Thursday, October 31, 2019

Contracts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Contracts - Essay Example Clause (213) of section (2) states that express warranties are usually in the form of a sample mode, affirmation, description or a promise. The consumer goods should be in such a condition that they shall be as described in the contract and that the whole of the goods will be the same as to the sample or model shown. The main purpose of the express warranty should be such that its specific intention mainly involves making an affirmation just of the value of consumer goods (furniture) or a statement that purports to be simply the seller’s opinion or praise of the consumer goods that they do not make a warranty (Margaret 127). The federal law also requires that express warranties for consumer goods (furniture) be available for the buyer to read even when writing contract terms or doing shopping on the internet or through a catalog (Margaret 130). This would allow the consumers to compare the extent of the warranty coverage just as the law requires that the buyer should have privilege to compare price and other features of goods (132). However, the act fails to state on whether warrant must be in written or oral form, but should be readily available for the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

How Television Has Impacted Technology Essay Example for Free

How Television Has Impacted Technology Essay Television was introduced in 1949 but very few people had it because it was extremely expensive. The only channels people could watch were NBC and CBS. Television became increasingly popular because it was entertainment without going and sitting in the movie theaters. As TV became more popular, it became more affordable. People would hear about television through word of mouth, news, radio and newspaper. Everybody liked the idea of being entertained and staying at home. By the 1960s most families has TV sets in their living rooms, depending on if they liked being entertained at home. Television in the United States has grown year after year and has made a big impact on American culture in many ways. TV has taken a big part in violence in society, the news, how people are stereotyped, childhood obesity, family values, social interaction, and so much more. In my opinion one of the biggest impacts that television has had on American culture is childhood obesity. Obesity is considered a form of malnutrition in which food energy is stored as fat due to being unused. Child obesity is bred within the home and the television is a major contributor to it. The energy we consume from food needs to be used up by the body on a daily basis through physical exertion. An overweight child devoting a major portion of time to watching television is at risk to becoming obese. Television is certainly a contributor to that obesity. Kids these days are getting bigger and bigger, while television shows are growing and growing. To me, that is a big issue and television affects it a lot. Back in the day children enjoyed going outside to play, getting involved in sports or just anything outdoors. I feel like as of today there are now only about a quarter of the kids that enjoy doing outdoors stuff like that. The other 75% of kids choose to stay inside because most likely there favorite TV show is on or there is a movie that they just have to watch. Those kids are losing their time to play outside and mainly burn and lose calories because they are just sitting there watching TV for hours and hours. Obesity is known to be one of the major health concerns among both children and adults in the United States today. It is suggested by certain groups that children should not watch more than two hours of television a day. This in my opinion is already too much because that is where childhood obesity all gets started. The average child n the United States regularly watches between 2-3 hours of television a day and many children now days have their own television set in their bedroom. Not only are children inactive while they are watching television, they often snack on unhealthy food choices. And like I said, establishing unhealthy food habits as a child can often continue into adulthood. Investi gators have hypothesized that television viewing cause’s obesity by one or more of three mechanisms: (1) displacement of physical activity, (2) increased calorie consumption while watching or caused by the effects of advertising, and (3) reduced resting metabolism. The relationship between television viewing and obesity has been examined in a relatively large number of cross-sectional epidemiologic studies but few longitudinal studies. Many of these studies have found relatively weak, positive associations, but others have found no associations or mixed results; however, the weak and variable associations found in these studies may be the result of limitations in measurement. Even studies for reducing the amount of television intake have been completed. They do not test â€Å"reducing television time† directly, but the results that they get may help to reduce the amount of risk for obesity or help promote weight loss in obese children. â€Å"An experimental study was designed specifically to test directly the causal relationship between television viewing behaviors and body fatness. The results of this randomized, controlled trial provide evidence that television viewing is a cause of increased body fatness and that reducing television viewing is a promising strategy for preventing childhood obesity. † I really think parents