The Stinson Shipping Company

I think the Systems Theory Model is the most applicable in determining and explaining how everything went wrong at the Stinson Shipping Company. To begin with, the environment was extremely hectic. Tom Murphy was under considerable pressure to deliver the goods on time amidst the increase in business over the past three months. I think that it is quite possible that his supervisors had a â€Å"Git-R-Done† philosophy and Tom felt he had to adopt the same mentality to be a success in the position. There may have been some training issues as well because Tom should have known that the mixing of caustic lye and Hydraulic fluid would be dangerous; instead he was more concerned about weather the fork lift could lift the load. Both problems needed to be considered because it was really the combination of the two that caused the disaster. The Hydraulic fluid leaking caused the fork lift to fail which in turn caused the pallets to fall resulting in the caustic lye mixing with the Hydraulic fluid. There was really a failure to communicate on all ends. The equipment Manager, Mike Morello, jury rigged the fork lift and was no where to be seen. I would think at the least they all would have been observers making sure to spot for anything that could go wrong. When Bill Jefferson, noted drops of hydraulic fluid on the dock floor, he should have stopped and walked over to Tom instead of just waiving at him. The interaction of people machine and environment was dire but their was a breakdown. Even though information was collected, I don’t think the risks were really weighed out. I think the risk they were most worried about was should they risk holding up the shipment? Ultimately, he decision that Tom made was wrong, but still the accident could have been avoided had Mike stood his ground, The two of them supervised the loading, had Bill done a better job of communicating. Now Bill is covered with the chemical and being rushed to the hospital. This visit should have and could have been avoided. An investigation into the accident would help HR professionals to communicate the breakdown to management and enable them to set and enforce policy to prevent this from happening again in the future. Advanced training in Chemical reactions for all dock loaders and supervisors is important as well. When a company has the motto â€Å"Safety First† than safety trumps any other pressure or work related task. If this is mode of operand’e than the employees feel secure in making the right decision without the fear of retaliation from management.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Free Market Economy

THE ADVANTAGES OF FREE MARKET ( DISADVANTAGES OF COMMAND ECONOMY ) 1. Efficiency. free market economies are very competitive. Most of their industries are assumed to be perfectly competitive and so allocative and productive efficiency will occur. As their main aim is profit motive so free market economies allocate their resources more efficiently as compared to planned economy. Decisions about what to produce are made by the people who will actually consume the goods. Planners are less likely to make the correct decisions across the whole economy. 2. Choice. In free market consumer sovereighnty prevails.Firms will produce whatever consumers are prepared to buy not what they think they think they would like to buy. As consumer needs are going to be met with appropriate product than firms will make higherr profit and will last much longer in the market . Due to the free enterprise factor, there are no restrictions on what the firms can produce as a result there will be a much larger ch oice of goods and services in a free market economy compared with a command economy. The planner will be more concerned in making sure there are enough essential goods to produce the product they want to produce.As firms in free market will be producing different good and services so consumers will have variety of good and sevices to choose from. 3. Innovation. Firms will always be looking to produce something new to get ahead of their competitors. , even though the government's role is limited, one of its jobs is to protect property rights. This will include intellectual property rights through patents. Hence, there are incentives in the free market system for firms to be innovative and produce better quality products. DISADVANTAGES OF FREE MARKET ECONOMY ( ADVANTAGES OF COMMAND ECONOMYPublic, merit and demerit goods. Public goods cannot be provided privately because of their two characteristics, non-diminishability and non-excludability. These goods have to be provided publicly. E ven in a very free market, one of the government's few roles will be to provide defence, for example. But there may be a problem with merit goods and demerit goods. Merit goods, like health and education, tend to be under provided in a free market. Certainly in the USA the public health system is a ‘last resort' system. People are advised to buy health insurance.Of course, the poor might not be able to afford this, and some people might simply decide not to bother if they feel particularly healthy. Demerit goods are bad for you. Government should ban class A drugs, and tax cigarettes and alcohol heavily. A government with a limited role might not take enough action in this area, causing health problems for the economy. Of course, the advantage of a command economy is that the strong government will make sure that public and merit goods are consumed at the right levels and that demerit goods are banned or taxed heavily.The environment. Free market economies are likely to produc e more pollution, which is bad for the environment. Command economies can make sure that the production processes that they chose are as environmentally friendly as possible. They should be able to make sure that the level of output is the socially optimal level of output. Governments can try to force firms into producing the socially optimal level of output through the use of taxes, but governments with a limited role will not be keen to use taxes.Although the tax on petrol is high in the UK, it still doesn't cover the problems caused by the exhaust emissions (in health as well as the environment). Petrol prices have risen, but in real terms, the rise has not been as high as for bus and rail fares. In the USA, petrol is ridiculously cheap. The minimal tax on the good does not begin to cover the environmental damage. Having said all that, the command economies of the 80s had notoriously poor records on the environment. In theory, they should have been able to monitor pollution level s closely, given that they had control of production but this simply did not hapeen.

Investment and Selling Price Essay

Turnhilm, Inc. is considering adding a small electric mower to its product line. Management believes that in order to be competitive, the mower cannot be priced above $139. The company requires a minimum return of 25% on its investments. Launching the new product would require an investment of $8,000,000. Sales are expected to be 40,000 units of the mower per year. Required: Compute the target cost of a mower. 57. The management of Hettler Corporation would like to set the selling price on a new product using the absorption costing approach to cost-plus pricing. The company’s accounting department has supplied the following estimates for the new product: Management plans to produce and sell 4,000 units of the new product annually. The new product would require an investment of $643,000 and has a required return on investment of 20%. Required: a. Determine the unit product cost for the new product. b. Determine the markup percentage on absorption cost for the new product. c. Determine the target selling price for the new product using the absorption costing approach. 58. Bourret Corporation is introducing a new product whose direct materials cost is $42 per unit, direct labor cost is $16 per unit, variable manufacturing overhead is $9 per unit, and variable selling and administrative expense is $3 per unit. The annual fixed manufacturing overhead associated with the product is $84,000 and its annual fixed selling and administrative expense is $16,000. Management plans to produce and sell 4,000 units of the new product annually. The new product would require an investment of $1,022,400 and has a required return on investment of 10%. Management would like to set the selling price on a new product using the absorption costing approach to cost-plus pricing. Required: a. Determine the unit product cost for the new product. b. Determine the markup percentage on absorption cost for the new product. c. Determine the target selling price for the new product using the absorption costing approach.

Consumer Marketing Research Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Consumer Marketing Research Plan - Essay Example Structurally, Reed Elsevier has four divisions that serve a global market for professional information. This allows the company to provide information and services to the professional market as scientists, academics, lawyers, teachers, doctors, nurses and a range of corporate professionals (Elsevier 2006). Skills are valued highly at Reed Elsevier (2006) as part of key strategy to build on core competencies. The company has maintained successful development of technology and delivers through web-based processes. Skills rely heavily on the company's ability to invest in new technology and deliver products effectively and efficiently to the professional information market. Reed Elsevier's staff is broad, including specialists in diverse global information markets as well as recent purchases of medial information publishers and business information researchers. Reed Elsevier places a strong emphasis on their shared values throughout the staff as encouraging innovation, product developme nt, and organic (rather than top-down) management and growth. The company's style is to function as a global organization with a pro-active policy that shares resources, information and cost savings with a group and team-oriented focus on delivering an efficient and viable product. Reed's product is information and information technology. ... Reed Elsevier places a strong emphasis on their shared values throughout the staff as encouraging innovation, product development, and organic (rather than top-down) management and growth. The company's style is to function as a global organization with a pro-active policy that shares resources, information and cost savings with a group and team-oriented focus on delivering an efficient and viable product. Reed's product is information and information technology. This is a strong product line, and Reed Elsevier provides an efficient, easily accessible product through their web-based applications that is not dependent on the customer's physical location, but is globally accessible. Product promotion is strong. Reed Elsevier has a solid web-based presence as well as continuous support from the traditional publishing market (especially as brand recognition for Harcourt division). Furthermore, promotion is done through press releases and professional conferences. Reed is able to promote on multiple levels as web-based, press releases, word of mouth, and brand recognition. Prices at Reed Elsevier are hard to distinguish because there are multiple divisions, information requirements, and professional needs that create variations in prices. Customer and Competition Market Analysis Simba Information shows the market reaching nearly fifty-five billion dollars in the 2002 US market, global information on the professional information sales market was unavailable at the time of this report (Simba 1999). Trends in information purchases, particularly in education, business and medical information markets increase each year (Simba 1999). Customers include Science & Medical, Legal, Education and Business professionals. Customer relationship management is highly

The advantages and disadvantages of MoneyGuidepro Essay

The advantages and disadvantages of MoneyGuidepro - Essay Example Financial planning computer software such as the MoneyGuidepro have gained widespread popularity in the recent past (Drucker & Bruckenstein, 2003). The program has many benefits for financial planners and their clients. For instance, the software facilitates timely completion of financial planning. In essence, the software aids in saving the time spent on analyzing financial reports from various sources such as the financial statements and cash flow statements, thereby, easing financial planning procedures. In this regard, the financial planner can develop multiple plans simultaneously since the information required is configured in one location. The software has outstanding capability to handle complex financial planning problems faster and easier compared to manual planning. Multi-tasking With financial computer planning software, it is possible to perform many task at the same time. For instance, the MoneyGuidepro software facilitates calculations of various variables on the same page. In essence, the software supports combination of various problems on one platform and solving them simultaneously. In addition planning for activities such as retirement, college studies, asset allocation and estate planning is done more conveniently than using manual methods for financial planning (Updegrave, 2013). In essence, the software provides alternative solutions for the financial planner and the client in the planning process.

