The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

Introduction This paper presents a detailed review of an interesting book titled â€Å"The Prince† that convey vital principalities of leadership. The book was a masterpiece work of an Italian who was a renowned historian, and a diplomat called Niccolo Machiavelli. The writer was also known as a strong politician who had noble political ideals and theories.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Despite developing his writing skills from a humble background, his insightful narratives have been instrumental in transforming individual’s social and political lifestyle. This explains why the book that has been branded as a traditional peace of work by critics due to its â€Å"mirrors of prince style† remains one of the innovative political narrations of the day. Imperativeness of the book and its theme Indeed, the information conta ined in the book has been instrumental in transforming political activities in various settings. It has been helpful in inculcating noble ruling guidelines and principles among leaders. It adopted a political theme with an aim of enhancing leadership by fostering democracy and understanding through integration of effective ruling principalities (Machiavelli, 2004). The author focuses on the theme due to the unfair experiences and treatment that he was facing because of bad governance and oppressive rule. The book’s ideals and key concerns or areas The book focuses on leadership ideals and effective principalities that shape good governance or political practice. Its aim is to convey credible information about political issues and the role of leaders in the development of cohesive societies (Landon, 2005). Machiavelli opens his narration or political observation by stating that all forms of dominion in various jurisdictions are republics or principalities. He asserted that, an y leader who seeks to exercise good leadership should adopt noble principalities (Machiavelli, Skinner Price, 1988). Such leaders should ensure that the set rules that guide operations in their territories are favorable and acceptable. That is the rules should be ideological, socially relevant and economically viable. In the book, the author’s concern is seen to be exclusively with principalities. He noted that ethical ruling principalities are the primary virtues that leaders are under obligation to practice or adopt especially in the current environment. He innovatively concentrated on the best techniques of governance and holding up to the noble principalities in the first eleven chapters of the book (Machiavelli, 2004). This shows how individuals can achieve greatness in their respective areas of operation.Advertising Looking for book review on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Discussions Impe ratively, the author provided educative information that seeks to foster unity and excellent leadership. He distinguishes the three types of principalities in the first eleven chapters. He also analyzed the best techniques of acquiring the principalities and the process of achieving their absolute maintenance. Firstly, he considers hereditary principality that pose minimal difficulties in various settings. Marriott (2012) noted that hereditary principalities are consistent ruling ideals that â€Å"princes† or territory leaders acquire through experiences, historical studies and predecessors. Secondly, he considers mixed cases that explain the process through which rulers’ annexes new possessions in their territories. He asserted that this is where key issues that threaten political integration begin. This is because the annexing process leads to unfair acquisition or expansion of territorial setting by some leaders. This happens especially in territories whose leaders lack democratic ideals and regard for other peoples basic rights (Machiavelli Rebhorn, 2003). In this regard, the author insists that leaders or rulers should hold and practice complete composite principalities. This is essential in ensuring that they foster peaceful coexistence and political stability. It is also vital in ensuring that they exercise total political control in their territories. Other chapters of the book focus on the procedures of acquiring new principalities and its consequences. The chapters state that individuals can acquire new principalities or control ideals by their own arms, ability or good lack. They also convey essential information on the consequences of obtaining leadership principalities through wickedness. This is why the author emphasizes on the need for civilization and adoption of civil principalities (Landon, 2005) Notably, leaders should get full acquaintance with the way one can measure ruling principalities and potential leadership ideals. The measurement guidelines are crucial in providing them with a viable benchmark through which they can gage their performance. It is also significant to ensure that their actions are executed with good intentions to boost social and economic integration.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In addition, the author affirmed that ruling principalities affect human affairs and productivity. They influence communication and understanding between individuals especially leaders and the public. This hinders progress since inferior operating principles impede sharing of ideas and development of innovative concepts through teamwork (Marriott, 2012). Lack of noble principles in leadership also compromises liberty and execution of activities under democratic guidelines. Conclusion Indeed, the book provides insightful information that has been significant in shaping individuals perception on the significance of good leadership in our societies. It gives essential leadership principalities that leaders should adopt to foster unity among locals where democratic ideals have been cited. It also recognizes that rulers should exercise composite guiding principles within their territories. References Machiavelli, N. (2004). The prince: And, the art of war. London: Collector’s Library. Machiavelli, N., Skinner, Q., Price, R. (1988). Machiavelli: The prince. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Machiavelli, N., Rebhorn, W. A. (2003). The prince and other writings. New York: Barnes Noble Classics. Marriott, K. (2013). The Prince.  Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1232Advertising Looking for book review on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Landon, W. J. (2005). Politics, patriotism and language: NiccoloÌ€ Machiavelli’s â€Å"secular patria† and the creation of an Italian national identity. New York [u.a.: Lang. This book review on The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli was written and submitted by user Paulina Mcclure to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Medias Bias Against Minorities essays

Medias Bias Against Minorities essays Todays media is biased toward minorities. Everyday it is easy to see that racial and ethnic stereotypes still dominate much of reporting today. On television shows and film, African-Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans are also shown in stereotypical ways. This media coverage perpetuates racism and increases the hardships that minorities may face. In the news African Americans are portrayed as criminals. The news selectively covers murders and drug busts, but only acknowledges black achievements as a special occasion. News companies make it seem normal for blacks to be criminal; while black achievements are rare flukes. An example of this is nearly every year, there is a story of a poor, black high school senior who overcame living in a poor neighborhood to graduate and attend college. Granted, this is a great achievement, but it happens more than the media portrays. This selective coverage creates connotations of lower achievement for urban blacks. In movies blacks are portrayed as thugs and criminals, and when not portrayed as such, they are used for comedic effect in the fish out of water sense. They will place a black man in a movie surrounded by white people and make him stand out as not belonging for the sake of comedy. Latinos are portrayed similarly in the news. In other media, they are portrayed as lazy and/or criminal. Asians on the other hand face stereotypes of being nerds. They are portrayed as being geniuses with no character. This leads to stereotypes such as all Chinese people are good at math etc. One movie that gives a clear look into Asian American youth is Better Luck Tomorrow, a film that explores and dispels stereotypes of Asian Americans. Native Americans are portrayed negatively in the media as well. This can be seen primarily in sports mascots, and Westerns. ...

