Baker College Corporate Services Essay Example for Free

Baker College Corporate Services Essay Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of Americas greatest Leaders. His accomplishments are discussed in this paper in a biographical manner, as well as other Authors opinions about them, including my humble self’s. This paper gives an example of a forward looking, charismatic leader. The whole population of this great country is benefitting from his accomplishments, and will continue to do so for generations, with only slight adjustments for technology and culture. Franklin Delano Roosevelt An Example to Remember When somebody asks to pick a favorite leader, a number of the great ones pop into mind, like Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Douglas McArthur, Franklin Delano Roosevelt among others. It is a tough choice. They were all great. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had so many great accomplishments during his life time; the only way to list and discuss them would be in the biographical manner the Author chose. The reason the author chose to write about Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the similarity of todays economy that he faced at the time of his first term in the office as well as our current president elects choice to use some of his strategies to correct the present state of our economy. Faced with World War II, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), guided America through one of its greatest domestic crisis, His presidency, which spanned twelve years, was unparalleled, not only in length but in scope. FDR took office with the country mired in a horrible and debilitating economic depression which not only sapped its material wealth and spiritual strength, but cast a cloud over its future, not unlike what we are facing today. Roosevelts combination of confidence, optimism, and political savvy, all of which came together in the experimental economic and social programs of the New Deal helped bring about the beginnings of a national recovery (Baliles, 2005, p. 1). FDR also committed the United States to the defeat of Germany, Japan, and Italy, and led the nation and its allies to the brink of victory. This triumph dramatically altered Americas relationship with the world, putting the United States into a position of international power, as well as political and moral leadership. By virtue of its newfound political and economic power, the United States would play a leading role in shaping the remainder of the twentieth century. Inside the United States Franklin Roosevelt stirred a domestic political revolution on several fronts. FDR and the Democratic Party built a power base which carried the party to electoral and ideological, dominance until the late 1960s (Baliles, 2005, p. 1) . FDRs policies, especially those comprising the New Deal, helped redefine and strengthen both the country as well as the American presidency, expanding its political, administrative, and constitutional powers of the office (Baliles, 2005). FDR was born in Hyde Park, New York, in 1882, to James and Sara Roosevelt. His parents were well off, if not wealthy by New York High society standards. While growing up, they were able to provide a succession of nannies, and at age 14 send him to a prestigious boarding school in Massachusetts. He went on to Harvard College, where he spent most of his time at the college paper, where he declared himself a Democrat. While at Harvard, he grew close to his cousin Theodor Roosevelt, who was moving up the political ladder in the Democratic Party, and began courting his distant cousin, Elanor Roosevelt. Although FDR started attending law school at Columbia at this time, he had little interest and dropped out after one year. Elanor and FDR were married in New York City in 1905. He had six children: Anna Elanor, born 1906; James, born 1907; Franklin Jr. , born 1909 and died the same year in November; Elliott, born 1910; Franklin Jr. , born 1914 and John Aspinwall, born 1916 (Coker, 2005). In 1910 FDR ran and got elected to the New York Senate and was re-elected in 1912. One year later he began his tenure as assistant secretary of the Navy under the Wilson administration at the age of 31, helping to prepare the country for entry into the world war. He moved his family to Washington for this reason. WWI lasted from April1917 until November 1918. On more than one occasion, he was subject to ribbing by those around him as being a little boy. Nevertheless, in characteristic Roosevelt fashion, he was undaunted by his lack of experience and plunged into the job with enthusiasm and confidence (Coker, 2005, pg. 28). As a matter of fact, he did such a great job, that in 1920 the Democratic Party named him the vice-presidential candidate on James Coxs ticket. They lost the election in November of that year. Roosevelt’s most significant responsibility in the Navy Department had to do with labor negotiations with defense contractors. His primary goal in this area was to encourage positive relations between workers, industry leaders, and the military. In this capacity he gained appreciation for labor issues and learned how to handle sometimes rocky labor disputes (Coker, 2005). â€Å"FDR proved to have the exceptional ability to juggle various administrative and political responsibilities. Part of the reason he was able to do so many things simultaneously was that he insisted on bringing the indispensable Louis Howe to Washington with him to serve as his personal secretary. Howe seemed to be everywhere at once, assisting Roosevelt in all matters-scheduling appointments, helping with clerical work, and even helping Roosevelt keep an eye on, and a hand in, New York politics. † (Coker, 2005, pg. 31) In1921 FDR contracted polio, an incurable disease that left his legs paralyzed. By investing a considerable part of his fortune in renovating a spa in Warm Springs, Georgia, whose curative waters, together with strenuous physical therapy and the support of his wife, children and close confidantes, was he able to regain some use of his legs. By 1928 with the relentless help of his wife, Howe and a new personal secretary, Marguerite (Missy) LeHand, FDR was apparently sufficiently recovered to resume his political ambitions to run and win the governorship of New York. The very next year FDR had to cope with the stock market crash in October. The stock market was pretty volatile in the 1920s. With no regulation, Americans and investors bought stock on credit. By the second half of 1929 the economy slowed because of rising unemployment and high interest rates. When everybody started selling stock and found no buyers, the market nosedived. October 24th (Black Thursday) and October 29th ( Black Tuesday) were two days that marked the beginning of the depression, although not the only cause. At the same time, farmers were taking advantage of new technologies, which caused overproduction. The Stock market crash, along with overseas competition, and urban areas lacking the income to buy agricultural products, caused those prices to crash also. Because of the prosperity in the 1920 over 80% of Americans held no savings at all and the rich stopped buying. Because of all these factors, 5000 banks collapsed, one in four farms went into foreclosure and 100,000 jobs vanished each week. By 1932 one quarter of this countrys people in were unemployed (Baliles, 2005). FDR implemented a number of innovative relief and recovery initiatives: unemployment insurance, pensions for the elderly, limits on work hours, and massive public works projects. These programs labeled him as a liberal reformer and won him reelection as governor in 1930. It is important to note that FDR as Governor surrounded himself with best minds that worked with him in the State Senate, as well as some members of Al Smiths former gubernatorial administration, to solve his States problems. At the same time he had Louise Howe, as his chief campaign strategist and the head of the state Democratic Party, James Farley laying the ground work for a presidential campaign (Coker, 2005). In the grip of the great depression, the Democrats turned to FDR in the election season of 1932 to run for President. He was a popular and successful governor for two terms, with a recognizable last name, that could challenge President Hoover. He won the presidency in a landslide, promising the American People a â€Å"New Deal†. Voters extended FDR approval to both houses of congress, giving the democrats overwhelming majority, which would prove vital in FDRs first year in office. In his inaugural address, FDR promised the distraught Americans hope by telling them that they had â€Å"nothing to fear but fear itself (Baliles, 2005). † True to his character, FDR surrounded himself with a group of advisers nicknamed the brain trust. This brain trust included former progressives, liberal-minded professors and bright young lawyers. One of the traits FDR is consistent on is the ability to recognize when expert help is needed, and then surrounding himself with it (Dubrin, 2004). An array of emergency measures proposed by FDR, and passed by Congress reflected three basic goals: industrial recovery through business-government cooperation and pump-priming federal spending; agricultural recovery through crop reduction; and short-term emergency relief distributed through state and local agencies when possible, but directly by the federal government if necessary. ( Boyer, P. et. al. (2008). pg. 734) Between March and June 1933, a period labeled Hundred Days, Congress enacted more than a dozen key measures ( Boyer, P. et. al. (2008). pg. 736). These measures were all directed to solve every aspect of the depression, including regulating the stock market. Because so many people had been unemployed for some time, the help did not come fast enough. By 1934 the unity spirit of the hundred days was fading, industry was chafing under increasing National Recovery Administration (NRA) regulations. Even Nature seemed to work against recovery efforts. Between 1930 and 1939 the drought in the Oklahoma panhandle region turned much of the Great Plains in the Midwest into a dust bowl. Depression persisted, despite all efforts. FDR put great store in talking to the people, and he used radio to talk to them. He would talk regularly and informally on shows called fireside chats about results and plans to help the nation and alleviate peoples fears (Boyer, P. et. al. (2008). At this point in his research the author remembered the first four chapters of required reading for the class. It is without exaggeration, when saying, that it is hard to single out any one part of these chapters to describe FDR. They simply seem written about him. From the definition of leadership to the nine leadership roles in chapter one, the personality traits, motives and cognitive factors of effective leadership in chapter two, to initiating structure and consideration and attitude and behaviors of a leader in chapter four. FDR had it all. If it has been noticed the Author left out chapter three, because this chapter dealt with Charisma and transformational leadership. It would not be fair to pick any part of this chapter in the authors opinion FDR was the embodiment of this chapter (Dubrin, 2004). While he was loved by the people, the new deal was criticized