Film Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Film Review - Essay Example lly based on the Hebrew book ‘Exodus’ which narrates the complete account of how an adopted Egyptian prince, Moses, who was Hebrew by birth, rescued the enslaved Jews from the clutches of a cruel ruler, Pharaoh. The movie was given a very realistic feel with its on location filming and very strong and appropriate cast, by the director De Mille. But it should be taken in consideration that the movie was told with its very intriguing storyline both to educate, in a religious manner, and to entertain, in a people friendly and aesthetic fashion too. There are some basic flaws or probably involuntary mistakes in the story line, for example it is shown in the movie that the infant Moses was rescued from the basket by Pharaoh’s sister, in fact, in biblical text, he was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter and she knew it at that time too that he was a Hebrew. (Exodus; 2: 5-7). De Mille’s version of the Biblical story of Moses, is a class act, he has given it his own flavour where he deliberately emphasized on some of the aspects of this story right from the Exodus version. Like he portrays how the divine being of God engulfs Moses, how God speaks to Moses and a burning fire surround Moses which will not burn him, which in reality could easily overwhelm and tarnish a person in seconds. De Mille’s such metaphors are very clearly seen all through the movie, which shows the true heart of the film as biblical in nature. This Divine radiance of God which inhibits Moses is illustrated many times in the movie, which is seems to be the foundation of De Mille’s belief in the story. In contrast to above, a lot of biblical facts are altered just for the viewer’s better understanding and attraction, for example, there is a point in the original story where Moses killed an Egyptian for brutally beating a Hebrew slave, but in the movie that Egyptian was replaced by Pharaoh’s cruel master builder. It is understandable that such changes are made just to hook the audience and

Describe the theories, arguments and evidence used in your four Essay

Describe the theories, arguments and evidence used in your four subject readings. What do the readings tell you about the study - Essay Example In the fourteenth century the Roman law gave the above mentioned privileges whereas a century later English authorities granted the similar rights to the parents. Yet the intellectual evolution kicked in and by seventeenth century scholars initiated to view children as an important part of the society and supported the notion of facility settlement for their training (Peck 2008). Based on the above paragraph, it can be assumed that the tendency and the power of evolution are embedded within the fabric of humanity and humans are gifted with an unexplainable energy to overcome resistance to change. Historically the females were not considered humans and in the present they are recognized as equals to the male population. All of the instances demonstrate the fact that humans kept on growing intellectually in the past and therefore their behavior also became better with the passage of time. In the process of intellectual growth old concepts were challenged and replaced with new and more practical ones. Corporate professionals in the past were only concerned with the maximization of the profit. However nowadays businessmen are getting more and more attached to the concepts of job autonomy, modern training and prevention of environmental degradation. Literature Review Modern thinking started to be accepted and praised when it challenged the concept of capitalism. The state socialism evolved around the premise of accumulation of wealth within few hands and therefore causing serious financial inequalities in the West as it is mentioned in the book that â€Å"State socialism attempts as far as possible to substitute central planning for the working of economic market† (Hall 1992 pp 54). However, the neo-classic economic experts stated that the country should and must use its natural and human resources efficiently in order to maximize their utility to the society. The Marxism, an important economic theory holds on to the point that there are no notable difference s in social classes regarding their needs and wants. Nevertheless the true message of the theory is that all humans should be treated equally in the eyes of economics and there should be negligible impact of social boundaries on the commitment of the resources it is written in the book â€Å"State power could caretaker of the existence (Hall 1992 pp 32). Thus, the state will have the ultimate responsibility of fulfilling the needs and wants of the citizens. According to Marx’s viewpoint â€Å"the presence of politics in the society is a representation of classes and their goals and objectives† (Hall 1992 pp 31) and the above mentioned economic authority is having an unconstructive view of politics in general. But in a more practical sense the model of politics presented by Marx is supporting dictatorship as there is no provision for public opinion. Furthermore the Marxist ideas about political activities were implemented by the Soviet Union in the form of State govern ed Socialism The profound failure of the above mentioned political system supports that democracy has a tendency to prevail under adverse situation because it is more accommodating towards the human nature as it supports freedom of speech and choice. However socialism thrives on the idea of protecting the capital so that it can be used for the greater good of the society. But in this kind of system people starve by the millions because the state never

Defining concept of design thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Defining concept of design thinking - Essay Example an a branch of career study which applies the sensitivity, creativity and innovativeness as well as coming up with executions and implementation strategy in order to bring out satisfaction of the consumers who intends to use the product and to cope up with the market competition. 3. Choose examples exploring the current literature on design thinking, its influences and its critiques and relate it to real world application of design thinking used as a strategic tool in business leadership. Some technological companies such as Google and Apple have in the recent past given room for about 20% of their employees to think and come out with their ideas in improving their services and the goods for the case of Google. For many consumers in the market the need is full satisfaction in which consumers need new products with development in operations. Design thinking has much influence on the profitability of the company. Taking for instance phone applications, most consumers will go for those phones with many features as compared to those with fewer features. These features are some of the products of ideas which in this case is design thinking. In addition design thinking brings about competition among the companies thereby resulting in high quality products. Of course there is aspect of critics coming from the social side. Most of the design thinking are associated with the destruction of the environment, exploitation due to high demand of the input place in implementing the se ideas. When we take for example the motor vehicle industry such as the Lamborghini which is a current design thinking product is very expensive as compared to other cars which are not highly designed but it is surprising to note that the raw materials are just the same. This makes us to believe that the increase in price is due to the designing services. Most of business strategic plans are based on the applications of the ideas from the management and other employees. After depict of clear

To what extent is islamaphobia a problem in british society Essay

To what extent is islamaphobia a problem in british society - Essay Example That concept has seen a significant rise in the UK, and the reasons for it, while somewhat understandably valid, are deluded and overstated. An Inherited Tradition: The Crusades and The New Crusade While islamaphobia might be something new to the United States since 911, it is certainly well entrenched in the thinking of people of the United Kingdom. Beginning with the Crusades, particularly those of Richard the Lionhearted and other British kings who went off to â€Å"fight the good fight† against the Muslims, a natural tendency has developed to mistrust Muslims as treacherous and determined to destroy Christianity, and along with it Western civilization. Feffer (2010) in his defense of Islam writes that the UK culture itself has promoted this notion throughout the ages by reinforcing it in subtle ways, including the teaching and analysis of such epic poems as The Song of Roland, which he contends places untrue emphasis upon the slaughter of Charlemagne’s troops as des cribed in the poem by Muslim warriors. ‘In the real battle of 778, the slayers of the Franks were [really] Christian Basques furious at Charlemagne for pillaging their city of Pamplona’ (Feffer, 2010: par. 3). ... om 1500-1600 the ‘crusade’—verbal, psychological and historical—continued against the Ottoman Empire, passing from one generation to another stories of the atrocities of the Ottoman Empire and their Muslim leaders, defaming, as it went, all of its followers. Ongoing as well was the attitude that Muslims and Islam continually attempted to hide their violent ill-intentioned tendencies under the guise of the peaceful dictates of the Koran. Today that attempt is still being challenged in every respect and from every side, and by his own admission, from a Christian perspective, by Dunkin (2010) in his official condemnation, Ten Myths About Islam. Dunkin writes the following: Jihad is still alive and well today, and is not just the province of a few militant radicals. The forcible advancement of Islam, coupled with a contrived hatred for the Western world, appeals to the hearts and minds of millions of disaffected Muslims worldwide, many of them young and eager t o give their lives in the cause of Allah. Many well-educated Muslims, in the Middle East and in the West, have taken hold of the intellectual cause of Islamism and support this jihad wholeheartedly. (Myth #7) With academics such as Dunkin fanning the flames of anti-religious perception, it is not difficult to reason that such ideas have continued to find their way into modern UK thinking, in a world much more diverse and thus, for many, much more threatening. Islamaphobia and Politics As a prejudice which has developed over centuries, it seems clear that at least one political group in the UK, namely the British National Party and its Campaign Against Islam, presents a clear if not pervasive view of Islam as a violent entity detrimental to the interests of Britain and the British population. With media at

Differences between underinsured Immigrant Children and American Research Paper

Differences between underinsured Immigrant Children and American Children, and insured children in United States - Research Paper Example Census Bureau 2). According to census report 2007, there were approximately 45.7million uninsured people in the country which the entire world view as the world’s economic giant. This paper will look into the differences between the underinsured immigrants and American children, and the insured children in the United States. Depending on one’s definition of underinsurance, 8 to 26% of privately insured population under 65 years of age is underinsured. Enrollees with group insurance constitute 90% of persons with private insurance and they are a substantial majority of the underinsured (U.S. Census Bureau 1). However, from one-third to two-third of all groups of enrollees are underinsured. Under some definitions of underinsurance, women and their dependants are underinsured at about twice the rate for men and their dependants. Even though vulnerable populations are more likely to need healthcare services, many are not able to access them. A number of reasons are cited for this phenomenon, but one of the most problematic is the lack of healthcare insurance. More precisely, in 2007, more than 45 million people in the United States did not have health insurance benefits. These groups are particularly affected by escalating healthcare costs and reductions in service within a community. The elderly, po or children and growing numbers of individuals who are not properly represented in employment are the most affected (Sered and Fernandopulle 19). According to the Child Health web page of the Children’s Defense Fund’s web site, of the nine million uninsured children, 40.8 percent are White, 31.7 percent are Hispanic, 19.8 percent are Black, 5.1 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander and 2.6 percent are American Indian or Alaskan Native. According to United States Census Bureau website, the population of Miami Dade stands at 3.7million. Of this population, 21% of the people are not insured. Of this

