Survivor: Philippines – an Analysis Using Communication Theory

â€Å"SURVIVOR: PHILIPPINES†: An Analysis of the CBS Program Using Three Theories of Communication Sally Annabella Communications 307 Dr. Debbie Way November 2012 No one has died. Some have been medevacked. It’s a rough game. The CBS television series Survivor is one of the first ‘reality tv’ shows and is now in its 12th year. It features eighteen contestants striving to â€Å"Outwit, Outplay and Outlast† each other to win one million dollars by the end of the season.While it is important to be in good physical shape (the challenges are just that, physically challenging) it is imperative to have impeccable communication skills. In watching episodes of the current season, Survivor: Philippines, I have noticed: Communication Privacy Management Theory, Message Design Logics, Uncertainty Reduction Theory, Politeness Theory, and Social Exchange Theory. While this paper only requires three theories to be mentioned, I will show that all five are tied togeth er.Each season Survivor is filmed over a period of 39 days on a different remote island. The contestants are divided into two or three tribes that start out competing against each other in challenges for a) rewards such as fishing supplies or an elegant feast and b) the coveted Immunity Idol, a token that means they will have the chance to play another three days. The tribe that does not win the idol will have to go to Tribal Council (an event that happens generally every three days) and risk being voted out of the game, hence no chance of winning the million dollar prize.About half-way through the season, the tribes merge into one, each player now plays for himself, and the remaining challenges are centered around winning Individual Immunity. All of the remaining players now go to Tribal Council and vote out one player. These ousted players now form the Jury, and they will be the ones to ultimately vote at the end of the game (when there are three remaining players) on who will tak e home the million dollars. Communication Privacy Management Theory, as stated by Dainton and Zelley on page 68, has four main principles. The one most applicable in Survivor involves boundaries.A boundary linkage is formed when two or more parties share information (Dainton and Zelley p. 71) with each owner of the information being responsible for its privacy. Inevitably, when one player finds a hidden Immunity Idol, they cannot seem to keep the information to themselves. They feel they must entrust someone else with this extremely private information and this almost certainly is their undoing. Dainton and Zelley show on page 72 that Petronio in 2002 states that boundary turbulence occurs when the rules for privacy management are not clear.This statement implies that boundary turbulence is unintentional. In watching Survivor, I found that boundary turbulence could also be intentional. In one instance, Player A told Player B she would not tell anyone that he (Player B) was in posses sion of a hidden immunity idol, yet she did tell someone else (Player C. ) Player C then confronted Player B, causing boundary turbulence with Player A. In another instance (and a different set of players), Players A and B together found a clue to a hidden immunity idol. They promised each other not to tell anyone else.Player A then told Player C. Player C seized an opportunity to plant the clue in Player B’s possessions, making it appear to Player A that Player B had betrayed her, thus creating boundary turbulence. In Message Design Logics Theory, there are three types of communication, expressive (p. 35), conventional and rhetorical (p. 36). Expressive is a sender-focused pattern of communication, concerned primarily with self-expression. Some players do not seem to have a ? lter and allow their thoughts to spew out, whether it be bene? cial to them or not. Conventional operates by rules.In one episode, others in the group let one player know that he was overstepping the li ne of acceptable behavior when he was snuggling with another particular contestant. They pointed out to him that it appeared to the rest of the group that he was in a strong alliance with her. He subsequently stopped sleeping next to her to show the group his allegiance was not tied to her. The more successful players of Survivor communicate in the rhetorical fashion. These individuals â€Å"view communication as a powerful tool used to create situations and negotiate multiple goals (p. 6). † They pay close attention to what others are communicating in order to be better able to understand their point of view, and therefore what they might be thinking beyond what they are saying. Those who use this type of communication are seeking a balance between their goals and keeping harmony with the receiver(s), even to the point of protecting another? s feelings (such as by not embarrassing them. ) They want to maintain a good working relationship with the other person in the future. Survivor contestants experience on a daily basis Uncertainty Reduction Theory.Dainton and Zelley point out on page 43 that, according to Berger and Calabrese (1975), humans regularly experience uncertainty, we do not like the feeling, and we use communication to reduce our uncertainties. In the game of Survivor, the players are in a constant state of uncertainty. They know that, by design of the game, they and their co-competitors all have the same goal. And only one of them is going to reach it. They go into the game knowing they are going to form friendships and they are going to have to lie and accept being lied to.One player stated that nobody wants to betray anybody else and nobody wants to feel betrayed. Politeness Theory also comes into play. Dainton and Zelley show on page 60 that if someone has more power or prestige than you, you will be more polite to them. This theory also states that if what you have to say may hurt the receiver of the information, you will be more poli te. Survivor is all about who has the power. The players all want to be the one with the power, whether they want to let the other players know or not.To tie it to Message Design Logics, if they are a rhetorical communicator, they will be more polite to the one perceived as having the power. The expressive communicator, however, will not be so aware of the need to be polite. Another theory that needs to be mentioned is Social Exchange Theory. Dainton and Zelley on page 61 show that Thibaut and Kelley in 1959 maintained that humans, by nature, are sel? sh. We determine the relationships we keep or let go by weighing the bene? ts versus the costs of these relationships. In Survivor, the players are continually assessing their relationships with each ther, strategizing which relationships will thrive and which will be detrimental to their ultimate goal of making it all 39 days and to the million dollar prize. The CBS television show Survivor is a wealth of examples of communication the ories in action. A contestant cannot possibly make it to the end and win the prize of one million dollars without being an exceptional communicator. This means not only being able to convey one’s own information (expressive Message Design Logics), but also being able to assess how his/her information is being interpreted (rhetorical Message Design Logics. They also need to be able to read the others that are communicating to them, and determine whether the information being portrayed is truthful or not. While contestants have had to be medevacked for physical issues, they have yet to be involuntarily removed from the game for lack of communication skills. References Dainton, M. , & Zelley, E. D. (2011). Applying communication theory for professional life: A practical introduction (2nd ed. ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Website: CBS Survivor. http://www. cbs. com/shows/survivor/