from all directions. Some saying that the New Deal was going to far, others saying it was not going far enough. FDR seemed to relish the attacks of his critics, saying that the New Deal protected the average American, not the rich. In 1935 FDR fought back the criticism with a series of legislation that eclipsed the first hundred days termed the Second New Deal. He also lost support from the business community because of his support for the Wagner Act and Social Security. Both were the more memorable of FDRs accomplishments, the former allowed labor unions to organize and bargain collectively, the latter set up programs designed to provide for the needs of the aged, the poor, and the unemployed, but excluding farmers, domestic workers, and the self employed (Baliles, 2005). Because of his popularity with the American people, FDR wins the election of 1936 against Republican Alf Landon by a major majority. What this proved, was that the Democratic Party was the major party in the states. At his inauguration he promised the people to continue to fight for the nations underprivileged. FDR put together a group of voters from different regions of the country. This diverse group became the core of the Democratic Party. It came to be called the New Deal Coalition or Roosevelt coalition and included members from different labor, racial, religious and ethnic groups, along with academics and intellectuals (Coker, 2005). FDR is first to realize he can not do it all himself, and has the presents and humility to put together a group that can give him, information, ideas and feedback from every segment of the population he is trying to help (Dubrin, 2004). FDRs second term in office started with doing something about the resistance he has been encountering to his New Deal. The Supreme Court was on top of his lists of concern. They had overturned some agricultural and industrial New Deal reforms earlier and Roosevelt was concerned for future programs. He found it unbelievable that this body could overrule not only the presidency, but the Congress as well. He blamed it on the lack of vision of several older judges and was determined to do something about it. If they refused to retire or to die, he would find a more systematic way to protect his policies from them. He consulted legal experts and advisers within the organization and came up with the idea to expand the number of judges on the Supreme Court. In 1937 FDR proposed legislation stating that because the age of some of the judges, and in the interest of efficiency, adding an additional new and younger justice for every one of the sitting ones over the age of 75. Most of his opposition called FDR a dictator, but having such a majority in both houses of congress, the bill would have probably passed. Perhaps that was the reason later that year, that the Supreme Court upheld some state and federal legislation. By the time the bill reached the Senate, all the steam went out of the argument and did not pass. The possibility of the event coming to pass however, had such an impact on the Supreme Court that they have not invalidated any legislation concerning regulating business or expanding social rights for the remainder of the century. Having won his point with the court, he was finding the whole federal bureaucracy moving to slow for his tastes, started to bypass established procedures, creating emergency agencies to carry out policies. In 1937 Roosevelt had a plan for reorganizing his cabinet. It called him to receive 6 full time executive assistants, for a single administrator to head the Civil Service Commission, for him and his staff to assume all responsibility in budget planning, and for every executive agency to be under the control of a cabinet department. Although he did get some of these things passed by Congress in 1939, his opposition was able to paint him as imperious and power-hungry (Baliles, 2005). The Author can empathize with FDR on the point of the Judges, mainly because of a similar difficulty in his work environment, involving very high sonority workers that could retire and make room for younger people to work in this difficult economy. He would have told him that he is also of the opinion that any political appointment should not be for life. Frustrated by red tape of bureaucracy FDR shows a segment of entrepreneurial leadership (Dubrin, 2004). To top all this controversy, FDR also tried to eliminate some of the conservatives within his own party by supporting their more liberal opponents in the 1938 primary. This attempt was later labeled The great Purge and failed. Of the 10 Democrats targeted, only one lost. All these were reasons the party suffered significant setbacks, as the Republicans reclaimed 81 seats in the House of Representatives and 8 in the Senate in the 1938 midterm elections. In the midst of these setbacks, international events were becoming more important and harder to ignore. During the internal struggle of the depression the administration had adopted a position of isolation and neutrality toward the rest of the world claiming the United States was dragged into WWI by trade entanglements with European factions. The Japanese invaded the Chinese Mainland in 1937 and the fact this happened with very little resistance, FDR considered responding, concerned Japan might be encouraged to continue to press forward threatening crucial United States locations in the Philippines. Although FDR wanted to respond to the threat, he relented to his opposition. He sufficed to publicly quarantined Japan, mainly to express U. S. opposition to the invasion. He did ask and receive funding for increased naval development in the pacific under the guise of creating more jobs (Baliles, 2005). FDR shows his democratic leadership side as he cedes to the wishes of the population and the political majority and refrains from taking any direct and hostile action toward Japan. He probably realizes that the internal problems need the most focus as Japan has not physically attacked the U. S. Although, like the entrepreneurial and situational leader that he is, he sees an opportunity to use the goals of economic recovery and job creation to build up the countrys defenses. The Author would most likely have suggested using this creative plan to enforce the navy in the Atlantic as well (Dubrin, 2004). In Europe, Germany lead by Hitler was also invading neighboring countries under the guise of reuniting Germanic people under one nation. As long as his actions suited his declaration, France and England were content to stay out of the action. Russia under Stalin, seeing the lack of opposition, made a nonaggression pact with Hitler, and started seizing territory in Eastern Europe, while Hitler invaded Poland. These actions in 1939 shocked the world, with France and England declaring the start of World War II (Coker, 2005). Throughout this aggression in Europe, FDR was hamstrung because of the neutrality acts congress passed between 1935 and 1939. Being as staunch supporter of England and France, he did manage to relax them in 1939, accomplishing two goals, boosting our economy with our allies able to buy arms and munitions from us, as well as supporting them. In a speech to Congress he voiced his opposition to the neutrality laws and his regret of signing them. Explaining that none of our ships would enter hostile waters, the allies buying from us would transport the munitions. He also refrained from using military language, afraid of loosing hard won political support, needed in the upcoming election. At this time decisions war vying for supremacy in FDR between the future of the nation and his political career (Baliles, 2005). It is admirable and probably due to his inner circle of family and friend, that FDR has the presents of mind to divide his concentration between the troubles in Europe, trouble in the country and making sure he wins the election. FDR seems to see himself as a servant leader (Dubrin, 2004). Although expressing concern once that the Democratic Party was becoming to dependent on him, he was confidante he would win the nomination and be a favorite in the election. After a period of indecision, that left the party hanging, FDR announced his full support for the ticket. He did win the nomination and promptly announced his intention to replace the vice president, conservative John Nance Garner with Henry Wallace, a progressive who had been a major player in the administration. This caused a major disagreement within the party as nobody wanted a change. FDR got his way by a narrow margin, simply because he threatened to drop out of the race and resign from the white house immediately (Baliles, 2005). FDR seems to let his position go to his head somewhat as his actions describe a section of chapter 4 entitled the dark side of charismatic leadership. It describes that the end justifies the means (Dubrin, 2004). The race was the most challenging so far for FDR. The republicans, taking advantage of the strife in the Republican Party, tried labeling FDR as unstable and warmonger. In return FDR was warning the public of the threat the republicans would dismantle the New Deal and destroy the progress it had made. FDR would win the presidency for a third term with a narrower margin than the last two. Without the concern of the an election FDR proposed a bill to congress, which he promoted through a Fireside chat as well as a speech in congress, stressing that while the country was a peaceful one, with no intention of entering the war, the country had a good neighbor responsibility to help defeat Hitler through the production of goods and weaponry and a Lend-Lease program, under which the Allies could borrow military hardware to return after use. A bill was passed in congress in early1941 that greatly increased our help to Great Britain. As Hitler was fighting by now against England and Russia, having broken the nonaggression pack, FDR was able to increase the U. S. naval presence in the Atlantic on the threat that Hitler was out of control without breaking the neutrality act. This action caused our ships to come under fire, resulting in the sinking of several. In September of 1941, while mourning the death of his mother, FDR gave our navy orders to fire at will. Emboldened by its alliance with Germany, Japan attacked the U. S. at Pearl Harbor hoping to invade and secure the natural resources, denied them after their alliance with Germany, which they were importing from the U. S. before. On December 8, 1941, FDR delivered his famous A ate which will live in infamy speech, to congress asking for a declaration of war and getting it that same afternoon (Coker, 2005). Despite Roosevelts lifelong interest in diplomacy, he never held illusions that he would formulate strategy in case of war. He did, however, expect to stay in close contact with his officers and surround himself with an able advisory team (Coker, 2005, Pg. 134). He also took similar steps to reorient the country for war production, creating the War Production Board to oversee mobilization soon joined by an Office of War Mobilization. FDRs New Deal experience helped him create a cooperative venture between government and private industry to meet defense needs (Coker, 2005). During mobilization FDR brought about significant changes for the betterment of unemployed and minorities. Farmers