Belbin Team Role Theory Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Belbin Team Role Theory - Assignment Example Coordination and cooperation of team members are essential for the success of teamwork. In a team, all the members work in a supportive environment. Each member of the team is just like a link in a chain. The chain can be broken even if only one link of the chain became weak. Same way, the weak performance of even a single team member may destroy the entire goals of the team. In order to prevent that all the team members will take more care in helping each other and the weak links in teams need particular attention from others. A team leader should coordinate the team functions and he should be able to identify the weak links in the team and should take remedial actions to strengthen that link. In a team, different people may have different roles. Specialists, shapers, team workers, completers/finishers, implementers, resource investigators, coordinators, evaluators, planters etc are most common in all the teams (Belbin team role theory). Consider the construction of a building. Engineers, architects, masons etc are the specialists in this construction team. Shapers, in this case, are the construction managers who streamline the construction work in the right track.  

Developing Strategies to Address Strategic Issues Assignment

Developing Strategies to Address Strategic Issues - Assignment Example The organization offers health care services through their free clinics and not-for-profit pharmacies located in different parts of the world, thereby assisting the poor. The strategic issue identified in the organization concerns the increasing demand from the patients, and on the other hand, different forms of institutions that offer healthcare service are decreasing significantly (American Hospital Association, 2009). There is need to apply the five processes to this strategic issue in order to determine the most helpful in a formulation of a strategy. The practical alternatives that can be applied in solving the problems arising from this strategic issue are seeking financial aid from other organization, from the governments and donors. Therefore, this can help AmeriCare to gather funds for setting up more facilities to deal with increasing demand from patients in future. The possible barriers to realizing the alternatives are interference by the political and economic factors. For instance, various political actors in certain countries can set policies that have a negative impact on operations of the organization. On the other hand, the economic factor such as a recession can hinder expansion of facilities and receive of government aid. Some of the major proposals that can be pursued to achieve alternatives, dreams and to overcome the barriers are to create awareness of the organization among independent parties that do not have government interferences (Bryson, 1988). Given that, these parties can assist the organization even during the recession; this can help overcome barriers and facilitate achievement of the dreams. Therefore, there is need to develop marketing strategies to promote the organization, whereby numerous parties will be informed about the existence of the organization and the responsibilities taken by the organization in the society (Taylor, 1984).  

Case Study #2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

#2 - Case Study Example Gasoline is most commonly used as a fuel in vehicles which makes it one of the most important commodities in human life today. One of the characteristics of a necessary item is that its price should stay within the affordable limits of the general public, so that they are not deprived from its usage under any circumstances. But, gasoline price is found not to adhere to this rule and had often been subjected to wide variations, a consequence of similar variations in oil prices. The impact of such price movements is more intensely felt in the Western economies where almost every household owns a car. The following diagram is evidence of the wide fluctuations in gasoline prices in USA over five years (2004-2008). In fact, the mean and standard deviations of the gasoline prices, which are 251.38 (cents per gallon) and 62.15, over the five year span being considered, are also evident of wide variations in the same. The present study tries to investigate the causes and effects of wide fluctuations in gasoline prices in context of the US economy. USA being one of the highest GDP earning nation in the world and also the one with the highest per capita income, is a good ground for the study since oil has become more like a mode of daily life for the Americans. Hence, any fluctuations in the price level of the same, will have a widespread impact on the lifestyle of the nationals. The research outcome will help the residents of the country to get more aware of the possible impact of a rising oil price and thus they will be in a position to anticipate beforehand how they might be affected when subjected to such price fluctuations, and thus shield themselves accordingly. The fluctuations in oil prices and hence that of gasoline could be owed to a large proportion of oil being produced in the Middle East nations which, having formed an organization in themselves (OPEC) enjoy almost a monopoly power over the price movements of the

