, that showed where and what the major poverty areas and problems in the world were. These studies explained that although the poverty problem was extensive, there were several factors of which the crisis was mainly constituted. The first problem was extreme income poverty, with almost half the world's population living on less than $2 a day, and a fifth living on less than $1 daily. Another major problem was education, which encompassed many aspects. Not only wasn't primary education compulsory in many regions, but there were also problems regarding women getting equal education to men, due to cultural, social and economic barriers. The third main problem area was health, where child mortality rates, for example, were alarming; 'in rich countries fewer than 1 child in 100 does not reach its fifth birthday, while in the poorest countries as many as a fifth of the children do not'. After getting these goals in focus and setting these plans in motion, it was discovered that they weren't going as well as planned. It was found that the goals were pretty unrealistic compared to the conditions and the time period. For example, one of the goals was 'cutting income poverty by half'. This could only be achieved, if income poverty decreased by 2.7% annually between 1990 and 2015, which didn't happen, because studies showed that between 1990 and 1998, it decreased by only 1.7% annually. This failure to achieve the objectives was mainly because of the inequality of the world; inequality in distribution of income, inequality in cultural and religious conditions, inequality in practically too many facets of life to be able to control or conform to a generalized plan. So, from the outcome of this attempt and from going back to the reports of previous decades, a new strategy to eliminate poverty was laid out, based on three fundamental interrelated concepts that could be adapted to each community differently according to its individual conditions. These concepts are promoting opportunity, facilitating empowerment, and enhancing security. In promoting opportunity, the government plays an important role, in making it easy for ... ...le, it says that the governments have to improve their facilities and services, like health, education and infrastructure, so as to give the poor equal opportunities. In the WBR, on the other hand, it says that in needy countries, the World Bank actually finances and funds their infrastructure and educational programs. In the WBR it mentions many different things of this sort, while in the WDR it only clarifies the plan that should be adopted by the countries. Another difference is that in the WBR it is sort of dealing with clients that it wants to please and to better its performance for, and that its plan for reducing poverty, is only part of what it does, in order to reach this goal. The WDR was dealing with the poverty problem only, so I think it sounded more involved in it and more giving in attention to this problem only, using greater detail. I think that for the general public, the WDR is much easier laid out and written, with sufficient background information, plenty of detail and a more humanitarian side of the issue. The WBR is much more disordered, financially oriented, with much greater monetary detail and not much emphasis on the compassionate side of the problem.

Important for an organization

Why Is It Important for an organization to undergo this type of transformation? It Is essential for an organization to modernize and change In to the way It does business when business needs change and when the political and social aspects change. Transformation in an organization covers a vast variety of needs and activity, this is generally aimed at improving performance CE and productivity for an organization to survive. This can be achieved in many ways, from growth , innovation, skills development, as well as through downsizing, layoffs and replacement as well as haft in assets resources or market shares.In Moses cases organizations have little chance but to change. As the global world move faster mans faster mans shift unpredictably organizational transformations Is needed and required. Conventional thinking suggest that when there Is a right business structures In place It will provide suffuse cent amount of innovation, and agility for an organization to succeed and sustain. I n most cases the business decisions that were once clear and knowing are becoming more complicated and ambiguous. This leads to skilled individuals with very good track record to fail in c elaboration.They are unable to work together to understand challenges, and form a game plan to resolve them. They continue to be falling back to traditional foundries and turf wars. When collaboration with others and coordinate across supply chain remains elusive. Innovation is stalled mans customer focus is uncoordinated and uneven implementation. Change Is the only constant In the world today. To have a successfully translator or change In an organization It to first engage the people who will help make the change append.Its not change that causes failure but the translation process. Some organizational change is small like a department but others are large that in voles an entire organization. Regardless of the change there will always be resistant to change even if the old way is outside and u nproductive. Transition process has 3 places Letting go of the old Natural zone Embracing new normal Take prattle approach toward the upcoming change. This Is best accomplish by forming a change management ream to help prepare he organization.Inshore, when n organization Is stuck when frustrated executive work hard and long with Limited success, staff at all level are overwhelmed, guarded and cynical that is when employ to successfully manager through this transition? Define roles – managers who initiates the dead of change and points out the need, the managers who coordinates the transition, the managers who rallies the company to get behind the change and the managers responsible for seeing the chase through Identify need-?an organizations change can only happen when the organization feels the change is added.Change in leadership/management/employees bring in new to re-energize Get out side help via consultations and cooperate resources – a team to implement change f rom the old to new The ability to integrate systems collaborate await prairies and coordinate across the supply chain remain elusive. Innovation is hampered and stilled. Customer focused strategies ay uncoordinated and implementation is uneven. Organizational transformation is a process that no existing organization will miss in the organizational life cycle.Digitization that sis not go through transformation have probably ceased to exist because organizations that do not grandson to match with the external environment will onto survive the wave of change forgiven by external environment. Organizational transformation should be viewed as a holistic approach to a radical change which covers the entire context of an organization from ecological to humanist aspect. Every organization has some ability to stretch to adapt to changer, however at times organization are stretch t their limits and will lose the elasticity to spoon to changer.This is the time where transformation needs to tak e place to redesign the organization fro new challenges. Leadership as the criteria of cusses in organization, more so in the time of organization transition. The breaking of organizations culture, the values vision mans mission changes, the leadership changes , organization restructuring or even the organization members' internal value reformation will push an organization beyond its limits and trigger the transformation process. The forces that are external to the organization or beyond he control of the organization or beyond the control of the organization.Some are technologicaladvancement, economy condition, political and social reformation, changes in legal requirement and industry revolution. The factories influencing the success of organization transformation goes hand -in -hand with the internal forces; they are organization strategies, structure, leadership, values, culture and organizations monomers spirit. The success in manipulating these factors stated will help the or ganization successfully transform into a more agile and powerful entity hat is able to withstand both external and internal forces.Every organization operate as a system, either an efficient one or one that is in efficient. Organization transformation was needed because the system in an organization is falling apart, due to its inefficiency. When the system is broken, members of the organization will not be able or see themselves as part of the organization. There is no clarity of their positions and functions in the system. New leaders of the organization need to reestablish the system. The systems thinking before, during and after the