need to take a stand to their children by limiting the amount of time they spend in front of the television, before it gets too late and they have an obese child. Removing televisions from children’s bedrooms and putting time limits on the TV may be a good way for parents to reduce the risk of obesity in children. Parents must serve as role models because their television viewing habits influence their children’s. Parents should also limit the frequency of television viewing. Overweight and obese children need to be encouraged to do more physical activity such as walking, playing and limiting their television time. Children may also need structured physical activity times to divert them away from television. â€Å"Although the increase in childhood obesity is not caused solely by television watching, Dr. Reginald Washington points out in the editorial that accompanies the articles, Society, as a whole, must realize that to effectively control and prevent this obesity epidemic, all risk factors must simultaneously be reduced. A study by the University of Liverpool psychologists has shown that it is to be true that obese and overweight children increase their food intake by more than 100% after watching food advertisements on television. Children all over the world are exposed to a huge number of TV advertisements, primarily for fast foods and sweets. Some say that it is not the amount of TV; it is the number of junk food commercials that advertise unhealthy foods and constantly play over and over. It is miserable that people blame television as a result to childhood obesity but the United States is starting to get very lazy when it comes to situations like this, therefore I truly believe TV is one of the dominate reasons of why children are becoming obese. I feel like this impact has been mainly negative on American culture. Television advertisers get talked down to by research groups, wanting them to take away all the unhealthy food commercials. Childhood obesity coming from television watchers makes American culture look very bad. When you find out that all it takes is television sets in a kids bedroom and high-quality shows that make children sit, stare and snack to become obese. It really puts a depressing look on America. In my opinion it is a very negative result because it used to not be this way at all. The parents and children put themselves in the situation to becoming obese and television just is an excuse for whenever they actually are obese. I know I will never let my children or close friends get this way due to excess amount of television watching. I have time to watch all my shows I like during the day and still get a good exercise in. I believe that all people can watch their weight and not become obese if they really try. So I really hope the culture changes and fix its look on television with obesity. I do believe that the internet will be used more wisely than television as a medium for delivering content. Television is an older and dull way of showing and sharing shows, movies and advertisements, while now days the nternet can do the same plus a whole lot more. Internet is a lot easier to get to because so many people have smart phones or laptops to be able to quickly access it. I feel like even now I start to see more and more people of all ages on their laptop/computer/smart phone rather than sitting down and watching television shows. Internet is a new (compared to TV) and entertaining way to access World Wide Web. News and broadcast stations are all starting to put their information and ideas on the internet even before they send them to television. While putting the internet into question about my topic, as much as I hate seeing younger kids run around with their own smart phone and/or laptop, it would really help society. Internet will help a lot more in this situation because children that do have smart phones will be able to play outside and exercise with their phone in hand. If the kids do go outside while on their phone it will stop them from sitting in front of a television set, sitting, staring and snacking. Therefore, it will lower the childhood obesity rate in the United States. Childhood obesity is a very heartbreaking yet occurring thing that television influenced and started in the U. S. It has been a very big impact on television and American Culture. After all, we are all hoping and praying that parents help their children get back to how it was back in the day. Have the children exercising, playing outside, and getting involved in sports that way they only spend approximately one hour watching television. We have to lower the childhood obesity rate and will continue to try and stop every way that is involved in it.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Concept of perceived effective leadership

