Thursday, November 28, 2019

Teamwork

Introduction Teamwork is a very important and relevant contributor to the success of any business around the world and this is why top business executives are paid a lot of money to utilize the skills of teams and make important business decisions that are critical to business performance (Brayden, Teppo Whetten 2010, 1-20).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Teamwork specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The success of an organization does not only depend on how good a team leader is but also how good the various teams that consist of employees are able to come together and integrate their skills and talent for the benefit of their organization. The success or failure of a business usually depends on how good employees who are part of a team are able to come together develop ideas play their part and additionally how good managers or organizational leaders are able to make quick and relevant decisions resulting from th e input of the team to increase positive outcome (Taylor, 2010). Today’s business environment is very volatile and therefore it is imperative that both leadership and employees work together hand in hand in order to ensure that organization can successfully peruse their mission and vision while at the same time compete with other competing companies. Thus, by acknowledging and building consensus that business environment is highly dynamic and volatile, it demands organizational leaders to come up with mechanisms that allow the company to quickly embrace change and this is attained by dividing the staff into teams and assigning them duties that will ensure that decision making capability of leaders is maximized (Shah 2008). New trends emerge in the business world and may either present themselves as either problems or opportunities depending on how personnel within the organization respond. From that rationale, the creation of value and satisfaction, which consumers demand end up pushing companies to develop strategies that govern their marketing mix and overall business strategy and go a step further to create general corporate strategies that will preside over their whole business processes to make sure they succeed in today’s fickle business ambiance (Campbell, Stonehouse Huston 2002, 177-184).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Trends should not be seen as not threats but rather frontiers of new business possibilities and it is the duty of organizational leaders and their staff to work together as a team to make decision making for managers more certain and free of risk. It is with the same intent that the manager intended to use the help of his team to launch a new division that manufactures liquid soap brands for the market by using the potential of the entire team and the rational decision making process to make critical marketing bus iness decision. The liquid soap division will consist of brands that will cater to the needs of consumers who require liquid soap for both the kitchen and bathroom. Decision making approaches and impact on strategy A participatory approach was used and the entire the team was required to fully participate by being part of the problem solving process but the last decision was left to the team leader/manager to carry out (Jones 2010, 44). Such a technique of team work and decision making is known as consensus building whereby subordinates who are part of a team come up with multiple ideas and discuss their viability together with the team leader but leave the last decision to the team leader. The way in which groups interact whether informal or formal will obviously impinge on the way a business functions and the way strategic choices are made in both the short and long-run. Successful companies like Google and Apple focus their development efforts by encouraging groups and teams to b rainstorm and develop ideas that form a basis for the decisions which are made by top management (Koontz Weihrich 2009, 58). Following this premise, the companies have adopted quite aggressive business models because managers are able to make quick decisions simply because the groups usually supply them with all relevant knowledge and information that allows the managers to quickly evaluate the pros and cons of each strategic choice to choose the best action. It is as a consequence true to assert that the way groups and managers interact and the different approaches of making decisions within organizations can ultimately affect the future of an organization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Teamwork specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Marketing companies, for example are required to be quite flexible due to the volatile nature of consumers and competitors and thus, this is why many marketing companies have their st aff working in groups simply because the conception of ideas and the need for quick decision making is quite critical for the success of a company in the market. According to Kotler and Keller (2011, 144), the most important aspect of teamwork and decision making in a marketing environment is simply to ensure that all decisions and team work efforts are made with the consumer on mind. Additionally, it is important that there is a very clear channel of communication between the team members to ensure that each member is up to speed and is armed with relevant information. The consumers are the pivot of all decisions and ideas that a business comes up with in the course of doing business. Keeping this aspect in mind, the team leader ensured that the team clearly knew that the customer is the goal and the main criteria of measuring how effective the teams efforts and decision making process was (Jones 2010, 135). This is whereby the team leader empowers his team to use their knowledge, skills and talent to in order to gather factual options that will assist in the decision making process. When employees explain all their options and contingent plans, the team leader him/herself is then expected to use his managerial skills to choose the best option that emanates from the output of his/her team. Considering that the company division is a newly born venture it is necessary for the team leader to be vigilant and aggressive to ensure that the whole team’s shares one vision and that the expectations of the entire team are in tandem with that of the team leader and the organizations corporate, business and functional goals. The advantages associated with participatory type of teamwork approach is that the organization and the manager can collect many ideas and develop many strategic options that are likely to increase positive outcome within the organization. Additionally the process of decision making is made simpler by the fact that consensus building takes pla ce prior to the final decision being made.