IS Ethic Report Essay Example for Free

IS Ethic Report Essay These days the use of computers has become almost obligatory in organizations and no such policies have been designed up till now to get over with the problems regarding internet abuse during the work time. FDU has published a policy for acceptable usage of computers. This policy is not supposed to be finalized up till now therefore it is open for revision. According to this policy the use of computer and internet for exploration, instructional, and organizational purposes is allowed. However the promulgators want everyone to maintain ethics in the usage and to act as a fair dealer with responsibility. All the users accessing resources would have to keep the policy rules in mind. Users include staff, faculty members, students, guest faculty, external organizations and certain people. Users should take care of every accessory in equipment they are using including hardware and software both. User undertakes that under every law i. e. intellectual property law, copyrights, other laws and agreements, he will not be violating any of their provisions and he/she will save the solemnity of the institute. User prepared materials is also the possessed by resources but the institute is not responsible for their authenticity. The network usage should be having careful conducts in order to prevent from any intrusion or threat (FDU). Computer accounts assigned to the users are critical and user is responsible for any activity done with his account. User is never allowed to make any changes or encoding to the existing record whether it is the institute’s information or of any other user. As the system is institute’s asset therefore it is not allowed to user to make any changes concerned with the operation of operating system and networks. He is not allowed to distribute software and documents owned by that institution. If that software or document is mutually shared by another user and that user grants him its permission to access, only then he is able to distribute them away (FDU). If mentioning any partial or biased opinion one has to specify his name with the opinion preventing the institution from the blame. Sending unsolicited bulk mail is forbidden. Undue usage of computing equipment is illegal. Disk storage is company’s resource and company pays for it therefore any improper use would lead a person to dishonesty (FDU). Network addresses assigned to the user should not be altered without the proper permission of systems and security. For personal advertisements, one is not allowed to advertise and promote personal information on the network. The networking protocols are also forbidden to be applied, such as DHCP, IGRP, RIP, port scanners or network monitors (FDU). Security measures under the policy include that the user have to use their own ways to make their data secure. These ways may include encoding techniques to save sensitive data. Any shortfall in network security would affect the data integrity. Security against damages is provided by information system and technology in more or less realistic way. However this is not possible to pledge for it (FDU). Privacy measures in policy are directing towards the warnings which are given against storing any confidential data. Sometimes situations occur in which a student while helping another student starts having access to the instructor’s data regarding the relevant subject. Such type of privacy should be maintained by backup support, and upgrades of software, and trouble-shooting activities (FDU). Policy Violators are well aware of the fact that they should be taken into account as soon as possible. Policy violations should be handled by some descriptions in some good literature about internet use policy. An institution’s network can be suspended at anytime if any network failure occurs (FDU). This policy is intended for the use in institutions and further amendments can also be made in order to make the policy strongest in terms of all the aspects. Knowing that internet has many advantages pertaining to the success and growth of a company but there are some potential disadvantages too as it reduces an employee’s focus from work at times. The internet usage at workplace should be well defined and controlled so that the employees would know their limitations themselves. Internet usage invites a man to waste time and its usage has so many dimensions with which he can get engaged in his domestic works like billing and shopping. Else than that there are chat and personal emails and most dangerous of all is gambling and online pornography; which can lead the network vulnerable to threats and attacks easily (Taillon). Strategies have been designed to increase the work duration and control the use of internet. They include disciplinary actions against internet abuse at workplace. These actions are preceded by some policy; which would indicate the possibility of duration on which an employee can spend his personal time online. Expensive programs like Honor systems can be used to monitor activities being performed on every computer in an organization. Another risk is that the businesses purchase the software products righteously and the copyright laws forbid them to download any illegal contents from internet. For such an action employees would not be blamed instead the employers would be accused of that illegal transfer (Taillon). Larger workforce cannot be tracked completely with honor system therefore information assurance is offered to be used by businesses which afford to have an internet security program. Computer use is tracked easily by giving password to each system and checking the usage afterwards. This is completely legal in an organization. This defensive programming helps in tracking for hitches in software and irregular flow of controlling data. Keeping firewalls also help an organization in keeping away from antagonistic instructions. Increasing the level of internet security is also in favor of an organization with the help of which Honor system would do their best at screening the usage of computers and internet at workplace (Taillon). References FDU. Acceptable Use Policy For Computer Usage. 7 June 1999. 19 March 2009 http://www. fdu. edu/studentsvcs/aup. html. Taillon, G. Controlling Internet Use In The Work Place. June 2004. 19 March 2009 http://www. nysscpa. org/cpajournal/2004/704/perspectives/p16. htm.