Nursing Accountability in Relationship Essay Example for Free

Nursing Accountability in Relationship Essay In this paper, I will review and implement recommendations based on the findings of the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) regarding the training of hospital staff to respond to a mass casualty incident (MCI). I will give examples and situations that can affect the effectiveness of proper training and responses to a traumatic event in our city, county, state, or country. For years, hospitals have contemplated the possibility of a mass casualty incident (MCI). Federal agencies planning and responding to these events have determined that it would be overwhelming and catastrophic to any community. The resources would not be sufficient to absorb the needs and requirements for help. These events can be naturally occurring or manmade, for example, hurricane season and tornado season in Texas can be predicted with accuracy. In the West coast, we have constant planning and preparation for the next big earthquake even though we do not know with accuracy when it would be. During hurricane Katrina, we had an excellent opportunity to witness how prepared a city is, and how hospitals can easily be overwhelmed by a massive influx of patients. Examples can be given worldwide, but for the purpose of simplicity we will not elaborate further. Never before have we experienced more threats than in the past few years starting from the Oklahoma City bombing and the 911 attacks as the most horrific examples to site. More and more we have seen our fears become our realities and our vulnerabilities, and this is what has made us rethink our strategies and training for proper response to chemical, radiological, or biological threats. Findings The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) requires that hospitals implement and test proper hospital response training twice a year. My hospital, BAMC, a military hospital, has complied with the training and has made significant contributions to the evolution and preparedness in response to a potential or actual event. The military has always been an integral part in training and preparation in regards to logistics and coordination of available resources, but even the best trained or better equipped hospitals cannot compensate for the impact it has on its employees, particularly nurses. Nurses take part and are an important aspect of training and preparation, and they are essential in the response to a crisis or trauma. Working in the emergency department, I often question myself as to how is it that we can train and prepare every year for a mass casualty incident (MCI) when I can see how easily we get overrun and in total disarray. Our hospital is currently capable of taking up to four major traumas all at the same time, but the reality is that even under the best staffed days we get overwhelmed, resourcing quickly to diversion of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) to other hospitals when we have reached maximum capacity. If training then is to prepare us and allow us to be well equipped with the necessary knowledge to perform, why is it that we struggle under small real life case scenarios? The response has to be once again in the level of preparation that each individual nurse takes to be ready to be able to function under very stressful environment. The nurse can be well prepared for future events by performing after action reviews (AAR), which is primordial in determining the stressors and the potential solutions to the problems encountered after each event. Disaster drills are beneficial in the effectiveness of command and control, communication, triage, patient flow, security response, and the roles each practitioner must perform. Recommendations Hospital drills and disaster planning are key and instrumental to make the nurse familiar with his/ her role, as well as the role of all the providers of care and first responders. Proper coordination and adequate allocation of resources are essential. The nurse can be instrumental in his/her flexibility and ability to adapt to different roles under extremely chaotic circumstances. Also, nurses are important for the delegation of tasks and coordination of duties to be taken to stabilize the emergency department for the proper movement of patients arriving and departing. The nurse plays an integral role in the transporting of patient, triage, and treatment of the injured. Properly identifying those who are very critical (expectant, life threatening), and those who are stable and can still function (broken bones, laceration, psychological issues) allows the provider to render the proper and efficient care. The nurse needs to have clear communication with the rest of the staff at every level of the disaster event in order to function and coordinate efficiently. Good documentation needs to be implemented. Nurses need to remain creative in finding ways to document what has been done to a patient with regards of his or her care. In a war zone, we can document key components of patient treatment on the uniforms of soldiers, and the same can be done with civilian population in the absence of computers or charting for short periods of time. Another important aspect is the transport of first aid equipment and supplies as soon as the disaster is identified, including body bags, stretchers, wheelchairs, crutches, splints, IV solutions, blood products, antibiotics, and plenty of analgesics and narcotics. Keeping an adequate number of chaplains, counselors, and security is imperative for the emergency department to maintain order under the chaos and stress. Summary In conclusion, the registered nurse needs to be ever vigilant of the realities of our current situations of the world. Today, more than ever with ongoing climate changes and unpredictable massive storms, tornados, earthquakes, and the impending threats created by man, we are always at risk for an (MCI). Keeping a good understanding of the preparation and the steps to take, and knowing his or her role the nurse can be reassured that he/she will be ready for the unpredictable and often unthinkable. References Training of Hospital Staff to Respond to a Mass Casualty Incident Evidence Reports/Technology Assessments, No. 95 Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); July 2004 http://angel03. gcu. edu/section/default. asp? id=705202 Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) St. John West Shore Hospital, MCI Overview http://www. emsconedonline. com/pdfs/EMT-Mass%20Casualty%20Incident-an%20overview-Trauma. pdf

Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School Essay Example for Free

Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School Essay 1.1 Description of the Area of Research Title of the Study: Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School. Phonics is letter-sound correspondences. The units of sound can be syllables, onsets rimes, or phonemes (EdResearch.info). Phonics Primer is a way of learning the sounds of the alphabet in order to decode the English language. It is recognized by a quick pace of teaching letter and the sound or grapheme and phoneme matches and immediately getting students to use this knowledge to read and spell regular words. Words are read by using the phonological skill of blending the sounds together synthesis (hence the term synthetic phonics). Words are spelled by using the phonological skill of hearing the sounds in words (segmentation) by means of which words are segmented into their constituent phonemes (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia) Research Questions 1. What is the strategy in teaching synthetic phonics? 2. Can the method be successfully taught in shorter periods? 3. Can the 44 sounds of Phonics Primer help in teaching non-English speakers who have other sounds that is found in English? 4. Can Phonics Primer be used to teach cohorts in higher levels with reading difficulties? Research Variables The instruments that I will use in my research will be: 1. Questionnaires 2. Interviews 3. Classroom Observation Checklist 4. Tests 5. Document Reviews Gay and Airasian (20030 defined population as â€Å"The population is the group of interest to the researcher, the group to which the results of the study will ideally generalized†. The respondents of the research will be for remedial students from the outskirt of Sarikei in Sarawak. The majority of the students will be of the Iban race. The research will be conducted on two groups of selected students. One group will be used for study, called the experimental group. Another group would be the controlled group and they will be taught with the conventional teaching procedure during English lessons. Both groups will be cohorts who will need assistant in reading. About six students will be involved in this study. They will be remedial students from the cohort of year five students who are in the remedial class. The respected students and school will be chosen simply to fulfill the requirements of the research that will use the Primers phonics approach to teach reading for remedia l students. 1.2 Theoretical Framework Often we find that in schools, there are always students who are very poor in reading English. It is even worst when the students cannot read in a language that is very similar to theirs. This means that the students are having problems in basic reading. We can say that these students are too slow in picking up during their reading lessons in English. In classes where we have been teaching, oftentimes we see that students cannot recognize words and even there are some who cannot read. The students in rural Sarikei, in Sarawak, specifically are mostly Ibans. They are non-English speakers. They only encounter the language when they come to school. English therefore is very unfamiliar to them. Many English sounds don’t even exist in their mother tongue. Synthetic phonics has all the 44 sounds of the English Language. It is a very systematic way to teach basic reading in English. By using the method of teaching, students can read faster and easier. The method of teaching and the instruments used in teaching it can enable the remedial students of the primary schools to remember the sounds made by the letters and enable them to read. Research instrument are devices to measure the objects of the study. Instruments come in multiple forms. For this research, the researcher will be using multiple forms like questionnaires, observation forms, interview forms and tests to get information. The questionnaires and interviews will be used to get information about experiences, suggestions and ideas related to the study. The observation forms will be used to make observations during the study. From observation forms, the researcher will be able to see weaknesses and strengths during the teaching of Phonics Primer and also the current teaching method used by the school to make comparisons. The tests which will be given before and after teaching Phonics Primer will help the researcher to find out if the case study that they are doing is suitable and good for teaching remedial students. Questionnaires Questionnaires are familiar to most people (Berdie, Anderson, and Niebuhr, 1986).It is a written or printed form used in gathering information on some subject or subjects, consisting of a set of questions to be submitted to one or more persons (Your Dictionary.Com) It is a communication method of designing questionnaires to collect the requisite information. It is a list of questions framed to get facts. A questionnaire is defined as a group of printed questions used to elicit information from subjects by means of self report. Questionnaires will be distributed to both experimental and controlled group. Teacher Questionnaires. A teacher questionnaire is designed to gather information administered to English teachers in school. The questionnaire will be done two times, that is before the start of the Phonics Programme. A second questionnaire will follow at the end of the programme. This is to find out the status of remedial reading before and after the programme. If there are any differences before and after the programme, it will be noted down for analysis in the research later. Students’ Questionnaires Students’ questionnaire will also be done. It will be done with students who are involved with the study. They are the experimental group of students and also the controlled group of students for comparison later. Questionnaires can help the researcher discover the experiences, knowledge and backgrounds of the students and the school which is related to the case study that is going to be done. These information will help the researcher to know more and understand more about the stand of the students involved in the study. The questionnaire is also important in helping the researcher to make conclusion and give suggestions for future study of similar case. Interview The interview is a dialogue between the teachers with the researcher. The most commonly accepted objective of the interview is to determine whether there is a match between the candidates education, experience, interest and goals and the goals of the researcher related to the study for which the researcher is interviewing. In this study, the researcher conducts the interview with the remedial students’ teacher. This interview is designed to elicit data using a set of predetermined questions that are expected to elicit the subjects thoughts, opinions and attitudes regarding the teaching of reading to remedial students. Group Interviews with Teachers. To identify the major issues surrounding the planning and implementation of reading instruction in schools of a rural school, group interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers. An interview will be used to facilitate discussion. Responses to the uniform standard questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Individual Interviews with Teachers. To investigate all of the major research questions. presented earlier, interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers in the selected schools. An interview will be used to facilitate information gathering. Responses to the questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Observation Instruments Observation is a technique of gathering data through direct contact with the subjects. In this study, the researcher will observe two classes. The researcher will observe ongoing class using Primer Phonics and the normal teaching of remedial students in the school. Observation instrument is necessary to detect any strength and weaknesses for both types of methodology in teaching remedial students. The detections will be noted down in the researcher’s note book for making analysis, conclusion and suggestions for future researches. Classroom Observation Classroom observation will be done to make sure that Primer Phonics is taught accordingly. A checklist will be used. Classroom observations will also be done for the normal teaching of remedial students in the same school. The need for making observation for the normal method of teaching is to enable comparison among the two types of methodology later. Additional data collection and review will occur during the observations. Researchers summarized notes after each observation. Test The researcher will conduct two types of tests, the Pre test and the Post test, for two groups of students from the remedial class only. The students will be divided into the experimental and controlled group. A Pre test will be used to see the students’ ability to read before teaching using the Primers Phonic Method. The Post test will be used to see the achievements made after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. Both the experimental and the controlled groups will take the tests so the researcher can compare if there will be any differences in the achievements after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method for the experimental group. The Controlled group will be taught by their own remedial teachers using the usual syllabus in the school. In the tests, subjects are to read a short text of about 150 words. These tests aims to see how good the students can or cannot read before and after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. To assess the students reading, 5 criteria will be ticked accordingly. Students who gets two out of five ‘Yes’ are considered to have pass the Pre Test or the Post test Document Review Document review will inform the research process to varying degrees. Among the documents analyzed were student work samples, report cards, forms, letters to parents, lesson plans, lists of reading books, and other relevant documents pertinent to current reading instruction. The Theoretical Framework Diagram 1: The Diagram depicts the theoretical framework. 1.3 Review of Related Literature The literature reviews forwarded here will help us to understand more about the case study that will be done. A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge and or methodological approaches on a particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources, and as such, do not report any new or original experimental work. Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such as theses, a literature review usually precedes a research proposal and results section. Its ultimate goal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature on a topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that may be needed in the area. A well-structured literature review is characterized by a logical flow of ideas; current and relevant references with consistent, appropriate referencing style, proper use of terminology and an unbiased and comprehensive view of the previous research on the topic I would like to make a review of related literature which is in my area of research, Instruction, Development, and Achievement of Struggling Primary Grade Readers by Elizabeth Campbell Rightmyer, Ellen McIntyre, and Joseph M Petrosko. Reading Research and Instruction. Coral Gables: Spring 2006. Their study examined the phonics and reading achievement of 117 primary grade students in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Students received instruction in one of six different reading programs or models based upon the school they attended. Through qualitative data collection and analysis of specific instructional practices, they determined that no model or program proved more effective for the learning of phonics in the first grade after one year of instruction. Purpose The purpose of their study was to examine the phonics and reading achievement of primary grade students receiving instruction in six different instructional programs or models (referred to as models in reference to their study). Then, through a qualitative analysis of the specific instructional practices within these models and their understanding of young childrens literacy development, they explain the relative differences in achievement gains of these primary grade struggling readers. Method They examined the instructional practices and achievement of low performing students in first through third grade classrooms in which teachers used one of the following reading models: Breakthrough to Literacy (www.btl.com); Early Success (Cooper, et al., 1997); Early Intervention (Taylor, Medo, Strait, 1995); Four Blocks (Cunningham, Hall, DeFee, 1991); SRA Reading Mastery (Engelmann Bruner, 1997); or Together We Can, a locally developed model based on small group guided reading and explicit teaching of reading strategies and skills. Participants The study included 117 struggling primary-grade readers in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Schools that had recently received a state grant to implement one of the reading models were invited to participate. They then contacted the principals, asking them to recommend teachers who were particularly successful at implementing the instructional model for at least one year; they believed that principals would avoid selecting teachers who were struggling with the model, classroom management, student diversity, or any of the myriad complexities that teachers face daily. Independently, they checked the teachers credentials by using a state-developed data base and found that the majority of them held advanced rank in the profession; 73% had earned at least 30 credit hours beyond the bachelors degree. They also found that 84% of the teachers had taught in their current state of employment for more than five years. The principals distributed consent forms to interested teachers, and when they were returned, the researchers explained to each teacher that the children they wanted to study were those struggling with reading or learning to read. They had no control of the models that were proposed or the schools that were selected to receive the grants. Like many states under accountability mandates, their state is becoming heavily invested in direct instruction models of reading and mathematics, and this predilection was seen in the numbers of students who received scripted early intervention in reading. They asked that by October 1 of the first year of the study, the teachers identify the lowest achieving 20% in their classes. Again, they did not control for socioeconomic status, gender, or ethnicity of the identified children or in any way second-guess the teachers selection. Consenting students became the targeted group of children the researchers tested on the phonics application and reading tasks. There were two to five children in each of the classrooms, although due to attrition and a few flawed tests, this number was reduced in some classrooms. Researchers studied one group of children from the beginning of first grade through the end of second grade, documenting growth in phonics for one year. These children are hereafter referred to as first graders, even though they followed them through the end of second grade. The children in this group were all served by a single reading model one of the five models that appear in Appendix A across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in second grade). The study followed a second group from the beginning of second grade through the end of third grade, also documenting growth after two years. These children are hereafter referred to as second graders, even though they followed them through the end of third grade. Like the first graders, the children in this group were served by the same reading model across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in third grade). Table 1 lists the participants by model. Procedures for Data Collection and Analysis of Student Achievement Instruments The researcher pre- and post-tested first grade children on clays Hearing Sounds in Words Test (1993), a phonics application task that included encoding a sentence. This measure was conducted only with first graders, as this was the norming sample. It will hereafter be referred to as the phonics measure or phonics achievement. On the clay test, the examiner reads two sentences to the child, The bus is coming fast. It will stop here to let me get on. Then the sentences are read again, word by word, and children encode the sentence as the researcher dictates. The children are encouraged to do the best they can with the spelling and use the sounds of words to write as much as you can. The children score a point for each letter or group of letters they write that correctly correspond to the sounds in the words. Children can score from O to 37 on this test. The researchers selected this test because they believed it to be a more authentic assessment of phonics understanding and use than phonological tests on which children call out letter sounds they see or sound out semantically disconnected word lists. Data collection Researchers were trained using each of the testing instruments given. The training involved an explanation and demonstration of the testing procedures and observation of videotapes of the project director testing various children. The researchers scored those children, discussed results, and adjusted their expectations through more explanation and demonstration by the director. Children were pre-tested during the months of September and post-tested during the month of May during each of the two years of the study. Children were tested in one-on-one situations in quiet places, arranged by the classroom teacher or grant administrator for periods of no more than 30 minutes at a time. While the pre-testing took approximately 30 minutes per child, the post-testing took 60-90 minutes per child for most children, thus each child was met two or three times. The researchers attempted to make the children comfortable and rewarded them afterwards with stickers. All reading passages were tape-recorded. Quantitative analysis of achievement data For ease in comparing achievement, the researchers used the benchmarks provided by each of the tests. Clays Hearing Sounds in Words phonics test has a range of 1-37, with intervals of 1. Two trained researchers individually scored every Clay test, and these scores were compared against one another for accuracy. Where there was discrepancy in scoring, a third researcher also reviewed the data, and the group negotiated the final score. Scores were entered into a data base, and two team members reviewed each of them for accuracy in data entry. In this study, test score data were statistically analyzed in two ways. First, pretest scores were subtracted from posttest scores. The resulting gain scores were used as dependent variables in a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), with the reading models as the independent variables. Test 1 was a comparison of phonics achievement of students in the different reading models (one-year gain). For each test, students achievement in only five models was compared. Importantly, due to the unequal number of students in each of the comparison groups, and the small numbers of participants in some of the models, the interpretations about the findings of these tests are made with caution and based on trends in the data. Data Collection and Analysis of Instructional Practices The researchers collected data on the instructional models in three ways: a) by observing the teachers and taking field notes, b) by interviewing the teachers about their practices, and c) by completing an observation instrument after leaving the site (which required reflection and quantification of what was observed). For this analysis, they specifically gathered data on: 1) the focus of instruction, 2) the primary literacy activities conducted, and 3) the length of time children spent reading connected text. Other salient characteristics of the models, such as whether the model was considered an intervention for struggling readers or a whole class model, are also described. Observations and interviews Schools were contacted and arrangements were made to observe the teachers who had been previously identified as fully implementing the instructional model adopted through the state program. The researchers visited each teacher four times and observed between 90-180 minutes during each visit, depending on how long literacy instruction was conducted in that classroom. Researchers sat in the room and recorded what the teacher said and did in the form of field notes. One important feature in our field notes was the regular marking of time. In an effort to understand how teachers distributed their instructional time for various activities, they recorded the time in the margins of their field notes approximately every five minutes. After each visit, the researchers interviewed the classroom teacher the same day the observations were made. Among the questions they asked were about how typical the observed instruction was and how the children were selected for testing to ensure that they ind eed were studying the bottom 20%. Observation instrument After exiting the field site, the researcher used the field notes and interview to complete an observation instrument that summarized and quantified instructional patterns. A small section of instrument was used to help determine the teachers focus of instruction. The instrument, the field notes, and the interview made a data set for analysis. Analysis of instruction In the first phase of analysis, researchers gathered to examine the data sets. Using a form created by the project director, the researchers summarized what happened during each of the visits. From these summaries of the field notes and interviews, the project director created a set of codes that reflected much of the data, a content analysis of sorts (Miles Huberman, 1994). Then, the research team partitioned the field notes into activity settings (Tharp Gallimore, 1988) in order to create smaller, bounded units of analysis. This meant that whenever there was a change in activity (the people, place, or product of instruction), the ensuing activity was considered a unit of analysis and coded separately. The Researcher did not consider as change in setting instances in which children had to leave a group early or if a lesson was interrupted. Thus, the lessons were coded holistically by setting. Settings lasted from five to 45 minutes. For example, one setting for analysis might be a 10-minute whole class lesson on which the teacher guided the children to correct a message she had written without punctuation. When the same teacher signaled to the children it was time to work in learning centers, a new unit of analysis was begun. Sometimes there were multiple simultaneous activity settings, and the researcher usually made the decision to follow the teacher. For each activity setting, they coded the teachers primary activity, followed by what researchers interpreted, from both observations and interviews, was the teachers focus for the activity-either to help students develop phonologically (ACTIV-phon), or to help students learn something else (ACTIV-other). The primary instructional activities observed in each class were listed on the summary sheet. Finally, to determine the time children spent reading connected text, they used an earlier analysis of these data (Authors, 2005). They first defined connected text as texts of meaningful sentences or longer; that is, more than one connected sentence; although, in this study, connected text was usually an entire story. Then, they clarified activities that comprised examples of opportunities to read connected text. The following practices were categorized as such: choral reading; echo reading (even though technically the teacher was doing half of the reading); guided silent reading; guided oral reading; and established periods for independent reading. Activities not included as opportunities for reading connected text included read aloud story time, times when the teacher was directly teaching something, times when students completed worksheets that included only words or unrelated sentences, drill of individual words, or time on non-print responses to literature. Then, the researchers highlighted in field notes when students were provided opportunities to read connected text. They calculated the percentage of time in such activity against the total time designated for language arts instruction. They examined all four observations of each teacher together as a unit because they knew they were going to categorize them. Using group consensus, they defined classrooms as having much opportunity to read connected text during all four observations, a moderate amount of time, or little time. After each data set was analyzed and each teacher categorized, they compared instructional foci and practices across models. They listed all the teachers in a given model together, and looked across these data sets for patterns.