Concept of perceived effective leadership The literature review will focus on two dimensions of literature. The first is to look at the kind of leadership that is termed as effective by looking at numerous definition of leadership and the conceptualization of leader effectiveness done by previous studies as well as conceptualization by Kouzes and Posner (2002) in which he measured effective leadership using his Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). The second is to look at the definition of integrity and how it is conceptualized and measured from the perspective of leadership. To this, the author wishes to use the Perceived Leader Integrity Scale (PLIS) developed by Craig and Gustafson (1998) as previous studies indicated that it is one of the reliable ways to measure integrity from perspective of leadership. Having the two components of this study defined, this paper also attempted to explain the theory underlying the relationship between the two components based on previous studies. This chapter critically and selectively reviews the concept of perceived effective leadership and perceived integrity in leadership and their relationship from published journals and articles. The author believes that this could be useful for understanding and the development of theoretical models. 2.2. Effective leadership As public organizations are facing an increasingly complex environment due to globalization, advancement in technology and communication, more diverse workforce, the need to meet and satisfy citizens and customers satisfaction through high-quality services, the outcry for effective leadership in public organizations has become crystal-clear though it has been contended that effective leaders with integrity are often lacking in organizations (Haberfeld, 2006; Rowe, 2006) to bring the desired impact. Previous research indicated that leadership is a complex process and leadership theories have been defined and developed substantially over the last decades and as claimed by Bennis and Nanus (1985) cited in Olu Oyinlade (2006) that leadership had been defined by researchers in over 350 different ways in the 30 years prior to 1985. This was also agreed by Bass in 1990 who stated that there seems to be many definitions of leadership than the number of researchers striving to study the concept. According to Conger (1992) also cited in Olu Oyinlade that so far there is no single agreed-upon definition as leadership is largely an intuitive concept and this is agreed by Bennis (2007) that recent research suggests there is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership. The most common so far of leadership theories are the traits theory, behavioural theory, contingency theory, and leader-member exchange (LMX), the transformational and transactional theory. Due to the vast definitions of leade rship, Bass (1990) cited in Schafer (2009) hinted and pinpointed some common unifying theory implying that leadership is the persuasive power and ability to influence group of people or individuals or other behaviours in an coordinated manner to achieve some pre-determined goal. Kouzes and Posner (2004) defined leadership by their followers and it involves a relationship between those who want to lead and those who choose to follow. They suggested that any discussion of leadership should follow this norm of relationship. Kouzes and Posners assertion for leaders and followers relationship is based on followers perception and they normally depend upon leaders for collective success. Thus, the implication to follow good leaders is high and to follow bad leaders is too costly as it cannot be denied that some leaders are often tempted and lured to manipulate their position for personal gain (Van Vugt et al., 2008). Previous studies on followers assessment of leadership focused on the behaviours associated with effective leadership and past findings also indicated that dimensions of what they call as effective leadership vary from instrument to instrument of research. To this, prior study by Parry and Proctor-Thomson (2002) in citing Bass (1985) in their study on Perceived integrity of transformational leaders in organisational settings suggested that effective leadership can be related to transformational leadership behaviours of idealized influence, inspiring motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration which are very much admired and could become respected role-model. The researchers used Perceived Leader Integrity Scale (PLIS) by Craig and Gustafson (1989) to measure leaders integrity and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Bass (1985) to measure transformational leadership involving a sample 1,354 out of 6,025 managers throughout New Zealand and fou nd a strong positive relationship between perceived integrity and demonstration of transformational leadership behaviours. However, this study will not apply the MLQ as an instrument to measure effective leadership as it is criticised on the ground that it lacks ability to measure accurately and distinguish the four dimensions of transformational leadership from one another (Bycio, Hackett Allen, 1995; Tepper and Percy, 1994; Tracey Hinkin, 1998; Yammarino Dubinsky, 1994) although it has been widely used in many investigations of transformational and transactional leadership (Den Hartog, Van Muijen Koopman , 1997). Some theorists also raised questions regarding the notion that transformational leadership may not necessarily lead followers to higher ethical ground but instead may lead to unethical and immoral direction (Giampetro, Brown, Browne Kubasek, 1998; Yukl, 1998) as cited in Parry and Proctor-Thomson (2002). This has given rise to another dimension of transformational leadership in what Bass and Steidlmeier (1999) called as authentic which refers to real ethical leader and pseudo-transformational which is unlikely to be ethical leader. This notion of transformational leader related to effective leadership will not be applied in this study as some researcher like Ciulla (1995) raised the issue of Hitler problem who argued that Hitler must not be in the same category as Martin Luther King, Jr. though the Nazis during his time might have treated him to be effective and transformational. The idea of charismatic leadership too will not be related to effective leadership in this