Leadership programs in First National Bank

Leadership programs in First National Bank The researcher intends to present the case of Leadership programs in First National Bank in a South African context. The leadership of First National Bank is Inspirational like many other South African organizations however the attempt of transformation has made the interesting in the view of researcher. Researcher has also prompted a unique style of research method that can best describe the case with maximum practical knowledge and implementations comparisons of various leadership aspects. A methodological design is formed by the researcher basing on the issues like data sources and methods of data generation that are potentially available, and the Ontology of the methods that the researcher had prepared a design with. The idea of the researcher in using the team Ontology is to get the nature of reality and human behavior, however lack of positivism still exists in Ontology. Multiple scientific methods and techniques are taken into consideration by the researcher to better present the case problems. According to the researchers methodological design the paradigm, methodology, methods and findings is found both qualitative and quantitative. Combining methods by mixing qualitative and quantitative methods is becoming increasingly popular in leadership research as well as in other disciplines (Klenke, 2008). There are theories drawn by various authors basing on the purposes, sources and analyses. Kezar (2002) proposes Positionality theory to explore how gender, race/ethnicity, level of administrator, and the role of a leader within the organization affect the way the leader constructs images of leadership. Positionality theory Author Purpose Data sources Analysis Kezar (2002) To examine how positionality (e.g. race, gender, etc) relate to the construction of leadership Interviews, document analysis, reports, observations, analysis of physical environment Interpretive Basing on the positionality theory, it is understood that the researcher have followed the structure of the methodological design with an interrelation of qualitative and quantitative research. There are 5 main steps followed by the researcher in the research process: Defining research questions and research methodology Research methods basing on the case selection Design research tools Collecting and coding primary data Analyzing primary and secondary data and interpret findings The literature review of the researcher has all major fact findings about the research topic and established strong background knowledge about different theoretical concepts. The researcher was successful in achieving triangulation of research methods by using all major data collection methods like observation, interviews, document analysis. It is ensure by the researcher that the triangulation of data sources was followed in all three different steps: Management issues, looking FNB in a bigger context FNBs internal issues. An overview of Leadership in Organizations South African Leadership and its Styles: Leadership is widely discussed and studied but continues to remain an elusive and hazy topic. Knowing leadership is always when it is experienced (Rosenbach, 2006). Bratton defines leadership as influencing, motivating and enabling others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members (Bratton, 2007). The importance of concept of leadership has started increasing it value in modern times in organizations especially when the organizations are concerned in developing strong work culture, and building high performance sustainable work practices. There have been many arguments about the interrelationship between management and leadership functions; management is associated with words like planning, organizing, coordinating implementing where as leadership revolve around vision, charisma, change agent and motivation. Traditionally there are 2 types of leaderships; Transactional Leadership and Transformational Leadership. (Taylor, 2006) Transactional Leadership: It is the equitable transaction or exchange between leader and followers where by the leader influences the followers by focusing on the self interests of both. Transactional leadership is considered as good managerial leadership skill that is used basing on the situations that can result in good performance. Transformational Leadership: The transformational leader motivates followers to perform beyond expectations by creating awareness about the importance of vision and mission. Transformational leaders enable followers to transform purpose into action. Individual organizations prefer to choose they style of leadership basing on the organizations culture and environment. According to Matthew Valle; WLQ Report [Accessed on 12th December 2010] Leadership process in stable environment: Leadership Processes Train workers to anticipate problems Outcomes Performance Satisfaction Absenteeism Turnover Anticipatory culture Work Processes Anticipatory culture Routine Problems Stable environment Leadership process in turbulent environment Leadership Processes Train workers to adapt to problems Routine Problems (crisis) turbulent environment Outcomes Performance Satisfaction less Absenteeism fewer turnovers Anticipatory culture Work Processes Adaptive culture (Mathew Valle, 2002) Therefore of the public organizations are operating in turbulent environments, the need of study in a stabilizing environment demands leadership processes to hold the control accordingly. Since 1994 South Africa has experienced dramatic changes both on a political as well as economic front, brought about by globalisation as well as a new political dispensation in SA. Discrimination during the apartheid era excluded Africans, Asians and Coloureds from the economy, resulting in little organisational leadership skills development amongst excluded races. After Democracy in 1994, labour legislation was implemented to redress the inequalities in society; these measures include, amongst others, Affirmative Action. Further complicating the current organisational environment is: South Africa is a blend of the 1st and 3rd world economy. The shortage of skilled African workers/managers, with lucrative offerings especially African males, lead to job-hopping. Corruption, nepotism and culturalism. (To appoint from own culture, chief of a tribe inherited by birth not based on leadership skills), political appointments, perceptions and stereotyping along racial and gender lines have high impact on the organizational leadership attitude.. All these factors influence the type of leadership that is appointed and how diversity is managed in the modern South African organisations. Other social issues such as changes in education, health systems, HIV/AIDS, housing, poverty, increased crime rate and many others, affecting the organization and employee that function within this social framework. According to Tinus Burgers, (Burgers, 2003) South Africa is just beginning to wake up from the post 1994 euphoria where whites were desperately trying to expand their blackness through toyi-toying and singing Shosoloza while black people erroneously believed that white stuff will simply disappear. There are still very deep felt differences and distrust between races making leadership in diverse organisations very challenging. After democratic elections in 1994 sanctions against South Africa were lifted. South