streamed into cities, finding jobs, women were urged to work at jobs previously occupied by men and everybody was urged to join a union. Unions saw the peek of membership during these years. If the New Deal was slow in turning the economy around, although creating enormous deficit, the Second World War kick started the economy into high gear. Although reluctant and concerned about violating civil liberties, FDR, as was his policy in most military matters, listened to his military advisors and issued Executive Order 9066, which forced over 100,000 Japanese-Americans into internment camps, for security reasons. (Coker, 2005) Controversial and widely criticized later, this action was done out of fear of espionage. At that time, however not the Civil Liberties Union, nor the public objected to this action. If War was not one of FDRs strong points, organizing, creating smooth transitions using programs such as maintenance for membership and no strike-pledge was. He used fireside chats to explain to the public the need for such policies, applying to patriotism. While researching FDRs accomplishments during WWII, the author was amazed by his power of persuasion and organization during this time of mass confusion in this country. Had he lived in this time frame, the Author would have liked FDR to tell him how he kept it all straight (Dubrin, 2004). The outlook did not look promising for the allies in the first months of 1942, but things turned against Germany and Japan when the U. S. won victories in the pacific theater in 1943 and D-Day operation was a great success in France in 1944. On the home front, FDR had to concentrate internally again for several reasons. First the Republicans, having won major advancements in the election of 1942 in Congress, were making it almost impossible to pass legislation to fund the war, which mainly consisted of significant tax hikes. The Labor unions were also threatening to strike over this issue. Mainly the public was fed up with funding the war and having to do without. In 1944, FDR made it known to his party that he was willing to run for a forth term. The party acknowledged that he would be their best chance for victory, however, nominated Senator Harry Truman as Vice President. Although a sick man, run down from his years in office, his energetic campaigning and his medical condition, FDR downplayed the situation and convinced the public they should not change leaders in mid-war. He won the presidency against republican New York governor Thomas Dewey by 54% of the popular vote (Baliles, 2005). FDRs stamina and drive at this point in his life is a little disturbing from the authors point of view. Highly regarded as a great leader, it is surprising he does not recognize his deficiencies and recommends the party choose a different candidate. But then, if his wife, doctor and friends could not persuade him to retire, the author doubts highly that his own powers of persuasion could have influenced FDR to turn the country over to somebody else, and concentrate on his health and family. FDRs health deteriorated rapidly after the election. He would not live to see the end of WWII. Convalescing in Warm Spring, Georgia on April, 12, 1945; he collapsed and died of cerebral hemorrhage. His body was transported from Georgia to Washington D. C. and from there to Hyde Park, N. Y. for burial. Hundreds of thousands of people came to pay their respects during this final journey, attesting to the fact that he was considered the hero and savior of the 20th century (Boyer, P. et. al. (2008). Congress did limit the terms of a president to two terms shortly after FDR’s death. Actually, the Republican Party started legislation on this subject four years earlier, at the time of the last election. They did not pursue it on the grounds of seeming petty during the election. Over the decades the subject â€Å"FDR†, private life, political life and all his accomplishments, good or bad, would be studied by economists, politicians, and academics as well as students like us. One such example is a Policy Review interview of several students asked to compare the Contract with America which the 1995, 104th Congress and House Speaker Newt Gingrich promised to deliver in less than 100 days with FDR’s New Deal. The Author would like to show Quotes to prove several points. Sally C. Pipes, President of Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy â€Å"Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and the new Republican House Leadership deserve thanks and congratulations for the successful completion of the Contract with America. What a revolutionary series of events has taken place! With the Contract, a promise to the American people was made; in a little less than the promised hundred days, the promise was kept. Of what other Congress in this Century can that be said? † (Pitney, 1995) Mike Siegel, Former president of the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts. â€Å"The Contract with America committed the House Republicans to raising and voting on each of the Contract Items. This was accomplished and should be considered a major shift from politics as usual (Pitney, 1995). † Deroy Murdock, President of Loud Clear Communication. â€Å"Assuming the Senate and President Clinton cooperate, the enactment of most Contract items, per se, will not influence American politics as profoundly as did FDR in his First Hundred Days. However, the paradigm shift that has accompanied the Contract likely will parallel the new thinking that FDR inspired 62 years ago. † (Pitney, 1995) Mona Charen, Nationally syndicated columnist. â€Å"The First Hundred Days of the Republican majority were like a laser show—full of color and sound, but so fast and furious that it was difficult for voters to single out the benefits of tort reform, welfare reform, or regulatory reform. † (Pitney, 1995) Jeff Jacoby, Nationally syndicated columnist for the Boston Globe. â€Å"So, no, in terms of legislation completed, Gingrich’s First Hundred Days don’t compare with FDR’s. So thoroughly did Gingrich and his army upend that piece of conventional wisdom, that by the end of a hundred days, Bill Clinton was reduced to insisting he still mattered. â€Å"The President,† he sniffled in a mid-April press conference, â€Å"is relevant here. † (Pitney, 1995) William A. Rusher, Former publisher of National Review. â€Å"The First Hundred Days of the new House Republican Leaders will deserve that well-worn adjective â€Å"historic† even if relatively few of the measures listed in their Contract with America ever become law in the form they recognize (Pitney, 1995). † Burton W. Folsom Jr. , Senior Fellow in Economic Education at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan. â€Å"The House Republican Leadership did most of what it said it would do in the Contract with America. The Republican Contract was a conscious, thoughtful, and usually coherent plan that went from campaign document to legislative writ. The New Deal was improvisational and contradictory right from the start. † (Pitney, 1995) John J Pitney, JR. Associate professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. â€Å"The House GOP’s First Hundred Day compared badly with FDR’s. Although all the items in the Contract With America reached the House floor, only two of them became law before the hundredth day. By contrast, FDR signed bushels of bills during the Hundred Days of 1933. Crisis is the great lubricant of the legislative process, and the economic calamities of FDR’s early days briefly suspended Capitol Hill’s normal Friction. Government has become tangled in its own red tape. † (Pitney, 1995) The Author would like to point out, that there is hardly mention of the president of this time and then only to point out that he was left out of the loop. Apparently the House Speaker and the Republican majority in Congress decided they could upstage a Democratic President with a style of government by one of its own party example. As shown, none of the interviewees have lied, but it was entertaining to read just how much of the story a particular party adherent brings to light to prove his point of view. Clearly, the more is known of the story, the worse the scenario of the Contract With America sounds. We have just had a historical presidential election. If FDR started with having blacks, women and other minorities in high office, this country as a whole just elected a black man into the White house. In 1995 Congress took up FDR’s ideology but tried to upend the hierarchy. Since then the Country’s problems have just gotten worse. Again the cry has started and the president has taken up the challenge and stated publicly that he would use some of FDR’s strategies. Immediately the media, economists and scholars exploded with the similarities of the state of the country then and now, advice and warnings to the administration. We are closer to the FDR era state of the economy, the sharp rise in unemployment, the near collapse of the banking industry and the essential pessimism of the population. FDR’s overall message is less caution and more boldness. The congress will also have a democratic majority next year and one of the most liberal caucuses ever, which should facilitate cooperation by past experience. Together with the lubricant of crisis stated earlier should help (Schlesinger, 2009). Two other similarities are contributed to Barack Obama. He unusually charismatic person and is a great speaker, which should help him guide the general public through this crisis. He has surrounded himself with an experienced staff, headed by â€Å"101st Senator† Rouse. To get his agenda passed, he just needs to convince Congress to take some political risks (Drum, 2008). There is hardly any advice this Author can offer that has not already been offered by persons more qualified other than hope. Hope that lessons have been learned from history and similar situations. God knows this country has had most imaginable, and the

Explain How Internal And External Business Essay