Structural Functional Approach

Retrieved from: http://www. cifas. us/smith/chapters. html Title: â€Å"A structural approach to comparative politics. † Author(s): M. G. Smith Source: In Varieties of Political Theory. David Easton, ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. p. 113-128. Reprinted in Corporations and Society. p. 91-105. FIVE M. G. SMITH University of California, Los Angeles A Structural Approach to Comparative Politics Comparative politics seeks to discover regularities and variations of political organization by comparative analysis of historical and contemporary systems.Having isolated these regularities and variations, it seeks to determine the factors which underlie them, in order to discover the properties and conditions of polities of varying types. It then seeks to reduce these observations to a series of interconnected propositions applicable to all these systems in both static and changing conditions. Hopefully, one can then enquire how these governmental processes relate to the wider m ilieux of which they are part. It would seem that this comparative enquiry may be pursued i~. various ways that all share the same basic strategy, but differ in emphases arid sta~ ­ ing points.Their common strategy is to abstract one aspect of political reality and develop it as a frame of reference. With this variable held constant, enquiries can seek to determine the limits within which other dimensions vary; as the value of the primary variable is changed, the forms and values of the others, separately or together, can also be investigated. Ideally, we should seek to deduce relevant hypotheses from a general body of theory, and then to check and refine them by inductive analyses of historical and ethnographic data. ActuaJ procedures vary. 113 114 /A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS Initially, we might expect anyone of four approaches to be useful in the comparative study of political systems. These four approaches use respectively the dimensions of process, content, function, and form as the bases for their conceptual frameworks. In fact, cOlIlparative studies based on process and content face insuperable obstacles due to the enormous variability of political systems. In centralized polities, the institutional processes of government are elaborately differentiated, discrete, and easy to identify.They are often the subject, as well as the source, of a more or less complex and precise body of rules which may require specialists to interpret them. In simpler societies, the corresponding processes are rarely differentiated and discrete. They normally occur within the context of institutional activities with multiple functions, and are often difficult to abstract and segregate for analysis as self-contained processual systems. Before this is possible, we need independent criteria to distinguish the governmental and nongovernmental dimensions of these institutional forms.The substantive approach rests on the category of content. By the con.. tent of a governmental system, I mean its specific substantive concerns and resources, whether material, human, or symbolic. As a rule, the more differentiated and complex the governmental processes are, the greater the range and complexity of content. This follows because the content and processes of government vary together. Since both these frameworks are interdependent and derivative, both presuppose independent criteria for identifying government. The functional approach avoids these limitations.It defines government functionally as all those activities which influence â€Å"the way in which authoritative decisions are formulated and executed for a society. â€Å"l From this starting point, various refined conceptual schemes can be developed. As requisites or implications of these decisional processes, David Easton identifies five modes of action as necessary elements of all political systems: legislation, administration, adjudication, the development of demands, and the development of support and solidarity. They may be grouped as input and output requisites of governmental systems.According to Almond, the universally necessary inputs are political socialization and recruitment, interest articulation, interest aggregation, and political communication. As outputs, he states that rule making, rule application, and rule adjudication are all universa1. 2 Neither of these categorical schemes specifies foreign relations and defense, which are two very general governmental concerns; nor is it easy to see how these schemes could accommodate political processes in non-societal units. Such deductive models suffer from certain inexplicit assumptions with1David Easton, â€Å"An Approach to the Analysis of Political Systems,† World Politics, IX, No. 3 (1957), 384. 2 Gabriel Almond, â€Å"Introduction† to Almond and James S. Coleman, The Politics of the Developing Areas (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961). A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITIC S / 115 out which the initial exclusive stress on political functions might be im- . possible. But despite their universal claims, it remains to be shown that Bushmen, Pygmies, or Eskimos have governments which are functionally homologous with those of the United States and the Soviet Union.Legislation, rule adjudication, and interest articulation are categories appropriate to the discussion of complex, modern polities rather than simple, primitive ones. But the problem which faces the student of comparative politics is to develop a conceptual framework useful and applicable to all. To impute the features and conditions of modern polities to the less differentiated primitive systems is virtually to abandon the central problem of comparative politics. The functional approach, as usually presented, suffers from a further defect: It assumes a rather special ensemble of structural conditions.When â€Å"authoritative decisions are formulated and executed for a society,† this unit must be territorially delimited and politically centralized. The mode of centralization should also endow government with â€Å"more-or-Iess legitimate physical compulsion. â€Å"3 In short, the reality to which the model refers is the modern nation-state. By such criteria, ethnography shows that the boundaries of many societies are fluctuating and obscure, and that the authoritative status of decisions made in and for them are even more so.Clearly bounded societies with centralized authority systems are perhaps a small minority of the polities with which we have to deal. A structural approach free of these functional presumptions may thus be useful, but only if it can accommodate the full range of political systems and elucidate the principles which underlie their variety. In this paper, I shall only indicate the broad outlines of this approach. I hope to present it more fully in the future. Government is the regulation of public affairs.This regulation is a set of processes whic h defines government functionally, and which also identifies its content as the affairs which are regulated, and the resources used to regulate them. It does not seem useful or necessary to begin a comparative study of governmental systems by deductive theories which predicate their minimum universal content, requisites, or features. The critical element in government is its public character. Without a public, there can be neither public affairs nor processes to regulate them.Moreover, while all governments presuppose publics, all publics have governments for the management of their affairs. The nature of these publics is therefore the first object of study. Publics vary in scale, composition, and character, and it is reasonable to suppose that their common affairs and regulatory arrangements will vary correspondingly. The first task of a structural approach to comparative politics is thus to identify the properties of a public and to indicate the principal varieties and bases of pu blics. 3 Almond, â€Å"Introduction,† p. . 116 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS As I use the term, public does not include mobs, crowds, casual assemblies, or mass-communication audiences. It does not refer to such categories as resident aliens, the ill, aged, or unwed, or to those social segments which lack common affairs and organized procedures to regulate them-for example, slaves, some clans, and unenfranchised strata such as the medieval serfs or the harijans of India. Such categories are part of one or more publics; they are not separate publics of their own.For example, in an Indian village, a medieval manor, or a slave plantation, members of the disprivileged categories constitute a public only if they form an enduring group having certain common affairs and the organization and autonomy necessary to regulate them; but the existence of such local publics is not in itself sufficient for the strata from which their memberships are drawn to have the status of publics. For this to be the case, these local publics must be organized into a single group co-extensive with the stratum. With such organization, we shall expect to find a set of common affairs and procedures to regulate them.The organization is itself an important common affair and a system of institutional procedures. By a public, then, I mean an enduring, presumably perpetual group with determinate boundaries and membership, having an internal organization and a unitary set of external relations, an exclusive body of common affairs, and autonomy and procedures adequate to regulate them. It will be evident that a public can neither come into being nor maintain its existence without some set of procedures by which it regulates its internal and external affairs. These procedures together form the governmental process of the public.Mobs, crowds, and audiences are not publics, because they lack presumptive continuity, internal organization, common affairs, procedures, and autonom y. For this reason, they also lack the determinate boundaries and membership which are essential for a durable group. While the categories mentioned above are fixed and durable, they also lack the internal organization and procedures which constitute a group. When groups are constituted so that their continuity, identity, autonomy, organization, and exclusive affairs are not disturbed by the entrance or exit of their individual members, they have the character of a public.The city of Santa Monica shares these properties with the United States, the Roman Catholic Church, Bushman bands, the dominant caste of an Indian village, the Mende Pora, an African lineage, a Nahuatl or Slavonic village community, Galla and Kikuyu age-sets, societies among the Crow and Hidatsa Indians, universities, medieval guilds, chartered companies, regiments, and such â€Å"voluntary† associations as the Yoruba Ogboni, the Yako lkpungkara, and the American Medical Association. The units just listed ar e all publics and all are corporate groups; the governmental process inherent in publics is a feature of all corporate groups.Corporate groups-Maine's â€Å"corporations aggregate†-are one species of â€Å"perfect† or fully-fledged corporation, the other being the â€Å"corporation A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 117 sole† exemplified by such offices as the American Presidency, the British Crown, the Papacy, governorships, chieftaincies, and university chancellorships. Corporations sole and corporate groups share the following characteristics, all of which are necessary for â€Å"perfect† or full corporate status: identity, presumed perpetuity, closure and membership, autonomy within a given sphere, exclusive common affairs, set procedures, and organization.The first four of these qualities are formal and primarily external in their reference; they define the unit in relation to its context. The last four conditions are processual and func tional, and primarily internal in their reference. The main differences between corporations sole and corporate groups are structural, though developmental differences are also important. Corporate groups are pluralities to which an unchanging unity is ascribed; viewed externally, each forms â€Å"one person,† as Fortes characterized the Ashanti matrilineages. This external indivisibility of the corporate group is not merely a jural postulate. It inevitably presumes and involves governmental processes within the group. In contrast with a corporate group, an office is a unique status having only one incumbent at any given time. Nonetheless, successive holders of a common office are often conceived of and addressed as a group. The present incumbent is merely one link in a chain of indefinite extent, the temporary custodian of all the properties, powers, and privileges which constitute the office.As such, incumbents may legitimately seek to aggrandize their offices at the expens e of similar units or of the publics to which these offices relate; but they are not personally authorized to alienate or reduce the rights and powers of the status temporarily entrusted to them. The distinction between the capital of an enterprise and the personalty of its owners is similar to the distinction between the office and its incumbent. It is this distinction that enables us to distinguish ffices from other personal statuses most easily. It is very possible that in social evolution the corporate group preceded the corporation sole. However, once authority is adequately centralized, offices tend to become dominant; and then we often find that offices are instituted in advance of the publics they will regulate or represent, as, for example, when autocrats order the establishment of new towns, settlements, or colonies under officials designated to set up and administer them.There are many instances in which corporate groups and offices emerge and develop in harmony and congr uence, and both may often lapse at once as, for example, when a given public is conquered and assimilated. These developmental relations are merely one aspect of the very variable but fundamental relation between offices and corporate groups. Despite Weber, there are a wide range of corporate groups which lack stable leaders, 4 Meyer Fortes, â€Å"Kinship and Marriage among the Ashanti,† in African Sys- tems of Kinship and Marriage, eds. A. R.Radcliffe-Brown and Daryll Forde (London: Oxford University Press, 1950), pp. 254-61. 118 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS much less official heads. Others may have senior members whose authority is at best advisory and representative; yet others have a definite council or an official head, or both. In many cases, we have to deal with a public constituted by a number of coordinate corporate groups of similar type. The senior members of these groups may form a collegial body to administer the common affairs of the public, w ith variable powers.Ibo and Indian village communities illustrate this well. In such contexts, where superordinate offices emerge, they often have a primarily sacred symbolic quality, as do the divine kingships of the Ngonde and Shilluk, but lack effective secular control. Between this extreme and an absolute despotism, there are a number of differing arrangements which only a comparative structural analysis may reduce to a single general order. Different writers stress different features of corporate organization, and sometimes employ these to â€Å"explain† these social forms.Weber, who recognizes the central role of corporate groups in political systems, fails to distinguish them adequately from offices (or â€Å"administrative organs,† as he calls them). 