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Team Working approaches and impact on strategy A participatory approach was used and the entire the team was required to fully participate by being part of the problem solving process, According to Buchanan and Huczynski (2010, 131), it is vital that a team leader ensures that the vision of the entire organization is clearly known by the entire team/staff from the initial stage because any ambiguity may become a future source of conflict and discomfort amongst the team members in the future and may henceforth compromise the chances of success for the new division and affect the decision making process. Consumers are driven by needs, wants and desires and hence their consuming behavior can be attributed to these. Companies that define consumer needs and motives with a high degree of accuracy usually end up being the market leaders and enjoy a huge market share and revenue streams (Michael, Yasemin Joseph 2009, 123). Managers are often aware of how important consumer motives are and therefore ensure that their brightest minds who make up the team come together and create ideas that will further the performance of the company. Being the team leader, communication was made clear that all other team members collectively come together so that the process of problem identification and problem solving can start using the rational decision making process. The rational decision making process is a problem solving technique that allows managers and the respective teams to carefully and sequentially make decisions based on facts that present themselves as a result of the problem solving process (Koontz Weihrich 2009 69). Business executives in working with the leading companies are usually trained to use logic and facts in the process of making decisions by identifying problems and opportunities and creating multiple solutions/strategies to tackle the problem. Managers/ team leaders thereby use the rational decision model to reduce the number of risks and uncertainty be cause this process is highly factual and logical in nature. Figure 1: The Steps involved in the Rational Decision making process. By bringing together the skills and talents of all individuals of the team, the team leader expected that it would be possible for the team to create a good marketing strategy that would allow the new company to effectively price, place, and promote its products to compete with other existing companies (David, Cindy Masco 2008, 5). As a result, the five members of the team were each assigned to deal with each facet of marketing and gather relevant intelligence on pricing, product, and promotion and distribution trends of related liquid sap product within the industry. The data that would result from this process would prove crucial in the rational decision making process. The launch of a new product is not easy at all and for new products/ new divisions to succeed in selling products as soon as they enter the market it is important for the managers and their teams to ensure that all relevant data is gathered. Knowing this the team was to gather competitive intelligence that would be used to finalize the marketing mix of the new liquid soap. With the task of each and every team member already clarified the group was given a time frame of one week to bring back their feedback. Every suggestion of product design, price, placing and promotion strategy was to be backed by tangible evidence of pros and cons to justify why team members so it as the best alternative. This will therefore require every team member to identify problems and opportunities that present themselves, gather all the relevant data pertaining to either the problem or opportunity, critically analyze the volume of information that was gathered and then using the information to develop options that are most suitable. According to Kotler and Keller (2006, 415), it is important for business executives to create numerous options so that management can make more informed ch oices. After the numerous options are made the rational decision making process requires that the numerous options that were developed are analyzed and that actions which are weak or unsuitable are filtered and eliminated. It is at this process the managers/team leader to become an effective decision maker and use his/her skills to choose the best decision. The team was required to sit together and analyze the various options but this process was slowed down due to the fact that one team member left the tem before she had a chance to finish carrying out her research on pricing. Being an effective team leader the team leader quickly decided to split the remaining task of gathering pricing data from the market. As soon as all the relevant data was gathered, each group member was required to analyze data clearly explain the implications of the data which was collected. According to Buchanan and Huczynski (2010, 122), it is the duty of the team to bring to the table all alternate option s and ensure that there is full disclosure of facts so that the team leader can make the relevant decisions. The team, therefore went ahead and shared information and data which they gathered and presented to the team leader all the relevant data necessary for creating marketing mix for the brands falling under the liquid soap division. The entire problem solving process took the team one whole week and the team presented multiple solutions