Africa emerged as a global player that has to adapt to global trends in order to be competitive. The accelerated rate of technological development necessitates quick adjustment and the need to move away from traditional management practices. The effect of technology (electronic networks, cellular telephones, etc.), transcends national, geographical, time and organisational boundaries, increase in availability of information, influences employees and organisational behaviour as employees have to face massive and accelerated changes (Weeks, 2003). These rapid changes in the global environment and the South African situation challenged the recreation of society at all levels. According to Nkomo this recreation ranges from individuals changing identities and roles to the transformation of major social institutions and financial institutions. In sum, the leadership challenge for South African organisations is: Retiring old thinking systems in parallel with creating new ones against the reality of high speed globalization and informationalism (Nkomo, 2004). The African model of leadership differs from that of the West. Self-reliance and self-interest are subservient to ethnicity and group loyalty. Interpersonal relations are placed above individual achievements. Wealth is first of all extended family wealth and then ethnic or tribal wealth, often to the expense of the organisation (Blunt, 1996). Ethnic cleavages can affect the performance of the organisation. Leadership is paternalistic of nature. Leaders bestow favours and expect and receive obedience and deference, with consensus playing a major role in decision-making resulting in decision making within levels to be taking a long time. There is also a great capacity for tolerance and forgiveness (Blunt, 1996). It was found that the leadership style in Africa is authoritarian, personalised, politicised and a high power distance, with power concentrated at the top. In this context, the leaders job becomes one of operationalising directions received from above, making them clear to subo rdinates and providing advice and support. African leaders are therefore overwhelmingly concerned about the quality of hierarchical relationship with their superiors, rather than with individual or organisational effectiveness. This degree of dependence on seniors by the more junior individuals is seen as normal (Blunt, 1996). There is a masculine dominance across all ethnic groups. Managerial ideologies tend to reflect unitarist ideas seeing the organisation as a cohesive team (happy family) with the emphasis on loyalty and conflict avoidance, emphasizing UBUNTU (humaneness), group decision making and interdependence. Managerial styles reflect both Western values based on individualism and meritocracy and an authoritarian legacy of apartheid and colonialism. From a followers perspective Africans prefer a leader that is kind, considerate and understanding to one who is too dynamic, productive and demanding. Leaders are seen to possess genuine authority but are expected by their subordinates to use it sparingly and in a humane and considerate way (Blunt, 1996). From the above views it is understood that, to build a new South Africa, African concepts had to be reviewed that get to an end to apartheid. The case First National Bank. [Accessed 12th December 2010] The idea of the researcher in choosing a Financial Services Industry in South Africa like FNB is definitely a unique challenge. Firstrand is the 2nd largest banking institution that is born from the merger of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), Momentum, First National Bank (FNB) and southern life in 1998. Firstrand is divided into 3 main business areas: banking (First National Bank and Rand Merchant Bak), insurance (Momentum), and health. According to exhibit 1 produces in the case Firstrand additionally divides its earnings into four clusters: Retail, corporate, wealth and health. South Africa has its unique challenges in terms of handling leadership in an African way. The leadership style in South Africa is inspirational and the relation between both the leadership have may common elements. African leadership is focused more on community, where as in inspirational leadership the focus is on individuals. Relationship Diagram Inspiration African Spirit Spirit Interconnectedness Described by African principles like Spirituality UBUNTU INDABA ISITHUNZI INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP AFRICAN LEADERSHIP First National bank: Inspirational Leadership in South African context [case handout] Inspirational Leadership: Spirit and Spirituality were referred as the important aspects of inspirational leadership by the researcher basing on the South African context. High performance and innovative organizations require Inspirational leadership, stronger management skills, a highly-trained and motivated workforce, a flexible labor market that promotes diversity and fair treatment, and workplaces that recognize environmental issues and the need for greater resource productivity. Inspirational Leadership in South Africa involves the terms spirit and spirituality in handling leaderships in organizations. The leaders often tend to inspire their followers basing on the cultural values that are strongly routed in South Africa. This is one of the problems of First National Bank. FNB being into global operations, there will be many employees that will be not based from the South African culture and survival and acceptance of the work environment and implementing leadership in those prospective will become extre mely difficult. Ad defined earlier Transforming the leadership style become important, although the relationship between Inspirational and African spirit is closely associated. Anderson (1999) illustrates a graphical representation that best describes the leadership relationship: Effective learning organizations Build healthy communities High-performance teams build Successful learning organizations Effective team leaders build High performance teams Personal and interpersonal development Builds effective team members and leaders Self leadership leads to Individual and team success (Anderson, 1999) African Spirit: There are certain deep routed principles of leadership indulged in to African spirit like; UBUNTU, INDABA, VUKA. UBUNTU is the people based leadership style. This is the traditional social African philosophy of humanism which says caring for the people fist. INDABA-openness and inter-ethnic harmony in stating individual opinions is referred as INDABA. VUKA-A wake up and free yourself concept. The relationship between Inspirational Leadership and African spirit lies in African Renaissance: humanism that is referred as a system of thought that regards humans of being capable of using their intelligence to live their lives rather than relying on religious beliefs and collectivism is the ownership of land, business or industry by the people or state. A balance between individualism and collectivism has developed an integrated approach to leadership Issue: Due to cultural differences internally and externally within the organization, First National bank have decided to address these things immediately, which could be a cause of losing business in the near future. As soon as the decision is made, First Rand appointed two new leaders in FNB to address the cultural and leadership issues in the changing environment. A