study although Conger and Kanungo (1998) described charismatic leaders to possess all the qualities of vision, drive, passion and ability of leaders to inspire their followers into action. But Bass (1985) argued that charismatic leaders often lead to dictatorship than real leaders with inclusion of qualities such as narcissism, manipulation of people and defensiveness in the example such as Hitler and Mussolini. To this, Kouzes and Posner (1988) came up with their Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) to conceptualize leadership behaviours associated with leader effectiveness based on five dimensions of practices: Modelling the Way, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Challenging the Process, Enabling Others to Act, and Encouraging the Heart. The construction of LPI is although not designed for transformational or transactional leadership styles, but the instruments contents of different scales may from subordinates point of view contains elements of transformational and transactional leadership styles (Fields Herold, 1997). Other studies indicated an increase in perception of effective leadership can lead to an increase in subordinate and organizational effectiveness. To this, researchers like Jaussi and Dionne (2004) in their study on Unconventional leader behaviour, subordinate satisfaction, effort and perception of leader effectiveness cited Bass (1990) claimed that an increased in perception of leader effectiveness can lead to elevated subordinate performance which in turn can enhance organizational effectiveness as one the three outcomes documented in previous leadership literature. As there are too many literatures associated with effective leadership, this paper only attempted to use the term effective leadership as derived by Kouzes and Posner (2002) through his Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) and the dimensions that articulate and explain effective leadership. The reason as to why practices are selected rather than traits and characteristics of leadership is based on the understanding of leaders behaviour through the role theory that can provide insight and understanding on how roles and behaviours influence subordinates behaviour. Role has been defined as a socially specified pattern of behaviour that accompanies a particular position within a social context (Deaux Wrightsman, 1988) cited in Huse (1998). In another definition, roles are also the combination of expectations and performances on the part of those who are interacting with each other (Neal, 1983). Hooijberg and Quinn (1992) also stated that in order to increase their effectiveness, leaders may perform and execute variety of leadership roles and practices in the organizational setting. Another reason for the role theory to be accepted and not the traits theory is because previous literatures on the traits theory popularised in 1930s only explained leadership effectiveness by means of natural characteristics, skills and abilities such as self-efficacy, decisiveness, and interpersonal competences to be associated with organizational effectiveness. But this theory has been subjected to criticism on the ground that this theory lacks predictive power in linking leadership traits to performance (Stogdill, 1948). Consequently, in 1940s and 1950s, the leadership behaviour theory was introduced to explain leadership effectiveness based on leaders behaviours and practices they should play to provide new perspective on understanding leadership effectiveness (Steers, Porter Bigley, 1996) cited in Oyinlade (2006). The theory explains that the behaviour of the leader occurs within the context of various roles and practices the leader plays. This further justifies why leadership practices and behaviours are important to influence subordinates behaviour and this also helps to explain that the effectiveness of the leader is influenced by his/her roles obligations and expectations. 2.3. Measurement of effective leadership In a study done in 2008 to more than 1,000 police supervisors attending the FBI National Academy (NA) in Quantico, Virginia which involved 1,042 of the 1,071 (97.3 percent) NA attendees completed all or part of the survey, the survey concluded that efficacy of police chiefs who are effective leaders was most strongly linked with integrity, work ethic, communication, and care for personnel while ineffective leaders were characterized as failing to express these traits or were characterized as suffering from questionable ethics and integrity. The study revealed that 37.5 percent of respondents ranked honesty and integrity as the most important characteristics of an effective leader. The study also acknowledged that development of effective leaders and leadership practices is a persistent problem in policing (Schafer, 2009) A study done in 2008 involving a total of 1,000 high public school teachers in Amman, Jordan which studied the behaviours of their principals using Kouzes and Posners LPI has shown that 550 school teachers represent 55 per cent of the targeted respondents of 1,000 have assessed their principals as moderately practising Kouzes and Posners leadership practices model and identified them as transformational which is also associated with effective leadership (Abu-Tineh et.al. 2008). 