Personal Statement for the admission of University of California

For the admission of University of California - Personal Statement Example My main motivation behind this application for admission in your University is my keen interest and experience in the field of Economics /Business major. I have completed third year in the Community College. I feel confident to seek admission in your University as the next step of the ladder of education and as the natural progression of my present academic qualifications. I hail from a business family from China. My father owned a factory and he was a watch manufacturer. He handled his business well and possessed good experience in production and marketing but the economic crisis of the 2007 was beyond the control of any prudent businessman. With such a severe jolt to the economy of the country he also suffered heavy losses and had to shut down the factory and our family budget was in shambles. Until then father used to manage everything, I did not have an idea as to what the family budget was, and suddenly we were in dire straits. At that juncture, I realized the value of money. As an inquisitive young man I began to do my own research as to why the country’s economy went haywire affecting thousands of families like us and what preventive or remedial measures would be necessary to challenge such a precarious situation. Each dollar was important, and we learnt how to prune the family budget and how to segregate the luxuries from the necessities. I was still in the high school, and the idea sprouted in my mind that the intricacies of business, the causes for rise and fall in prices and the events that led to the economic crises must be studied with a scientific approach. I broached the subject of economic theories with lots of application and got solution to some of the questions that bothered me. That was the beginning of my interest in the subject of Economics/Business. My next task was to cement my theory knowledge with real life applications. To gain practicalities of market functioning, I did my internship with an insurance company during the summer holidays in Hong Kong. Besides the experience in dealing with insurance related issues I got an opportunity to study the computer applications, as the working of the insurance company was totally computerized. Insurance companies have developed many types of packages depending on the need of various types of customers. Mostly, customers are not aware of the differentiation in different policies. Soon I developed expertise in handing insurance customers and completed the documents as per guidelines provided by my Supervisor. Though insurance business involves lots of discussions and convincing with the customers, I conclude that ultimately the issue is that of faith and mutual trust. Once the customers are convinced about the services and the end results of the products offered, they are willing to buy the policies. This internship completely changed my outlook about the application of technology in office procedures and the enormous advantages the clientele derived out of the same. Business tools and strategies have changed and are continuously on the change with rapid progress that is taking place without intermission in technology. If given an opportunity I will make it a point to make a detailed study of computer and technology applications in the insurance sector and prepare a research paper on the subject. My father was not much educated in the academic sense of the term, but he was a man of practical wisdom. He often used to say, ‘I study in the college of self-education, where my mind

Performance Related Pay in TYLT Mobile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Performance Related Pay in TYLT Mobile - Essay Example In an attempt to practicalize Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Professor John Callaghan identified that most people aged between the mid-20s and the mid-30s with graduate and postgraduate qualifications and employment in top companies in modern urban settings tend to belong to Level 3 of the Maslow scale: The Social Belongingness Stage. This is because most of such persons have access to the basic physiological needs because most of them are from privileged backgrounds and have a lot of options and do not see some of these basic needs as necessary. Also, such persons have their social security needs are settled because they possess good qualifications and with the advantage of being young and energetic, such persons have a lot of prospects and have fewer limitations. Their needs are to build social lives like marriage, joining a strong network of friends and building business links. So the best rewards for them include socioeconomic rewards that would enable them to meet their needs. Als o, since these young employees have many options, they need hygienic factors that would make them happy in a given workplace and not necessarily motivators. This is because they often tend to select the best work environment and not just a work environment that pays well. The expectancy theory also implies that the effort of these young people who dominate the R&D department of TYLT Mobile will want to blend their individual needs which include entrenching their social belongingness needs into their expectations. These expectations would reflect in their performance at work and it would affect the outcome of TYLT Mobile's output. As such, it is reciprocal for TYLT Mobile to find a way of recognizing continuous improvement and rewarding them appropriately. This forms a hygienic factor which when

Yips Drivers Of Globalisation Management Essay

Yips Drivers Of Globalisation Management Essay There is an increasing trend to market globalisation for a variety of reasons. In some markets, customer needs and preferences are becoming more similar. The opening of McDonalds outlets in most countries of the world signalled similar tendencies in fast food. As some markets globalise, those operating in such markets become global customers and may search for suppliers who an operate on a global basis. The development of global communication and distribution channels may drive globalisation- the obvious example being the impact of the internet. Marketing policies, brand names and identifies, and advertising may all be developed globally. This further generates global demand and expectations from customers, and may also provide marketing cost advantages for global operators. Cost globalisation may give potential for competitive advantage since some organisations will have greater access to and/be more aware of these advantages than others. There might also be cost advantages from the experience built through wider scale