complex restructuring process was bought into shape that focuses mainly on the revenue growth with less cost. The result of the process is expected to be the improvement in customer service through transforming their leadership styles with in employees. The VUKA Program (Wake up): The idea of the program is to transform the company from an isolation mode of to common vision and mission within the organization. Transformational process in a company is about taking a company from an old state of being to new state of being. The senior management of the company has decided to involve them as the first step to make a difference to the program; the idea is to get every single staff member directly involved into the program as the main principle. The goal of the program is to create a work place community of new South Africans from different backgrounds. The first session of VUKA program were designed for 2 days involving topics like Barrier breaking, emptying, visioning, re-visioning, leadership and accountability and understanding the change. Merits on the program: Limitations on the program: The focus on the first days workshop session is on topics like Barrier breaking, emptying, visioning, re-visioning, leadership and accountability and understanding the change. The result of the goal of the program d Klenke, K. (2008) Mixed methods in leadership research, Qualitative research in the study of leadership. Emerald Group Publication Ltd. Bingley. pp 155-157. Kezar (2002) cited in Klenke, K. (2008) Mixed methods in leadership research, Qualitative research in the study of leadership. Emerald Group Publication Ltd. Bingley. p 163. Rosenbach, E. (2006) The heart of Leadership. Contemporary issues in leadership. 6th ed. Westview press. Cambridge, P. 1. Bratton, J (2007) Leadership, Work and Organizational behavior. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. p 131. Valle, M (2002) Cited in Rosenbach, E. (2006) Leadership and culture in public organizations. Contemporary issues in leadership. 6th ed. Westview press. Cambridge, P. 66-67. Burger, T. (2003). South Africa: musing of an ordinary citizen Part II. Management Today, June 2003. P. 16 Weeks, R. (2003). ICT and business strategy: two sides of the same coin. Management Today, June 2003. Nkomo, S. M. (2004). Leadership Dynamics. Strategic management and organizational dynamics: the challenge of complexity, 4th ed. Pp226-228. Blunt, P Merrick, L.J. (1998). Cited in ed. by Lennart, W. Jerker, C. Henock, K. Institution building and leadership in Africa, p. 186. First National Bank [online image]. Available from: https://www.fnb.co.za/about-fnb/about-us/about-us-overview.html [Accesses 12th December 2010]. MLQ Report [online image]. Available from http://www.tlcc.biz/transformational_leadership_assessment.htm [Accessed 12th December 2010]. Anderson, T (1999) Transforming Leadership and the promise of Leadership organization, Transforming Leadership. Blackwell publishing, British Library. P. 11

Songs Of This Year :: essays research papers

After Tonight (Album Version) 4:15 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Album Version) 3:25 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Pound Boys Dub) 6:48 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Pound Boys Main Mix) 8:56 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Pound Boys Radio Edit) 3:29 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Single Edit) (Mariah Carey Featuring Westlife) 3:23 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Mariah Only Version) 3:21 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Westlife Only Version) 3:21 Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) (Instrumental) 3:26 All I Ever Wanted (Album Version) 3:51 All In Your Mind (Album Version) 4:43 All I Want For Christmas Is You (Album Version) 4:01 All I Want For Christmas Is You (So So Def Remix) (Featuring Jermaine Dupri & Lil’ Bow Wow) 4:44 Alone In Love (Album Version) 4:11 Always Be My Baby (Album Version) 4:18 Always Be My Baby (Always Club Mix) 10:23 Always Be My Baby (Def Classic Radio Mix) 4:07 Always Be My Baby (Dub-A-Baby) 7:13 Always Be My Baby (Groove A Pella) 7:07 Always Be My Baby (Mr. Dupri Extended Mix) (Featuring Da Brat & Xscape) 5:29 Always Be My Baby (Mr. Dupri Mix) (Featuring Da Brat & Xscape) 4:39 Always Be My Baby (Mr. Dupri No Rap Radio Mix) (Featuring Xscape) 3:41 ***Always Be My Baby (Reggae Soul Accapella) 4:39 *** Vinyl, not CD quality :o((( Always Be My Baby (Reggae Soul Dub Mix) 4:51 Always Be My Baby (Reggae Soul Mix) (Featuring Lil’ Vicious) 4:51 Always Be My Baby (St Dub) 7:11 And You Don’t Remember (Album Version) 4:24 Anytime You Need A Friend (Album Version) 4:25 ***Anytime You Need A Friend (7† Mix) 6:53 *** Vinyl, not CD quality :o((( ***Anytime You Need A Friend (All That And More Mix) 10:31 *** Vinyl, not CD quality :o((( ***Anytime You Need A Friend (Boriqua Tribe Mix) 9:02*** Vinyl, not CD quality :o((( ***Anytime You Need A Friend (C&C Dub Mix) 10:07 *** Vinyl, not CD quality :o((( Anytime You Need A Friend (C&C Radio Mix) 4:14 ***Anytime You Need A Friend (Dave’s Empty Pass) 10:49*** Vinyl, not CD quality :o((( Anytime You Need A Friend (Ministry Of Sound Mix) 9:45 Anytime You Need A Friend (Soul Convention Remix) 4:49 Anytime You Need A Friend (String-A-Pella) 4:49 Babydoll (Album Version) 5:06 Bliss (Album Version) 5:44

Teaching Philosophy Essay -- Education Philosophy Papers

I believe that learning and teaching is an equal process between teachers and students. Teachers learn just as much from students as students learn from teachers. When I become a teacher, I will most likely adopt the philosophy of pragmatism. I believe that knowledge is an instrument for adapting to reality, and therefore is an essential part of life. I want to become an educator in order to motivate children to receive knowledge and use it to better their lives. I dream of helping young children learn to read and write and I anticipate the moment that they look up at me and smile because they understand. I want to be an educator because educators are the most important force in the working world today. Without educators, there would be no doctors to treat the ill, no lawyers to defend the innocent, and no policemen to protect us from harm. There would be no accountants, nurses, psychologists, there would be no one with professional educations and degrees without teachers. My classroom will be like a small community of learners. The students will sit at medium-sized tables. Each table will seat up to four students. This seating arrangement would allow group work and shared learning. I will establish and enforce a classroom management plan. On the first day of class, I plan to create a list of rules, with the students' help, which will be posted on the wall for reference. I will also type the rules up into a contract to be signed by both the student and the student's parent(s). If a student violates the rules I will review the contract with the student and give him/her a conduct cut, detention hall, send the child to the principal's office, or have a parent/teacher conference depending on the severity of the problem. I think... .... Available HTTP: http://www.aft.org/stand/previous/1994/051594.html [2001, December 11] Shanker, Albert (1996). Inclusion Can Hurt Everyone. Where We Stand [Online], 2 pgs. Available HTTP: http://www.aft.org/stand/previous/1996/042196.html [2001, December 11] Spencer, Diane L. (2001). [Personal interview with Diane Spencer, parent of a learning disabled child]. December 10, 2001. Including Students With Disabilities in General Education Classrooms (1993). ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education (ERIC EC) [Online], 4 pgs. ERIC EC Digest #E521. Available HTTP: http://ldonline. com/ld_indepth/special_education/eric_e521.html. [2001, December 11] Will the Government Fund Its Commitment to Special Ed? (2000). Education World [Online], 3 pgs. Available HTTP: http://www.education-world.com/a_ issues/issues076/shtml [2001, December 11]