Explain How Internal And External Business Essay Business is an organization or company that provides goods and services to the community. The general aim of a business is to satisfy the needs and wants of the community whilst also making a profit. In Australia business has a major impact on our everyday lives. Business provides people with employment, it boosts our economy and also it allows us to have a greater quality of life. This means it provides us with the benefits needed to lead a simple and convenient life. There are several factors that can influence a business, these factors include Internal and External influences. Internal influences include factors the business itself may have some control over, whilst on the other hand factors that the business can not control such as laws and regulations are External influences. Importance of business Business is like the blood that flows through our bodies, with out business our lives would be almost impossible. Business plays many different roles in our everyday lives. Most people either own or work for a particular business. Businesses make it possible for the community and even further places such as overseas countries to receive and sell goods and services. A business can be anything that provides goods and services to the community such as corner shops providing customers with goods and sweets and they can also be larger companies such as Nike selling shoes and clothing all over the world. Businesses allow for our economy to grow and become stronger, with out a strong economy a country can not run as smoothly as preferred. One of the main reasons why businesses are so important in our everyday life is due to the fact that businesses provide millions and millions of people with job opportunities. If businesses did not exist people will not be able to work and earn money for e veryday living. There are certain factors that can influence a business. These factors include internal and external influences. Internal influence Internal influences are influences that a business has some control over, such influences include product, location, management, resource management and business culture. 2 Product influences: These influences affect a large majority of the internal structures and operations of a business. Depending on the types of goods and services the business produces will depend on the internal structure. If the goods being produced require certain equipment, these needs must be catered to so that the business may go on with its production. Each type of business has a different set of product influence, for example a service provider will require less preparation, whilst on the other hand a manufacturer will need more services to produce the goods sold. The size of a business can be determined by the different types of goods and services produced and also the availability of technology. So from this we understand that the amount of goods and services produced by a business depends on the size of the business. Poor productivity can be seen in the article Anger at Vodafone Sydney morning herald, this impacts on the business because Vodafone is providing very poor services to their customers, therefore tempting the customers to switch to another network, taking business away from Vodafone. 3 Location influences: One of the most important factors of a business is the location in which that business is positioned in. The location can either make or break the business. Location is especially important for retail and service oriented businesses, as they need to be seen and recognized by customers. The business owner must take into consideration of where he/she chooses to locate their business The business must be in area with a good image, for eg not a poor suburb, they business must be located in a place were customers are consistently walking past and spotting the shop, for eg in the city. Another important thing is that the business must be convenient towards the customers, so that they may take the time and effort to check the place out, if the business is located in a area which is not convenient the customers may loose interest and go somewhere else. 4 Resource influences: -Basically there are 4 main types of resources available to a business, these include: Human resources Information Resources Physical resources Financial resources Human resources may be considered as the most important resource, for they are the employees that allow for the business to run. Information resources are all the actions in which the business takes to research and learn more about their situation for eg sales reports. Physical resources include all the equipment and tools necessary for running the business. Financial resources are basically what the business depends on to buy and help support their business, for example to buy new machines. 5 Management influences: There is no doubt that over time businesses and the way in which businesses are run have dramatically changed. Management has been a part of business that has been changed in an effective way. In the past there were many levels of management and hierarchy in a business that new ideas and issues had to go through, but now due to many factors such as the pressure of competitiveness from globalisation the way in which businesses are run have been altered. These days there are much fewer levels that new ideas and issues have to go through, this will result in quicker and more efficient decisions that in the long run will allow the business to focus on the way it runs. This allows businesses to adapt quicker and more efficiently to the ever changing needs and wants of consumers because there are fewer managers in which the process of decision making must go through. 6 Business culture: In reality every business has its own type of business culture, these are all the values, beliefs and ideas that are agreed upon by all employees and managers of the business. The culture of a business is shown in the way in which the business acts and performs. Business culture is usually shown in the rules and regulations of a business such as the way staff are expected to dress and behave. Culture has been proven to be a necessary tool that must be used by businesses to achieve the best out of its staff members and customers. Business culture is proven to be important in the video Australias food fight: west farmers vs. Woolworths. Coles have changed their business culture by undergoing management change, which has allowed for a different culture to be applied, and this has proven to be successful as they are now basically ahead of Woolworths. 7 Internal influences have an extraordinary impact on business in Australia. They include every thing from were the business is located to how the business is run. The location of a business basically is essential for the success of the business, depending on were it is located, it must be convenient and visible to customers. If it is not located in a convenient area customers may not be able to get to the business and purchase from it. The management of a business is the way in which the business is run, in order to have a successful business it must be under good management and the necessary actions must be taken when they are called for, for eg if employees are needed to be cut off, due to lack of financial sustainability. So basically it is essential for businesses to be affected by internal influences in a positive way. External influences External influences are factors that a business may have little or no control over, such factors include: Economic, financial, geographical, social, legal, political, institutional, technological, competitive situation and markets influences. 8 Economical influences In Australia and the rest of the world, the economy experiences economic cycles. These cycles include booms and busts (recession). Basically during an economic boom the economy experiences higher levels of employment, they may be so confident in their sales that they may increase the price of items to gain higher profits. Also during booms wages of employees tend to increase as more profit is being made by the business. However the economic cycle does have its down side, such as when the economy is experiencing a recession period. An unfortunate reality of recessions is that employment rates decrease due to the fact that the business is not making enough sale profits to keep their employees. Another effect of recession is that business may not be able to raise the price of their products because people are not purchasing so they may have to even lower prices to continue to compete in the market. The influences of economical factors are shown in the article Petrol prices soar and no r elief in site. Due to the poor economical status prices are raised and customers may not be able to purchase petrol at this price. Another ecomical influence can be seen in the radio article impact of floods on grocery prices 2GB, Sydney, this impacts on the business because all the crops are being destroyed making it impossible to make a profit, with farmers not making profits the economy will suffer and be under pressure. 9 Financial influences Financial influences impact a business in several ways. due to deregulation which is basically the extermination of government regulation in an business, Businesses are now able to improve competitiveness with each other. Even better, now due to globalisation, Australia is now able to trade goods overseas, further more improving the financial sustainability of the country. 10 Geographical influences Geographical influences impact businesses in many ways. Australia is located in the Asia-pacific region, the economical statuss in these surrounding countries are very important in the interest of Australia. Basically if china is doing well, it may be able to trade goods and services with Australia creating an advantage for both countries. Another thing is that a lot of Australian companies are located in the Asia-Pacific region, so the countries must be economically doing well for the Australian companies to survive. Also the demography of the country has a significant influence on businesses, for eg Australia must be run to suit people of all different cultures, ages and sexes. One major demographic impact on Australia is the ageing population, with an ageing population there must be centres and facilities created for elders. Also with people retiring, their jobs will need to be completed by younger people, who may not be as experienced as the retired worker. Globalisation is also an important fact of geographical issues, due to globalisation Australia is not tied down just to trade goods and services throughout Australia, but how ever to do so around the entire world. The impact of globalisation can be seen in the video picking up an Aussie apple, we see that Australia is beginning to import overseas apples to Australia. 11 Social influences Social influences have an sever impact on the success of a business. For eg as time goes on peoples taste in fashion and trends will change. If businesses do not adapt to these changes they may be affected in a very negative way. In order for a business to make a profit they must take into consideration all the new fashions and trends going around. One other major social influence is the influence of of our environment which is basically wearing away day by day, businesses must always consider what is in the best interest of the environment, for eg not giving out plastic bags after a sale. One final issue is the issue of family-work practices, as women give birth they must leave work, and this may result in the business losing an employee, affecting in the production of the business. An example of social influences can be seen in the article Petrol price soars and no relief in site, With the rise of petrol, the people in society may decide that instead of using cars, they can probabl y save money by using public transport or riding a bike to work. 12 Legal influences Businesses can not just do as they please. There are many legal actions that influence businesses and basically tell them what they can or cant do. With more and more laws being passed onto businesses, the business must adapt their company to what the law is telling them to do. Generally the people of a society expect that businesses may run under the rules and guidelines provided by the law. Businesses must be aware of all the laws so that they may not breach them and pay the penalties. 