Super Leadership Is A New Form Of Leadership Education Essay

Super Leadership Is A New Form Of Leadership Education Essay INTRODUCTION Super Leadership is a new form of leadership for the era of knowledge-based enterprises distinguished by flat organizational structures and employee empowerment. A super-leader is one who leads others to lead themselves through designing and implementing the system that allows and teaches employees to be self-leaders. Super-leaders help each of their followers to develop into an effective self-leader by providing them with the behavioral and cognitive skills necessary to exercise self-leadership. Super-leaders establish values, model, encourage, reward, and in many other ways foster self-leadership in individuals, teams, and wider organizational cultures. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model of super leadership and creativity. This paper will practically contribute to the literature on super leadership and creativity by examining the relationships between them. This study is in continuation to the study conducted by DiLiello and Houghton (2006) in which a model was suggested that the employees having strong super leadership qualities will have more creative and innovative potential. Moreover, they will also practice a high level of innovation and creativity, when they feel a strong support from their supporting workplace. In a broader perspective, super-leadership is an effective mean of developing a shared and pervasive environment that support idea generation and creative problem solving. Succinctly, it is believed that an organization that encourages super leadership is likely to experience higher levels of creative and innovative processes among its employees which can flourish useful ideas and ultimately enhance organizational effectiveness. Significance and Rationale of the Study The question arises that why super leadership phenomenon is important? The answer is that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. Employee self-leadership is the key to success in the new economy. So, having super-leadership, followers are treated in a proper way and thus turn into super leaders. If super leaders are successful in providing strategic alignment and coaching people, they develop followers who are productive, work independently, and need only minimal attention from the super leader. The rationale of this paper is to test and present results based upon a hypothesized model about the relationships between Super-leadership and idea generation/creative potential. In short, our model will test the hypothesis as if strong Super-leaders are more likely to have higher levels of idea generation/creativity potential than weak Super-leaders are. Such a model may be of great benefit to organizations that are looking forward to change due to market dynamism through the creativity and innovation of human resources of Super-leaders. As argued by Neck and Manz (1996), pragmatic Super-leadership research studies advocates that employees having Super-leadership line of action, enhances their individual performance and, at large, organizational performance, than an employee who does not practice Super-leadership approaches. In current era of rapid globalization, Super-leadership strategies enhance organizational capacity to flourish in the face of the challenges of the twenty-first century. Research Objectives The bulk of the literature on management and leadership tends to focus primarily on the dynamics of the common organization. This study will be a welcome addition to the abundant literature on Leadership Studies in organizational settings. At some level, one of the minor intentions of this study is to trigger an impetus that will prompt other academics and scholars to take on the topic of leadership and management at a wider range and with more comprehensive objectives. The main focus would be to explore the link between super leadership behavior and creative potential through idea generation for a innovative and creative culture within organization. Research Questions The research questions in this case are presented as follows: What is the relationship between super leadership and creativity potential? How super leadership provoke an employee to perform at its best level? REVIEW OF LITERATURE Why to shift from traditional leadership to Super-Leadership? Super-leadership, sometimes also called as Self-Leadership, may be defined as the way to lead others is by leading oneself (Manz and Sims, 2001). The main difference between traditional leadership management concept and Super-Leadership is the main focus on followers rather than leader itself, and especially the belief of improving followers capacity to lead who are effective self-leaders. Therefore, concisely, super-leadership is the way of leading others to lead themselves. As argued by Sims Manz (1996), for super leadership behavior to be implemented, a leader has to adopt 10 most significant shifts from traditional approach of leadership in order to move towards super leadership approach. First thing first, the leader helps out the team members/group to switch from external observation to self-observation. Secondly, the focus is on moving from designated goals to goals that are self developed. Thirdly, organic control is exercised by team/group members i.e. external reinforcement for task performance changes in to internal reinforcement with an addition of external reinforcement for self-leadership behaviors. Fourthly, leadership prefer to motivation techniques not only based on external compensation but also based on the natural rewards associated with work. Another step is that the leader shifts the group to focus on self criticism rather than external criticism from the organization, which often creates bad impact upon team/group members. Sixthly, there is a move from external problem solving towards self-problem solving techniques. Seventhly, there is a shift from external job assignments to self-job assignments. Also, leadership moves from external planning to self planning and from external task design to self-design of tasks at step eight. Ninth step focuses that any problem or issue arises should be treated as an opportunity instead of threat by the group/team members. Finally, commitment to organizations vision rather than its compliance only is more important that leadership needs to help the employee to create. Having focused to improve employees effectiveness, self-leadership phenomenon attempts to concentrate on various issues that an organization might come across in this era of rapid globalization. Supervisors and work conditions can have some sort of control mechanism in a work place (Manz and Sims, 1980) but the inner drive that initiate organic control, or intrinsic motivation to work, take place from within the person (Herzberg et al., 2003; Manz and Sims, 1980; Sergiovanni, 1992). It is always stressed that true leadership comes from within and at the end, achievement streams from follower self-leadership (Sims Manz, 1996). It is asserted that one can lead in a better way if able to develop and use individuals skills and capabilities at workplace (Manz and Sims, 1980). As advocated by Manz (1986) and Manz and Neck (2004) as organizational members are trained and permitted to utilize self-leadership strategies, a candid control mechanism is put in action. Finally, the Super-Leader must develop an environment where employees are free to fail and improve after taking risky decisions and can learn in a true sense. However, risk must be calculated enough and apposite autonomy to fail is of vital importance. We can say that the Super-Leader should promote learning, if the mistake took place in team/group members. Yet again, the Super-Leader must exercise a balance approach in terms of risk taking behaviors i.e. to become aware when one can let mistakes occur or otherwise (Sims Manz, 1996). Intrinsic Motivation The key to stimulate creativity in organization is to foster individuals creativity, for which the easiest human element is to alter an individuals motivation. Majority of empirical research findings in line with this statement are reported from the field of social psychology of creativity and are referred to in the literature as the intrinsic motivation principle. According to Amabile (1988), an intrinsic motivation of individuals towards a task/job has two sides. First, the persons natural preference towards such type of activities. Secondly, the way individual perceive and know the reasons to undertake that task, which is dependent upon external social as well as environmental factors. This second element is the simplest way to affect creativity of an individual and by using motivation i.e. intrinsic one, is one of the easiest approaches to do so as motivation needs less amount of time/money to boost up a creative individual. Moreover, the task or assignments that more complex and challenging with a freedom to decide on how to carry out assigned tasks are expected to foster intrinsic motivation that, sequentially, increases creativity (Amabile, 1988). Amabile (1996, 1997) comments that intrinsic motivation is one of the perspiration phases of the creative process that individuals may seek to bypass, moving too quickly to the more intrinsically motivating idea generation phase. On the other hand, rigid adherence to rules and regulation has a tendency to negatively affect creativity. For case in point, Amabile (1998) pointed out that rigid rules and centralized decision making reduces creativity as intrinsic motivation to do task reduces creativity. Due to centralized decision-making and rigid control, information flow within organization reduces as well. As creativity needs free access to information, this will, in turn, reduce the generation of new ideas. Similarly, in another study by Amabile (1997), intrinsic motivation arises when the task itself is a source of interest, enjoyment, self-expression, and personal challenge. Likewise, Ryan Deci (2000) pointed out that intrinsic motivation is a result of internal reinforcement to perform a task rather than in response to external reinforcement. A prior research foundation shows that formal organizational controls restrict individual freedom and thereby dampen intrinsic motivation required for creativity (Amabile, 1996; Shalley, Gilson, Blum, 2000). George and Zhou (2001) established in empirical terms that those individuals who demonstrate meticulous behavior at workplace and are particularly unremitting attitude towards workplace compulsions display low levels of creativity. In addition, intrinsic motivation is more indomitable on interesting tasks and less importunate on uninteresting tasks that require discipline and concerted effort (Gagne and Deci, 2005). Besides, creativity is improved by positive affect (Davis, 2009; Grawitch Munz, 2005) as a positive affect promote a forward move rather than evasion (Carver, 2001; Erez Isen, 2002), which ultimately improve individuals perception to perceive a task as an opportunity rather than a threat (Higgins, 1997) and to deal with issues rather than retreat (Amabile et al., 2005; Frederickson, 2001; Seo, Barrett, Bartunek, 2004). Much of the literature cited above created a foundation that intrinsic motivation is a basic ingredient for creativity, and that intrinsic motivation is hampered if the formal and rigid control in organization is simultaneously implemented. Self Efficacy According to Bandura (1998), perceived self-efficacy is defined as a firm belief about ones capability to give desired performance that ultimately affects their lives. Self-efficacy beliefs reveal that what people feel, think and how they can be motivated. A super leadership strategy augments to improve self-efficacy perceptions and refine regulation processes, having significant impact on individual task performance (Houghton Neck, 2006). According to Konradt, Andreßen and Ellwart (2009), self-leadership impact on individual performance was partially mediated by self-efficacy perception, while autonomy characteristics showed no significant effects. Neubert and Wu (2006) showed a strong positive effect on creativity and work role performance. Carmela, MÃ ©tier, and Weisberg, (2006) and DiLiello and Houghton (2006) have found that self-leadership is a strong predictor of innovation as perceived by coworkers and managers. DeRue and Morgeson (2007) posited that individuals with general self-efficacy attribute success to ability and failure to insufficient effort. Chen, Gully, and Eden (2004) indicated that general self-efficacy is a motivational belief or judgment about personal capabilities that influences personal action in a wide variety of situations. Self-efficacy beliefs develop over time and through experiences (Maddux, 2002). Self-efficacy refers to beliefs about personal capability to produce a desired effect by individual action (Bandura, 1997). Self-efficacy helps explain the behaviors people will engage, how long they will persist, and how much effort they will expend to reach their goals (Satterfield Davidson, 2000). People with high self-efficacy may be more likely to overcome difficulties through self-initiated change, more likely to be goal-directed and more persistent in the achievement of that goal (Maddux, 2002). Self Determination Individuals will be intrinsically motivated if the task increases their feelings of competency and self-determination (Deci 1975). Self-determination means having the freedom to be in charge of your own life, choosing where you live, who you spend time with, and what you do. It means having the resources you need to create a good life and to make responsible decisions. It also means choosing where, when, and how you get help for any problems you might have (Cook, Petersen, Jonikas, 2004). As far as self determination of employee is concerned, behavior focused strategies are about enhancing ones self perception of personal performance during task resolution, in order to adjust self behavior towards task achievement. Through self observation, self setting of goals and objectives; self reward administration; self punishment and self cueing; it maximizes behavior effectiveness and helps reducing