5 For Weber, corporate groups are defined by coordinated action under leaders who exercise de facto powers of command over them. The inadequacy of this view is patent when Barth employs it as the basis for denying to lineages and certain other units the corporate status they normally have, while reserving the term corporate for factions of a heterogeneous and contingent character. Maine, on the other hand, stresses the perpetuity of the corporation and its inalienable bundle of rights and obligations, the estate with which it is indentified. 7 For Gierke,s Durkheim,9 and Davis,10 corporate groups are identified by their common will, collective conscienc~, and group personality. For Goody, only named groups holding material property in common are corporate. 1! These definitions all suffer from overemphasis on some elements, and corresponding inattention to others. The common action characteristic of corporate groups rarely embraces the application of violence which both Weber and Barth seem to stress.Mass violence often proceeds independ5 Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, trans. A. R. Henderson and Talcott Parsons (London: Wm. Hodge & Co. , 1947), pp. 133-37, 302-5. 6 Fredrik Barth, Political Leadership among Swat Pathans. Monographs in Social Anthropology, London School of Economics, No. 19 (London: University of London Press, 1959). 7 H. S. Maine, Ancient Law (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd. , 1904), p. 155. S Otto Gierke, Natural Law and the Theory of Society, 1500 to 1800, trans. Ernest Barker (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957). Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labour in Society, trans. George E. Simpson (New York: Free Press of Glencoe, Inc. , 1933). 10 John P. Davis, Corporations (New York: Capricorn Books, 1961), p. 34. 11 Jack Goody, â€Å"The Classification of Double Descent Systems,† Current Anthropology; II, No. 1 (1961), 5, 22-3. A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 119 ently of corporate groups. Corporate action is typically action to regulate corporate affairs-that is, to exercise and protect corporate rights, to enforce corporate obligations, and to allocate corporate responsibilities and privileges.When a group hol ds a common estate, this tenure and its exercise inevitably involve corporate action, as does any ritual in which the members or representatives of the group engage as a unit. Even the maintenance of the group's identity and closure entails modes of corporate action, the complexity and implications of which vary with the situation. It is thus quite fallacious to identify corporate action solely with coordinated physical movements. A chorus is not a corporate group.The presumed perpetuity, boundedness, determinate membership, and identity of a corporation, all more or less clearly entail one another, as do its requisite features of autonomy, organization, procedure, and common affairs. It is largely because of this interdependence and circularity among their elements that corporations die so hard; but by the same token, none of these elements alone can constitute or maintain a corporation. An office persists as a unit even if it is not occupied, providing that the corpus of rights, r esponsibilities, and powers which constitute it still persists.To modify or eliminate the office, it is necessary to modify. or eliminate its content. Among ! Kung bushmen, bands persist as corporate groups even when they have no members or heads12 ; these bands are units holding an inalienable estate of water holes, veldkos areas, etc. , and constitute the fixed points of ! Kung geography and society. The Bushman's world being constituted by corporate bands, the reconstitution of these bands is unavoidable, whenever their dissolution makes this necessary.As units which are each defined by an exclusive universitas juris, corporations provide the frameworks of law and authoritative regulation for the societies that they constitute. The corporate estate includes rights in the persons of its members as well as in material or incorporeal goods. In simpler societies, the bulk of substantive law consists in these systems of corporate right and obligation, and includes the conditions and c orrelates of membership in corporate groups of differing type. In such societies, adjectival law consists in the usual modes of corporate procedure. To a much greater extent than is commonly ealized, this is also the case with modern societies. The persistence, internal autonomy, and structural uniformity of the corporations which constitute the society ensure corresponding uniformity in its jural rules and their regular application over space and time. As modal units of social process and structure, corporations provide the framework in which the jural aspects of social relations are defined and enforced. Tribunals are merely functionally specific corporations charged with handling issues of certain kinds. Neither tribunals nor â€Å"the systematic ap12 Lorna Marshall, â€Å"! Kung Bushmen Bands,† A/rica, XXX (1960), 325- 5). 120 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS plication of the force of politically organized society†13 are necessary or sufficient for t he establishment of law. The law of a primitive society consists in its traditional procedures and modes of corporate action, and is implicit in the traditional rights, obligations, and conditions of corporate membership. In such societies, units which hold the same type of corporate estate are structurally homologous, and are generally articulated in such a way that each depends on the tacit recognition or active support of its fellows to maintain and enjoy its estate.Thus, in these simpler systems, social order consists in the regulation of relations between the constitutive corporations as well as within them. In societies which lack central political organs, societal boundaries coincide with the maximum range of an identical corporate constitution, on the articulation of which the social order depends. Though the component corporations are all discrete, they are also interdependent. But they may be linked together in a number of different ways, with consequent differences in the ir social systems.In some cases, functionally distinct corporations may be classified together in purely formal categories, such as moieties, clans, or castes. The Kagoro of northern Nigeria illustrate this. 14 In other cases, corporations which are formally and functionally distinct may form a wider public having certain common interests and affairs. The LoDagaba of northern Ghana and Upper Volta are an example. 15 In still other cases, corporations are linked individually to one another in a complex series of alliances and associations, with overlapping margins in such a way that they all are related, directly or indirectly, in the same network.Fortes has given us a very detailed analysis of such a system among the Tallensi. 16 However they are articulated in societies which lack central institutions, it is the extensive replication of these corporate forms which defines the unit as a separate system. Institutional uniformities, which include similarities of organization, ideology , and procedure, are quite sufficient to give these acephalous societies systemic unity, even where, as among the Kachins of Burma, competing institutional forms divide the allegiance of their members. 7 To say that corporations provide the frameworks of primitive law, and that the tribunals of modem societies are also corporate forms, is simply to say that corporations are the central agencies for the regulation of public affairs, being themselves each a separate public or organ, administering certain affairs, and together constituting wider publics or associations of publics 13 Roscoe Pound, Readings on the History and System 0/ the Common Law, 2nd ed. (Boston: Dunster House Bookshop, 1913), p. 4. 14 M. G.Smith, â€Å"Kagoro Political Development,† Human Organization, XIX, No. 3 (1960), 37-49. 15 Jack Goody, â€Å"Fields of Social Control among the LoDagaba,† Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, LXXXVII, Part I (1957),75-104. 16 Meyer Fortes, The Dynamics 0/ Clanship among the Tallensi (London: Oxford University Press, 1945). 17 E. R. Leach, Political Systems of Highland Burma (London: G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. , 1954). A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 121 for others. By the same token, they are the sources or frameworks of disorder.In some acephalous societies, disorder seems more or less perennial, and consists mainly in strife within and between corporations. Centralization, despite its merits, does not really exclude disorder. In concentrating authority, it simultaneously concentrates the vulnerability of the system. Accordingly, in centralized societies, serious conflicts revolve around the central regulative structures, as, for instance, in secessionist or revolutionary struggles, dynastic or religious wars, and â€Å"rituals of rebellion. â€Å"18 Such conflicts with or for central power normally affect the entire social body.In acephalous societies, on the other hand, conflicts over the regime may proceed in one r egion without implicating the others. 19 In both the centralized and decentralized systems, the sources and objects of conflict are generally corporate. Careful study of Barth's account of the Swat Pathans shows that this is true for them also, although the aggregates directly contraposed are factions and blocs. 20 Societal differences in the scale, type, and degree of order and coordination, or in the frequency, occasions, and forms of social conflict are important data and problems for political science.To analyze them adequately, one must use a comparative structural approach. Briefly, recent work suggests that the quality and modes of order in any social system reflect its corporate constitution-that is, the variety of corporate types which constitute it, their distinctive bases and properties, and the way in which they are related to one another. The variability of political systems which derives from this condition is far more complex and interesting than the traditional dicho tomy of centralized and noncentralized systems would suggest.I have already indicated some important typological differences within the category of acephalous societies; equally significant differences within the centralized category are familiar to all. This traditional dichotomy assumes that centralization has a relatively clear meaning, from which a single, inclusive scale may be directly derived. This assumption subsumes a range of problems which require careful study; but in any event, centralization is merely one aspect of political organization, and not necessarily the most revealing.Given variability in the relations between corporations sole and corporate groups, and in their bases and forms, it seems more useful to distinguish systems according to their structural simplicity or complexity, by reference to · the variety of corporate units of differing forms, bases, and functions which they contain, and the principles which serve to articulate them. Patently, such differen ces in composition imply differences in the relational networks in which these corporations articulate. Such ifferences in structural composition simultaneously describe the variety of political forms 18 Max Gluckman, Rituals of Rebellion in South East Africa (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1954); â€Å"Introduction† to Gluckman, Order and Rebellion in Tribal Africa (London: Cohen & West, 1963). 19 Leach, Political Systems 0/ Highland Burma. 20 Barth, Political Leadership among Swat Pathans. 122 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS and processes, and explain differences in the scale, order, and coordination of polities.This is so because corporate organization provides the framework, content, and procedures for the regulation of public affairs. For this reason, the analysis of corporate structure should be the first task in the case study of a political system and in comparative work. For many political scientists, the concept of sovereignty is essential as the foundation of governmental order and autonomy. In my view, this notion is best dispensed with. It is a hindrance rather than a help to analysis, an unhappy solution of a very real problem which has been poorly formulated. In a system of sovereign states, no state is sovereign.As etymology shows, the idea of sovereignty derives from the historically antecedent condition of personal dominion such as kingship, and simply generalizes the essential features of this form as an ideology appropriate to legitimate and guide other forms of centralization. The real problem with which the notion of sovereignty deals is the relation between autonomy and coordination. As the fundamental myth of the modern nation-state, the concept is undoubtedly important in the study of these states; its historical or analytical usefulness is otherwise very doubtful.It seems best to formulate the problems of simultaneous coordination and autonomy in neutral terms. As units administering exclusive common a ffairs, corporations presuppose well-defined spheres and levels of autonomy, which are generally no more nor less than the affairs of these units require for their adequate regulation. Where a corporation fully subsumes all the juridical rights of its members so that their corporate identification is exclusive and lifelong, the tendencies toward autarchy are generally greatest, the stress on internal autonomy most pronounced, and relations between corporations most brittle.This seems to be the case with certain types of segmentary lineage systems, such as the Tallensi. Yet even in these conditions, and perhaps to cope with them, we usually find institutional bonds of various types such as ritual cooperation, local community, intermarriage, clanship, and kinship which serve to bind the autarchic individual units into a series of wider publics, or a set of dyadic or triadic associations, the members of which belong to several such publics simultaneously.Weber's classification of corpo rate groups as heteronomous or autonomous, heterocephalous or autocephalous, touches only those aspects of this problem in which he was directly interested. 