13 Political influences Even though political influences may not be the most affective factors onto a business, they still have a pretty heavy impact. For eg whenever a new election Is held, the new government may introduce new policies. A policy that was introduced in 2000 was the goods and services tax, this was a 10 percent tax on the supply of most goods and services used in Australia, this affected businesses in a way that they had to collect taxes basically on behalf of the government. However deregulation has also been introduced in the picture in the past few decades, this is the removal of government regulation in industry, and this takes pressure off businesses and allows for a greater range of competitiveness. 14 Institutional influences Three institutional influences on business are government, regulatory bodies and trade unions and employer associations. Government: Three levels which are federal, state and local. Federal government deals mainly with issues such as tax, making sure that the taxes are being paid and also things such as how the businesses are running in according to the customs regulations. State governments deal with lower case issues such as workers rights and responsibilities such as OHS requirements and making sure businesses are abiding by the state laws and trade practices Local government deals with issues such the condition of building and making sure of improvements, parking rules and fire regulations Regulatory bodies; These bodies observe and understand the way that businesses deal with certain issues and how the business treats its community and consumers. Examples of regulatory bodies include: the Office of fair trading and the Australian competition and consumer commission. (ACCC) Other institutional influences are Trade unions and Australian stock exchanges, these groups have aims such as improving working conditions and pay rates. 15 Technological influences Technology without a doubt has had probably one of the most affects on businesses. With new technologies being invented and discovered every day this can only help improve productivity and efficiency for businesses. Technology has allowed for robotic machinery to be used in productivity which in the long run cheapens the cost of productivity as no employee or has to be paid. Robots also help to reduce the amount of boring and repetitive jobs that some humans may have to do. Also communication technology has been improving rapidly over the past few years making it even easier to communicate with suppliers and consumers, with out them actually being there. Businesses must strive to use the available technology to the best of their ability so that they may keep up or even be ahead of competitors. 16 Competitive situation influences These influences may be very helpful and useful to both consumers and producers, for eg when two businesses are competing to be the market leader, they will lower costs of their stock to attract customers. As a result they will be making more sales and more importantly a profit. These competitive situations also benefit consumers because with competition in a market there will be a greater range of goods available for consumption, this allows the consumer to get a wider variety of choice when considering the good or service they want. Competitive situations are shown in the video Australias food fight: west farmers VS Woolworths as these companies are competing with each other to get the most customer satisfaction, It also discuss how the affects of globalisation such as Aldi here in Australia also competing amongst the big guns. Another example of competitive situation is shown in the article Anger at Vodafone, with Vodafone giving such poor services, customers will want to change to another network providing greater coverage. 17 External influences have a major impact on our every day lives in Australia, with all the different types of factors such as social and technological influences our lives are affected on a day to day basis. If external influences did not exist we would not be living in a society were goods and services from all around the world are accessible to us for our own usage. External influences can be both positive and /or negative for example, competitiveness in the market allows for a variety of options for consumers to choose from but contrasting the effects of external factors such as geographical issues involving the weather can have a negative affect, for eg flooding in farms or drought seasons. Conclusion As mentioned in the executive summary above, business can be compared to the blood in a living organism, it is essential for our everyday survival and living. Business allows us to live the pleasures and entertaining lives that we live each day. Internal influences summed up can be recognized as influences that a business can control whilst external influences are those factors that the business can not control. Internal influences for eg can be explained as factors that a business can use and apply to help determine the success of their business, such as the location in which they choose to place their business. External can be explained by using the example of a economic recession, this can affect the business in many negative ways such as letting employers go. So summed up we can say that business is essential for everyday living and it can be broken down into two different types, Internal and external, and it can be concluded that they basically determine how the business is run and how successful it will be. The end  Ã…’

Meaning Of Mobile Banking Information Technology Essay

Meaning Of Mobile Banking Information Technology Essay The internet and the mobile phone, the two technological advancements that have profoundly affected human behavior in the last decade have started to converge. Using a variety of platforms, services are being created to enable mobile devices to perform many activities of the traditional internet in a reduced format for mobile devices. One such area of activity is mobile banking. A cluster of dedicated and demanding mobile phone users (consumers) have multiplied tremendously over the years, who expect real-time information and access and high levels of service. This article looks at how and why banking customers have began to take advantage of mobile services for their banking requirements and why some of them are still hesitant to adopt mobile banking. Also this article throws light on some of the eminent challenges faced by the mobile banking service providers, which can be seen as opportunities for the financial institutions and the bankers. Introduction: Recently, the demands and requirements of banking consumers are altering quickly with the rise in the technological avenues made available in the banking world. Banking Customers have started demanding flawless, multi-channel service experiences. The result is forcing banks and financial institutions to facilitate them with the latest business models and banking solutions. With the increase in the customer demands and expectations, it has became necessary for the banks and Financial Institutions to update and transform their retail distribution channel for banking services from a branch banking-dominated model to a multi-channeled service model. Mobile banking is one such channel through which ample business is getting generated for Banks. Meaning of Mobile Banking In a laymans context, the term Mobile Banking means; Execution of Banking and Financial transactions using a Mobile phone or Availing banking services through a medium of cellular phone, without visiting the banks branch SMSs sent by bank on withdrawal and deposit transactions, credit card and ATM card usage notifications sent by bank, a call received from customer care department of the bank for critical transaction requests, Bill payments made from the bank balances through cell phone, transfer of money from one account to another using cell phone, etc. are all examples of Mobile Banking transactions. Also it is the primary responsibility of the Banks (Mobile banking facilitators) to ensure that all the Mobile banking transactions are secured and performed on a real time basis. Behavioral intentions of consumers for using mobile banking services Consumers will generally prefer using Mobile Banking over the traditional Branch banking for the following reasons: Mobile phone has already evolved as a familiar device in majority of middle class house holds Mobile Phone is always handy Sufficient guidance is available in using mobile phone for banking Mobile Phone enables fast and effortless banking transactions Service quality provided by banks, for Mobile Banking transactions is acceptable one Consumers are generally hesitant using Mobile Banking services for the following reasons: Mobile banking services cannot be used practically, due to expensive phone bills Data transmission rate is too slow while carrying out Mobile Banking transactions Mobile phone is found complicated in use due to Poor user interface Users have faced disappointment due to Malfunction of services and lack of operating instructions by Banks Challenges Faced by Banks and Financial institutions in facilitating Mobile Banking Transactions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Security of financial transactions, fraud and identity theft issues are getting increased importance, as the mobile banking users need to be safeguarded against such malpractices. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Compliance issues are now being examined by governmental agencies, which include anti-money laundering compliance issues for banks, because cell phones, particularly those using prepaid accounts, (having few checks on the identity of the user) are popularly used by money launderers to transfer funds quickly, inexpensively, and anonymously. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ There are no common technology standards for mobile banking. Various kinds of Client-based and Server based technologies are used, so there are Interoperability issues. A mobile banking solution usually is client specific and cannot have connectivity with multiple banks and hence becomes inconvenient for a user with multiple accounts. Also there are different kinds of mobile phone devices and it is a big challenge for banks to offer mobile banking solution for a particular type of device. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The Service offerings range from simple complex transactions like checking account balances, bill payments, alerts, loan statements etc to complex transactions like electronic wallet, forex payments, mobile financial advisor etc. making it difficult for a technology solution provider to deliver on all parameters. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Again a same mobile solution may not work in every market, it should be market specific solution, and different markets should be understood properly. In developed markets, being an innovator is very likely to be a failure and also expensive. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Some consumers also have barriers in mobile banking adoption due to lack of awareness and understanding of the benefits provided by mobile banking. Therefore overcoming the perception of consumer risks and increasing the computer and technological skills literacy among the mobile phone user stands as a challenge for the banks Recommendation The usage of Mobile Devices for Financial and Banking transactions could be made more effective by controlling mobile banking transactions by voice instead of opting for long typed sentences on the mobile devices. Conclusion Mobile banking has already evolved as a powerful intermediate towards efficient and real-time banking service. The Banks and the mobile banking service providers are working their way towards increasing consumer acceptance with mobile devices to carry out their banking transactions. The mobile banking service providers are teaming up with mobile banking technology vendors for consistently improving technology solutions that focus on creating a better consumer friendly experience with mobile banking. These technology advances will further increase consumer acceptance and ease with mobile devices The principal value to consumers has always been time and location service fulfillment and this need will be further enriched enabled through the mobile channel. Mobile banking in the future will not be just about receiving SMS and transferring funds; but will evolve into a mobile wallet concept, thus opening up a gamut of opportunities for companies in the BFSI domain to tap potential customers. And this is how mobile banking is raging to improve the customer service relationships as Advancement towards Consumer Value Creation