negative issues related with the task (Houghton Neck, 2002; Manz Neck, 2004; Neck Houghton, 2006). Self Regulation Self-regulation refers to thoughts, feelings and actions that are planned and adapted to the attainment of personal goals (Zimmerman, 2000). As described by Schunk and Ertmer (2000), Self-regulated learning includes: Setting goals for learning Concentrating on instruction Using effective strategies to organize ideas Using resources effectively Monitoring performance Managing time effectively Holding positive beliefs about ones capabilities. Self-regulation can be improved through appropriate guidance, modeling of effective strategies and creating supportive and challenging contexts (Boekaerts and Corno, 2005; Perry and Vandekamp, 2000). Many of these strategies develop from early childhood well into adolescence (Boekaerts, 2006). Self regulation is a complex notion. It allows us to consider the interrelationships between key concepts such as self-efficacy and motivation within a single framework, rather than exploring these areas in isolation. Even though several theories suggest that employees draw from a broad repertoire of behavioral strategies to enhance their creative performance (e.g., Ford, 1996; Frese, 2000; Rank et al., 2004), there are only a handful of studies that have empirically investigated how employees behavioral strategies facilitate creative performance. In a study, Binnewies, Ohly, Sonnentag (2007) found that employees, who engage in effective communication, perform more creatively. Similarly, there is cumulating evidence that employees use proactive strategies such as feedback-seeking behavior and voice behavior to enhance their creative performance and/or make suggestions for change (e.g., De Stobbeleir, Ashford, Buyens, 2008; Van Dyne Le Pine, 1998). Such findings highlight the self-regulatory potential of employees in the creative process. We expect different proactive strategies to be crucial in the different phases of the creative process. For example, it may be that factors such as communication and feedback-seeking behavior are critical for idea generation, as feedback from other people with relevant knowledge and experience might help to improve and refine the initial idea the creative person came up with. Similarly, one could expect that proactively targeting people in the organization will be related to successful idea promotion. Existing contacts with people from top management might be used to speed up the process of acquiring resources and spreading the word in the organization might help to acquire the political power needed. Idea Generation and Creative Potential Idea generation to be one coherent phase of the creative process (Kanter, 1988; West Farr, 1989). Zhou (2008) substantiated the interpersonal character of idea generation as highlighted in recent literature on creativity. Furthermore, the creation of ideas instigates the interaction between the individual and its social environment. For idea generation, the broader (organizational) context needs to stimulate interpersonal contacts as much as possible. An open, helpful, somewhat informal culture, in which people can easily call on others, facilitates formal and informal social connections and idea generation. Creative Culture Everybody has a role to play as citizens and consumers, culture and creativity, at the same time, help deliver new, more sustainable ways of living and working. Creative people can assist in exploring and presenting a different world, if and only if, their skills and expertises are properly exploited and recognized as one of the major means of transformation. In todays era of rapid globalization characterized by enormous economic, social and environmental challenges, the development of a genuinely creative culture should play a part to deal with such type of challenges. So, it can rightly be said that the culture that we create, will determine our fate. As matter of fact, organizational culture has been acknowledged as an important precursor of creativity. A creative organizational culture necessitates to focus on quality, communication, work groups, cross-departmental collaboration and visible support for change and innovation (Kanter, 1988; Pillinger West, 1995). It pertinent to mention that the impact of organizational culture on the different phases of the creative process has not yet been empirically investigated. It can be assumed, however, that organizational culture with its strapping influence upon all processes in the organization (Cameron Quinn, 2005; Ekvall, 1996; Sharman Johnson, 1997) is crucial and vital during the entire creative process. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK A hypothesized model of the relationships between super leadership and idea generation and creative potential is shown in Figure 1. Research hypotheses for each of the relationships will be developed. The new hypothesized model suggests that a strong basis to build work environments that support of idea generation and creativity at the individual, group and organizational levels by practicing super leadership among the members of organizations. Theorists like (Manz and Sims, 2001) have suggested a relationship between super leadership and creativity. Based on the prior research done, a hypothesized relationship that can clearly be plotted between creativity and self-leadership is given as below: Figure 1 Research Questions/Hypotheses The research questions in this case are presented as follows: What is the relationship between super leadership and creativity potential? How super leadership provoke an employee to perform at its best level? Because a strong super leader is predicted to be a self-motivated, self-determined, self-regulated, having a broad sense of self-efficacy, the hypothetical theoretical model proposes the following relationship in terms of hypotheses as presented below: H1: High level of Intrinsic Motivation leads to super leadership behavior among employees. H2: High level of Self-Determination leads super leadership behavior among employees. H3: High level of Self-Efficacy leads to super leadership behavior among employees. H4: High level of Self-Regulation leads to super leadership behavior among employees. H5: Demographics Characteristics of employees serves as moderating variables that augments super leadership behavior among employees. H6: Super leadership behavior greatly gives rise to idea generation and creative potential of employees. H7: Idea generation and creative potential among employees stimulate and invigorate creative culture within organizational settings. METHODOLOGY The research will be approached based on an interpretivism view. Interpretivism is the necessary research philosophy for this study because it allows the search, of the details of the situation, to understand the reality or perhaps a reality working behind them. The study will be exploratory in nature because it aims to determine the present facts as well as facts that are not yet explored about the phenomenon. Exploratory research will enable the study to look at the problem in both descriptive and exploratory manner. It will look into the problem by exploring the views of different sets of respondents, as well as by exploring different literatures related with the study. This paper analyzes potential factors of super-leadership and creative culture were analyzed using LISREL 8.8 and SPSS 14.0 softwares. The study is comprised of testing certain hypotheses and overall proposed model analysis using Structure equation modeling technique. Data and Sample As the Electronic Media especially TV Channels are directly related and linked to idea generation and creativity, which leads to creativity in such organizations/firms, a representative sample from Electronic Media especially TV Channels in Pakistan, has been selected based on random sampling basis from a list of TV Channels available on web. A total of 200 respondents have been targeted as a sample for this study from different TV Channels functioning within and outside Pakistan. Measure/Instrument Development Questionnaire has been developed by the researcher for this study to be used as the survey instrument. The questionnaire developed was divided into two main parts, the first part being demographic profile of an employee such as Age, Gender, Experience, Job Position, Organizational size etc and the second part was based on super-leadership and creative culture dimensions/characteristics. The various items on Super-leadership dimensions include certain factors such as intrinsic motivation, self-determination, self-efficacy and self-regulation. The items are adapted from various creativity studies. Moreover, items for idea generation and creative potential and creative culture were developed from few creativity-based studies such as Eisenberger and Aselage (2008), Eisenberger Rhoades (2001) and McNeely Meglino (1994). Moreover, all the measure have been developed and pre-tested for its reliability and validity through face and content validity by the group field experts and professionals. Also, standard statistical test used for questionnaire reliability testing. The responses for 49 items scale, after pilot testing, were calculated on five points Likert-type scale, which ranges from 1-5 i.e. Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. By using different scales developed by the researcher for demographic profile of an employee, which has different ranges between two-points (e.g. gender) to five points (Likert Scale), the data from respondents was collected in five weeks. Reliability and Validity of Instrument The reliability and validity analysis for the scale measures used in empirical research is of prime importance due to several reasons. This ensures the results and finding and its predictive power which means a clear prediction about the proposed hypotheses (Flynn et al., 1994). Similarly, Nunnally and Bernstein (1994) suggested that for testing unidimensionality of data, to check internal consistency and reliability of items used in the measures, Cronbachs alpha statistics is basic tool to calculate and generally, its value should be above the acceptable threshold of 0.70. Moreover, George et al. (2000) explained that Cronbachs alpha is the basic criterion for reliability issue of scales being utilized. Foregoing in view, the items of scale in each construct as mentioned below were tested using coefficient alpha value for each construct as exhibited in Table 1. Table 01: Reliability Statistics Constructs Cronbachs Alpha 1 Intrinsic Motivation Items .81 2 Self-Determination Items .76 3 Self-Regulation Items .83 4 Self-Esteem Items .88 5 Idea Generation and Creativity Items .84 6 Creativity Culture Items .82 As a mater of fact, the Cronbachs Alpha values for measure items used in this study are ranging from 0.76 to 0.88 as shown in Table 01, which exhibits reliability of measures developed. This totally in line with argument of Bagozzi and Yi (1988) that combined reliabilities measures of constructs used in particular study must exceed the 0.70 only then results can be relied. Besides, in order to check potential multicollinearity issue in the data to confirm discriminant validity of construct used, the correlations of possible related constructs were also computed. This recommended by Hair et al. (1998) by arguing that no single pair of measures should have correlations among them more than the criterion i.e. 0.9 and above. So, the computed values exhibited below portray that multicollinearity in the data construct is not reported among the study constructs that we used. The correlations values are shown in Table 02 given as follows:- Table 02: Correlations LC RATP TR EV MOS Interest Gender Education LC 1 RA TP -0.1473 1 TR EV 0.0508 0.1421 1 MOS 0.1212 0.1749 0.6144 1 Interest 0.0338 -0.0329 0.0650 0.1890 1 Gender 0.2258 0.0596 -0.0507 -0.0859 -0.0105 1 Education 0.1245 -0.0503 0.1232 0.0408 -0.0183 0.0285 1 Idea generation -0.0661 0.2992 0.5910 0.6554 0.0561 -0.0334 0.0102 As a result of the various tests performed to check the unidimensionality of data, its reliability and discriminant validity confirm internal as well as external validity of the instrument used for data collection. Procedure Survey questionnaire, interview and observation will be used in order to gather primary data from the respondents. Surveys are the most common form of research method for collection of primary data (Commonwealth of Learning, 2000). A questionnaire was used for collecting data from employees of Leading TV channels. An attempt was made to increase the likelihood of obtaining the true score on need for autonomy, general self-efficacy, and self-leadership strategies rather than scores with systematic error by reducing evaluation apprehension (Donaldson Grant-Vallone, 2002; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, Podsakoff, 2003). Respondents were assured of anonymity, and they were informed that there was no right or wrong answers (Podsakoff et al.). The questionnaires were administered in a group setting at the start of class sessions and respondents took approximately 15 minutes to complete the survey. By following sampling technique of random sample, a questionnaire with closed-ended statements was administered initially to HR Manager of the TV channels via email and a web link, where questionnaire was online available, was forwarded to them for giving responses from potential respondents. Initially, the response rate was very low i.e. 10 % of potential 200 respondents. So, in order to expedite the data collection process, the HR, marketing and creative department were contacted via phone so that to get an appointment for self administered survey. Self-report information was also gathered from respondents regarding gender, age, and tenure. In order to address issues of self-report bias, Podsakoff and Organ (1986) suggested that researchers may reorder the items on the questionnaire so the criterion variable follows the independent variables. This scale reordering procedure was intentional as an attempt to reduce self-report bias, because all the variables in the study were obtained from the same respondents using a single survey.