2.4. Integrity Integrity is a concept commonly discussed in a formal and informal way and usually associated with leadership and organisational theory, but it is yet to be defined and theoretically understood (Rieke Guastello, 1995) as cited in Parry and Proctor-Thomson (2002). Previous definitions on integrity indicated that integrity has been defined in different manner and in different forms due to different lines of research by previous researchers. This was conceded by Hooijberg et.al (2010) that the complexity regarding its meaning and interpretation makes it difficult to be understood. Hence, its broad dimensions had led to many researchers to associate it with ethics, honesty, trust, credibility, and character that have been used and applied interchangeably in many past literatures (Hooijberg et.al., 2010; Becker, 1998; Yukl Van Fleet, 1990); Kouzes and Posner (2002); Ciulla (2004). In 2007 and 2009, Palanski and Yammarino cited in Hooijberg et. al. who successfully found evidence of rela tionship between integrity and honesty also asserted that it involves matching deeds to words, a sense of morality and that it lies in the eyes of the beholder. This was shared by Kirkpartrick and Locke (1991) and Covey (1992) described integrity as walking the talk with no desire other than for the good of others. This was supported by Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman, (1995) by stating that integrity should be more than walk the talk but is associated to an individuals full commitment to underlying principles. For Kolthoff et al. (2010) stated integrity has its foundation in ethics and Lawton (1998) asserted that ethics and integrity encapsulate a code of conduct as basis for actions. Notably some examples of ethics violation in public organizations include lying, cheating, rule-bending, stealing public property, harming others and so on (Ciulla, 2004). For Van der Wal; Huberts; Van Den Heuvel and Kolthoff (2006), they described integrity within organizational context to constitute wholeness and in the Latin word -integritas which means acting according to moral values, norms and rules and which must take place within the context and environment in which one works or operates and accepted by the members of the organisation. For integrity also means trust as Bennis (1989) stated that integrity is the basis of trust and Simons (1999) in asserting that trust of subordinates in leaders behaviours is very important suggested behavioural integrity (BI) rather than self-perceived integrity or any statement on integrity as the main focus research on integrity to describe leaderships style and behaviours as there often mismatch between actual values and enacted values of leaders behaviour. The author duly admits that this has been the common flaw in public service where leaders normally ignore subordinates trust and in many instances they do not need subordinates trust as they probably feel proud to helm public organizations and hence could have acted on their own for selfish gain. It is here that mistrust and dishonesty exist within public organizations and as Kolthoff et al. (2010) pointed out that integrity is affected. Other researchers like Padilla, Hogan, and Kaiser (2007) also believed and argued that the occurrences of corruption, unethical and bad behaviours, mismanagement and so on perpetrated by people in position of power appointed in public organizations can be traced to issues of integrity. That is why integrity must be perceived as a moral courage and the will and willingness public servants ought to do and to go against what is not right and believes to be wrong (Kolade, 1999). How integrity is important for leadership? Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991); Kouzes and Posner (2002) cited in Hooijberg et.al (2010) asserted that integrity is not only good for organizations but also to be an important trait of leaders. Becker (1998) argued that excellent leaders are people viewed and perceived to be high in integrity because they do not want to gain something out of organizational resources for selfish reasons. This is consistent with Badaracco and Ellsworths (1990) notion that leaders with values and integrity normally make decisions in accordance with the enacted values of the organization and for Kouzes and Posner, (2002) added that leaders with integrity would be able to convince followers that they are worth to be followed. While Kanungo and Mendonca (1996) cited in Parry and Proctor-Thomson (2002) also stated that integrity in leadership has become an increasing concern for business and organisations. To this, many theorists now believe that leadership without i ntegrity may put the organisations at risk, (Morgan, 1993; Mowday, Porter Steers, 1982; Posner Schmidt, 1984). Perhaps, the most important definition of integrity related to leadership was given by Tan Sri Mohd. Sidek Hassan who is the Chief Secretary to the government of Malaysia in his speech dated 25 Mac 2009 that integrity can be defined as continuous adherence to moral principles, honesty, wholeness, the quality of being unimpaired; soundness. He also reminded civil servants on the need to instil integrity especially on the role of leadership in public institutions in order to deliver high quality of service delivery (http://www.pmo.gov.my/ksn/?frontpage/speech/detail/1512. accessed 5th April 2011). From the so many definitions of integrity mentioned above, it is clear that integrity plays an important role in establishing and maintaining high ethical standards in public organizations but it must start with the top echelon of the organizations which must be perceived to have integrity as without it the whole system and existing reform measures will be meaningless. 