African American Artists Essay -- essays research papers

The multi-talented Camille Billops has found many different ways to express her artistic ability throughout her career. Her works that were done throughout her career was an expression of her life. Throughout the life of Camille she had many influences leading her into the art world. This paper has the artist going through her life coming up through the world as a student to a teacher then artist, and her works making her a legend. The way she met her husband and worked together to make the Hatch-Billops Collection. In her time as an artist she changed her work a few times. She started doing printmaking then changed to sculpture and film making. Throughout her life is what made her films. The trilogy of films makes her life public for everyone to see. From Suzanne Suzanne to Finding Christa and then to String of Pearls. Camille Billops is an artist representing her culture through her works of printmaking, sculpture and film. She has made her mark in history by doing so. Because of this she will always be remembered. Camille Billops was born in Los Angeles in 1933 to Alma Gilmore and Lucius Billops. She attended City College of Los Angeles, Associate of Arts and graduated in 1954. Then changed schools to the University of Southern California and studied occupational therapy. After that she changed schools again to the Los Angeles State College and received her Bachelor of Arts. After her schooling she met her future husband writer and playwright James Vernon Hatch, who is white, and traveled to Egypt and had a one person exhibit for Camille. After her exhibit in Egypt she came back to the states to go back to school. Billops moved to New York and received her Masters in Fine Art from the City College of New York in 1973. While attending the City College of New York she also had begun to teach ceramics. After graduating with her Masters in Fine Art she went and taught ceramics at Rutgers University, Newark, N.Y. Also in 1975 she founded the Hatch-Billops Collection with her husband James Hatch. Th e Hatch-Billops Collection is an archive of African American cultural history that includes oral histories, slides, books, photographs, and other historical materials. Camille’s husband and filmmaker James Hatch was born on October 25, 1928 in Oelwein, Iowa. After earning a B.A. in English and Speech in 1949 from the University of Northern Iowa, Hatch taught high sc... ...winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1992, told how Camille's unwanted pregnancy led her to put Christa up for adoption and how Christa returned twenty years later to confront her mother. And A String of Pearls turns the camera to four generations of men in Camille's family and considers why their fathers died so young. The camera turns to the grandsons, Michael and Peter. Both are without education, jobs or skills to earn a living and both have children that they cannot support. They want them to live, but two doctors from the local hospital trauma ward describe the streets of Los Angeles as a war zone where the US military sends its doctors to learn about gunshot wounds. In A String of Pearls Camille takes a hard look into the hearts of the black men in her family. In this film, love blooms. The multi-talented Camille Billops has found many different ways to express her artistic ability throughout her career. This makes her one of the most exceptional artists of our time. Camille Billops is an artist representing her culture through her works of printmaking, sculpture and film. She has made her mark in history by doing so. Because of this she will always be remembered.

The Politics of Representation: Social Work Lessons From the Advocacy

The Politics of Representation: Social Work Lessons From the Advocacy Planning Movement In urban planning's new political awareness, representation became a social responsibility issue. This new understanding of politics and social responsibility in urban planning may have brought boundary interaction between planners and other professions, such as social work†¦ Introduction In his 1995 article, Andrew Abbott explores his evolving conception of the social work profession. As we approach the new millennium, Abbott's conception becomes strikingly relevant. In brief review, Abbott's first notion posits that social work is a profession of interstitiality. In this context, social workers translate and mediate between collogues in highly technical professions and their own social work clients. Abbott refers to this relationship as a "social work of boundaries" (Abbott, 1995). As the boundaries between other professions change, the social work interstitiality changes as well - coined by Abbott "the boundaries of social work." Abbott writes; "the function of social work, like those of other professions, emerged from a continuous conflict and change" (Abbott, 1995, p. 552). As examples, Abbott related aspects of conflicts in which social work gained or lost "sub-fields" to neighboring professions. Abbott's third conception admits that both of his previous notions fail to address the origin of the modern social work profession. In his subsequent exploration of social work origins, Abbott suggests that other professions solidified before social work did, creating the boundaries from which social work emerged (Abbott, 1995). Abbott's three conceptions share the theme that social work does not stand alone as a professi... ...e and the Urban Crisis. New York: Pantheon Books. Piven, F. F. & Cloward, R. A. (1971). Regulating the Poor: Functions of Public Welfare. New York: Pantheon Books. Piven, F. F., Cloward, R. A. (1988). Why Americans Don't Vote. New York: Pantheon Books. Planners Network. (1999). What is planners network? Planners Network Online. http://www.plannersnetwork.org/. Planning 58 (3). (March 1992). APA News, 36-38. Reiner, J. S., Reimer, E., & Reiner, T. A. (1963). Client analysis and the planning of public programs. Journal of the American Institute of Planning 29 (4), 270-282. Wachs, M., ed. (1985). Ethics in Planning. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy. Webber, M. M. (1973). Comprehensive planning and social responsibility: Toward an AIP consensus on the profession's roles and purposes. Journal of the American Institute of Planning, 232-241.

Path Goal Theory Essay

I have chosen the movie â€Å" Miracle† as an illustration of an individual, Herb Brooks, fulfilling the parameters of Robert House’s Path-Goal Theory . There are events that one witnesses throughout one’s life that for various reasons leave an indelible imprint on one’s heart and soul. The unexpected victory of the US hockey over the heavily favored Russian team in the 1980 Olympic Games was one of those events. I was at a cocktail party and someone turned on the TV and soon the entire group was gathered around the set, small talk forgotten, as what has been described as the greatest sporting event of the 20th century unfolded. The country was still recovering from the negative effects of the Vietnam War, a weak Jimmy Carter presidency , and enduring a low point in national pride and optimism as Japan and Germany seemed to be gaining control of the world economy as our military dominance seemed to be slipping away. As the final buzzer rang and the â€Å" Do you believe in Miracles? â€Å" issued from the TV, you could feel the surge in national pride and optimism that swept through our little group and of course throughout the whole country. Herb Brooks supplies an extraordinary example of a positive example of Houses’ path -goal theory, which basically states that the leader’s, manager’s, or in this example the coach’s mission is to guide his subordinates to follow the best paths to reach their goals. According to the theory , the leader employs a variety of leadership behaviors( directive, achievement-oriented , participative, and supportive) to accomplish his mission. The theory also postulates that each behavior type was affected by contingency variables, environmental and follower characteristics. The movie afforded a clear picture of the flexibility required by a leader as he guides and inspires his group to achieve their common goal by successfully applying the following four diverse leadership behaviors: 1) Brooks employed directive path- goal leader behavior (â€Å"situations where the leader lets followers know what is expected of them and tells them how to perform their task†.-Wikipedia) throughout the majority of the film. After the tryouts Coach Brooks immediately sets the tone of his coaching regime by informing his assistant and eventually the Olympic Hockey advisory board that he would not consult either of them when deciding the make-up of the squad. He had basically done extensive homework  on all of the players, most of whom he was familiar with through his college experience. Brooks also makes it well known that he is â€Å"not looking for the best players but the right players.† This statement sets the tone for the rest of the movie. As a seasoned coach Brooks recognizes that the best path to success lies in building a real team, whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and clearly avoids choosing a dysfunctional dream team. This example also exemplifies the effect of an environmental contingency factor on leader behavior (directive) as Brooks recognizes and effectively chooses behavior that will deal with the formal authority system (Olympic hockey board) and allow him to im plement his coaching strategies without interference. A second example of Brook’s use of directive leadership techniques is demonstrated by his frequently asking the players , â€Å" Who do you play for?†. Early on in the film , they uniformly reply with the names of their college teams, demonstrating, as Brooks has recognized, that they are still a group of competitive young men and not a team. He continually challenges them, especially after a fight between former collegiate rivals , to start becoming a team and to depend upon â€Å"flow , passing , and creativity†-â€Å"Who do you play for?