Air Travelers Profiling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Air Travelers Profiling - Essay Example Profiling systems are a part of the legal structure for security which has become an established part of what airport security and counter terrorism today has created for us. The Patriot Act and the Real ID act are just two examples of how civil liberties have become less important than the idea of securing a nation from its own citizens. Another negative aspect of the law is the ability of law enforcers to detain individuals without presenting them arrest warrants or allowing them to seek legal advice without granting them security clearance. Halperin (2003) reports exactly such an incident when he was held at gunpoint in a restaurant while federal officers checked for his legal status in the United States (even though he was an American citizen) and quizzed him about his out of state driving license.The law appears to have served its purpose in reducing attacks on American soil and American citizens. If simple safety is a measure of how successful the laws have been then there can be little argument that the laws have been largely successful in keeping us safe even though from the articles described by Hudson, it does not appear that Americans feel any safer. It must be remembered that the American governmental and administrative system is founded on the basis of checks and balances which control how much power the government can actually have.If the profiling rules are seen by enough people as being too harsh, or they are seen as being against the Constitution itself, I believe that we can trust the judicial system.

Scarlett Letter Feminist Criticism Essay Example for Free

Scarlett Letter Feminist Criticism Essay While Hawthorne is influenced by stereotypes, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne does serve to criticize patriarchy as he creates a plausible individual who is strong in the face of patriarchal opposition. Hester turns her punishment into a life changing experience by becoming a better, stronger, and more independent person than she was at the beginning of the novel. The way she handles her punishment does not make it right but it did make her a strong woman to be admired. It is when Hester takes on the task of owning the punishment all on her own that she shows she is a feminist well efore her time. She does not do what is expected of women during the time in which the story takes place. Hester demonstrates that she is strong in the face of patriarchal oppression and the scrutiny of the community in which she lives. Hawthorne writes â€Å"But under the leaden inflictions which it was her doom to endure, she felt at moments, as if she must needs to shriek out with the full powers of her lungs. † (49) The town’s people are watching Hester so disapprovingly that she is tempted to scream out at them, but Hester remains silent hile the whole town is looking down upon her and her infant child because of her sin of adultery. Hester would not let the people see her as weak or show how it humiliated her to be standing before the crowd with the letter A embroidered upon her bosom. It is here Hester shows such strength and courage, at a time when women were thought of as weak. Hawthorne continues to write, â€Å"Speak out the name! That, and thy repentance, may avail to take the scarlet letter off thy breast. † â€Å"Never! Replied Hester Prynne. † (58) It is here that Hester refuses to answer the Reverend Mr.  Wilson, as is expected of her, when the head of church ask her to name thy baby’s father. Women were expected to obey men of authority and for Hester to refuse to name her baby’s father, shows that she is very strong even in the presence of authority and will not be submissive. She holds steadfast in keeping quiet and not naming the baby’s father and therefore taking on the punishment all on her own, as she will not speak out the father’s name as demanded of her. It is through her silence that Hester showed great inner strength and does not succumb to how she was feeling on the inside. Hawthorne tells us â€Å"It may seem marvelous, that this woman should still call that place her home. † and further writes â€Å"With the world before her,-kept by no restrictive clause of her condemnation† â€Å"free to return to her birthplace, or to any European Land. † (67) Once Hester’s confinement is over she is free to leave town, but she stays and makes a home for her and her daughter Pearl. Hester of her own free will did not flee when she was free to go. Instead of leaving where she would have been free from judgments and ridicule, she chooses to stay and face her punishment. It is ecause Hester chooses to face her punishment alone and remains adamantly silent when asked to name her baby’s father, that she is strong in the face of patriarchal oppression and authority. Hester quietly takes up a productive place in the oppressive society in which she lives. Hawthorne describes how Hester provides for herself and her child by saying â€Å"She possessed an art that sufficed, even in a land that afforded comparatively little scope for its exercise, to supply food for her thriving infant and herself. † (68) It is because of Hester’s fine sewing skills that she is able to provide an income for her and Pearl. Hester’s needlework is so delicate and beautifully done that women of court or those of wealth sought her out for their intricate embroidery needs. Hawthorne shows us how Hester is charitable when he says â€Å"Hester bestowed all her superfluous means in charity, on wrenches less miserable than herself and who not infrequently