Good and Evil in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert

Good and Evil in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Throughout the story of â€Å"The Strange Case Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde†, the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, presents his idea of the duality of man- where we all have a dark, wicked side within us, where evil is held in waiting to surface, but we hide it away, we pretend it does not exist, and we keep it tame. He presents this idea by using two protagonists, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, who are actually the same person. One of these characters symbolizes the normal side of a person represented by the respectable Dr Jekyll, who is a typical upper class Victorian, and the other, Mr Hyde, a deformed man, signifies the purest of evil. During the course of this essay I will comment on Stevenson’s presentation of good and evil, and how the two work together to create an outstanding story. The book â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde† was published in 1886, in Victorian England. The horror story originated from a dream that Stevenson’s had about a split personality and the central suggestion that evil is potentially far stronger than good. When he awoke he immediately set about putting his thoughts into words and finished the first copy in just three days but was forced to burn it because of the disapproval from his wife. He wrote another version, again in just three days. The second copy was published and was an overnight success. The storyline is about a doctor, who stumbles upon a potion, which he finds can change him into an entirely different person physically. Mr Hyde opens the window for evil deeds, through which Dr Jekyll could commit crimes without ruining his good name. At fist Dr Jekyll can control his transforma... ...easily become out of control and then take over your body. Today there are constantly news stories, pictures and bill boards telling you what drugs can do and in Victorian times drugs use and abuse was increasing, especially the use of opium. Lastly, mentioned before was Mr Hyde being described as ape-like, this can show contemporary relevance because of how Charles Darwin brought up the theory of the â€Å"origin of man† in Victorian times. There was an outrage in the 19th century and not many would believe Charles Darwin’s idea, because most people were strict Christians and â€Å"Adam and Eve† was from where they originated. Today in the southern states of America strict Christians still feel very strongly about their faith and still put down this theory. For these few reasons the story Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is still very relevant in the modern world of today.

Dialogical and Formalistic Approach to Thomas Grays Elegy (Eulogy) Wri

Dialogical and Formalistic Approach to Elegy (Eulogy) Written in a Country Churchyard Elegy in a Country Courtyard, by Thomas Gray, can be looked at through two different methods. First the Dialogical Approach, which covers the ability of the language of the text to address someone without the consciousness that the exchange of language between the speaker and addressee occurs. (HCAL, 349) The second method is the Formalistic Approach, which allows the reader to look at a literary piece, and critique it according to its form, point of view, style, imagery, atmosphere, theme, and word choice. The formalistic views on form, allow us to look at the essential structure of the poem. "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray shows aspects of both Dialogical and Formalistic Approaches. Gray's uses dialogic opposition, the way the author chooses to form his work so that the reader can interpret the characters' actions and words without the direct intervention of the author. (HCAL, 354) Gray lists the lifestyles of many different people in lines 32- 60. These stanzas cover all the different types of people that are buried in the churchyard. We can interpret the lifestyle and actions of the other characters because we have the ability to associate and connect what the narrator is telling us. By using the dialogic opposition, this allows the reader to identify the multiple types of characters in the poem, even if they don't all have dialogue. Bakhtin's definition points toward a parallel between issues of knowledge and power among the characters and those between the author and the reader. In both cases, knowledge is best thought of as dialogic rather than monologic, as open to the other rather than closed, as addres... ...defining words. The symbolism is to show the reader and the audience that life is only for so long. Once that old age is reached your youth is over. Try and accomplish all that you can when you have the time and the energy, because we are all going to be in the same place as all the characters in the churchyard before we know it. Gray uses imagery and symbols very well, and smoothly pulls the attention of his readers in to the poem. Gray's use of language and other literary devices allows readers to look at the poem from two different aspects. Dialogical and Formalistic, two completely different types of critiques. However, both let the reader look at the poem in completely different ways and see the many different aspects of the writing. Thomas Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard", is a fine example of showing the dialogical and formalistic approach in a poem. Dialogical and Formalistic Approach to Thomas Gray's Elegy (Eulogy) Wri Dialogical and Formalistic Approach to Elegy (Eulogy) Written in a Country Churchyard Elegy in a Country Courtyard, by Thomas Gray, can be looked at through two different methods. First the Dialogical Approach, which covers the ability of the language of the text to address someone without the consciousness that the exchange of language between the speaker and addressee occurs. (HCAL, 349) The second method is the Formalistic Approach, which allows the reader to look at a literary piece, and critique it according to its form, point of view, style, imagery, atmosphere, theme, and word choice. The formalistic views on form, allow us to look at the essential structure of the poem. "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray shows aspects of both Dialogical and Formalistic Approaches. Gray's uses dialogic opposition, the way the author chooses to form his work so that the reader can interpret the characters' actions and words without the direct intervention of the author. (HCAL, 354) Gray lists the lifestyles of many different people in lines 32- 60. These stanzas cover all the different types of people that are buried in the churchyard. We can interpret the lifestyle and actions of the other characters because we have the ability to associate and connect what the narrator is telling us. By using the dialogic opposition, this allows the reader to identify the multiple types of characters in the poem, even if they don't all have dialogue. Bakhtin's definition points toward a parallel between issues of knowledge and power among the characters and those between the author and the reader. In both cases, knowledge is best thought of as dialogic rather than monologic, as open to the other rather than closed, as addres... ...defining words. The symbolism is to show the reader and the audience that life is only for so long. Once that old age is reached your youth is over. Try and accomplish all that you can when you have the time and the energy, because we are all going to be in the same place as all the characters in the churchyard before we know it. Gray uses imagery and symbols very well, and smoothly pulls the attention of his readers in to the poem. Gray's use of language and other literary devices allows readers to look at the poem from two different aspects. Dialogical and Formalistic, two completely different types of critiques. However, both let the reader look at the poem in completely different ways and see the many different aspects of the writing. Thomas Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard", is a fine example of showing the dialogical and formalistic approach in a poem.

Computer Security and Hacking :: Internet Security

Getting Ip's:-- To see the ip all computers you are connected to (web servers, people attempting to hack into your computer). Go to dos (start>run>type command) and run the netstat command. Type netstat /? for details. Type netstat -r at the command prompt to see the ip of all computers you are connected to In MSN (and other programs) when you are chatting to someone everything you type goes through the MSN servers first (they act as a proxy) so you see their ip rather than who you are chatting to. You can get round this by sending them a file as MSN doesn't send file through its proxy. When you type the netstat -r (or -a for a different view) the ip's are under the foreign address table. The ports are separated by a : . Different programs use different ports, so you can work out which ip's are from which program. Connecting to other computers and what ports are:-- Servers send information. Clients retrieve. Simple. Windows comes with a built in program to connect to other computers called telnet. To start Windows telnet Start menu> Run> type Telnet. Click connect> remote system Ports are doors into computers. Hosts are computer names (ip number or a name that is translated into the ip automatically) Different programs open different ports, but they always open the same ports so other computers know which port to connect to. You can get a port list listing all the different ports, but a basic one is: 11 :- Sends info on the computer 21 :- FTP (File transfer program) 23 :- Telnet (Login to the computers command line) 25 :- Smtp (Sends mail) 80 :- Http (Web pages) There are thousands of different programs using different ports. You can get programs called portscanners which check a computer for all ports up to a certain number, looking for ways in. You can portscan a computer looking for ways-in. Anyway, back to telnet. Type www.yahoo.com as the host and port as 80 the click connect. If nothing happens, you're in. Wow. You are connected to Yahoo's server. You can now type http commands (you are connected to an http server, so it supports http commands). Ie. on an ftp server you can type open and it will do something. On an http server it will just wonder what the hell you are on about. Type get / http/1.