operations. Other cost advantages might be achieved by central sourcing efficiencies from lower cost suppliers across the world. Country specific costs such as labour or exchange rates, encourage businesses to search globally for low cost in these respects as ways of matching the costs of competitors that have such advantages because of their location. For example given increased reliability of communication and cost differentials of labour, software companies and call centres are being located in India, where there is highly skilled but low cost staff. Other businesses face high costs of product development and may see advantages in operating globally with fewer products rather than incurring the costs of wide ranges of products on a more limited geographical scale. The activities and policies of governments have also tended to drive the globalisation of industry. Changes in the macro environment are increasing the global competition, which, in turn, encourages further globalisation. If the levels of exports and imports between countries are high, it increases interaction between competitors on a more global scale. If a business is competing globally, it also tends to place globalisation pressures on competitors, especially if customers are also operating on a global scale. Porters 5 forces (diagram p.80) Porters five forces framework was originally developed as a way of assessing the attractiveness of different industries. As such it can help identifying the sources of competition in an industry or sector. Although initially used with businesses in mind, it is of value to most organisations. It must be used at the level of SBUs and not at the level of the whole organisation. For example an airline might compete simultaneously in several different arenas such as domestic and long haul, and target different customer groups such as leisure, business ad freight. The impact of competitive force may be different for each of theses SBUs. Understanding the connections between competitive forces and the key drivers in the macro environment are essential. For example technological changes can destroy many of the competitive advantages and barriers that have protected organisations historically. The five forces are not independent of each other. Pressures from one direction can trigger off changes in another in dynamic process of shifting sources of competition. Competitive behaviour may be concerned with disrupting these forces and not simply accommodating them. Threat of entry will depend on the extent to which there are barriers to entry. These are factors that need to be overcome by new entrants if they are to compete successfully. These should be seen as providing delays to entry and not as permanent barriers to determined potential entrants. They may deter some potential entrants but not others. Typical barriers are as follows- Economies of scale The capital requirement of entry. The capital cost of entry will vary according to technology and scale. Access to supply or distribution channels. In many industries manufacturers have had control over supply or/and distribution channels. Customer or supplier loyalty. It is difficult for a competitor to break into an industry if there are one or more established operators that now the industry well and have good relationships with the key buyers and suppliers. Experience. Early entrants into an industry gain experience sooner than others. This can give them advantage in terms of cost and/or customer/supplier loyalty. Legislation or government action. Legal restraints on competition vary from patent protection, to regulation of markets through to direct government action. Threat of substitutes. Substitutes reduces demand for a particular class of products as customers switch to the alternatives-even to the extent that this lass of products or services become obsolete. This depends on whether a substitute provides a higher perceived benefit or value. Substitution may take different forms- There could be product for product substitution- for example email, substituting for a postal service. There may also be other organisations that are complementors-meaning that they have products and services that make organisations products more competitive-and vice versa. There may be substitution of need by a new product or service, rendering an existing product or service redundant. For example, more reliable and cheaper domestic appliances reducing the need for maintenance and repair services. Generic substitution occurs where products or services compete for disposable income, for example furniture manufacturers compete for available household expenditure with suppliers of televisions, videos, cookers, cars and holidays. The power of buyers and suppliers. Buyer power is likely to be high when some of the following conditions prevail. There is a concentration of buyers, particularly if the volumes purchased by buyers are high and/or the supplying industry comprises a large number of small operators. This is the case on items such as milk in the grocery sector in many European countries, where just a few retailers dominate the market. The cost of switching a supplier is low or involves little risk-for example, if there are no long term contract or supplier approval requirements. There is a threat of the supplier being acquired by the buyer and/or the buyer setting up in competition with the supplier. This is called backward integration and might occur if satisfactory prices or quality from suppliers cannot be obtained. Supplier power is likely to be high when: There is a concentration of suppliers rather than a fragmented source of supply. The switching costs from one supplier to another are high, perhaps because an organisations processes are dependant on the specialist products of a supplier, as in the aerospace industry, or where a product is clearly differentiated-such as Microsoft products. There is the possibility of the suppliers competing directly with their buyers(this s called forward integration) if they do not obtain the prices, and hence the margins, that they seek. Competitive rivals are organisations with similar products and services aimed at the same customer group. There are a number of factors that affect the degree of competitive rivalry in an industry or sector: The extent to which competitors are in balance. Where competitors are of roughly equal size there is the danger of intense competition as on competitor attempts to gain dominance over another. Industry growth rates may affect rivalry. The idea of the life cycle suggests that the stage of development of an industry or sector is important in terms of competitive behaviour. High fixed costs in an industry, perhaps through