21 We need also to analyze and compare differing levels, types, and degrees of autonomy and dependence in differing social spheres and situations. From comparative studies of these problems, we may hope to derive precise hypotheses about the conditions and limits of corporate autonomy and articulation in systems of differing composition and span. These hypotheses should also illuminate the conditions and limits of social disorder.Besides the â€Å"perfect† or fully-fledged corporations, offices and corpo21 Weber, Theory 0/ Social and Economic Organization, pp. 135-36. A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 123 rate groups, there are â€Å"imperfect† quasicorporations with must also be studied explicitly. The two main forms here are the corporate category and the commission. A corporate category is a clearl y bounded, identifiable, and permanent aggregate which differs from the corporate group in lacking exclusive common affairs, autonomy, procedures adequate for their regulation, and the internal organization which constitutes the group.Viewed externally, acephalous societies may be regarded as corporate categories in their geographical contexts, since each lacks a single inclusive frame of organization. But they are categories of a rather special type, since, as we have seen, their institutional uniformity provides an effective basis for functional unity. In medieval Europe, serfs formed a corporate category even though on particular manors they may have formed corporate groups.Among the Turkana22 and Karimojong23 of East Africa, age-sets are corporate categories since they lack internal organization, exclusive affairs, distinctive procedures, and autonomy. Among the nearby Kipsigi24 and Nandi25 clans are categorical units. These clans have names and identifying symbols, a determinat e membership recruited by agnatic descent, certain ritual and social prohibitions of which exogamy is most important, and continuity over time; but they lack internal organization, common affairs, procedures and autonomy to regulate them.Though they provide a set of categories into which all members of these societies are distributed, they never function as social groups. Not far to the south, in Ruanda, the subject Hutu caste formed a corporate category not so long ago. 26 This â€Å"caste† had a fixed membership, closure, easy identification, and formed a permanent structural unit in the Tutsi state. Rutu were excluded from the political process, as a category and almost to a man. They lacked any inclusive internal organization, exclusive affairs, autonomy, or procedures to regulate them.Under their Tutsi masters, they held the status of serfs; but when universal suffrage was recently introduced, Rutu enrolled in political parties such as the Parmehutu Aprosoma which succee ded in throwing off the Tutsi yoke and expelling the monarchy. 27 In order to become corporate groups, corporate categories need to develop an effective representative organization, such for instance as may now be emerging among American Negroes. In the American case, this corporate category is seeking to organize itself in order to remove the disprivileges which define it as a category.Some corporate 22 Philip Gulliver, â€Å"The Turkana Age Organization,† American Anthropologist, LX (1958), 900-922. 23 Neville Dyson-Hudson, to author, 1963. 24 J. G. Peristiany, The Social Institutions of the Kipsigis (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd. , 1939). 25 G. W. B. Huntingford, The Nandi of Kenya (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd. , 1953). 26 J. J. Maquet, The Premise of Inequality in Ruanda (London: Oxford University Press, 1960). 27 Marcel d'Hertefelt, â€Å"Les Elections Communales et Ie Consensus Politique au Rwanda,† Zaire, XIV, Nos. -6 (1960), 403-38. 124 / A STRUC TURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS categories are thus merely formal units lacking common functions; others are defined by common disabilities and burdens, though lacking common affairs. Under Islam, the dhimmi formed such a category; in India, so do the individual castes. The disabilities and prohibitions which define categories are not always directly political; they include exogamy and ritual taboos. Commissions differ from offices along lines which recall the differences between corporate categories and corporate groups.Like categories, commissions fall into two main classes: one class includes ad hoc and normally discontinuous capacities of a vaguely defined character, having diffuse or specific objects. The other class includes continuing series of indefinite number, the units of which are all defined in such general terms as to appear structurally and functionally equivalent and interchangeable. Familiar examples of the latter class are military commissions, magistracies, professorships, and priesthoods; but the sheiks and sa'ids of Islam belong here also.Examples of the first class, in which the powers exercised are unique but discontinuous and ill-defined, include parliamentary commissions of enquiry or other ad hoc commissions, and plenipotentiaries commissioned to negotiate special arrangements. In some societies, such as the Eskimo, Bushman, and Nuer, individuals having certain gifts may exercise informal commissions which derive support and authority from public opinion. The Nuer â€Å"bull,† prophet, and leopard-skin priests are examples. 28 Among the Eskimos, the shaman and the fearless hunter-warrior have similar positions. 9 The persistence of these commissions, despite turnover of personnel and their discontinuous action, is perhaps the best evidence of their importance in these social systems. For their immediate publics, such commissions personalize social values of high relevance and provide agencies for ad hoc regulation and gu idance of action. In these humble forms, we may perceive the seeds of modern bureaucracy. Commissions are especially important as regulatory agencies in social movements under charismatic leaders, and during periods of popular unrest.The charismatic leadership is itself merely the supreme directing commission. As occasion requires, the charismatic leader creates new commissions by delegating authority and power to chosen individuals for special tasks. The careers of Gandhi, Mohammed, Hitler, and Shehu Usumanu dan Fodio in Hausaland illustrate this pattern well. So does the organization and development of the various Melanesian â€Å"cargo cults. â€Å"30 But if the commission is to be institutionalized as a unit of permanent administration, its arbitrary 28 E. E. Evans-Pritchard, The Nuer (London: Oxford University Press, 940). 29 Kaj Birket-Smith, The Eskimo (London: Meuthuen & Co. , Ltd. , 1960); V. Stefansson, My Life with the Eskimo (New York: The Crowell-Collier Publishing Co . , 1962). 80 Peter Worsley, The Trumpet Shall Sound (London: McGibbon & Kee, 1957). A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVB POLma / 125 character must be replaced by set rules, procedures, and spheres of action; this institutionalization converts the commission into an office in the same way that its organization converts the corporate category into a corporate group.Moreover, in the processes by which corporate categories organize themselves as groups, charismatic leadership and its attached commissions are the critical agencies. The current movement for civil rights among American Negroes illustrates this neatly. Any given public may include offices, commissions, corporate categories, and corporate groups of differing bases and type. In studying governmental systems, we must therefore begin by identifying publics and analyzing their internal constitution as well as their external relationships in these terms.It is entirely a matter of convenience whether we choose to begin with the smallest units and work outwards to the limits of their relational systems, or to proceed in the opposite direction. Given equal thoroughness, the results should be the same in both cases. Any governmental unit is corporate, and any public may include, wholly or in part, a number of such corporations. These units and their interrelations together define the internal order and constitution of the public and its network of external relations.Both in the analysis of particular systems and in comparative work, we should therefore begin by determining the corporate composition of the public under study, by distinguishing its corporate groups, offices, commissions, and categories, and by defining their several properties and features. As already mentioned, we may find, in some acephalous societies, a series of linked publics with intercalary corporations and overlapping margins. We may also find that a single corporate form, such as the Mende Para or the Roman Catholic Church, cuts across a number of quite distinct and mutually independent publics.An alternative mode of integration depends on the simultaneous membership of individuals in several distinct corporations of differing constitution, interest and kind. Thus, an adult Yako81 simultaneously belongs to a patrilineage, a matrilineage, an age-set in his ward, the ward (which is a distinct corporate group), one or more functionally specific corporate associations at the ward or village level, and the village, which is the widest public. Such patterns of overlapping and dispersed membership may characterize both individuals and corporations equally.The corporations will then participate in several discrete publics, each with its exclusive affairs, autonomy, membership, and procedures, just as the individual participates in several corporations. It is this dispersed, multiple membership which is basic to societal unity, whether or not government is centralized. Even though the inclusive public with a centralized a uthority system is a corporate group, and a culturally distinct population 81Daryll Forde, Yako Studies (London: Oxford University Press, 1964); Kenneth Little, The -Mende of Sierra Leone (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Ltd. 1951). 126 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS without this remains a corporate category, functionally both aggregates derive their underlying unities from the same mechanism of crosscutting memberships, loyalties, and cleavages. In the structural study of a given political system, we must therefore define its corporate constitution, determine the principles on which these corporate forms are based, and see how they articulate with one another.In comparative study, we seek to determine what differences or uniformities of political process, content, and function correspond with observable differences or uniformities of corporate composition and articulation. For this purpose, we must isolate the structural principles on which the various types of cor porations are based in order to determine their requisites and implications, and to assess their congruence or discongruence. To indicate my meaning, it is sufficient to list the various principles on which corporate groups and categories may be based.These include sex, age, locality, ethnicity, descent, common property interests, ritual and belief, occupation, and â€Å"voluntary† association for diffuse or specific pursuits. Ethnographic data show that we shall rarely find corporate groups which are based exclusively on one of these principles. As a rule, their foundations combine two, three, or more principles, with corresponding complexity and stability in their organization. Thus, lineages are recruited and defined by descent, common property interests, and generally co-residence.Besides equivalence in age, age-sets presume sameness of sex and, for effective incorporation, local co-residence. Guilds typically stressed occupation and locality; but they were also united by property interests in common market facilities. In India, caste is incorporated on the principles of descent, ritual, and occupation. Clearly, differing combinations of these basic structural principles will give rise to corporations of differing type, complexity, and capacity; and these differences will also affect the content, functions, forms, and contextual relations of the units which incorporate them.It follows that differing combinations of these differing corporate forms underlie the observable differences of order and process in political organization. This is the broad hypothesis to which the comparative- structural study of political systems leads. It is eminently suited to verification or disproof. By the same token, uniformities in corporate composition and organization between, as well as within, societies should entail virtual identities of political process, content, and form.When, to the various possible forms of corporate group differentiated by the combination of structural principles on which they are based and by the relations to their corporate contexts which these entail, we add the other alternatives of office, commission, and category, themselves variable with respect to the principles which constitute them, we simultaneously itemize the principal elements which give rise to the variety of political forms, and the principles and methods by which we can reasonably hopeA STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS / 127 to reduce them to a single general order. Since corporations are essential regulatory units of variable character, their different combinations encompass the entire range of variability of political systems on the functional, processual, and substantive, as well as on the structural levels. Within this structural framework, we may also examine the nature of the regulatory process, its constituents, modes, and objectives.The basic elements of regulation are authority and power. Though always interdependent and often combi ned, they should not be confused. As a regulatory capacity, authority is legitimated and identified by the rules, traditions, and precedents which embody it and which govern its exercise and objects. Power is also regulatory, but is neither fully prescribed nor governed by norms and rules. Whereas authority presumes and expresses normative consensus, power is most evident in conflict and contraposition where dissensus obtains.In systems of public regulation, these conditions of consent and dissent inevitably concur, although they vary in their forms, objects, and proportions. Such systems accordingly depend on the simultaneous exercise and interrelation of the power and authority with which they are identified. Structural analysis enables us to identify the various contexts in which these values and capacities appear, the forms they may take, the objectives they may pursue, and their typical relations with one another within as well as between corporate units.In a structurally homog eneous system based on replication of a single corporate form, the mode of corporate organization will canalize the authority structure and the issues of conflict. It will simultaneously determine the forms of congruence or incongruence between the separate corporate groups. In a structurally heterogeneous system having a variety of corporate forms, we shall also have to look for congruence or incongruence among corporations of differing types, and for interdependence or competition at the various structural levels.Any corporate group embodies a set of structures and procedures which enjoy authority. By definition, all corporations sole are such units. Within, around, and between corporations we shall expect to find recurrent disagreements over alternative courses of action, the interpretation and application of relevant rules, the allocation of positions, privileges and obligations, etc. These issues recurrently develop within the framework of corporate interests, and are settled b y direct or indirect exercise of authority and power.Few serious students now attempt to reduce political systems to the modality of power alone; but many, under Weber's influence, seek to analyze governments solely in terms of authority. Both alternatives are misleading. Our analysis simultaneously stresses the difference and the interdependence of authority and power. The greater the structural simplicity of a given system, that is, its dependence on replication of a single corporate form, such as the Bushman band or Tallensi lineage, the greater its decen- 28 / A STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS tralization and the narrower the range in which authority and power may apply. The greater the heterogeneity of corporate types in a given system, the greater the number of levels on which authority and power are simultaneously requisite and manifest, and the more critical their congruence for the integration of the system as a whole.