to the team leader and consensus building took place but the final decision making process was left to the manager. Effectiveness of the team The team’s effectiveness is highly commendable because each and every member of the team was in tandem with the vision of the division at the beginning of the practice. With the vision of the division in mind, the team operated with utmost openness and trust that was enabled by clear lines of communication (Lancaster Withey 2006, 94). Decision making at the lower level was left to the team members t hemselves thus saving time, the ability to meet regularly in the one week during afternoons made it possible to analyze the data gathered by the team members. It is at these sessions that all team members communicated and exchanged notes making every team member fully aware of the facts and relevant information in respect to the whole project and with every team member well informed it was easier to brief the manager (Koontz Weihrich 2009, 73). The level of skill and talent together with operation of the team is also commendable because the competitor intelligence which they gathered made it quite simple to compare currently existing liquid soap brands overall industry trends and thus use it in the final marketing mix of the brands that were to be developed by our new division. In summary the company’s brands will be better designed and packaged, priced, promoted and distributed to compete with the current market leader. The only shortcoming of the team is that the level of competition and hostility between the members trying to outshine each other got on the way of achieving the mission but after the leader made it clear that such behavior is injurious to the group and not appropriate the team members apologized to each other. Conclusion Team work is a very important aspect in organization for the reason that organizational output depends on talent, skills and knowledge of the staff. The output of teams usually contributes to the quality of decisions that managers make. If a team is ineffective in operation then most probably a manager will have fewer facts to support the kind of decisions that he/she makes. When poor decisions are made then this may affect future revenue streams, market share, costs and efficiency of the organization. â€Å"A team-leader is someone who steps back from the entire system and tries to build a more collaborative, more innovative team that will work over the long term.† – Robert B. Reich American Politician and Writer The above statement suggest the synergy that managers can create by using more collaborative and participatory approaches that are rational to work together with teams to guide their decision making process. References Brayden, K. G., Teppo, F. Whetten D. A., 2010. â€Å"Perspective—Finding the Organization in Organizational Theory: A Meta-Theory of the Organization as a Social Actor.† Journal of organization science volume 21 issue 1, 1-20. Buchanan, D. A. Huczynski, A. A., 2010. Organizational Behavior 7th ed. New York: Trans-Atlantic Publications. Campbell, D., Stonehouse, G. Huston, B., 2002. Business Strategy an Introduction 2nd edn. Linacre House, Banbury Rd: Butterworth-Heinemann. Charles, W. et al., 2002. Essentials of Marketing. Natorp Boulevard: South Western Cengage Learning. David, A. J., Cindy F. R., Masco, C. J., 2008. â€Å"Personality predictors of teamwork behaviors and decision-making style.† Review of Business Research, 1-5. Jon es, G., 2010. Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Koontz, H. Weihrich, H., 2009. Essence of Management an International Perspective. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. Kotler, P. Keller, K., 2011. Marketing Management 13th edn. New York: Prentice Hall. Lancaster, G. Withey, F., 2006. Marketing Fundamentals. London: Butterworth-Heimann. Michael P. L., Yasemin K.Y. Joseph M. T., 2009. â€Å"A theory of change in turbulent environments: the sequencing of dynamic capabilities following industry deregulation.† International Journal of Strategic Management, Volume 1, Number 3, 186-211. Shah. K., 2008. â€Å"Decision Making.† Submityourarticle.com. Web. Taylor, J.T., 2010. â€Å"Making effective decisions.† Team building USA. Retireved from http://www.teambuildingusa.com/articles/making-effective-decisions/ This essay on Teamwork was written and submitted by user Desmond Q. 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.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Cheating Your Way Through Exams Best Tricks

Cheating Your Way Through Exams Best Tricks Everyone knows that cheaters never prosper, but that doesn’t stop people from trying. In fact, some students are willing to put in more effort in finding ways to avoid learning than it would ever take them to actually study. Here are some of the more amusing ways that college students have invented to cheat their way through school. The Water Bottle Trick If your exam room has an open food and drink policy, this is one of the more creative options. Simply take the label off of a water bottle the night before your test. You can write your notes and answers on the white portion of the bottle and then stick it back on. Whenever you need an answer, all you have to do is take a drink. Of course, spending most of class gazing longingly at your water bottle may also make you look like a psycho. Beauty School Dropout For women, cheating can be as easy as writing infinitely small words on your fingernails. All you have to do is find a tiny pen or pencil, whittle it down to the size of a human hair, and then write your notes. Okay, so maybe it’s not so easy. Also, if you have the patience and determination to write the Pythagorean Theorum on your nails, maybe you should consider putting all that effort into studying. Hats Off to Cheating Another great way to cheat is to write your notes on the inside brim of a baseball cap. When your head is down looking at your desk, your teacher can’t see that your eyeballs are actually faced up towards the ceiling. But remember: if you don’t normally wear a baseball cap, it will look weird if you start on the day of your test. Also, anyone sitting