capital intensity, may result in price wars and low margins if industry capacity exceeds demand as capacity fill becomes a prerogative. Where there are high exit barriers to an industry, there is again likely to be the persistence of excess capacity and, consequently, increased competition. Differentiation can, again, be important. In a commodity market, where products r services are undifferentiated, there is little to stop customers switching between competitors increasing rivalry. The following questions help focus on the implications of these forces- Are some industries ore attractive than others? This was the original purpose of the 5 forces model, the argument being that an industry is attractive when the forces are weak. For example, if entry is difficult, suppliers and/or buyers have little power and rivalry is low. What are the underlying forces in the macro environment that are driving the competitive forces? For example, the lower labour costs for software and service operators located in India are both an opportunity and a threat to European and US companies. So five forces needs to be linked to PESTEL as mentioned earlier. Critical success factors-from the potential providers viewpoint it is valuable to understand which features are of particular importance to a group of customers(market segment). These are known as the critical success factors. Critical success factors are those product features that are particularly valued by a group of customers and, therefore, where the organisation excel to outperform competition. Strategic capability can be defined as the adequacy and suitability of the resources and competences of an organisation for it to survive and prosper. Tangible resources- are the physical assets of an organisation such as plant, labour and finance. Intangible resources- are non physical assets such as information, reputation and knowledge. Typically, an organisations resources can be considered under the following 4 categories: Physical resources- such as the number of machines, buildings or the production capacity of the orgnaisation. The nature of these resources, such as the age, condition, capacity and location of each resource, will determine the usefulness of suc resources. Financial resources- such as captal, cash, debtors, and creditors, and suppliers of money (shareholders, bankers, etc) Human resources- including the number and mix of people in an organisation. The intangible resource of their sills and knowledge is also likely to be important. This applies both to employees and other people in an organisations networks. In knowledge based economies people do genuinely become the most valuable asset. Intellectual capital is an important aspect of the intangible resources of an organisation. This includes patents, brands, business systems and customer databases. There should be no doubt that these intangible resources have a value, since when businesses are sold part of the value is goodwill. In a knowledge based economy intellectual capital is likely to be a major asset of many organisations. Such resources are certainly important but what an organisation does-how it employs and deploys its resources-matters at least as much as what resources it has. There would be no point in having state of the art equipment or valuable knowledge or a valuable brand if they were not used effectively. The efficiency and effectiveness of physical or financial resources, or the people in an organisation, depends on not just their existence bt how they are managed, the cooperation between people, their adaptability, their innovatory capacity, the relationship with customers and suppliers and the experience and learning about what works well and what does not. Competences is used to mean the activities and processes through which n organisation deploys its resources effectively. In understanding strategic capability, the emphasis is, then, not just on what resources exist but on ho they are used. Threshold capabilities are those essential for the organisation to be able to compete in a given market. Without these an organisation is unlikely to be able to survive in the market. The first 2 basic questions are- -what are the threshold resources needed to support particular strategies? If an organisation des not possess these resources it will be unable to meet customers minimum requirements and therefore be unable to continue to exist. For example, the increasing demands by modern multiple retailers made on their suppliers means that those suppliers have to possess quite sophisticated IT infrastructure to stand a chance of meeting retailer requirements. Threshold levels of capabilities will change and will usually rise over time as critical success factors change and through the activities of competitors and new entrants. An example is the way in which the premier league developed during the 1990s created a gulf between those who were able to spend money on players and who were not. While threshold capabilities are fundamentally important they do not of themselves create competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is more likely to be created and sustained if the organisation if the organisation has distinctive or unique capabilities that competitors cannot imitate. This may be because the organisation has unique resources. Unique resources- are those resources that critically underpin competitive advantage and that others cannot imitate or obtain. It is, however, more likely that an organisation is able to achieve competitive advantage because it has distinctive, or core, competences. Core competences- are taken to mean the activities and processes through which resources are deployed in such a way as to achieve competitive advantage in ways that others cannot obtain or imitate. For example, supplier that achieves a competitive advantage in a retail market might have done so on the basis of a unique resource such as powerful brand, or by finding ways of providing service or building relationships with that retailer in ways that its competitors find it difficult to imitate, a core competence. The summary argument is this. To survive and prosper an organisation needs to address the challenges of the environment that it faces. In particular it must be capable of delivering against the critical success factors that arise from demands and needs of its customers. The strategic capability to do so is dependant on the resources plus the competences it has. These must reach a threshold level in order for the organisation to survive. The further challenge is to achieve competitive advantage. This requires it to have strategic capabilities that its competitors find difficult to imitate or obtain. These could be