First Reflective Journal of My First Clinical Experience Essay

This journal reflects my first clinical experience at the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre. The experience has made me re-examine and analyze a lot about my path towards reaching my goal and becoming an RN. I felt that being able to touch and feel the working environment is extremely important for a future nurse and indeed for any health care provider. Real life experience is so important in learning. At first I was nervous, not yet to say scared but I found my self curious to know what the clinical setting would be like, how it would feel caring for someone unfamiliar. My nervousness quickly disappeared . I was touched and inspired to see how caring my † buddy mate† was to the residents of Wascana Rehab. There was no one who seemed strange to her, she shared her love equally with everyone. She cared for them like they were all special to her. I was so amazed to see how much a for a stranger. She made each and every resident feels like she was there for them to and not just doing her job. I then realized that no one can be strange if we see them with a human eye and welcome them with an open heart and loving manner, respecting them for who they are. In my childhood I heard about a godmother coming to the world, spreading her love to everyone and making differences in people’s life. Oh yes, I now know I can be that person who can make differences in people’s lives. What is next—-In my next clinical session i m hoping to apply everything that I learned on The first day and will try my best to further explore what can I learn to help me to build a strong foundation for my future dream career as a nurse.

Strategic Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Strategic Management - Assignment Example n and put into adherence through proper and strategically managing of both resources available to the company, that which that the company already possess and taking advantage of it marketing strategy to achieve its goals and those of its shareholders. This paper focuses on strategic management of an organization, its aim and concepts, principles, key factors affecting it such as external, internal and industrial environments. It also describes strategic formulation. Strategic management is the art of making decisions for an organization or company, taking into consideration the competitive market in which the organization finds itself and other factors affecting it in regards to achieving the organizations goals and objectives with the best interest in creating a profitable environment for both the company and its shareholders (Dess, 2005). Strategic management is all about analyses, making choices and seeing that those choices are implemented. Strategies are meant to give the organization or company a focus, direction in which to channel its efforts as per the environment it finds itself in and define major characteristics of the company’s goals. After this analysis, the management group needs to make appropriate decisions, on how to find their place in the market by making great and applicable marketing strategies as to help them gain and a substantial amount of clients, while attracting more for their goods and services in this market regardless of the external competition they face making sure that their ideas of marketing or goods production are not able to be copied by other competitive partners in the market. This means that the company ought to try do everything differently from their competitors in terms of decision making especially due to the constant market competition that they face as this will help them sustain themselves in the market for long as their ideas cannot be copied (Irene M. Duhaime, 2012). After a choice of decisions has been made,

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Exam questions - Essay Example The use of technology enhanced the invention of machines that increased the productivity of workers. Technology also enhanced the growth of enterprises to large scale producers. Food products were, therefore, produced in masses that fed the society. End products were produced at cheaper costs and less time than in the recent times. Due to the changes the standards of living of the citizens were improved and also recorded a social change. People moved from suburb areas to the cities thus land was left vacant for production of food. At times people who lived in the urban areas and worked in the factories lived in filthy conditions due to overpopulation in the urban areas (Goloboy 2008, p.58). Increased food production is essential for industrialization in any state. Labor is essential for the growth of industries and the state to maintain a sufficient number of laborers it needs to device ways of producing enough food to feed the population. Industrialization in Europe was due to sustainable methods of food production. Industrialization in Britain occurred between 1750 and 1830. Britain had perfect conditions for industrialization to occur. Mineral resources, labor and technology, were present in Britain and facilitated the industrial revolution (Goloboy 2008, p.67). Britain had made the use of wood as a source of heat for a long time it thus had plenty of coal deposits remaining and were used in new ideas. The source of heat was used in the industries. Britain was also a colonial master of many nations, the raw materials that could not be found in Britain could be imported from the colonies at cheap costs. The colonies also provided markets for the end products. Other factors that contributed to industrialization in Britain were the plenty natural resources in Britain. The government of Britain also improved the transportation in Britain enhancing the movements of finished goods and raw materials. The growing population in

Researched Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Researched Argument - Essay Example However, the success of the industry is not free of blemish. In the year 2010, a study approximated the number of users of the drugs non-medically and therefore without prescriptions as 7.0 million which represented 2.7 % of the American population (Drugs and Corbett et al.). The drugs abused by the American population range from pain relievers, and stimulants to sedatives and tranquilizers. The extent of the abuse has seen the addiction of some people to the drugs. The blame for this scenario lies in the pharmaceutical companies that influence the medical practice through the use of misleading commercials and making payments for medical practitioners and experts. However, we should delve into the use of alternative medicine in preference to the prescription drugs to reduce the wrongs that have resulted from the marketing of the drugs. Misleading advertisements Some of the companies that make the prescription drugs that are common in everyday life use misleading statements in their p roduct marketing to create the view that their products are better (Weber 98). The promotion of Darvon, a prescription drug intended for pain from surgery and fractures was studied with the results painting a clear picture of this argument. The promotional literature said the drug was better than aspirin. In the study, the opinions of physicians were reviewed. Although the physicians claimed to base their opinions on science, almost half believed the statement used in the drug’s promotion despite the fact that no results showed this to be true ("Drug Company Gifts to Doctors"). As such, the promotion of the drug misled the physicians into viewing the drug as the best option. Therefore, the reliance on prescription drugs due to the opinion of the physician should be avoided as they may be misled. Influence of medical practitioners The pharmaceutical companies are trying to strengthen the circulation of their drugs by influencing the medical practitioners to have preferences fo r their medication (Weber 47). This is done through the provision of little gifts to the physician. A case in the American Medical Association journal provides an illustration of this. The case describes an insect bite patient who has gone to the hospital to seek attention. An intern made a sensible decision to prescribe penicillin, which would be an inexpensive and suitable treatment. However, the resident thought otherwise prescribing a treatment that was more â€Å"modern† and describing the patient as â€Å"severely† ill. This option would cost the patient $183 for every day he received the new and modern antibiotic ("Drug Company Gifts to Doctors"). However, after some digging into the issue by the house officers’ supervisor who doubled up as the attending physician, it came to light that the resident’s decision was influenced. A drug representative of the drug company had wined and dined the resident prior to the developments. This shows that the re sident’s and some physicians’ decisions were not based on the best choice of treatment as they are influenced by gifts by the drug companies which adopt these as part of their marketing strategy. In some cases, the gifts to the practitioners are monetary. This is evidenced by stories published in the New York Times. In one article, there is a report of the federal law for health care requiring disclosure of payments to medical practitio

BHS 499 (Senior Capstone Project) Module 3 SLP Essay

BHS 499 (Senior Capstone Project) Module 3 SLP - Essay Example One major implication of health care fraud and abuse is the monetary loss due to e improper activities which endanger patient safety. The United States Attorneys' offices (USAOs) are held responsible for the civil and criminal prosecution of health care providers, professionals, and other specialized business agencies who engage with health care fraud and abuse. The US government has appropriated certain amount (DOJ, 2000) from the United States Treasury general fund and they in turn must appropriate the Account for transfer some to the federal Bureau of Investigation in order to carry out the purpose and processes as described in above statements. Another implication is the intensification of health care fraud enforcement. This can never be achieved without the cooperation of other stakeholders. In fact, the FBI is one organization involved in the said cooperative effort. Federal agencies needs to collaborate with health care fraud working groups, have a liaison program among organizations and attend trainings as well as conferences. New statutory tools are believed to support ad be provided in order to combat health care fraud. Although Around $451,000 was budgeted to HCFA ($395,500) as well as the ASMB or Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget at the end of 2000 for the formal risk management operations.

Treatment versus Punishment - That is the Question Research Paper

Treatment versus Punishment - That is the Question - Research Paper Example The juvenile courts, in large part, exist so as to rehabilitate the youth who have done wrong. To that end, the paper will discuss treatment as the most effective juvenile intervention strategy to counter crime since it bests support the over arching concept of social justice. Based on the current population reports, there are more than 75 million children who are under the age of 18 years in the U.S. This is more that 25% of the total population. This number is projected to rise to over 100 million in 2050. These indicate that there are various issues that affect the American children, and there an increased risk of these children falling into the juvenile justice system. The Federal Bureau of Investigations in its 2013 report, Crime in the United States, reported that about 2 million youths below the age of 18 are apprehended every year for crimes ranging from loitering, to kidnappings, to arson, to drug dealing, to murder, and even terrorism. Besides that, the report also found that more than 850,000 youths belong to street gangs. The statistics also indicate that most youths were arrested for arson attacks and crime on property with 1% having driven a car after drinking alcohol, 25% arrested for robbery, and 41% were arrested for vandalism. Most states and cities across the nation have enacted laws that automatically bypass the Juvenile Justice System. In Boston, New York and Chicago, there are higher rates of detention as well as probation within the minority ethnic and minority groups. Averagely, 57% were Black, 22% Hispanic, 10% White, 5% Asian, and 1% American-Indian. According the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (2012), there are over 7 million youths in Massachusetts. Youths aged 19 years and below make up 27% of the population in the state of Massachusetts. In Boston, 89% of the youths apprehended in 2010 were charged with nonviolent crimes.

Marketing mix strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing mix strategy - Essay Example Various researches show that the popularity of energy drinks is continuously increasing and most importantly they are giving tough challenges to the soft drinks. Over the past few years consumers have become more inclined towards the energy drinks. According to data provided by P&C Nielson Scantrack, energy drinks occupy almost 23% in the entire market of beverages.3 Considering all these facts, Frucor should introduce one or two new flavors of ‘V’ within the next fiscal year. Furthermore, the company should introduce the new flavors in a completely new package. The ‘V-Orange’ can be introduced in a completely newly designed ‘can’ or ‘bottle’. Since, energy drinks are ‘impulsive’ product, attractive cans or bottles should be introduced. Currently, the energy drink is available in the form of 250 ml cans and 500 ml bottles. In order to, go through more into the market, Frucor should introduce more product sizes. ... In simple words demand of energy drinks is increasing in a consistent manner. In such a situation, the company should not lower the prices so that more profits can be made. However, the company should introduce some attractive schemes. For instance, it can reduce the price by 2-3% in case of bulk purchase. Furthermore, special price can be offered whenever at least three different flavors are purchased together. Place V energy drinks reach the final customers i.e. the consumers through various distributors. There are some big distributors like Metro Beverage Co and Kelly’s Distributors that sells V energy drinks to the retailers.4 The important fact is that V is only sold in the markets of Australia and New Zealand. However, in order to remain competitive in the global energy drinks market in the long run, Frucor should focus on the foreign market. Initially it should target the developing economies like China, India and Russia. Consumers, in these countries are becoming stron ger in terms of their spending power. As a result, it is quite likely that the energy drinks will be more in demand in these countries. Frucor should try to form strategic alliances with some of the major distributors in these markets. In fact the company can get itself involved into some joint ventures with some of the local beverage companies that will produce the product on behalf of Frucor. A strong distribution network in the developing nations can give sustainable competitive advantage to both ‘V’ as well as its owner. Promotion In this marketing driven business world, promotion is viewed as one of the most crucial aspects for achieving long term success. The company should focus on online interface to promote the brand V. Energy drinks are likely to be consumed mainly by the

Revison of paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Revison of paper - Essay Example ormational Leadership in the Public Sector: Does Structure Matter,† discusses whether or not transformational leadership has a place in the public sector. C.R. Emery and K.J. Barker focus their study on the nature of job satisfaction and employee attitude in relation to the different leadership styles in the 2007 article â€Å"The Effect Of Transactional And Transformational Leadership Styles On The Organizational Commitment And Job Satisfaction Of Customer Contact Personnel.† Finally, â€Å"An Empirical Study of Leader Ethical Values, Transformational and Transactional Leadership, And Follower Attitudes toward Corporate Social Responsibility,† by K.S. Groves and M.A. LaRocca (2011), offers another perspective on the outcomes of the different leadership styles. Transactional leadership has a simple goal; maintain the status quo and overseeing the normal flow of the tasks at hand. They often use incentives or a reward system as a means to motivate their staff to work to the best of their abilities. However, transformational leadership is rather different. This sort of leader does not rely simply on hand and mouth incentives to accomplish day-to-day tasks; they inspire, encourage, and motivate their staff by altering their perspectives and assumptions about their job and importance. While transactional leadership may spawn acceptable results, transformational leadership can have a more profound long term effect on the behaviours and attitudes of the employees (Wright & Pandey, 2010). For example, transactional leaders gain company loyalty and dedication with rewards, but what happens when those rewards stop; this will also end the positive behaviours and attitudes of the staff. Those led by a transformational leader will maintain that needed loyalty based on principle and not upon rewards. Wright and Pandey’s primary question focused upon whether are not there is a presence or place in the public sector for transformational leadership? This is relevant,