†. This example flows into the third example his strong directive leadership abilities when after an exhibition loss to the Swedish national team, he makes the players stay after the game to skate sprint drills. In between sprints he informs them that if they don’t want to work during the game, then they can work after it. He tells them that they don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone and that the name on the front of their jersey means a lot more than the one on the back. He repeats his message of win or loose, play like champions. Over and over Brooks shouts â€Å" Again â€Å", driving the players to exhaustion. He doesn’t stop, ignoring the pleas of his assistants, until the future team Captain, Mike Eruzione, states â€Å" I play for team USA. â€Å" Brooks lets them go and a turning point has been reached. They are finally becoming a team , one of destiny with a common purpose. This also is another example of Brooks employing directive leadership to reach a goal despite the effect of a subordinate contingency factor, locus of control. When the team first came together, they were group of highly competitive and independent group of young men hwho identified with their past institutions. Their locus of control was mainly internal and Brooks, with his concept of a cohesive tem, dependent  upon another and the coach for direction, gradually moving their locus of control toward a more external variety, â€Å" I play for team USA†. He has imposed his will on the team and he is now able to lea d direct them completion of their common goal. A third and clear example of directive leadership occurs during a session in the film room where he instructs the team on the tactics and strategy they will employ to be able to stay with the more individually talented Russians and eventually beat them late in the game .He tells them that they will be better conditioned than their adversaries and that they will attack instead of defending. This example also illustrates Brooks employment of Directive Leadership taking into consideration the effect s Of Environmental ( task structure)and Subordinate(Percieved ability) Con tingency Factors to enable the team to reach it’s ultimate goal. After the film session , Brooks has not only clarified the task structure but has defined the team’s perception of their abilities so that they are now gaining confidence that those abilities will be sufficient to achieve their goal. 2) Brooks also employed Achievement- Oriented Leadership (AOL) behavior(â€Å" situations where the leader sets challenging goals for followers, expects them to perform at their highest level, and shows confidence in their ability to met this expectation.†-Wikipedia) throughout the film in various appropriate situations. The first occurrence takes place when Brooks gathers his newly chosen squad sets and sets lofty goals for the team. He tells them they are not just going to the Olympics to show but to legitimately compete. He reinforces their already apparent confidence of having already survived a rigorous tryout and warns them that only 20 names will appear on the final roster and that more of them will be going home. I believe Brooks’ choice of this leadership type behavior was influenced by a Subordinate contingency factor-Experience. Brooks correctly recognizes that his new team’s experience is limited when compared to the other international teams and that confidence in their abilities is an important cornerstone in the team foundation and that the moment called for Achievement – Oriented Leadership Behavior. Brooks has correctly identified that his squad would need to be superbly conditioned if they could hope to achieve one of their major goals-being  able to stay close to the more individually talented and experienced Russians and then outskate them at the end and secure victory. To achieve this announced goal of being the best conditioned team at the Olympic games , Brooks once again employs AOL as he challenges his highly competitive group of players to reach this goal with frequent conditioning drills. His slogan of â€Å" the legs feed the wolves† becomes almost a battle cry and is heard frequently throughout the film as he encourages the players to meet the high physical standards he has set as their goal. Once again Brooks has chosen a leadership behavior pattern(AOL) in consideration Subordinate contingency factor, perceived ability as he reinforces the team’s confidence as they see their abilities increase with their improved conditioning. In one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie which occurs in the locker room right before the big game with the Russians , Brooks once again demonstrates AOL behavior as he sets the final challenging goal of defeating the Russian team and shows his confidence in their abilities-â€Å"You were born to be hockey players† and sends a highly inspired and confident team out onto the ice . 3) An example Herb Brooks exhibiting Participative Leader behavior(â€Å" leaders consulting with followers and asking for their suggestions before making a decision.†-Wikipedia.) occurs when the coach is determining his various lines- groups of 3 players who play together and who substituted together in relief of other lines. He summons three players referred to as â€Å" The Coneheads† and instead of taking a directive approach , he takes a clear participative path as he involves the young men in the decision making process as he asks them if they would like playing together as a line and if they thought it was a good fit for them. The players agreed with Brooks and go on to be a very effective line. This shows Brooks once again choosing the correct leader behavior-participative- relative to an Environmental Contingency factor-work group-to achieve performance goals and group satisfaction. Brooks once again demonstrates participative leadership when well into the team’s development, he decides to add a new ,very talented college player to  the roster. On their own, 3 team members approach the coach and voice an opinion that this new player is not needed and should not take a roster spot of a player who has worked so hard to earn that spot. The coach argues that the new player is very talented and will help the team and asks why the 3 young men do not want him. They respond he is not â€Å"family â€Å". Brooks recognizes that he has achieved his goal of team and has clearly consulted with followers before making a final decision. 4) Coach Brooks also employs Supportive Leadership behavior ( â€Å" behavior directed toward the satisfaction of subordinate’s needs and preferences. The leader shows concern for the follower’s psychological well being.†- Wikipedia.) and his early interaction with goalie Jim Craig demonstrates this type of leadership behavior. Jim is an outstanding goalie whose play has been erratic since the recent death of his mother. Brooks knows that against the aggressive Russian team the goalie will play a deciding role. Jim had earlier refused to take a team test and had expected a tongue lashing from Brooks . Instead , Brooks , cognizant of the psychological aspects of the grieving process which are affecting Jim’s playing and his ability to fully commit emotionally to the team. In private sessions he recognizes and therefore validates Jim’s emotional issues. After the coach points out an erratic performance, Jim is benched and asks the coach is it because he didn’t take the test and Brooks replies, â€Å" No, I want that guy that wouldn’t take the test†. Jim is named the starter and against the Russians plays an outstanding game, turning back a deluge of shots on goal by the Russians. If the coach had chosen a harsher style, Jim may have very well shut down further and robbed the team of a valuable asset. Once again Brooks has chosen the right leadership behavior –Supportive- to bring out the best in his follower, enabling them both to reach a common goal. In doing so he had identified the relation between a subordinate contingency factor, locus of control, and the need for the proper leader behavior-Supportive-to achieve the goal. Jim was feeling isolated and distracted by his grief, leading to a more internal locus of control and Brooks was able to move him toward a more external perception involving the concept of team, discipline and conformity to leadership by employing that behavior style. In another demonstration of utilization of Supportive leadership, Brooks exhibits compassion and empathy when he drops Ralf Cox from the Olympic squad near the end of the training period. Since Brooks himself was in a similar situation, having been cut from the 1960 Olympic Hockey right before their run for the gold medal, he personally understands the psychological trauma after a rejection of this magnitude. He personally comforts and consoles Ralf and thanks him for his fine effort and tell him that he is a great player. This display of supportive leadership could not help but further strengthen the team’s belief in their coach’s leadership abilities and character. A final example of supportive leadership, occurs , when understanding the psychological and physical distress of the injured Jack O’Callahan, Brooks meets with him privately and assures him that he remains confident in his ability to perform and that he will not be , as Jack so desperately feared, be cut from the team. Jack goes on to heal and play an important role in the US victory, vindicating Brooks’ discision and use of supportive leadership. As presented, Herb Brooks clearly demonstrates in the movie â€Å"Miracle† the effective use of House’s Path-Goal Theory as he guides his team, the 1980 US hockey team on its historic journey toward the defeat of the supposed invincible Russian team and the winning of the gold medal. I doubt that Brooks was even aware of House’s work but, guided by experience and instinct he effectively employed the various leadership behaviors and the modifying effect of environmental and subordinate contingency factors to gain the trust and respect of his peers and his players, leading them to the ultimate prize. In doing so , Brooks demonstrates to all leaders the importance of flexibility in leadership techniques and of not only gaining the trust of one’s followers but the necessity of fostering trust between those followers. Part 2 The movie â€Å"Miracle† also illustrates examples of Victor Vroom’s Expectancy  Theory. As described in Robbins and Judge, pages 86-87, this a motivation theory which postulates there is a certain relationship between personal effort and outcomes and that employees and in our examples, team members, can be motivated to achieve favorable outcomes. ) Vroom describes three processes or links, 1) Effort –Performance , 2) Performance- Reward, and 3) Rewards-Personal Goals† and their relationships. In the first link ( Effort –Performance), the individual ascertains if effort will equate to performance. In the second link (Performance-Reward) , he or she determines whether there be a desired outcome following a good performance and in the third link (Rewards-Personal Goals) will those rewards satisfy my personal needs? I believe the following 3 players dynamically exhibited the 3 links or processes of Vroom’s Theory. 