unique resources but are more likely to be the core competences of the organisation. Cost efficiency An important strategic capability in any organisation is to ensure attention is paid to achieving and continually improving cost efficiency. This will involve having both appropriate resources and the competences to manage costs. The management of the cost base of an organisation could be a basis for achieving competitive advantage. However, for many organisations in many markets this is becoming a threshold strategic capability for 2 reasons; First, because customers do not value product features at any price. If the price rises too high they will be prepared to sacrifice value and opt for a lower priced product. Second, competitive rivalry will continually require the driving down of cost because competitors will be trying to reduce their cost so as to under price their rivals while offering similar value. Sustainable competitive advantage If capabilities of an organisation do not meet customer needs, at least to a threshold level, the organisation cannot survive. If it cannot manage its costs efficiently and continue to improve on this, it will be vulnerable to those who can. However, if the aim is to achieve competitive advantage then this itself is not enough. The question then becomes, what resources and competences might provide competitive advantage in ways that can be sustained over time? If this is to be achieved, then strategic capability has to meet other criteria. It is important to emphasise that if an organisation seeks to build competitive advantage it must meet the needs and expectations of its customers. There is little point in having capabilities that are valueless in customer terms; the strategic capabilities must be able to deliver what the customer values in terms of product or service. Given this fundamental requirement, there are then other key capability requirements to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Rarity of strategic capabilities Competitive advantage cannot be achieved if the strategic capability of an organisation is the same as other organisations. It could, however, be that a competitor possesses some unique r rare capability providing competitive advantage. For example some libraries have unique collections of books unavailable elsewhere. Competitive advantage could also be based on rare competences such as years of experience in, for example, brand management or building relationships with key customers; or perhaps the way in which different parts of a global business have learned to work harmoniously. Rarity may depend on who owns the competence and how easily transferable it is. For example, the competitive advantages of some professional service organisations are built around the competence of specific individuals- such as a doctor in leading edge medicine. An organisation may have secured preferred access to customers or suppliers perhaps through an approval process or by winning a bidding process. This may be particularly advantageous if this approval for access cannot be obtained without a specific history of operation or having followed a specified development programme-say with pharmaceutical products. This means that a competitor cannot find a short cut to imitation. Some competences are situation dependant and not transferable because they are only of value if used in a particular organisation. For example, the systems for operating particular machines are not applicable to organisations that do not use those same machines. Sometimes incumbent organisations have advantage because they have sunk costs that are already written off and they are able to operate at significantly lower overall cost. Other organisations would face much higher costs to set up to compete. Whilst rarity of strategic capabilities can, then, provide the basis of competitive advantage, there are dangers of redundancy. Rare capabilities may come to be core rigidities difficult to change and damaging to the organisation and its markets. Robustness of strategic capabilities (diagram p.128) It should be clear by now that the search for strategic capability that provides sustainable competitive advantage is not straightforward. It involves identifying capabilities that are likely to be durable and which competitors find difficult to imitate or obtain. Indeed the criterion of robustness is sometimes referred to as non-imitable. Advantage is more likely to be determined by the way in which resources are deployed to create competences in the organisations activities. For example, as suggested earlier an IT system itself will not improve an organisations competitive standing; it is how it is used that matters. Indeed what will probably make most difference is how the system is used to bring together customer needs with areas of activities and knowledge both inside and outside the organisation. It is therefore to do with linking sets of competences. Core competences are likely to be the liked activities or processes through which resources are deployed in such a way as to achieve competitive advantage. They create and sustain the ability to meet the critical success factors of particular customer groups better than other providers and in ways that are difficult to imitate. In order to achieve this advantage, core competences therefore need to fulfil the following criteria: -they must relate to an actitvity or process that underpins the value in the product or service features-as seen through the eyes of the customer. -the competences must lead to levels of performance that are significantly better than competitors. -the competences must be robust-that is, difficult for competitors to imitate. Stakeholders are those individuals or groups who depend on an organisation to fulfil their own goals and on whom, in turn, the organisation depends. Important external stakeholders usually include financial institutions, customers, suppliers, shareholders and unions. External stakeholders can be usefully divided into 3 types in terms of the nature of their relationship with the organisation and therefore, how they might affect the success or failure of a particular strategy. -stakeholders from the market environment such as suppliers, competitors, distributors, shareholders. These stakeholders have an economic relationship with the organisation and influence the value creation process as members of the value network. -stakeholders from the social/political environment such as policy makers, regulators, government agencies who will influence the social legitimacy. -stakeholders in the technological environment such as key adopters, standards agencies and owners of competitive technologies who will influence the