A Comprehensive Study on Banks Essay

Every business needs funds for two purposes for its establishment and to carry out its day-to-day operations. Long terms funds are required to create production facilities through purchase of fixed assets such as plant and machinery, land, building, etc. Investments in these assets represent that part of firm’s capital which is blocked on permanent or fixed basis and is called fixed capital. Funds are also needed for short-term purpose for the purchase of raw material, payment of wages and other day-to-day expenses etc. These funds are known as working capital. In simple terms, working capital refers to that part of the firm’s capital which is required for financing short-term of current assets such as cash, marketable securities, debtors & inventories. Funds, thus, invested in current assets keep revolving fast and are being constantly converted into cash and this cash flow out again in exchange for other current assets. Hence, it is also known as revolving or circulat ing capital or short term capital. 1) Jeng-Ren, C. & Cheng, L. (2006) in their article, â€Å"Determinants of working capital† investigate the determinants of working capital management. This study investigates the relation of business indicator and management of short-term capital from the perspective of a firm’s working capital management, which traditionally is rated by current ratio, quick ratio, and net working capital.The authors have used net liquid balance and working capital requirements as measures of a company’s working capital management. Results indicate that the debt ratio and operating cash flow affect the company’s working capital management, and how it influences the business cycle, industry effect, growth of the company, performance of the company and firm size. From the data it can be seen that companies could maintain relatively loose capital management during the prosperous period (1999-2000), when capital was readily available in the market. When the economy slumped dramatically at the end of 2000, financial institutions began to tighten their capital policies, forcing companies to gradually operate a looser policy in workin g capital management. The regression results show the company has to operate a looser working capital management policy in times of recession, as it is not easy to raise capital from outside the firm, so more liquid assets are kept to maintain a relatively higher NLB. The authors conclude that debt ratio and operating cash flow evaluated by both WCR and NLB exert influence on working capital management. 2) Harris, A. (2005) conducted a study â€Å"Working capital management: difficult, but rewarding†. It focuses on the different requirements and the important role that human beings play in the working capital management process. There are various important steps that need to be met in order for them to manage their short term needs primiarily. The author compares Working Capital Management in theory and practice. Internal considerations – such as organizational structure, shared systems, autonomous business units, multinational operations and even information technology can impact working ca pital. The author also stresses on the importance of proper forecasting for efficient Working Capital Management. 3) Filbeck, G. & Krueger, T. (2005) in their article, â€Å"An Analysis of Working Capital Management Results Across Industries,† find that all industries use different modes of working capital managament techniques for their functioning. Even their techniques change over time. Industry factors may impact firm credit policy, inventory management, and bill-paying activities. Some firms may be better suited to minimize receivables and inventory, while others maximize payables. Given everything the importance of working capital cannot be ignored and its reticfication to cope with the changing environment should be the main focus of the company. 4) Pimplapure, V. & Kulkarni, P. (2011) conducted a study, â€Å"Working Capital Management: Impact of Profitability†. A firm can be very profitable, but if this is not rendered into cash from operations within the same operating cycle, the firm would need to borrow to support its continued working capital needs. For this study various statistical tools such as correlation and multiple regressions can be used. These tools are used to understand the direct impact of working capital on the profitablity of the firm. 5) Erasmus, P. (2010) in his article, â€Å"Working capital management and profitability: The relationship between the net trade cycle and return on assets,† states that, efficient working capital management should contribute to the creation of shareholder value. This study investigates the relationship between working capital management and firm profitability. Based on the results of the study done in this article, it would appear that management could attempt to improve firm profitability by decreasing the overall investment in net working capital. There is an indirect relationship between the two this is also proved in the article, â€Å"Working Capital Management: Impact of Profitability.† Regarding the normal operations of a firm, working capital management attracts less attention than capital budget and capital structure in financial management. Working capital management relates to the source and application of short-term capital. When working capital is managed improperly, allocating more than enough of it will render management non-efficient and reduce the benefits of short-term investment. On the other hand, if working capital is too low, the company may miss profitable investment opportunities or suffer short-term liquidity crises, leading to degradation of company credit, as it cannot respond effectively to temporary capital requirements. We cannot dimiss the importance of the working capital management in the working of a successful enterprise. 6) Singh, P. (2008) conducted a study titled, â€Å"Inventory and Working Capital Management: An Empirical Analysis†. The importance of working capital management is due to two reasons: (i) a substantial portion of the investment is invested in current assets, and (ii) level of current assets will change quickly, with the variation in sales. Hence, in this study, an attempt has been made to analyze the size and composition of working capital and whether such an investment has increased or declined over a period. We need to first determine the requirement of current assets, one of the important tasks of the financial manager is to select a group of appropriate sources of finance for the current assets. Normally, the excess of current assets over current liabilities should be financed by the long-term sources. It is not possible to find out precisely which long-term sources has been used to finance current assets, but it can be examined as to what proportion of current assets has been financed by long-term funds. Therefore, this article tries to carry out a study in this regard. Inventory is one of the major components of current assets, which requires huge investments. The main purpose of carrying inventory is to uncouple the operation, to make each function of the firm independent of the other functions, so that delay in one area does not affect the production and sales activities. As the shutting down of the production results in increased costs and delay in the delivery can result in loosing the customers, inventory management assumes significance in any firm and it is of great concern to any financial manager. Any firm would like to hold higher inventory. This will enable the firm to be more flexible in supply and find ease in its production schedule. Most of the customers may require immediate help in meeting their demands. However, there is always a cost involved in the inventories. This cost includes the capital cost of the stock and the cost of storing and carrying. Inventories are the assets of the firm and as such, they represent an investment. As such investments require a commitment of funds, managers must ensure that the firm maintains inventories at the correct level. If they become too large, the firm loses the opportunities to employ those funds more effectively. Similarly, if they are too small, the firm may lose sales. Therefore, it is better to maintain an optimum level of inventories that is needed in an organization. While analyzing working capital, it is important to analyze the various components of working capital especially inventory, because inventory is one of the major components and is nearly 50% of the current assets. Hence, it is necessary to analyze the size of inventory and the impact on working capital management. 7) Lifland, S. (2010) in his article, â€Å"The Corporate Soap-Opera, As the Cash Turns: Management of Working Capital and Potential External Financing Needs† finds that firms that efficiently manage their working capital are characterized as having increasing asset turnover ratios and decreasing days of receivables and inventories over the years, are ‘freeing up’ capital. Corporations use these ‘found’ funds to improve their supply chains, corporate logistics, and payment systems. The Days of the Working Capital Cycle represents the average number of days that cash must be committed to the management of a company’s working capital needs. A decline in the ratio translates into the firm’s ability to improve its inflows and management of cash. The existence and maintenance of working capital is the lifeblood of a corporation. It is the cash flow that revitalizes operations or slows it down to inoperable levels. Regardless of the size of th e company, the management of working capital accounts should influence its financial health. Kargar and Blumenthal (1994) found that small businesses were significantly impacted by management’s ability to successfully plan the cash requirements of the firm. Managers need to monitor the ratio of total working capital to total company assets, as a relatively high figure can signal future strains on the operational financial health of the firm. 8) Kelleher, J. & MacCormack, J. (2005) consider the complexity of considering the internal rate of return (IRR) on capital projects. A survey was conducted by the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. This study asked 30 executives about the risks of this practice, They were surprised to find that only six were aware of IRR’s deficiencies. The article defines the risks IRR poses to capital budget management, considers the use of modified internal rate of return. IRR is a true indication of a project’s annual return on investment only when the project generates no interim cash flows — or when those interim cash flows really can be invested at the actual IRR. 9) Etiennot, H. & Preve, L. (2012) in their study, â€Å"Working Capital Management: An Exploratory Study.† found that Working capital management is an issue in which finance research is scarce. One possible reason behind this fact might relate to the relative ease with which efficient financial markets correct deviations from optimal working capital policies. However, in less efficient financial markets, pervasive among emerging economies, working capital management is critical for both firms ‘ performance and survival. The difference in the market’s ability for providing immediate assistance to firms might explain the differential consequences on firms’ profitability and financial distress. This article explains the fundamentals of working capital management, the importance of its interaction with financial markets, and how this interaction might explain working capital patterns around the world and in the various successful organizations that use it. 10) Singh, J. & Pandey, S. (2008) conducted a study, â€Å"Impact of Working Capital Management in the Profitability of Hindalco Industries Limited.† For any successful working of any business organization, fixed and current assets play a vital role. Management of working capital is essential as it has a direct impact on profitability and liquidity. This is a study of the working capital components and the impact of working capital management on profitability of Hindalco Industries Limited. The study is based on secondary data collected from annual reports of Hindalco for the study period 1990 to 2007. The ratio analysis, percentage method and coefficient of correlation have been used to analyze the data. The current assets of Hindalco witnessed a steady growth over the past years which were 40 times more in 2007 in comparison to that of 1990. Inventory and loans and advances mainly supported this increase. The study also shows that the contribution of long term source in working capital is below 30% in all the study period. This study effectively showed that working capital has a big impact on the profitability of the firm.