Summary and Analysis Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summary and Analysis Assignment - Essay Example Dick existed of blacking boots and what intensified its appeal was because the pay gathered from such activities would support Dick and his companion Fosdick quite a while. Dick is a persevering individual without formal instruction and energetic about knowing how to put pen and paper in journey for information. Algers work outlines how Dick rejected Fosdick to pay their rent because he was his casual instructor and did not need to pay rent (Wendy Glenn 5). Algers works have fro long demonstrated that anyone could be rich whenever without notice and timing. The stream of occasions in the origin of Alger depicts the ability he holds in assembling extraordinary bits of work. It was amid their visit to Brooklyn on a ship that his fortune struck him without cautioning. Alger is most likely a swimmer because he knows the amount individuals fear of the profound water, and takes us through the story to the closures of the ocean (Wendy Glenn 7). It is doubtless that Dick turns out a legend. Going with Dick was Fosdick, who remained tongue-tied from the exercises that carried on for the most limited time of ones life. Algers dialect utilization is full of symbolism. This dialect style effectively expressed the idea about what went ahead in Dicks brain just before hopping into the water. The occasions that transpired are all fixated on Dick and the salvage mission. The occasions now are the peak of the story and serves as a defining moment too for the life of Dick. Dick had never utilized swimming for any great following the time. However, this was his chance and in the midst of the amazement of all viewing he figured out how to force it off well. Numerous reasons would have been a response to the inquiry why Dick chose to take the hazard of hopping. Alger puts the reasons unmistakably, as if he was Dick himself. In a way recommending, he was assembling an individual background story. The salvage was pegged on prizes, attractive

Company Law Essay Example for Free

Company Law Essay It has been a long established principle of Company Law that the corporate personality is a separate legal entity distinct from its members. (Salomon v Salomon Co. (1897) However, there are circumstances in which the courts might find it appropriate to dispense with this principle and ignore the principle of separate corporate personality by ‘lifting the corporate veil’ so to speak. Yet, the courts have not been as prepared to pierce the veil of the corporation as they have been to protect it. Salomon v Salomon Co. gave birth to the separate legal personality of the corporation. In this case, Mr. Salomon, who was conducting business as a leather merchant formed a company which he called Salomon Co. Ltd in 1892. His shares were distributed among his wife and children, each of whom held one share each, for Mr. Salomon. This was necessary at the time because the law requires that the company consist of at least seven shareholders. It is also important to note that Mr. Salomon was the managing director of the company. (1897) Salomon Co. Ltd. purchased the leather business which Mr. Salomon estimated to be worth 39,000 pounds. Mr. Salomon based this valuation on his view that the business was bound to be a success rather than the actual value at the time of purchase. The funds were paid as follows: 1) 10,000 pounds worth of debenture stocks leaving a charge over all of the assets of the company and 2) 20,000 pounds in 1 pound shares and 9,000 pounds in cash. At this juncture, Mr. Salomon paid off all of the creditors of the business. As a result, Mr. Salomon held 20,001 shares in Salomon Co. Ltd. and his wife and kids held the remaining 6 shares. Also, as a result of the debenture, Mr. Salomon was a secured creditor of the company. (Salomon Salomon Co. Ltd. 1897) The leather business floundered and within a year Mr. Salomon ended up selling all of his debentures so as to salvage the business. This did not work out the way Mr. Salomon planned and the company was unable to pay its debts and consequently went into insolvent liquidation. The company’s liquidator alleged that Salomon Co. Ltd. was nothing but a sham serving as an agent for Mr. Salomon. Therefore Mr. Salomon should be held personally liable for the company’s debts. The Court of Appeal agreed with this finding and held that a company’s shareholders were required to be a bona fide organization with the intention of going into business rather than just for the purpose of meeting the statutory provisions for the number of shareholders. (Salomon Salomon Co. Ltd. 1897) The House of Lords reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal holding as follows:- 1) It was not relevant for the purposes of determining the genuineness of a company’s formation that some shareholders were holding shares for the purpose of forming the company pursuant to relevant statutory provisions. In fact, it was perfectly legal for the procedure for registration to be used by a person for the purpose of conducting a one-man business enterprise. 2) Moreover, a company that was formed pursuant to the regulations provided in the Companies Acts is a separate legal person and was not therefore an agent or trustee for the controller. Therefore the company’s debts were its own and were not the debts of its members. The liability of the members would be limited in proportion to the shares that they each held. (Salomon Salomon Co.  Ltd. 1897) Salomon v Salomon Co. Ltd. has stood up well against the test of time. In Macaura v Northern Assurance Co. [1925] AC 619 the House of Lords held that in the same way that the company’s liabilities are the company’s and the shareholders, the assets are also the company’s rather than the shareholders. (Macaura v Northern Assurance Co. [1925]) In Barings Plc (In Liquidation v Coopers Lybrand (No. 4) [2002] 2 BCLC 364 a parent company suffered a loss as a consequence of the loss incurred by one of its subsidiaries. It was held that the subsidiary was the proper party to commence an action in respect of the loss. This rationale followed the rationale in Salomon v Salomon Co. Vis-a-vis the loss was that of the subsidiary and was therefore that company’s liability rather than the parent company’s liability. The subsidiary was a separate legal entity from its parent company. (2002 p 364) This ruling was closely followed in both Gile v Rhind [2003] as well as Shaker v Al-Bedrawi {2003]. In Re Southard Co Ltd Templeton [1979] 3 ALL ER 556 at 565 LJ said that A parent company may spawn a number of subsidiary companies, all controlled directly or indirectly by shareholders of the parent company. If one of the subsidiary companies, to change the metaphor, turns out to be the runt of the litter and declines into insolvency to the dismay of its creditors, the parent company and other subsidiary companies prosper to the joy of the shareholders without any liability for the debts of the insolvent subsidiary. ’(Re Southard Co Ltd Templeton [1979] 3 ALL ER 556 at 565) Lee v Lee’s Air Farming, a New Zealand case, is another good example of the court’s reluctance to pierce the corporate veil. In this case, in 1954 Lee started a company called Lee’s Air Farming Limited. Lee owned all of the shares of the company and was the company’s Governing Director. In addition, Lee worked for the company as its chief pilot. He died in a plane crash while flying the company plane and his wife tried to claim damages via the company’s insurance scheme under the Workers’ Compensation Act. (Lee v Lee’s Air Farming [1961]) The New Zealand Court of Appeal rejected the widow’s claim that Lee was a worker within the meaning of the Workers’ Compensation Act and the case went to the Privy Council. The Privy Council found that Lee’s Air Farming Limited was an entirely different legal entity from Lee and legal relationships between the two were perfectly permissible. Moreover, the Privy Council found that Lee, as Governing Director could indeed give order to himself in his capacity as chief pilot. Therefore a master/servant relationship did exist between the two and Lee was in that respect a ‘worker’ within the meaning of the Act. Indeed, as seen in the cases discussed above the courts aggressively protect the separate legal identity of the corporate citizen. However, there have been legislative intervention whereby specific situations have been defined where it would be appropriate to pierce the corporate veil. For example Sections 213 and 214 of the Insolvency Acts make it possible for the lifting of the corporate veil in cases of fraud and wrongful dealing. (The Insolvency Act 1986 Sections 213 and 214) Section 213 is often referred to as the ‘fraudulent trading’ provision. (Dignam Lowry 2006 Ch. ) This section arises if the court is satisfied that company carried on any of its business ventures with the intention of defrauding the company’s creditors or the creditors of anyone else. Section 213 will also arise if the court finds that the company acted for any other fraudulent reason and persons involved in those fraudulent ventures can be found liable for the company’s debts. In order to satisfy the court of the existence of fraud Section 213 requires proof of ‘actual dishonesty, involving, according to current notions of fair trading among commercial men, real moral blame’. The . Section 214 does not impose as onerous a burden or standard as does Section 213. It is not necessary to prove an intention to defraud. Section 214 applies to the period just before a company begins winding up procedures. Section 214 arises when the court is satisfied that the directors either knew or ought to have known that the company was becoming insolvent and continued to trade anyway. The director can be liable for the company’s debts in these instances. (The Insolvency Act 1986 Section 214) Section 227 of the Companies Act 1985 makes further provision for lifting the veil of the corporation. This section arises in instances where it is necessary to require the production of group members or group accounts to verify whether or not a subsidiary’s financial activity is that of the holding company. (Companies Act 1985 Section 227) The judiciary has also demonstrated a will to lift the corporate veil whenever the ends of justice desire it to be done. The circumstances in which the court will ignore the corporate veil are ill-defined and the impression is that these circumstances are developed on a case by case basis. Professor Gower said that ‘challenges to the doctrines of separate legal personality and limited liability at common law tend to raise more