Volleyball Essay -- essays research papers

Volleyball The sport of volleyball was created by a man named William G. Morgan of Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1895. Morgan was a physical education teacher at the YMCA and called it "mintonette". It was an indoor or outdoor pastime that had characteristics of both handball and tennis. The first rules were written down by Morgan himself. He wrote that the game called for a 6 foot 6 inch net and a court of 25x50 feet. A match composed of 9 innings and 3 serves for each team in each inning. In case of a serving error they got a second chance just like in tennis. If the ball it the net on a serve it was considered a foul and it caused a side out or a point was taken away. In 1896 after a demonstration at the YMCA in Springfield and the name "Mintonette" was replaced with the name "Volleyball". In 1900 the rules were modified and the height of the net went up to 7 feet 6 inches. Also a match length was set at 21 points. Also in 1900 Canada was the first foreign coun try to adopt the game of Volleyball. In 1906 the country of Cuba discovered volleyball thanks to Thanks to a North American army officer named Agusto York who took part in the second military intervention. In 1908 volleyball reached Japan. Hyozo Omori a graduate at Springfield college in the United States who was the first to demonstrate the rules of the game at the YMCA in Tokyo. In 1910 volleyball officially landed in China. Between 1912 and now many of the rules changed and changed again. In 1924 it was demonstrated at the Olympics in Paris under the show of American sports. In 1938 the Chzechs perfected blocking and was officially introduced to the rules. In 1942 William G. Morgan the creator of volleyball died at the age of 68. He felt no jealousy when the sport he created grew and developed. In 1945 the first volleyball postage stamp was released in Romania. In 1947 Egypt was the first Arab and African country to organize a national federation. In 1952 the first women's world championship was held in Moscow and won by the USSR. In 1960 the first World Championship for men was held outside of Europe in Brazil. In 1965 the first world cup was held in Poland and was won by the USSR. In 1973 t... ... the serving team, fails to pass through the crossing space, lands out or lands after a screen. The definition of an attack it is directing the ball toward the opponent except a serve or a block. The attack hit is completed after the ball crosses the plane of the net. An illegal service leads to a side-out and change of service. Things that lead up to this call would be a violation of the service order or messes up the toss twice. There are many restrictions to a back row player. They cannot attack and put a foot in front of the ten foot line while hitting but can land in the ten foot zone. The Refing staff usually consists of two line refs. An up Ref. And down Ref. are located at each ends of the net. Volleyball is truly one of the great All - American sports. It has grown and developed a lot since it was first made up and changes are still being made. Volleyball has not hit such a great national level as it has in other countries and is not a sports gold mine like the NBA or NFL but maybe, hopefully one day it will be just as or more popular. From 1895 to now from Mintonette to the Olympics, volleyball has improved and has been almost perfected.

Leadership in Ford

Influence of organizational contexts on leadership in Ford in the US and Europe. Introduction Nowadays organizational context is very important, because leaders have to make decisions relying on big amounts of information, which changes every day. Moreover depending on various situations leadership theories work different, it makes hard to predict the consequences of decisions relying only on theory. Depending on organizational context different leadership style can be used.Throughout the history of Ford, company distinguished itself by iron control of Henry Ford the first and the second. Their â€Å"great man† approach brought success to Ford, but eventually this approach became ineffective due to globalization and changing environment. This resulted in the need for followers of Henry Ford the second to introduce the big change for company, change in leadership approach and organizational culture. In addition Ford opened branches almost all over the world, so new approaches, vision and leadership is needed.This essay will cover questions about different styles of leadership in Ford in the US and Europe, key contextual issues that impact on strategic leadership in Ford and will consider main contextual challenges for Ford leaders. Depending on the context effective leader must be able to adopt his style to the demands and changing environment (Northouse, 2010). Question one The contextual issues significantly impact on strategic leadership. Two main contextual issues that impact on strategic leadership in Ford organizational culture and national culture.Organisational culture is a set of moral precepts, values, norms of behaviour in particular company accepted by members (Besanko et al, 2010). National culture is a set of values, rules, customs, traditions shared by people speaking the same language and having similar mindsets and moral principles (Northouse, 2010). Globalization has created many challenges for organizations including effective selection of leaders, adaptation to many cultures, creation of different approaches to nationally various employees (Northouse, 2010).It became necessary for top managers to take into consideration peculiarities, mentality, values and characteristics of different cultures to develop business abroad, because many problems in relationships between people can occur due to variations in norms, habits and values (Needle, 2004). Ford was not an exception and needed to turn the company around. As a company that was operating not only in US, but also in Europe and still doing it, Ford had to create unique strategy and organizational culture for both areas, which differ from each other.To build a successful strategy it is necessary to know national features of countries where organization is going to operate. According to GLOBE researchers who identified 10 clusters of countries (depending on cultural data), US were set into Anglo cluster and Europe was divided into four clusters: Eastern Europe, Lat in Europe, Germanic Europe and Nordic Europe (House, et al, 2004). These clusters have their own characteristics affecting leadership in particular areas, so demands for leaders in these clusters are different. Two describe how different cultures view leadership behaviors in others GLOBE researchers identified six global leadership behaviors†(House & Javidan, 2004 in Northouse, 2010, p. 348). First is charismatic/value-based