2.5. Measurement of integrity Hogan and Kaiser (2010) in their study on How to assess (not to assess) the integrity of managers stated that various attempts have been made in the past to assess and measure integrity in leadership including using the Big Five Personality Theory as researcher like Allport (1937) and other moral philosophers linked leaders integrity to personality and they believed that leaders personality could influence individuals and groups behaviours. To this, measurement of leaders personality using The Big Five Personality theory was a questionable issue related to how sound the integrity test works with leaders (Howard Thomas, 2010) and although it can predict counterproductive work behaviour based on the three dimensions of personality theory: Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Emotional Stability; but it does not measure counterproductive behaviours. Another critic for the theory was by Mischel (1977) who suggested that personality is most important in weak situations and of course in s trong situation it could provide solid cues about leaders appropriate behaviour which resulted in peoples supportive actions. Hogan and Kaiser (2010) also stated that another measurement technique linked integrity to leaders competency model theory and by using the data that delivered subordinates ratings of 672 directors and vice presidents employed by a Fortune 500 technology firm in the United States, this method defines integrity as a leadership competency and measures it using co-worker ratings of observed ethical behaviour. The test used 23-items to measure five competencies and integrity is one of them. The result of the competency test found that the behavioural ratings suggested only a negligible proportion of managers may have integrity issues and do not identify leaders with integrity issues as most of the items in the questionnaire only reflect the desirable end of integrity construct. The study also did not differentiate between high and low-performing managers, and hence cannot be used as an appropriate measurement to identify leaders with integrity issues. What have been done by previous measurements only focused on positive behaviours of managers that might not have been able to identify leaders with integrity issues. However, using Craig and Gustafson (1998) measurement technique of Perceived Leader Integrity Scale (PLIS) which focussed on perception of unethical behaviours of leaders using only a short version of 8-items questionnaire survey rather than 32-items, Hogan and Kaiser (2010) in their study using data from 80 employed MBA students at a university in the South-Eastern United States has proven that this technique is a reliable way of assessing leaders with potential integrity issues as correlation and regression analyses using the PLIS suggested that trust and leaders integrity is the primary determinant of employee attitudes and effective leadership perceptions. Apart from using PLIS, Hogan and Kaiser also used Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) developed by Stogdill (1963) in the study to assess the leaders effectiveness via two-factor of leaders behaviour, that is, Initiating Structure and Consideration scales (10-items for each scale) and found that PLIS is the strongest predictor of all the three predictors and another result indicated that leader perceived integrity was highly correlated with consideration rather than initiating structure which means leaders need to pay more attention to the needs of the subordinates. So, this study will use the PLIS to measure perceived leaders integrity from subordinates assessment in the focus area, that is, the selected Sabah states agencies in Kota Kinabalu. 2.6. Relationship between effective leadership and perceived integrity Parry and Proctor-Thomson (2002) in their study on Perceived Integrity of Transformational Leaders in Organisational Settings involving 1,354 useable samples out of 6,025 managers in private and public organizations throughout New Zealand using both PLIS and MLQ to measure perceived leader integrity and effectiveness respectively found that there was positively significant correlation between leader perceived integrity and a range of leader effectiveness measures in which leader effectiveness was measured with items such as satisfaction with leadership, perceived leader effectiveness, extra efforts from followers and motivation of followers. A study done by Hooijberg et.al in 2010 involving 175 bureau chiefs and directors of a state government agency in the North-eastern USA taking part in a leadership-training program using 20-items survey of Competing Values Framework (CVF) to assess managers effectiveness through eight leadership roles: Producer, Director, Coordinator, Monitor, Mentor, Facilitator, Innovator and as Broker revealed that integrity has an above impact of leadership effectiveness followed by honesty and goal-orientation is the leadership role that bosses highly associated with leaders effectiveness. In addition to the above studies, other past literatures on the study of leadership focussed on the impact of leadership on organization and indicated it was the leaderships role to protect and enhance the invulnerability of public agencies to threats of integrity as suggested by Selznick (1957) that the integrity of the institution is vulnerable to corruption if the leader fails to protect the institutions distinctive values, competence and role. The importance of leaders to demonstrate integrity was also studied by Gray (1985) and Fiedler (1995) as cited in Huse (1998) who argued that leaders will inspire others when they demonstrated integrity. This shows that leadership