diffusion of new technologies and the adoption of industry standards. These 3 sets of stakeholders are rarely of equal importance in any specific situation. For example the technological group are clearly crucial for strategies of new product introduction whilst the social/political group are usually particularly influential in the public sector context. Since the expectations of stakeholder groups will differ, it is quite normal for conflict to exist regarding the importance or desirability of many aspects of strategy. Stakeholder mapping identifies stakeholder expectations and power and helps in understanding political priorities. It underlines the importance of 2 issues: -How interested each stakeholder group is to impress its expectations on the organisations purposes and choice of specific strategies. -Whether stakeholders have the power to do so. Power/interest matrix(diagram p.182) It seeks to describe the political context within which an individual strategy would be pursued. It does this by classifying stakeholders in relation to the power they hold an the extent to which they are likely to show interest in supporting or opposing a particular strategy. Stakeholder mapping might help in understanding better some of the following issues: -whether the actual levels of interest and power of stakeholders properly reflect the corporate governance framework within which the organisation is operating. -who the key blocker and facilitors of a strategy are likely to be and how this could be responded to. -whether repositioning of certain stakeholders is desirable and/or feasible. -maintaining the level of interest or power of some key stakeholders may be essential. Equally it may be necessary to discourage some stakeholders from repositioning themselves. Stakeholder groups are not usually homogeneous but contain a variety of sub groups with somewhat different expectations and power. Most stakeholder groups consist of large numbers of individuals (such as customers or shareholders), and hence can be thought of largely independently of the expectations of individuals within this group. Power Power is the mechanism by which expectations are able to influence purposes and strategies. It has been seen that, in most organisations, power will be unequally shared between the various stakeholders. For the purposes of this discussion, power is the ability of individuals or groups to persuade, induce or coerce others into following certain courses of action. There are many different sources of power. On the other hand, there is power that people or groups derive from their position within the organisation and through the formal corporate governance arrangement. since there are a variety of different sources of power, it is useful to look for indicators of power, which are the visible signs that stakeholders have been able to exploit one or more of the sources of power. Corporate parent The levels of management above that of business units are referred to as the corporate parent. So, a corporate centre or the divisions within a corporation which look after several business units act in a corporate parenting role. The corporate parent refers to the levels of management above that of business units and therefore without direct interaction with buyers and competitors. The discussion does not only relate to large conglomerate businesses. Even small businesses may consist of a number of business units. For example, a local builder maybe undertaking contract work for local government, work for industrial buyers and for local homeowners. Product/market diversity An underpinning issue related to how a corporate parent may or may not add value to that created by its business units is the extent and nature of the diversity of the products or services it offers. Diversification may be undertaken for a variey of reasons some more value creating than others. These are as follows- First, there may be effieciency gains from applying the organisations existing resources or capabilities to new markets and products or services. These are known as economies of scope. Second, there may also be gains from applying corporate managerial capabilities to new markets and products and services Third, having a diverse range of products or services can increase market power. With a diverse range of products or services, an organisation can afford to susidise one product from the surpluses earned by another, in a way that competitors may not be able to. Related diversification can be defined as strategy development beyond current products and markets, but within the capabilities or value network of the organisation. For example procter and gamble and unilever are diversified corporations, but virtually all of their interests are in fast moving consumer goods distributed to retailers, and increasingly in building global brands in that arena. Related diversification is often seen s superior to unrelated diversification, In particular because it is likely to yield economies of scope. However, it is useful to consider reasons why related diversification can be problematic. These include- -the time and cost involved in top management at the corporate level trying to ensure that the benefits or relatedness are achieved through sharing or transfer across business units. -the difficulty for business unit managers in sharing resources with other business units, or adapting to corporate wide policies, especially when they are incentivised and rewarded primarily on the basis of the performance of their own business alone. Unrelated diversification is the development of products or services beyond the current capabilities or value network. Unrelated diversification is often described as a conglomerate strategy. Because there are no obvious economies of scope between the different businesses, but there is an obvious cost of the headquarters, unrelated diversification companies share prices often suffer. It is important also to recognise that the distinction between related and unrelated diversification is a matter of degree. It is the role of any corporate parent to ensure it does add value rather than to destroy it. Indeed how many corporate parents create value is central not only to the performance of companies but also to their survival. (diagram p.309)The portfolio manager is, in effect, a corporate parent acting as an agent on behalf of financial markets and shareholders with a view to enhancing the value attained from the various businesses in a more efficient and effective way than financial markets could. Its role is to identify and acquire under-valued assets or businesses and improve them. It might do this, for example, by acquiring another corporation, divesting low performance