leadership that includes being decisive, self-denying and performance oriented, being a motivator and inspirer (Northouse, 2010). Second is team-oriented leadership that includes team building, establishing common goals and such characteristics as diplomacy, collaboration (Northhouse, 2010). Third is participative leadership that means degree to which leader involves employees in decision-making ( Northouse, 2010).Next is â€Å"humane-oriented leadership that emphasizes being supportive, considerate, compassionate, and generous (Northouse, 2010, p. 348). Last is self-protective management that puts on top leaders who are face saving, conflict, aware of their status (Northouse, 2010). In that way Anglo countries including US want leaders to be charismatic, humane-oriented, extremely motivating and visionary, democratic, moreover leaders have to focus on team and to be independent (Northouse, 2010). For this reason Don Petersen and Harold `Red’ Poling with their mindsets perfectly corresponded this requirements.Europe, divided into 4 clusters has its own characteristics, but they are more complex due to peculiarities of clusters. Ideally it is better to have a particular approach for each cluster, nevertheless there are some common requirements for leaders in Europe such as charismatic and value-based person (Norhouse, 2010). As Ford has its offices and plants in Germany, England, Romania, Russia, Belgium, Spain, France and Turkey, it is necessary to consider Latin Europe cluster, Eastern Europe cluster and Germanic Europe clus ter. There are three branches in Germanic cluster: two in Germany and one in Belgium.For this cluster ideal leader is expected to be charismatic, inspirational and autonomous, to have participative style, to focus on team (Northouse, 2010). Two branches are located in Latin Europe Cluster: one in Spain and one in France. In this cluster leader has to be team oriented as well, has to be participative and self-oriented (Northouse, 2010). Two more branches operate in Russia and Romania. For the Eastern European countries it is necessary for leader to have self-protective leadership style, to be team-oriented, to make decisions independently (Nothouse, 2010).All this factors and characteristics of clusters make it very complex to find perfect leadership style, nevertheless there are some points of contact between these clusters. Moreover GLOBE identified 22 leadership attributes that are universally desirable (House, et al, 2004, p. 39). As a result leader is a person who is honest, cha rismatic, value-based and team-oriented (Dorfman et al. , 2004, in Northouse, 2010). In addition Hofstede (2010, in Needle, 2004) identified 5 characteristics on which countries differ from each other. Power distance is the extent to which members of society accept that power is distributed unequally† (Needle, 2004, p. 148). It was found that in France for example power distance is large, on the contrary Germany and the USA, where power distance is small. Individualistic societies are the US and the UK, but Germany and France have also high rate of individualism (Needle, 2004). It means that these countries prefer more to look â€Å"after yourself or your immediate family group† (Needle, 2004, p. 149). â€Å"Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which members of society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty† (Needle, 2004, p. 49). According to Hofstede (1994, in Needle, 2004) France and Germany tend to be more anxious about the future than UK and US. Masculine soc ieties like USA, UK and Germany used to prefer material success and achievement, while France is more anxious about quality of life and equality between sexes (Needle, 2004). Long-term orientation is not common neither in Germany, or US and UK, so these countries more used to short-term strategies (Needle, 2004). Taking all this facts into consideration becomes clear it is not easy to find appropriate leader for multinational companies like Ford.Leadership style has to be very adaptable and leader has to be competent and skilful. Organizational cultures in Europe and US were different and impacted leadership style in particular way. In US reorganized organizational culture, which was based on employee involvement and participative management demanded leadership style, based on participation, team-orientation, humane-orientation, such qualities as visionary, motivation and inspiration were necessary for leader. In Europe organizational culture has to be perfectly balanced due to the difference in national cultures.In that way organizational culture context in Ford in Europe is closely linked with national culture context and it is very complex mission for leaders to create strong organizational culture in Europe. It is not good for company, if its organizational culture is weak, because it â€Å"sets the scene for the determination of strategy and hence the operational aspects of organizational life† (Needle, 2004, p. 238). Question two There were different contextual challenges for leaders in Ford in Europe and US as a result they managed with them in a different way.One of the most important challenges for leaders in Ford in the US and Europe was getting power in company and control over staff. Power in terms of leadership means â€Å"capacity or potential to influence† (Northouse, 2010, p. 8). They all had position power and it was necessary for them to strengthen their positions in company by getting more power. Petersen with his leadership st yle engaged people feelings, introduced participative management and managed to strengthen his position in company by this approach.This approach perfectly corresponded to main values of Ford, because Petersen obtained ideas and opinions of employees, integrated their suggestions into top decision-making (Northouse, 2010). As a result he got not only position power, but also a personal power. It made possible to influence followers as they saw him as knowledgeable and likable (Northouse, 2010). Moreover it helped him to bring control over employees, who were happy, because they could participate in top-decision making.From that moment he knew the ideas of his followers, and he was using them in the interests of Ford. While Don Petersen was using participative leadership and reshaping goals of employees through mission of Ford, Harold `Red’ Poling was controlling final goal setting. Petersen and Poling managed to brought to Ford’s top team an intuitive and feeling appro ach to decision-making, something which is rarely found at that level (Starkey, 1996, p. 379), because participative leadership and management helps employees learn what leads to what (House & Mitchell, 1974, p. 92, in Northouse, 2010).As Peterson and Poling received more power and control over their followers, there was no need to find new cadres, this resulted in formation of strong team, which was easy to lead. Billy Hayden, Europe’s Vice President of Manufacturing was in other situation. He had to get used to peculiarities of leading in Europe and to adopt his own leadership style. Moreover the situation was more complex than in the US due to high standards of the main rival Toyota. Billy Haeden was going to change behavioural patterns and mindsets in Ford in Europe, but nothing really changed.It caused many problems afterwards. As a result there was no strong team with an intuitive and feeling approach to decision-making which was