1)Jimmy Craig-A an extremely t alented goaltender who led Boston University to the 1978 NCAA Division 1 championship. Effort-Performance- Initially deemed the back up goalie, Jimmy makes it clear that he is only attending the try-outs because he promised his mother shortly before she passed away near the end of his college career to try out for the Olympic Team and win a gold medal.. After he makes the team, both Jimmy’s attitude and thus his effort increase throughout the early and middle parts of the film as he is shown practicing harder and engaging in extra drills to increase his hand eye co-ordination and conditioning. As these efforts pay off, his performance begins to improve as he obviously knew it would with increased effort, thus demonstrating the link between performance and effort. Performance – Reward- Recognizing his improved performance , Coach Brooks rewards Jimmy with the the starting goalie position which led to the further rewards of victories against the teams they needed to overcome in the 1980 Olympics . Against a veteran Russian team it was his outstanding perfor mance(36/39 saves) , especially late in the game , that preserved the US victory. Jimmy and the US team then went on to attain their ultimate reward-the Gold Medal. Reward-Personal Goals- These rewards were of course personally desirable as they led to the attainment of personal goals such as fulfilling his mother’s wishes and helping to improve his grieving father both emotionally and probably financial as the notoriety and exposure led to a professional Hockey career and eventually a successful long term profession as a motivational speake John J. â€Å" r, spokesperson, and marketing and sales strategist. 2) Michael  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Rizzo â€Å" Eruzione- Mike was a Boston University hockey standout who graduated several years earlier than his above teammates. He was described by his BU coach, Jack Parker as† Pete Rose on skates†-â€Å"Wikipedia†. Rizzo went to successfully play 2 years in the International Hockey League before trying out for the 1980 Olympic team. Effort-Performance- It is clearly apparent from the onset of the film, that Mike is a long shot to make the team and when he does , he is chosen last. It is also obvious that Rizzo is a natural leader as he is portrayed settling disputes between rival Minnasota and Boston players and is a critical factor in coalescing the group into an effective team, when as noted in part one is the player who shouts, â€Å" I play for team USA â€Å". He not only gives great effort in practice but also in his natural leadership and that led to success in performance in both areas Performance –Reward- Eruzione’s all around performance in rewarded by not only making the team but being appointed Team captain, a prestigious position. He is then further motivated to play to the limits of his ability and makes the winning shot against the Russians. He is the player that Coach Brooks was talking about when he stated â€Å" I don’t want the best players, I want the right players.† Reward-Personal Goals- Initially , recognizing his limited ability Rizzo’s personal goal was just to make the squad and continue to play hockey a little bit longer and he accomplished this and more, eventually winning a gold medal. It is obvious that his personal goals were different than many of his teammates whose personal goals were to go on and play professional hockey. I suspect he had other personal goals as he was able t o parlay his Olympic success into a rewarding business and TV careers. 3)John â€Å" Jack â€Å" O’Callahan – Another extremely talented college hockey standout who also played for and was Captain of the 1979 championship Boston University team. Effort-Performance- Jack was a highly competitive player who always gave 100% on the ice. He once stated in the movie that he had skated so hard he couldn’t feel his legs. He also had definite leader ship abilities and inspired his teammates to also go all out. His continued maximum effort lead to superior performance and a high scoring output. Performance – Reward- Jack’s outstanding performance led to rewards on several different levels. First, he was easily rewarded with a position on the team and granted significant playing time. Then, when he suffered a potentially season ending  knee injury during the exhibition game against the Russians, Coach Brooks rewarded him with a show of faith by keeping him on the team despite the fact he was not able to play the opening Olympic rounds. Jack was obviously highly motivated by this gesture and vigorously rehabbed and was able to return to play in the key game against the Russians, making a key play that led to a score that tied the game and eventually led to another reward –the Gold Medal. Reward - Personal Goals- When Herb Brooks stated in the locker room before the pivotal Russian game, â€Å" you were born to be Hockey players† one of the players that definitely fit that description was Jack. He exemplifies the Expectancy Theory by being able to convert the desired awards into fulfillment of his personal goal –to play professional hockey, playing 390 games in the NHL. I think this movie and the actual reality it depicts is an excellent example of Vroom’s Expectancy Theory. This theory appears to be more applicable to sports than the workplace as there are clear and defined linkages between effort and performance and performance and reward. As compared to the average workplace , the endpoints of reward and personal goals can reach , as we know, extraordinary levels of financial success and notoriety.

Internet Phishing Essay

Internet Phishing is the 21st century crime with stories running all over the globe on how victims are succumbing to this attack. While the people carrying out this task, have continually developed more sophisticated methods of crime, while on the other hand, businesses have been continuously searching for solutions on how to protect their customers’ personal data and increase their email security. While most of the organizations around the world are battling for better and safer solutions, most of them are taking intermediary steps to prevent phishing. This paper intends to discuss the technologies and security flaws that are used by Phishers to exploit data. Along with this, the some neutral advise is also presented on how to combat the growing issue of Phishing. The word â€Å"phishing† initially comes from the equivalence that early Internet criminals used email lures to â€Å"phish† for passwords and economic data from a group of Internet users. The use of â€Å"ph† in the terminology is partly lost with time and has been most likely associated with other hacking words like â€Å"Phreaks† which traces back to early hackers who were involved in â€Å"phreaking† _ the hacking of telephone systems. Phishing makes use of most of the popular internet communication channels, spoofed messages in order to lure victim into their trap in order to steal the electronic identity of the victim. Phishing is related to the act of tricking customers with their confidential information for despicable use. Phishing targets the use of mass emails like Spam and most often make the use of bots to automatically target victims. Any online business may find Phishers masquerading as them and targeting their customer base. The size of the organization does not matter much over here but it is the value of the information that is reaped by such types of attacks. There has been an escalating amount of increase in the number of phishing attacks and now the Phishers attack an audience size in the range of millions of users around the world. These email addresses have been found at the large online retail websites where internet users tend to submit their email id’s at the click of a mouse. Some of these websites have also been found to be fake and illegal which allow the Phishers to easily fool the users into submitting their personal information very easily before identifying any kind of safety issues. While the method of Spam was quite annoying and burdensome, Phishing has the potential to directly attack the important data and create losses due to illegal currency transfers. As the study suggests, over 57 million internet users in the United States have already identified the links in their emails to phishing scams. An astounding number of 1. 7 million people have already fallen prey to these phishing attacks and have been tricked into submitting their personal information. According to R James, â€Å"With various experts extolling proprietary additions or collaborative improvements to core message delivery protocols such as SMTP, organizations may feel that they must wait for third-party fixes to become available before finding a solution to Phishing. While the security failures within SMTP are indeed a popular exploit vector for Phishers, there are an increasingly array of communication channels available for malicious message delivery. † With time, the concept of Phishing has increased by many folds and now Phishers are luring the victims by a variety of ways to divulge their personal as well as financial information. Fake websites, installation of Trojan horse key-loggers and screen captures, and man-in-the-middle data proxies are some of these tools used by Phishers. These websites also include job sites and even lucrative job offers. People who are looking for huge amounts money on the internet within a short span of time, are the ones who are lured easily on these websites. These users open up a bank accounts and use this bank account to receive money and then transferring this money to their own personal bank accounts. These websites actually lure the victims by making them perform a number of safe looking actions that ultimately provides access to the user’s personal account information. Most of the communication channels that are most popularly used on the interne such as email, landing pages, IRC, messaging systems, are also used freely for the purpose of Phishing. In these cases, the phisher has to imitate a faithful source for the victim to believe. Till date the most successful of the phishing scams have been done with the help of emails. In these scams the Phisher copies some sending authority (e. g. spoofing the source email address and embedding appropriate corporate logos). For example, an internet user recives an email from an email address like support@bank. com and the email contains the subject line â€Å" security update† and contains a request as to validate their personal account information in order to stop a security threat that has been initiated on their account. After reading this emails, over 70% of the internet users would be willing to send their personal account information in order to get verified by contacting the email sender and requesting them to cancel the order or the transaction. After this the phisher now asks them to divulge their personal information and thus easily lures the victim into his trap. Countering the Threat As already stated above there are a number of phishing methods that can be used by the Phishing community. To combat these threats, there are a mix of information security technologies and techniques that are available for the internet users in order to safeguard their personal data from Phishing scams. For the best results and safety, these safety measures should be put onto the three logical layers of the system in question.