insulted the hand that fed them. Much of her time, which she might readily have applied to better efforts of her art, she employed in making coarse garments for the poor. † (70) This proves that even though the people in her community shunned her, Hester was kind hearted and willingly o help those less fortunate than her, even when they would insult her and talk among themselves behind her back. Hester did not have much in ways of means, but she selflessly gives her time and efforts to make clothes for the poor. Hawthorne tells us how Hester mothers her daughter Pearl when he writes â€Å"In this little lonesome dwelling, with some slender means that she possessed, and by the license of her magistrates† â€Å"Hester established herself with her infant child. † (68) Hawthorne further writes â€Å"She early sought to impose a tender, but strict, control over the infant immortality that was ommitted to her charge. † (76) Hester is mindful of her own faults in life that she is careful not to be too strict and to show tenderness to her child. Sometimes not knowing how to mother, Hester would stand aside and let Pearl act on her own accord and let her become her own person. Hester with her sewing skills, her charitable deeds for the poor and raising Pearl on her own shows how she quietly takes up a productive place in the oppressive society in which she lives. Even though the towns people continued to look down on Hester, she did not let it stop her from living her life and he lping others in need. Hawthorne creates a plausible individual in his central character, Hester Prynne as she is not the typical Puritan woman and goes against the grain and what is expected of her. Hawthorne shows us how Hester is self-reliant when he states â€Å"What others might seek in vain, or because Hester really filled the gap which must otherwise have remained vacant; it is certain that she had ready and fairly requited employment for as many hours as she sees fit to occupy her needle. † (69) Hester shows that she does not need a man in her life to provide for her and her baby. She is self reliant, when women of her day were dependent upon their husbands to provide for all their needs. She works hard and works as long as she needs to provide the necessities that she and Pearl need all on her own. Hawthorn demonstrates Hester’s bravery by standing up for herself when he writes â€Å"I can teach my little Pearl what I have learned from this! Answered Hester Prynne, laying her finger on the red token. Women it is thy badge of shame! Replied the magistrate. It is because of the stain which the letter indicates that we would transfer thy child to others hands. (92) Hawthorne further says â€Å"God gave me that child! Cried she. He gave her in requital to all else, when ye had taken from me. She is my happiness! -she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me in life! † (94) Women were not to speak out against authority especially male authority, but Hester stands up for herself and defends why Pearl should not be taken away from her care. This shows great bravery and her deep love for her child. Hester shows personal strength everyday during her punishment when Hawthorne writes â€Å"When strangers looked curiously at the scarlet letter,- and none ever ailed to do so,- they branded it fresh into Hester’s soul: so that, oftentimes, she could scarcely refrain, yet always did refrain, from covering the symbol with her hand. † (72) When ever Hester was to walk into town those who did not already know her would stop and stare at the letter upon her chest. Even though Hester wanted to hide the shame of the letter she did not, she forced herself not to cover the letter and to carry on. It is because of Hester’s strong will that she is able to face her punishment everyday, wearing her sin bravely out in the open. She did not let it stop her from living her life and going about her daily routine or making a good life for her and her daughter Pearl. Women in Hester’s day would have been too weak to venture into town all by themselves, instead they would have chosen to stay hidden, as to not having to face their sin. Also, they would not have walked with their heads up, instead would have kept their heads down as to not see the stares upon them, the fingers pointing at them or to hear words of insult directed at them. They would have been too weak to handle the daily scorn as bravely as Hester did. In conclusion one can see how Hester is a plausible individual who is strong in the face of patriarchal opposition and authority. Women during this time were seen as fragile, submissive, totally dependent upon and controlled by the men in their lives. Hester proves that she is neither of the above mentioned. She alone provides for her child, she was not dependent on anyone, she stood up for herself when threatened to lose Pearl, she did not submit when asked over and over again to name her baby’s father. What should have made Hester weak and shameful only made her a stronger, and better erson who learned to be self-reliant. In the end Hester’s good deeds and the way she carried her punishment turned her sinful letter â€Å"A† for adultery, into a new meaning among the people in her community. The letter â€Å"A† was now redefined by society as someone who was â€Å"Abel† capable and strong. The way Hester handled her punishment made her a strong and independent woman who defied the way a women was expected to be and act during patriarchal times, she showed us over and over again how she was a feminist before her time and in the end she finds favor with the women folk who now sought her out for advice.