needed even more than in the US, his lea dership style was backward looking, so the whole organization was not able to compete with Toyota. The only power he had was legitimate power, and without balance like in case with Harold `Red’ Poling and Don Petersen, he was using it in a wrong way. Billy Hayden did not managed to create strong team, because he has given a steady turnover of top cadres and nobody could be a counterbalance for him.Eventually the change in organization, which brought success to Ford in the US, was introduced in Europe, but it was too late. Moreover values, mindsets, norms, patterns that were introduced in the US should be adapted to Europe and leadership style of Billy Hayden did not match these approach. Conclusion Organizational context became very important to every leader, manager and company on the whole. Without taking into consideration organizational context it is very hard and risky for any leader to make important decisions and lead company to success.Organizational contexts influenc e on leadership style, and depending on different peculiarities of context, appropriate leadership style can be chosen. Due to globalization culture context has great impact on leadership style, it became necessary for leader to know main features of mentality of nation in country, where he operates. Ford as a company, which has its branches almost all over the world, faced challenges and it was crucial to find a leader with appropriate leadership style. Don Petersen and Harold `Red’ Poling with their tandem led Ford US to success mostly due to perfect balance of power and participative management.Their style perfectly matched need of Ford in visionary leadership with necessary control. Petersen and Poling also showed the importance of power context. They managed to use not only position power, but personal power as well. Billy Hayden was in different situation, he did not managed to get personal power, and as a result he did not create a strong team, he did not adopt to the national cultures and his leadership style was not able to bring success. These situation emphases on the importance of cultural context, if company operates worldwide.Reference list Besanko, D. , Dranove, D. , Shanley, M. , Schaefer, S. , (2010). Economics of strategy, John Wiley & Sons House, R. J. , Hanges, P. J. , Javidan, M. , Dorfman, P. W. , Gupta, V. , & Associates (Eds. ). (2004). Culture, leadeeship, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Needle, D. , (2004). Business in context, an introduction to business and its environment, Thomson Learning, London. Northouse, P. G. , (2010) Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Sometimes It Snows In April

It was just another typical evening at Silver Town. Rowan, Shannon, Reeve, and I were five friends from Madison high and we were driving past Rose Hall (the famous haunted house) on that Halloween evening. The house lay in ruins. Not a single soul had lived in it for over fifty years. There, it stood, alone in the hills, rising from the green cane fields. There were no other houses near by. It stood there day and night, all alone. Every one said the devil lived there and that anyone who slept in the house will die violently and mysteriously or survive, hopelessly insane. Nevertheless people did go into the house from time to time. We all went in as well but that was in broad daylight, of course. We visited the grand rooms and we went down the back staircases to the cellar, where Annie Palmer used to practice black magic and where the dark brown stain that was said to be the blood of her last murdered husband. Rose Hall was not a nice place at all. Even in bright sunshine the windows were broken and black with dust and grime. Every Halloween night the five of us, oh sorry I forgot to mention Mace, he has a record for violent disorder, well to me he has†¦. it as 2 years ago on an Autumn evening me and Mace went down to the new arcade arena, and for nothing Mace beat up a young boy in the toilets, I had to hold him back. Mace has always been a bit odd and he always picks on people for no reason. He may be a mad person, but he sure is my friend. Anyhow back to the story†¦ the 5 of us went down to our high school where other friends would come, and we used to have a Halloween party, sometimes everyone used to dress up as vampires and other weird things. But really, we use to get together with everyone and play games, sit around telling horror stories and mostly for fun. On that night we turned up to the party quite late and found every one busy playing games and talking. We walked in and found a round table near the corner and went to sit down. Just when we were all starting to get bored Shannon came up with the idea about playing truth or dare. We started to play and that's when all the trouble started to come. We all wrote out our separate dares on pieces of white paper, folded them and placed them in a vase. We picked out our dares. First Rowan, then me, Mace after, followed by Reeve and then Shannon. One by one every one started to leave as it as getting quite late and it was only the five of us left and with one or two people that were on the other side of the hall. It all started when it was Shannon's dare, I could tell it was something bad by the look on Mace's face. Shannon's dare was to go to Rose Hall, knock on the door and say trick or treat. At first we all thought that it was a very good idea and that we should all go trick or treating. It was really dark with hardly any one on the streets. All the little children had gone home and nearly all the lights were switched off. We drove up slowly and we could see the dark deserted house all there lone and it felt as though it was waiting for us. For some strange reason the journey up the hill seemed to take years and what more it was starting to rain, and not only that Mace was driving. It started to thunder and lightning struck, and then it looked at us, smelled us, it was as though the lightening and the fear from it was its light. The house never looked more evil, every film, nightmare, anything scary that makes me want to run under my parents covers when their not there flashed before my very eyes, It gave me the shivers and I felt that something inside was telling me; This is not right; turn back, evil dwells here†. These words were running through my head over and over again. At that moment I remember Reeve calling me. I told them to turn back the car in a very quiet voice. They all looked at me as though I was stupid or something. Then Reeve asked me what was wrong for the second time, but this time I didn't bother as I was starting to get really scared. Nobody was listening to me. I thought they were all thinking I had gone mad. Just then I heard a whisper saying `I can't turn the car'. Straight away I looked at Mace's face. I heard him say it again to the four of us. This time he said it in fear. We all went silent staring ahead. The only sound to be heard was the rain. It was getting louder and louder as we drew closer and closer to the grim Rose Hall. In a flash we were there. It was dark. The rain had stopped now and I could feel a cold breeze rushing past my face; it did not feel like the normal winter breeze, it was a shivering breeze, an evil, deathly breeze. Shannon walked towards the door slowly. We followed behind her and it felt as though each step that we took towards the door was the last. `Knock, knock' We