businesses within it and encouraging the improved performance of those with potential. Portfolio managers seek to keep the cost of the centre low, for example by having a small corporate staff with few central services, leaving the business units alone so that their chief executives have a high degree of autonomy. Synergy manager a corporate parent seeking to enhance value across business units by managing synergies cross business units. Resources or activities might be shared, for example, common distribution systems might be used for different businesses, overseas offices may be shared by smaller business units acting in different geographical areas. There may exist common skills or competences across businesses. The parental developer seeks to employ its own competences as a parent to add value to its businesses. Rather parental developers have to be clear about the relevant resources or capabilities they themselves have as parents to enhance the potential of business units. The parental developer; a corporate parent seeking to employ its own competences as a parent to add value to its businesses and build parenting skills that are appropriate for their portfolio of business units. Managing the corporate portfolio This section is to do with the models managers might use to make sense of the nature and diversity of the business units within the portfolio, or businesses they might be considering adding given the different rationales described above. A number of tools have been developed to help managers choose what business units to have in a portfolio. Each tool gives more or less focus on one of these criteria: -the balance of the portfolio, eg in relation to its markets and the needs of the corporation; -the attractiveness of the business units in the portfolio in terms of how profitable they are or are likely to be and how fast they are growing; and -the degree of fit that the business units have with each other in terms of potential synergies or the extent to which the corporate parent will be good at looking after them. The growth share (or BCG) matrix (diagram p.315) One of the most common and long standing ways of conceiving the balance of a portfolio of businesses in terms of the relationship between market share and market growth identified by the Boston Consulting Group. The types f businesses in such a portfolio are- -star is a business unit which has a high market share in a growing market. The business unit may be spending heavily to gain that share. -question mark or problem child is a business unit in a growing market, but without a high market share. Cash cow is a business unit with a high market share in a mature market Dogs are business units with a low share in static or declining markets. The growth share matrix permits business units to be examined in relation to (a) market (segment) share and (b) the growth rate of that market and in this respect the life cycle development of that market. It is therefore a way of considering the balance and development of a portfolio. It is argued that market growth rate is important for a business unit seeking to dominate a ma

Benefits of leadership

The Benefits of the Leadership Course Responsibility O A responsible person Is one who is able to act without guidance or supervision, because he or she Is accountable and answerable for his or her behavior. C) You will be prepared for both the risks and the opportunities that accompany new roles. C) Your responsibility will grow, giving you an edge on others O A person who does as promised deed can be considered as reliable. C) How does being responsible pay?C) A person who has a reputation of being responsible is trusted to do things on his or her own, without supervision. Leads to self esteem, promotions, Develops Leadership Qualities O Questions How do you handle yourself in unexpected or uncomfortable situations? An effective leader will adapt to new surroundings and situations adjust. O You can develop Important qualities Having these qualities Improves your self-esteem and Job situations Major qualities include open-mindedness, enthusiasm. Inconsistency, courage, and confidenc e C) You will be prepared to deal with real life situations Example is getting a job O Gain feedback on your existing strengths – and weaknesses – as a leader Service Opportunities O it makes you get involved O colleges see the amount of service hours O by volunteering and helping others, you get to learn and see more about your community C) colleges want to see you being more productive and caring to others and not just yourself.C) It gets you familiar with the environment of the working class and the business roll O questions do you volunteer at any organization? What does your organization do to help your community? Have you learned anything by doing this service? Develops Leadership Ability in Extracurricular Activities (D gives you ability to lead in your club/sport's team C) gives you extra edge over other students/athletes C) enables you to hold a leadership position on a sport's team In school or In a club (D gives you opportunity to hold office in student coun cil

Mary Ann Warren–On Abortion

The question of abortion causes heated debates among politicians and moralists, sociologists and philosophers. The main problem society tries to solve is moral statue of fetus and its resemblance with the human being. In the essay â€Å"Abortion, and the concept of a Person† Mary Ann Warren proposes a unique vision on these problems and moral choice of women discussing a status of fetus and its moral rights. Following Judith Thomson, Warren discuses the status of fetus as a person and impact of this approach on moral side of abortion. Warren distinguishes two dimensions: a biological and moral status of fetus. Warren believes that a proper understanding of human biology can somehow rule out the possibility that a fetus is a separate human being. Similar to pro-life advocates she invokes our understanding of fetus, particularly the resemblance between fetuses and babies. Warren states that if we consider fetus a person, it should have the same human rights as other citizens. She opposes this opinion and in her words: ‘in the relevant respects, a fetus, even a fully developed one, is considerably less person-like than the average fish` (Warren). Warren singles out five main factors which could help to distinguish a person in moral and biological sense. A person has consciousness and can feel pain; it (he/she) has the ability to reason and act in ways that go beyond instinct (based on motives and goals). A person has â€Å"the ability communicate and a sense of self† (Warren). Warren rejects the idea that biological resemblance of fetus with the human beings is essential. She states that: [I]f the right to life of the fetus is to be based upon its resemblance to a person, then it cannot be said to have any more right to life than, let us say, a newborn guppy† (Warren). If researchers and moralists accept this position, the implications for women, and for the law, would be staggering. Of course, the traditional immunity of women from prosecution for abortion would be untenable. Any woman who had or sought an abortion would at least be liable to punishment for attempted murder or for aiding and abetting the physician who performed the deed. Warren gives a special attention to cloning and new technologies which could clone a cell from a human body. She asks: â€Å"Are all my cells now potential persons?