Powerlessness: Cause And Effect Of Poverty

Powerlessness: Cause And Effect Of Poverty Powerlessness is a cause and effect of poverty because people living in absolute poverty often have no political power and is subjected to exploitation by the state. They lack protection, and report widespread corruption within state education and health care systems. Poor people in many countries speak of being kept waiting endlessly while the rich of the country go to the head of the queue. Situations like these create more problems for that already in absolute poverty, and continue to divide the rich from the poor without providing any help. The problem with a lack of voice and power as a cause of poverty is that it enforces a lack of voice and power as an effect of poverty, creating a continuous cycle that deliberately separates the poor of a country from the rich. The last major cause and effect of poverty is vulnerability. Natural disasters, economic crises, and conflict leave the poor very vulnerable, with nobody to help and a lack of resources to use to help themselves. This idea is best expressed through the story of a poor villager from Benin, in the World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty. Three years ago was a very bad year. The flood washed away all our crops, and there was a lot of hunger around here, to the point that many people actually died of hunger. They must have been at least a dozen, mostly children and old people. Nobody could help them. Their relatives in the village had no food either; nobody had enough food for his own children, let alone the food for the children of his brother or cousin. And few had a richer relative somewhere else who could help. This is a perfect example of the vulnerability that is both a cause and effect of poverty. The relatively poor can become the poorest through disasters, both eco nomic and natural, and conflict, which causes more vulnerability that affects their ability to escape poverty. Poverty and conflict are often closely linked. In many developing countries there are huge contrasts in access to power and control of resources, leading to a sense of powerlessness within the poor of the country. This unfair distribution of wealth, power and often land creates conflict, as those with the advantage battle the disadvantaged in order to maintain their advantages. In El Salvador, during the 1980s, Oxfam worked to alleviate poverty and suffering intensified by years of armed conflict. The roots of this conflict lay in the unequal distribution of power, wealth and resources. Poverty causes, and is effected by, many different other global issues. A set of international development goals were created by the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank, to address inequities in income, education, access to health care and the inequalities between men and women. In 2000 these goals were updated and the United Nations Millennium Declaration committed all countries to doing everything possible to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity and equality, and achieve peace, environmental sustainability, and democracy. At this time approximately 1.2 billion people were living on less than $1 (U.S) a day, with an additional 1.6 billion living on less that $2 (U.S) a day. The goal to reduce poverty was seen as an essential part of the way forward. It is crucial to understand why this is seen as a fundamental step and to do this one should look into some of the arguments aga inst helping the poor that philosophers and political theorists pose. The basic lifeboat ethics argument against helping the poor, argued by Garrett Hardin, states that the world is like a lifeboat. In a lifeboat there is a limit to how many people can be carried, and there is no fair way to choose from among those who need to come aboard. Therefore the only fair alternative is to let everyone who needs to come aboard drown. What Hardin is getting at is that we, the developed world, can not save every person, and therefore how can we fairly choose those that we do save and those that we do not. He argues that it would be much fairer to let everyone in absolute poverty die. Other arguments against helping the poor include Friedrich von Hayeks Game of Catalaxy. Hayeks theory stems from a liberal laissez-faire view of the global economy. He believed that the global market should characterized by a spontaneous order that happens when individuals pursue their own ends within a framework set by law and tradition. Hayek goes on to argue that his Game of Catalaxy is a game of skill and all players within the global market are different and therefore not all can win. The winners, he believed, won because they took certain chances and therefore deserved to win, while the losers deserved to lose. Therefore, according to Hayek, countries that have problems with absolute poverty have played the Game of Catalaxy and lost, and deserve to lose. Theoretically these countries will continue to play the game and if they take certain chances they may eventually win. This theory may work but meanwhile the problem of absolute poverty is affecting the rest of the world and therefore we cannot ignore it, or let the Game of Catalaxy sort it out. As Ambassador Jams head Marker, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, says, We are all now in the same lifeboat. The continued health of the North [developed, rich countries] depends on the survival and sustainable development of the South [less developed, poorer countries]. Beyond this argument is a belief that food is a basic human right. If hunger is a cause and effect of poverty and food is a basic human right, then theoretically every country should be doing everything within their power to reduce poverty and create a well-nourished world. This argument is reflected in the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations believes that food is a basic human right. On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration is the only human rights declaration with universal in its name, and most countries have agreed on it. It can therefore be argued as a legitimate international agreement on the rights of all human beings. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services. Therefore, since the declaration is argued to be a legitimate international agreement on the rights of humans, it can be argued that food, along with other basic necessities, are basic human rights. The orthodox approach to development is the view held by many international regimes like the World Bank and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The basic concepts behind it are the ideas that the free-market system can create unlimited economic growth, that the Western liberal model and knowledge are superior to anything else, and the belief that the process of free-markets would benefit everyone. Theoretically economies would slowly take-off because of the free-market and from there on the wealth would work its way down to the people actually living in absolute poverty. To do this there would be a production of surplus, with individuals selling their lab our for money, as opposed to producing to meet their family and community needs. This orthodox method is known as the top-down liberal method and relies on external expert knowledge, technology, an expansion of privatization, and large capital investments. As already stated, the orthodox approach is based almost entirely on a monetary and material concept of poverty. In 2000: A Better World For All, the World Bank, United Nations (UN), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) state that it is possible to cut poverty rates in half by 2015 if countries follow policies that both reduce social and gender inequalities and, most importantly, create income-earning opportunities for the poor. This is the key for, and a perfect example of, the orthodox approach to development. The UNDP Human Development Report 2003 states that there are six basic policies that should be implemented in order to help the countries reduce poverty. Firstly countries should invest early and ambitiously in basic education and health while fostering gender equality. These are preconditions to sustained economic growth. Second, countries should increase the productivity of small farmers in unfavorable environments [environments where hunger and famine are a problem]. Thirdly countries should improve basic infrastructu resto reduce the costs of doing business and overcome geographic barriers. The last three policies involve developing an industrial development policy, working on promoting democracy, and ensuring environmental sustainability. The World Bank concurs with these ideas, as does the World Trade Organization who state that poor people within a country generally gain from trade liberalization. The orthodox approach to development, portrayed by international regimes including the World Trade Organization, World Bank and United Nations involves liberalizing trade and creating empowerment in order to create faster economic growth, which in turn helps to alleviate poverty. This approach is both valid and sound, and has been proven to work in some countries, although not as quickly as the international regimes would like. As this approach is the dominant view, it is seen as more likely to work. However a number of development theorists have discovered problems within this dominant view. The idea that the free market can end hunger, if governments just get out of the way, is seen by some theorists as a myth. These theorists believe that the free-market-is-good/ government-is-bad view is far too simplistic and can never help address poverty and hunger. The top-down approach is seen as unlikely to work in most situations due to corrupt governments who will not let the wealth trickle down to those actually living in poverty. The theory of comparative advantage holds that nations should produce and export those goods and services in which they hold a comparative advantage and import those items that other nations could produce at a lower cost. The problem with this theory, which is also promoted by the World Bank, UN and IMF as a method for alleviating and reducing poverty, is that it falls apart when applied to the real world. Many countries living in absolute poverty can produce large amounts of coffee at a low cost to themselves, however since there are many producing, the price of coffee on the global market is forced downwards and these countries are producing more coffee for less money. These are just two examples of the kind of problems that make the orthodox method for development less viable. The alternative approach to development is argued by many NGOs like World Vision and the World Development Movement. The core concepts of this approach are the ideas that humans should learn to be self-reliant, that nature, cultural diversity and community-controlled commons (water, air, land, and forest) should be valued, and that democratic participation will help to reduce poverty. This approach relies on participation at the community level, working with local knowledge and technology to create a bottom-up approach to community development. It is a grassroots approach, focusing on helping individuals and communities become self-reliant. This approach is often argued by dependency theorists who believe that the structure of the global political economy essentially enslaves the less developed countries by making them dependent on the capitalist, liberal nations. The alternative approach to development is therefore seen by dependency theorists as one of the only ways to develop less developed countries. Much of the anti-globalist campaign is directed at organizations like the World Bank and IMF because their policies encourage less developed countries to become dependent on foreign aid and investment which continues the poverty and hunger within the less developed countries. Although the alternative approach to development also seems sound and viable, it lacks monetary value and places too much emphasis on the power of communities to change governments. Neither approach is perfect in its methods for the alleviation and reduction of poverty. I believe it is a combination of the orthodox and alternative approaches that really has the ability to help reduce poverty in todays world. The orthodox approach focuses too narrowly on money and capital, while the alternative approach believe too heavily in the power of communities to affect change at a national level. I therefore believe that international regimes, like the World Bank and United Nations, should attempt to affect changes at the state level, working to create democratic governments. Non-Governmental Organizations should continue to work at the grass roots level, affecting changes for the individuals and communities while helping them to become self-reliant. This approach is not without problems and cannot be called easy, but I believe it deals with both the individuals and the state at the levels needed and could help to halve the number of people living in poverty by 2015. Ther e are no perfect answers for development. Poverty is a complex issue. The key is that we do not ignore those living in poverty but help, in whatever way we believe is best. We are obliged to try our hardest to make circumstances better for them. http://www.vuwcu.orconhosting.net.nz/warp/poverty.htm