fundamental challenges to these doctrines, because they are formulated on the basis of general reasons for not applying them, such as fraud, the company being a sham or facade, that the company is the agent of the shareholder, that the companies are part of a single economic unit or even that the interests of justice require this result. ’ (Davies 2003 p 184) Adams v Cape Industries Plc [1990] Ch 433 is viewed by Gower and Davies as the leading case on the exceptions to the corporate veil. In the case the Court of Appeal said that it is not satisfied that the ‘court is entitled to lift the corporate veil as against a defendant company which is a member of a corporate group’ merely on the grounds that the company was used to shield a member of that group from future liabilities of the company. As a matter of fact, the Court of Appeal maintained that this was a legal right by adding ‘whether or not this is desirable, the right to use a corporate structure in this manner is inherent in our corporate law. ’(Adams v Cape Industries Plc [1990] Ch 433) The courts tend to be rather inconsistent with its position on the grounds upon which it will displace the laws protecting the corporate veil. While Adams v Cape Industries Plc was very strict in its position in favor of safeguarding the corporate veil, the House of Lords was rather liberal in DHN Food Distributors Ltd v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council [1976] 1 WLR 852. In the latter case Lord Denning speaking of a parent company and its subsidiary holdings said, ‘these subsidiaries are bound hand and foot to the parent company and must do just what the parent company says’. He went on to say ‘this group is virtually the same as a partnership in which all the three companies are partners. They should not be treated separately so as to be defeated on a technical point’. (DHN Food Distributors Ltd v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council [1976] 1 WLR 852) It wasn’t long before the courts departed from the position taken by Lord Denning. Woolfson v Strathclyde R. C [1978] SLT 159 the House of Lords took issue with Denning’s view on the nature of holding companies and the groups under them. The Lords maintained that the corporate veil would not be displaced unless it was shown that the company was a facade. (Woolfson v Strathclyde R. C [1978] SLT 159) In Trustor AB v Smallbone (No. 2) [2001] 1 WLR 1177 the court was adamant that the corporate veil would only be lifted in three circumstances. They were, 1) if the court was satisfied on the evidence that the company was a mere sham or facade, 2) the company itself was involved in some impropriety or 3) where the interest of justice required it. (Trustor AB v Smallbone (No. ) [2001] 1 WLR 1177) Earlier cases identified appropriate circumstances where the court might find that a company was indeed a facade. In Gilford Motor Company Ltd. v Horne [1933] Ch 985 the court found that the company was a facade. In this case an employee bound by a covenant not to solicit the business of his employers, left his employment and set up a company which he used to breach the covenant. The employee argued that while he was bound by the covenant, the company was not. (Gilford Motor Company Ltd. v Horne [1933] Ch 985) In another case the defendant signed an estate contract with the plaintiff for the sale of realty to him. The defendant changed his mind and formed a company, transferring the realty to the company. He claimed that he was no longer the owner of realty and therefore no bound to the terms of the estate contract. The court found that the company was a mere facade for the defendant and he was ordered to sell the realty as per the estate contract. (Jones v Lipman [1962] 1 WLR 832) The Court of Appeal identified three instances in which it would be appropriate for the corporate veil to be lifted. The court said, ‘save in cases which turn on the wording of particular statutes or contracts, the court is not free to disregard the principle of Salomon v A. Salomon Co Ltd [1897] AC 22 merely because it considers that justice so requires. Our law, for better or worse, recognises the creation of subsidiary companies, which though in one sense the creatures of their parent companies, will nevertheless under the general law fall to be treated as separate legal entities with all the rights and liabilities which would normally attach to separate legal entities. (Adams v Cape Industries Plc [1990] Ch 433) Adams has effectively narrowed the circumstances in which the courts will intervene and lift the corporate veil. This is unfortunate since changing times together with the complex development of both the corporate structure and company law, the Salomon v Salomon Co. rule is in reality perhaps out of place today. (Gallagher Zeigler 1990) Although there have been times when the courts have shifted away from this ruling it remains the poster child for the criteria to be met when determining whether or not to life the veil of the corporation. The prevailing attitude is to safeguard against lifting the corporate veil. Question 2b) The doctrine of majority rule has been a long established principle of Company Law within the English Legal System and makes it difficult for minority shareholders to take legal action in respect of majority shareholder improprieties. That said, Rebecca as a minority shareholder is protected to a limited extent by the provisions of Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985. The development of the common law doctrine of majority rule was enunciated in Foss v Harbottle. The rationale behind Foss was that any difficulties within the structure of the company ought to be dealt in the general meetings of the company by ratification by the majority shareholders. The prevailing attitude of the courts was one of nonintervention. It would only step in if it was for the purpose of dissolving the business. The facts of Foss v Harbottle reveal that in 1835 a company, Victoria Park Company purchased land in the Manchester primarily for residential purposes. Thomas Harbottle, a director of Victoria Park Company had purchased the property and resold it to Victoria Park Company who eventually developed the property. Richard Foss and Edward Turton, shareholders of Victoria Park Company brought an action against Thomas Harbottle alleging breach of fiduciary duties in that he sold the property to the company at an inflated price. Turton and Foss also claimed that, acting outside of their powers as directors the directors had burrowed funds in the name of the company. The court held that plaintiffs had no locus standi, and that they were required to have obtained the company’s approval to commence legal action. This approval is properly obtained by virtue of a general meeting. In Foss v Harbottle, Wigram VC explained that ‘the corporation should sue in its own name and in its corporate character, or in the name of someone whom the law has appointed to be its representative. ’ It would therefore only be permissible in exceptional cases of serious abuse that minority shareholders could sue the company as a defendant. This explains the relatively strict approach adopted by the courts in deciding representative forms of actions in the guise of minority shareholder oppression. Jenkins LJ in Edwards v Halliwell explained the justification of the majority rule doctrine in Foss v Harbottle when he said ‘the rule in Foss v Harbottle, as I understand it, comes to no more than this. First, the proper plaintiff in an action in respect of a wrong alleged to be done to a company or association of persons is prima facie the company or the association of persons itself. Secondly, where the alleged wrong is a transaction which might be made binding on the company or association and on all its members by a simple majority of the members, no individual member of the company is allowed to maintain an action in respect of that matter for the simple reason that, if a mere majority of the members of the company or association is in favour of what has been done, then cadit quaestio’. This is where Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985 is important to Rebecca in respect of what appears to be ‘insider dealing’, mismanagement and perhaps even fraud. Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985 provides as follows:- Any member of a company may apply to the Court by petition for an order under this section on the grounds that the affairs of the company are being or have been conducted in a manner which is unfairly prejudicial to some part of the members (including at least himself) or that any actual or proposed act of omission of the company (including an act of omission on its behalf) is or would be so prejudicial. ’ David Partington, notes rather bluntly, that the discretion contained in Section 459 is very broad and perhaps infinite. ‘The breadth of s. 459 means that there must be an infinite range of situations in which it may be employed. Partington goes on to say that the courts have been extremely flexible in their application of the term ‘unfairly prejudicial. ’ The test for ascertaining whether or not conduct is ‘unfairly prejudicial’ is an objective test rather than a subjective one. The defendant’s motives are often times not of paramount importance to the courts. In Re Bovey Hotel Ventures Ltd. it was held that ‘the test . is whether a reasonable bystander observing the consequences of (the defendants) conduct would regard it as having unfairly prejudiced the petitioners interests. The remedies are no longer limited to ‘winding up’ procedures and this of course explains the wider discretion for commencing an action by minority shareholders. Among the remedies available are, rectification, injunctive or ‘buyout relief. ’ By virtue of ‘buyout’ relief, the court makes an order requiring the company to purchase the shares of the petitioning minority shareholders. This is perhaps the best course for Rebecca to follow. She might not wish to remain a part of a company in which she has all but lost faith in. Re Sam Weller Sons Ltd. rovides some useful guidance as to the kind of conduct that might amount to ‘unfairly prejudicial’ within the meaning of the 1985 Act as amended. For example, failing to pay a dividend in the absence of a sound commercial explanation for such a failure amounts to ‘unfairly prejudicial’ conduct’. In Sam Weller’s case the dividend had already been covered 14 times with the company declaring it for the past consecutive 37 years. In interlocutory proceedings, Gibson LJ denied the company’s application to strike out the petitioner’s claim noting that the company had a case to answer.