next to you will be able to see your notes and nark you out. Sitting Pretty If you know where the exam will take place, go ahead of time and write the notes you need on the desk or the chair in front of you. This is a great option if your classroom is left unlocked and there is no chance for passersby to see you modifying the desk like a creeper. Also, you run the risk of the teacher seeing and erasing your hard work before the test even starts. Legstravagant Although this tactic can work for guys, it’s most effective for girls who don’t look weird lifting up their skirts in public. For this creative cheating method, you write the answers on your knees or thighs. Then, when you get stuck, you lift up your skirt to check the answer. While this can be a great method if you have a lot of information to review, this method often captures the attention of both the teachers and the distracted guys sitting next to you. Keeping It Kleenex If acting is your forte, the Kleenex notebook is the way to go. You can write your notes ahead of time on a single sheet of Kleenex and then stuff it in your bag. When you come into class, sniffle, cough, and sneeze your way to an A. Just be careful not to use your Kleenex for real – at least, not unless you want the answers all over your face. Sticky Situation Writing on your hands, legs, or ankles has the unpleasant side effect of not being easily removed when your teacher asks to see them. An alternative is to write your notes on a piece of clear tape and then attach it to your clothing. When you’re done, you can just throw away the evidence. That is, assuming you can still find it. Lasting Impressions If your teacher usually gives out a piece of scratch paper, this trick is perfect for you. The night before, write out your notes on a piece of paper with the blank piece underneath. Although your paper will look blank from far away, you’ll be able to read the impressions easily. But, test it first. Your teacher will get concerned if you’re randomly staring and mumbling at a blank piece of paper. Mirror Glasses Anyone who wears glasses knows that you can catch a reflection in the very upper corners if you try. You can make this even more pronounced by cutting up a small mirror and sticking two little pieces in the corners. But, make sure you sit next to someone who knows the answers. Otherwise you’ve ruined a perfectly good pair of glasses for a â€Å"D†. Cheating isn’t going to make you smarter or more capable in the long run. It can lead to failure and potential expulsion, not to mention the loss of respect of your peers and professors. But, if you truly have nothing left to lose, it can be fun to see what you can get away with! Have you ever cheated? Do you know some funny cheating tricks? How do you feel about cheating in general? Were looking forward to your comments! Feature Image Credit: Oxfordlearning

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Internet Censorship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Internet Censorship - Essay Example However, other promoters of internet freedom has openly opposed internet censorship stating that curtailment of access to some information runs counter to provisions of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States (Qazi), specifically regarding freedom of speech. Initially, one is firmly opposed to internet censorship as an avid promoter of freedom of personal expression and speech. However, the recent online video of Jin Lin, a university student in Montreal, being murdered made one awefully disgusted that someone can use the internet as a stage to fuel selfish interests and the desire for attention. One thereby discovered that there are websites that specialize in showing viideos of people being killed, tortured or committing suicide. Uncensored sites allow sex offenders and cyber stalkers closer contact to children; these also allow children to research how to hurt themselves or other; and, being exposed to inappropriate online content could have long term negative impact on children. In this regard, the essay aims to contend that internet censorship should be enforced. Government policies and regulations are designed to ensure protection from Internet users from piracy (through Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)), Protect IP Act (PIPA), and illegal electronic activities through the recently proposed Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). Some groups aver that SOPA, PIPA and CISPA present arguments that curtain freedom and therefore considered bad. One supports the objectives of these legisltations since these are mainly trying to protect people from losing mone and from being abused. However, despite these regulations, the Internet continues to become a tool for crime, terrorist activities and source of inappropriate materials. The Internet has been the source of pornographic materials which can be easily accessed by children; therefore it should be appropriately censored. The Top Ten Reviews website featured â€Å"Internet Porno graphy Statistics† which revealed that as much as â€Å"90 percent of children ages 8-16 have viewed pornography online† (par. 1). The tabular illustration below provides significant statistics on childen internet pornography, as cited from the Top Ten Reviews: Children Internet Pornography Statistics Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography 11 years old Largest consumer of Internet pornography 35 - 49 age group 15-17 year olds having multiple hard-core exposures 80% 8-16 year olds having viewed porn online 90% (most while doing homework) 7-17 year olds who would freely give out home address 29% 7-17 year olds who would freely give out email address 14% Children's character names linked to thousands of porn links 26 (Including Pokemon & Action \ Man) Source: Top Ten Reviews This information was corroborated by statistics gathered and published by the Enough is Enough, a website funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention that exposed staggerring information on children being intentionally or unintenionally exposed to pornographic, violent and obscene websites and have