Nigeria Essays -- Africa Culture Papers

Nigeria Modern Nigeria is an archetypal cauldron, enmeshed with a variety of cultural groups and traditions, nevertheless united by the prospect of forging a unique independent national identity. Hausa, Fulbe, Yoruba and Igbo are among the largest of those, in the forty -three years since the end of colonial occupation, struggling to maintain their linguistic and cultural affiliations while simultaneously converging t o create a syncretic sense of Nigerianness. Subsequently, as one means of understanding art, in essence, is as a celebration of identity, artwork in the post -independence era manifests this struggle; thus, placing artists at the epicenter of cultural iden tification. In the 1960s, artist Uche Okeke emerged as an integral figure in the development of Nigerian art, and thus, Nigerian identity. Drawing from his Igbo heritage, Okeke effectively appropriated pre -colonial artistic traditions and applied them in an â€Å"art for art’s sake† context. Okeke’s work, however, is not a mere recontextualization and revitalization of â€Å"old† forms. Rather, informed by historical situation, Okeke’s artworks are personal testimonies of struggle characterized by a natural synt hesis of traditional and contemporary form and context. As an emblem of identity in post -colonial Nigeria, however, the doctrinal aesthetic of â€Å"natural synthesis† promoted by Okeke is not a simple combination of old and new; it’s true nature is multi -tiered and specific to individual interpretation. Evident in Uche Okeke's 1982 etching Ana, Asele and Badunka, â€Å"natural synthesis† represents a merger of uli design forms a nd Igbo cosmology; a synthesis of traditional design and contemporary applications; and a unification of writing and drawing in which theme... ...nd Nigerian Contemporary Art. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C. 2002. Wilis, Elizabeth Anne. â€Å"Uli Painting and Identity: twentieth century de velopments in art In the Igbo speaking region of Nigeria.† Ph.D Thesis at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Vols. 1 -2. 1997 Consulted Ejiogu, N.W. â€Å"Body Decoration and Mural Painting in Oraifite and Aquleri † Unpublished B.A. Thesis at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. 1971. Forde, D. and G.I Jones. The Ibo and Ibibio Speaking Peoples of South Eastern Nigeri International African Institute, London. 1962. McCal, John C. â€Å"Social Organization in Africa †. Africa. Indiana University Press. Okeke, Uche. Creative Conscious. Asele Institute, Nimo, Anambra State, Nigeria. 1993. Otenberg, Simon. â€Å"We are Becoming Art Minded†. Vol. XXI. No. 4. pg.58 -67. 1988.