Change management situation in a Police organisation

Change management situation in a Police organisation This essay will analyse a change management situation in a Police organisation, comparing approaches to leadership, analysing the efficiency of interpersonal skills for a Leader and analysing the role of a Leader within the Police environment, taking cognisance of the principles, theories and approaches to Leadership. Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realise your own leadership potential. The Police service in Scotland has under gone many Change Management Situations over the years. In 1975 the Local Government reorganisation brought about the amalgamation of the Burgh and City police forces into the eight territorial forces that we recognise today. At the present Strathclyde Police are undergoing a significant change management situation, the result of which is the implementation of Variable Shift Agreement (VSA) across the force at operational level. EVALUATE APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP The introduction of the VSA saw the force revise its traditional four group system for core uniform coverage into a five group system. The demands of the new arrangement meant that the leader (Chief Constable) was tasked with altering the resource management for each of Strathclydes territorial divisions considering factors such as: Length of Service and age Specialities i.e. Public Order , Firearms Gender These factors were all considered to provide an equal share of skills and experience across a Division as possible. This could prove the cause of friction between the management and subordinates, as well formed; productive shifts could be fragmented and divided up across a division. Kotter (1990, cited in Leadership 2009) observed that managers and leaders have three main tasks that they accomplish in different ways: Deciding what needs to be done Shift pattern must change to give better work life balance, better service to the public and more efficient use of resources. Creating networks of people and relationships that can accomplish the agenda Setting up of a review and implementation team, looking at best use of resources. Trying to ensure that people actually do the job monitoring the results of the newly formed shifts through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as cases submitted, stop searches undertaken and absence management. In the implementation of the VSA shift pattern the leader involved, more or less followed the three tasks as observed by Kotter, however depending on the leaders rank within the hierarchy, their approach to the same task will differ. Remembering that there is a difference between leaders and managers Kotters approach allows Leaders to concentrate on the creation of strategies and visions for the future, communicating and committing to achievement of these visions and motivating others despite obstacles to change. During this change management situation the Leader was more concerned with focusing on the implementation of the VSA rather than focusing on the needs of the employees. Lewin et al (1939, cited in Leadership 2009) identified a leadership approach, sometimes referred to as the behavioural approach: Autocratic (or authoritarian) style where the leader concentrates on getting the job done; the leader takes responsibility for everything that is done e.g. making decisions , allocating work, setting targets and ensures , through the use of rewards and punishments that team members obey. Democratic (or participation) style where the leader concentrates on the needs of the group or team; leadership is shared with team members who have a greater say in the decision making; how tasks are allocated and so on. Laissez Faire (or delegative) style as its name suggests this is where the leader deliberately allows the team to decide what has to be done and how to do it; the leader is available for help and advice if needed but does not interfere. According to Lewin et al the leader utilised an autocratic style of leadership when implementing the VSA, controlling decision making and task setting. Shown with the formation of the VSA implementation team. They had the set task of rolling out the shift plan to each division in turn, with target dates set for this roll out. Furthermore, the Chief Constable regularly chaired a strategic tasking and co-ordinating group, receiving feedback from the implementation team and Divisional Commanders, whilst making all the decisions regarding the implementation, without handing any of these decisions down to subordinates to undertake, showing that in this case he was taking responsibility for everything that was done. A different approach to leadership is that of Hersey and Blanchard (1988, cited in Leadership 2009) theory known as situational leadership, they make use of observing members willingness to perform a task and from this select a suitable leadership style. The four stages of readiness are described as: R1 unable and unwilling R2 unable and willing R3 able but unwilling R4 able and willing Most personnel which would be affected fell into: R2 New Probationers who do not yet have the necessary skills and had not experience any other shift pattern. And R3 More experienced officers who could foresee that the shift pattern was not as favourable as the current one, some possibly resistant to change. But others able to argue that there would be problems with child care, longer working days and frequent cancellation of rest days with the VSA. The leadership styles suggested are: S1 telling or directing requires state of readiness R1 S2 selling or coaching requires state of readiness R2 S3 participating or supporting requires state of readiness R3 S4 delegating requires state of readiness R4 From this theory the leader should have adopted a combination of S2 and S3 styles to communicate and sell the VSA and support those who require it. However in choosing to implement S1 (similar to the autocratic approach) with telling and directing the VSA implementation, does not follow Hersey and Blanchards theory and could create more friction by choosing the wrong leadership style. This is shown in the table below. This table shows that different readiness levels require differing styles of leadership, leaders should consider their relations with others, and the structure of the task before determining what style of leadership to adopt, evolving their leadership style as readiness levels change, as with many things one size does not fit all. ANALYSE THE EFFECT OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS ON LEADERSHIP When a leader decides upon a particular leadership approach to their given task, they must then interact with others and consider their own interpersonal skills. A successful and effective leader requires a range of interpersonal skills such as listening, asking questions, giving feedback, being assertive and so on. This section will analyse two particular aspects of interpersonal skills: Influencing trying to get someone to do, or to think, something that they might not otherwise have done. Managing Conflict coping with disagreements between people(in broad terms) Using interpersonal skills is not just a matter of knowing what they are, but about being aware when they are suitable and knowing how to use them effectively. According to French and Raven (1959, cited in Leadership 2009) power comes from five sources: Reward Power Coercive Power Referent Power Legitimate Power Expert power Power is an abstract concept and is difficult to define; basically A has the ability to make B behave in a certain way. The types of power demonstrated by the leader, throughout the organisational change was a mixture of coercive and legitimate power. The leader had the authority to influence behaviour through their rank within a disciplined hierarchal organisation, the force were presented with the VSA or an alternative of an even older shift pattern without consultation. Influencing Leaders are likely to adopt a particular style or approach when trying to influence someone, the balance of power between both parties will possibly determine the strategy, these may include: Reason using reason and logical argument. Assertion making a direct request with no argument to support the request. Exchange negotiating to arrive at a mutually acceptable outcome. Courting Favors friendship and positive behavior to encourage others to behave in the required manner. Coercion using or threatening to use some form of sanction. Partnership gathering support from both sides to build a coalition. And also the style used, Manning and Robertson (2004, cited in Leadership 2009) suggest six possible influencing styles: Strategist this is where the influencer is clear in what they what to achieve and has considered it before hand .A strategist style tends to favour reason, assertion and partnership styles of influence. Opportunist this style involves responding opportunistically to the situation facing the influencer. An opportunist style tends to use courting favour and exchange strategies. An opportunist is unlikely to prepare much beforehand but will attempt to grasp chances that come their way. Collaborator this style as its name suggests, involves collaboration with others for the overall good. A collaborator style concentrates on partnership, reason, exchange and courting favour strategies. Leaders who favour consensus are an example of collaborator style. Battler this is where the influencer concentrates on what they want and the sanction that they will use if they do not achieve this. A battler style tends to make use of coercion and assertion styles. A battler style is associated with people who want to get their own way and are reluctant to take no for an answer. Shotgun this strategy involves attempting to influence on a frequent basis and by use of a number of different strategies. Bystander those who adopt this style tend to engage in relatively few influencing attempts and make use of a restricted use of strategies. For the VSA to be implemented the leader combined their influencing strategy and style, using assertion and coercion. By making a direct request to Divisional Commanders to introduce the VSA to their respective divisions, through the VSA implementation teams, underpinning this with their legitimate power by virtue of their position within the force. The leader wanted to get their own way, however reluctant to take no for an answer from their Divisional Commanders. This resulted in conflict, which may have been avoided had the leader utilised a partnership or reason approach, justifying the reason behind their requests. Managing Conflict On some occasions leaders can use the previously discussed influencing strategies and power levels to assist them in managing conflict. Robbins (1996, cited in Leadership 2009) describes conflict as a process that begins when one party perceives that another has negatively effected, or is about to negatively effect, something that the first party cares about . Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) argue that conflict is a state of mind . Some will argue that conflict is a necessary part of organisational growth and development, where some will claim that an absence of conflict could be seen as an indication of complacency. However conflict has functional or potential benefits such as: Enabling opposing parties to gain a better understanding of each others views. An essential part of the process by which a team becomes effective. Leads alternative suggestions being made. Helps to implement a change successfully. Leads to an agreement that establishes a framework for future working. It is not always straight forward to manage conflict; some measures can be used to contribute to reducing the conflict at an organisational level reminding those involved of the rules and procedures, but also of remits, targets and goals of the organisation, however sometimes it is these that are the root causes of the conflict. Leaders will all handle conflict differently depending on the type of conflict faced; Thomas (1976, cited in Leadership 2009) suggests five styles for managing conflict: Avoiding this means doing nothing to tackle the conflict, this can be used when the issues are trivial and there is no chance of resolving the conflict. Accommodating this means accepting the existence of the conflict, this can be used to maintain harmony and allow people to learn from their mistakes. Compromising this involves some form of bargaining or negotiation; this can be used when getting a solution is important and both parties have equal power. Competing the opposite of accommodating and pursuing the interests of one party at the expense of the other, this can be used in an emergency and a quick solution is necessary. Collaborating working out a solution that is acceptable to both parties and meets all their concerns, used when it is important to gain long term commitment and issues are to important to compromise. Successful influencing and conflict management was certainly required with the initial introduction of the VSA. Firstly the leaders had to influence the core shifts and federation into accepting that it would provide a better quality of service and greater work life balance. The conflict arose through others unwilling to accept the terms of the VSA; however the leaders in managing this conflict firstly adopted an avoiding strategy during the initial pilot stage of the VSA. At the conclusion of the pilot and in preparation for roll out the leader, still facing resistance changed into competing. The leader believed the shift plan would work force wide and therefore would be implemented, with no consultation and no argument to justify the reasons for implementation. Either that or resort backwards to an older shift pattern. In implementing the VSA the Chief Constable has made effective use of their interpersonal skills, in their own distinct approach to this particular change management situation. However a more beneficial approach may have been a mix of accommodation, accepting that there were flaws in the VSA, and the existence of conflict with its implementation, collaborating with subordinates to work out a better solution for the long term strategy of the VSA. ANALYSE THE ROLE OF LEADERS IN ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE Organisational change is about closing the gap between where the organisation is at the moment and where it wants to be. It is the leaders role to close this gap. Senior (2002, cited in Leadership 2009) has identified four levels of change in which some, if not all would be involved in, Fine tuning Incremental adjustment Modular transformation Corporate transformation According to Senior the level of change that the VSA posed to the force was that of a modular transformation, as a significant number of the force, but not all, would be affected by its implementation. Kurt Lewin (cited in Leadership 2009) suggests that there are three main stages of change, unfreezing, change and refreezing. For the change to happen, the Leader firstly recognized the need for change, with a new shift pattern, following this with proprietary planning with the implementation team before the unfreezing stage. At this point resistance to the change should have been addressed, but the leader chose to avoid the conflict. The change period was overseen by the leader through chairing tasking meetings and monitoring its progress. During the refreezing period the VSA became an everyday part of life, the change was institutionalized, to give no chance of reverting back to previous shift patterns. Within these three stages people will play different roles in this organisational change; Kanter (1992, cited in Leadership 2009) distinguishes between three different types of people; Change strategists or initiators who initiate change and set the direction for it. Change implementers who co-ordinate and carry out the change. Change recipients who are effected by the change e.g. officers on the street. Change strategists are normally leaders the Chief Constable, change implementers are normally managers Divisional Commanders and the VSA implementation team, and subordinates are the recipients of change Officers on the core shifts. Force field analysis is a technique for analysing the internal and external drivers that can influence any organisational change; some of these driving factors for this organisational change can be identified as PESTEL factors, such as: Political MPs and councilors demanding more police presence on the streets. Economic overtime cost, reduced budget and the new Chief Constables promise to cut costs. Social-cultural alcohol induced anti social behavior. Nearly all forms of change will be met with some resistance, the VSA being no different. Strebel (1996, cited in Leadership 2009) argues that employees resist change because it disrupts the personal contract between employees and the organisation. Resisters to this organisational change can fall into different categories, Parochial self interest those employees resistant to change, they think that their position will be threatened and will make them worse off, the same employees that fall into Hersey and Blanchards R3 state of readiness. Misunderstanding and lack of trust employees misinterpreting the reasons behind the change, due to a lack of communication, viewing this change as just one of many For this organisational change to be successful the leader had to reduce resistors and increase drivers for change in an attempt to reach equilibrium. To do this they communicated the benefits of change, through more days off and a better work life balance; however there was an element of manipulation used to show employees that they would have more weekends off. Under the current shift pattern officers received one weekend off in every four, the VSA would allow two weekends off in every five. Look back at the current shift pattern over five weeks, officers were already receiving two weekends off in every five. The leader used this information selectively thus attempting to paint a rosy picture of the benefits of the VSA. A better way may have included an element of participation helping to build commitment to the change and negotiation, which could avoid some resistance from the employees affected by the change. CONCLUSION Drawing a conclusion for this essay, firstly considering the approach to leadership undertaken by the Chief Constable during this, change management situation. In their autocratic (or authoritarian) approach they concentrated in getting the job done and took responsibility for all the decisions made. Had the Chief Constable approached the organisational change according to Hersey and Blanchards situational leadership, identified their officers level of readiness and adopted the suggested leadership style, they may have been faced with less friction or resistance by the officers that would be affected by the VSA implementation. Secondly, in analysing the interpersonal skills and its effect on the organisational change, the Chief constable utilised their legitimate power to achieve the implementation, in adopting an assertion style of influencing with no argument to their request, coupling this with the conflict management style, by firstly avoiding and then competing. Had they followed an alternative style suggested by Thomas (1976) such as accommodating and accepting the existence of conflict or resistance to the VSA, they may have been able to negotiate better with the federation and the officers affected by the change to find out the root causes of conflict and address them at an early stage. Thirdly, considering the Chief Constables role within this organisational change was that of a change strategist, they initiated the VSA and set its direction, posing, as Senior (2002) identifies as a modular transformation to the force. With some officers resisting due to a parochial self interest, whilst others through misunderstanding and lack of trust in this change, the Chief Constable had to reset the balance by education and manipulation, driving his vision forward. One thing certain from this is the Chief Constable requires managers with the skill, knowledge and experience of organisational change, enabling them to have the ability to change and adapt their leadership style to suit each given change management situation. These managers may not be able to ease all of the resistance to change, but should be able to reduce it considerably to implement future changes that are required.