felt the sound vibrate in the silence surrounding us. At this instant I grabbed Mace's arm with the thought that something was going to open the door. We waited and waited till we all felt relieved that nothing was there to let us in. We all turned back with the intention of leaving, but just then we heard the door start to creak open slowly. Before we even had the chance to look back Shannon, had gone and we heard it. We heard the faint scream for help. My legs started to shake, I was weak, I felt as though I was at a funeral, my heart was soft, and I could feel it beat, it was fast. The tears were there. Rowan screamed and then she urst into tears and fell down on her knees. We could feel the silent night looking down at the four of us, helpless, knowing that there was no turning back now, but only to face the fear ahead of us. It felt like as though we were in the part of a film, a funeral, everyone crying, sad music at the background, everywhere you look there was sorrow. The door was left there wide open for us, and we knew that there was no way out. We made the final decision that we had to go into Rose Hall and find Shannon. We went in pairs: me and Mace, Rowan and Reeve. We all had the fear hidden inside us, but outwardly we showed raveness as we stepped into the forbidden house. As we walked in, we found our selves in the middle of the hallway with only two straight narrow paths ahead of us that were never there before. Looking at these paths we knew that one of these path would lead us home where as one would lead us to another world, the world we did not want to enter, the world contradicted by hope, but we did not know which was which. Mace and I decided that we would go right, but Reeve and Rowan wanted to go the same way as well. We sensed that we only had a short period of time and we had no time to argue, so I ecided that Mace and I should go left and let the other two go right. As we approached our paths we all turned around at the same time, and looked at each other, thinking that it's the last time. I ran towards Reeve and my closest friend, Rowan, and gave them both a big hug, which felt to me as if it was bringing back all the memories of the five of us together with smiles on our faces. I felt Mace's warm hand around my shoulder drawing me away from Reeve and Rowan. I remember Mace telling me that there was nothing we could do, except to face what was coming, we did not have a choice because, the door ad closed behind us. I managed to pull my-self away from both of them. We said good-bye to each other for the final time, and we started to walk. Our footsteps sounded very loud on the wooden floor. Everything smelt damp and moldy and there was silence as if many ears were listening to our footsteps. I felt as though I had been walking for many days without stopping, not realizing how much pain I was in, but instead realizing the fear. Mace and I started to walk faster, after a couple of minutes or probably hours, I began to feel as though I was reaching destiny, only not knowing what it was. Mace suddenly stopped. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back. We stood there for a couple of minutes and then we heard two screams. At first I did not want to believe what I had heard but I had to and I decided to go back for them. I didn't know what was going through my head; I started to run as fast as I could until I tripped over something and for a minute I thought I was dead. I was sitting there when I felt something dripping on me. It was really dark which meant I couldn't see what it was, but I decided to smell it. It smelt weird. It smelt like blood. Just then I let out the oudest scream that I had ever screamed in my whole entire life. I heard Mace's footsteps coming towards me as yet I did not look up. He came and sat next to me. I remember Mace whispering in my ear and asking me what was wrong. I told him I felt something dripping on me and it smelt like blood. Mace smokes, so he always carries a box of matches' in-case his lighter never worked. We were both sitting there and it felt as though we had given up hope. Mace took a cigarette out of his pocket and a box of matches to light the cigarette. When the fire flicked on the match something took it out. I started to get really scared; I knew something or someone else was in there apart from the both of us. I sat there silently, trying my hardest not to make a move, I even held my breath, and although it was dark, I closed my eyes. Those couple of seconds felt like a couple of hours. He flicked his match again and this time the flame did not go out. He looked around to see if anything was there, but he couldn't find anything. Just then he felt something drip on him. He looked up slowly. I remember him being quiet for a long time until I looked up. It was a horrible site, a photographical site and memory, and I hate hinking about it. I was too shocked to cry or even say anything. I could feel my heart beat getting faster and my body getting cold and hot and cold and hot. It was Shannon. She was covered in blood, her eyes red and wide open, her mouth also open with her tongue sticking out, accompanied with her ever slow blood flowing to the end of her tongue where it built up only to drip, there was blood all over her body, and there was only distinguishable as a pole trusted in her belly, flowing with blood, holding her, supporting her to the ceiling. She was a mess. All hope that I ever had was lost, it felt like a child getting its ost awaited toy and only after getting it, it was taken away, I felt what the people walking aimlessly in the desert with a dry throat felt, after running with joy at the first site of water only to discover it was a mirage. We couldn't do anything apart from walking ahead. Every step felt like the last one. We walked and walked in total darkness, with the presence of our recent memories until our legs couldn't carry us any longer so we both had to sit down. I put my head down and I remember thinking about what my family was doing and what time it was. Just then Mace told me to look up, he told me that e reached it; he told me that we have reached our destiny. Without saying a thing I stood up in amazement, speechless. â€Å"Mace, Shannon, Rowan, and Reeve we're home†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"Darling, wake up†. I opened my eyes so many people, my own people. `I'm home, I'm home†¦ Where are the rest where are they? ‘ `I'm sorry darling. They†¦ , they died in the car accident. Thank god that you survived'. From that day to this I don't know how we ended up in the car accident, and I don't know why I came back but Mace didn't. Every time I drive past Rose Hall I hear the screams of Reeve and Rowan and still see the body of Shannon. Twenty-five years have passed and things have changed in the outside world, but I have not changed. For me my past is still living and haunting me. I have still not yet uncovered the mysteries of that night in Rose Hall. It's a normal evening at Silver Town. Halloween night has come back to me again. And as I'm driving towards Rose Hall I hear again the same voice, the voice that I once heard twenty-five years ago but this time it is saying `Come†¦ come†¦ come'. I still don't know if Mace lied when he said he couldn't turn the car around, but I do believe that he is still alive and I am going back for him†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..