Is the Octoroon a Typical Victorian Melodrama

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the genre of melodrama as, â€Å"a stage play, usually romantic and sensational in plot†, this description certainly applies to The Octoroon. It was an extremely popular form of stage drama and what I will discover is whether its themes, content and structure are typical of the Victorian period melodrama. From the first time it was presented at the start of the nineteenth century, melodrama attracted big audiences. It started out very popular with the lower classes in society but as the century progressed melodrama became appreciated by large sections of society(Leaver,444). It usually contained themes of love, murder and honour. Audiences that went to see melodrama’s were looking for cheap entertainment that was accessable for all and didn’t require a knowledge of other more sophisticated modes of drama. As the genre progressed, events on stage became more and more sensational, none more so than the burning steamboat scene in The Octoroon(Faulkner,35). Melodrama contains a few characters that are common to the majority of plays, the hero, the heroine, an old woman, an old man, a comic woman and a comic man. These characters are reproduced constantly(Booth,26). Evidence of these stereotypical characters in The Octoroon is blindingly obvious. A common component of melodrama was the upkeep of strict moral justice, and social and ideological justice aswell. This is evident in the American ending of The Octoroon, when Zoe takes poison to commit suicide, thinking that because of the society she lives in, she cannot be with her beloved George. Maybe Boucicault felt that the American audience’s sense of moral justice could not allow Zoe and George to be together. Dion Boucicault was one of the most successful and prolific dramatists of the nineteenth century. He produced a huge number of plays of which the exact number is between 135 and 400 titles (Kosok,82). He is a prominent figure in Victorian era drama and is said to belong to more than one national literature, Irish, English and the United States. He is said to have â€Å"combined sentiment, wit and local colour with sensational and spectacular endings†(Nova). His greatest successes however, were on London’s stages. Only three of his plays were to have an American setting, The Octoroon is one of these. The version of The Octoroon Boucicault used in Britain differs from the version he premiered In the U. S. A. The U. S version had a tragic ending while the London version had a happy one. At the British Premiere in the Adelphi Theatre on November 18th, 1861, to the shock of boucicault and the performers, the fifth act was hailed with boos and jeers from the crowd. Zoe’s suicide angered the British audience. They had heard that Southerners sometimes found a way around the problem of mixed-race marraiges by cutting their veins and mixing blood(Enkvist,167). Some argued that the audience had felt it wasn’t melodramatic enough, even though there was a slave sale and a burning steamboat in the play. One critic said, â€Å"Deep tragedy will not do for melodrama†. The audiences active dislike of the death of Zoe, forced Boucicault to substitute a more happier ending(Enkvist,170). At the end of the play in the London version, the mixed race couple, Zoe and George are united. The fifth act which shows Zoe’s final agony and death is simply omitted. Boucicault was perhaps showing that Victorian British audiences harboured less predjudices and could accept the marraige of a young southerner of good birth to a slave girl and see nothing unusual in that ending(Degen,76). More likely he was giving the audience what they wanted by changing the ending to one that is more appropriate to the melodramas that the Victorian public would have been used to. This ending shows me that boucicault altered his play to fit the British publics preconceptions of what a melodrama should be, therefore making it into a standard melodrama for the time. The fact that the plot in The Octoroon is based around the topic of slavery shows us that it is in someway different from other melodrama’s of the time. Slavery was a hot topic when the Octoroon was produced and some argue that it is abolitionist in its tone. Victorian melodrama’s while sensational, tended to be centered around more common everyday settings and themes. Some argue that the play is abolitionist in its tone but I disagree. Boucicault himself denied the piece was meant to be an anti-slavery statement(Degen,173). In a letter to The New York Herald in December 1859, Boucicault explains that he is not taking sides, â€Å"I have laid the scene in the South, and, as slavery is an essential element of society there, insomuch I have been obliged to admit it into my scheme. . . .I believe the drama to be a proper and very effective instrument in the discussion of all social matters. . . .It is by such means that the drama can be elevated into the social importance it deserves to enjoy. Therefore I have involved in ‘The Octoroon’ sketches of slave life, truthful I know, and I hope gentle and kind†(NY Times,6/12/1859). I think that the use and portrayl of slavery in The Octoroon is not Boucicault venting his feelings on slavery, but just the background and setting of the overall text and his honest view of the South. There are no anti-slavery tirades in the play and the villian of the piece, McClosky, is not a Southern slave-owning tyrant but an Northener(Faulkner,35). I think this shows that The Octoroon is being different from other melodramas of the time by containing a divisive topic like slavery but it is also being typical of its counterparts by not being a political piece of drama.