† Trying to answer this question, she comes to conclusion that a part of a human body, â€Å"in some dim sense, [can] be a potential person† (Warren). Some might argue that a â€Å"person† comes into existence only at the point when there is a specific and determined chromosome genetic identity. Warren argues that if a new-born baby is â€Å"more-person like† and moralists justify abortion, they should also justify infanticide and murder. This is one of the most controversial parts of her essay, because if we assume that infanticide is wrong we should accept that abortion is also wrong. Also, Warren includes the case of homosexuals into discussion. If the society does not treat a fetus as ‘a person’, it should treat homosexuals the same way. In this case, â€Å"we can make a limited point: because of the differences we have noted between a skin cell and a fertilized ovum, it is at least not clear that Warren`s analogy is a good one† (Warren). In answering that question on the premise that the fetus is a person, it is important not to underestimate the extent of the sacrifice being asked of the woman. Critical remaining issues are whether a child which is never born alive is a person within the meaning of the statute, and whether it is possible to prove that the injury caused the unborn child's death. Warren addresses mothers’ choice and their freedom stating that: â€Å"The minute the infant is born, its preservation no longer violates any of its mother`s rights† (Warren). It sometimes is permissible for a pregnant woman to have an abortion because by means of an abortion she stops herself from helping bring about the state that she finds stressful. If she were not helping to bring about the state of affairs in the particular way that she is, she could not interfere with its coming about. Taking into account Warren’s arguments and logic, I suppose that she improperly uses different philosophical and moral categories, law and biological issues. Likewise, those who support abortion rights invoke principles of biology in support of their claim that whatever else it is, a fetus simply cannot be a separate â€Å"person†.   The same is true of the unfertilized ovum is alive. Warren’s arguments and approaches are not clear and even confusing in many points. Her argumentation lacks objectivity and logic that misleads and perplex readers. Thus I agree with Warren that the status of fetus is central in this debate, but we should also take into account mother’s rights and civil liberties. Pregnancy and childbirth are always physically risky activities. More significantly, they produce between woman and child real and life-altering bonds, both psychological and physiological. Woman denied the right to decide whether or not to end a pregnancy is not merely being asked to refrain from killing another person but being asked to make an affirmative sacrifice, and a profound one at that, in order to save that person. Still, there is some force to the moral argument that the right to choose abortion can be distinguished in cases of voluntary, as opposed to involuntary, pregnancy. To be sure, one powerful strand of feminist theory posits that within our society even most nominally sex, particularly in cases where the woman does not feel free to use or to suggest the use of birth control, involves coercion. But if one assumes a pregnancy that did not result from any sort of coercion, then perhaps the imposition of continued pregnancy on the woman may not be unjust. Warren does not include into discussion such important things as fetal age and weight. There remains considerable disagreement over which of many criteria is most adequate in determining viability, and over the precision of any such measures. In addition, the viability rule is difficult to apply because it is an indeterminate concept that depends on the individual development of a specific fetus and the health of the mother. The five factors she used to identify a person can be applied to many animals and primates but we do not consider them as ‘persons’. Thus, following Warren it is by no means enough to show that the fetus is person and that all persons have a right to life – so killing the fetus violates its right to life, i.e., that abortion is unjust killing. Abortion will not be morally wrong if we apply another criteria and factors to analysis of its legacy: typical requirements of the statutes include: the existence of a † person † who has died; the death of the person from injuries resulting from a wrongful act, neglect, or default that would have conferred a cause of action upon the person who has died, had that person survived; and the act, neglect, or default that caused the fatal injury must have been performed by another. I suppose that the logical fallacies are that Warren takes into account only a fetus and compares it rights, moral and legal status with human beings. It would be more important to compare rights and status of a mother vs fetus. The fetus, being person, has a right to life, but as the mother is a person too, so has she a right to life. I agree with Warren that a fetus in not a human yet, but I am disagree that we have a right to compare a fetus with a fish. Presumably they have an equal right to life. The main problem with Warren’s position is that she denies a moral status of fetus. Still, I agree with the author that: â€Å"a right of that magnitude could never override a woman`s right to obtain an abortion at any stage of her pregnancy` (Warren). The major remaining basis of the inconsistency of establishing the rights of the unborn to a cause of action for wrongful death is the question of whether or not a fetus is a person under the appropriate statutes and, if so, at what point in gestation? A related question is whether or not the fetus must be live born before action is allowed. This issue is crucial, because if the fetus is defined as a person, the action will be recognized; if not, the action will be dismissed.