with integrity is vital to protect organizations vulnerability to corruption as well as to inspire others to behave in a forthright and open-manner and lead the organization into the future which is part of leaders demonstration of integrity. The study by OECD in 2005 on Public Sector Integrity: A Framework for assessment regarding perception of integrity in all its member countries such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Germay, Japan and host of other countries indicated that integrity in public agencies starts at the top and through leaders actions and behaviour. Instilling a culture of integrity has to come from the top such as the senior management, head of department, governing board etc. Leaders in public organizations must keep integrity at the forefront activities so that employees can take their cues and examples from the top. Other research also has shown that supervisors or leaders are the primary influence on the ethical behaviours of their subordinates (Morgan, 1993; Posner Schmidt, 1984). Their contention is based on the belief that as integrity is also about ethical behaviours, this indicates that if leaders exercise ethical behaviour this will lead to larger implications on subordinates behaviours and behaviours of others in the organization. To this, an effective leadership must lead the initiatives to create an atmosphere where individuals in the organization feel safe to move forward to becoming an ideal and competitive organization. But this will depend on the leaderships beliefs in motivation and competitive spirit of all members in the organization on the adherence to values of honesty, ethics, and trust. What is important is a statement by Morgan (1993) who emphasized the ethical leaderships positive impact on organisational effectiveness will result in ethical development which is very important to the leaders success. Morgan also found that followers perception of leaders ethics was positively related to their perceptions of leaders effectiveness. 2.7. Summary of Literature Review Based on the numerous definitions of integrity given by previous researchers such as Becker (1998), integrity is conceptualized as similar to honesty, trust, ethics, matching words with deeds and actions, and a commitment in actions to set of principles and values. In other words, integrity is about something ethical and morality in words and in actions in accordance with existing norms, cultures, values, processes, rules and laws in which managers and leaders in public organizations must adhere to in order to create and maintain public trust. Previous studies indicated that effective leadership can be conceptualized and perceived using Kouzes and Posners (2002) Leadership Practices Inventory or LPI which emphasizes on leadership practices in five dimensions : Inspiring Vision, Model the Way, Challenge the process, Enable others to act and Encourage the heart. Recent study by Abu-Tineh et.al (2008) done in 2008 in Amman, Jordan involving a sample of 550 school teachers resulted in the school teachers assessed their school principals as having practiced Kouzes and Posners leadership practices and has identified them as transformational which is also related to effective leadership. The leaders integrity can be perceived by using Craig and Gustafsons (1998) Perceived Leader Integrity Scale of PLIS in which Parry and Proctor-Thomson in 2002 has conducted a study on a sample of 1,354 private and public managers in New Zealand using PLIS and found a moderate to positive relationship between perceived leader integrity and transformational leadership behaviours measured using Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). Other previous literatures also pinpointed to the needs for perceived effective leadership to possess moral values such as honesty, trust and ethics or in other words integrity to maintain trust and create followers positive perception of leaders effectiveness and integrity to bring the desired impact to the organizations.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Eudora Weltys The Ponder Heart. :: Eudora Welty The Ponder Heart.

Eudora Welty's The Ponder Heart The critical essay "The Strategy of Edna Earle Ponder" by Marilyn Arnold expresses the idea that Edna Earle Ponder is sizing up the woman who has come to the Beulah Hotel, while her car is being fixed, as a potential new wife for Uncle Daniel. Arnold believes that the "narrative ear" is important character in the novel. Arnold argues that the listener is a young female who is naà ¯ve and shy and that Dean Earle utilizes her self-professed intelligence to get Uncle Daniel married again. By marrying again Uncle Daniel would come out of his reclusivness and be happy once more. She states:"Throughout the novel the adroit Edna Earle travels the course of her story selecting details meant to charm and impress a young woman and at the same time she sets forth the expectations that would govern a liaison between her guest and Daniel"(Arnold 70). According to Arnold, Edna Earle is completely disappointed in the two previous marriages of Uncle Daniel. As his protector and the one person who is concerned with his happiness "any further brides will be first sized up, then courted, then forewarned and foreordained by Daniel's niece and protector"(71). It is Edna's belief that Uncle Daniel can only be truly happy when he is in love. In the beginning of her tale Edna Earle gives her listener a plethora of favorable descriptions and accounts of Uncle Daniel. "Edna Earle is especially careful to stress Daniel's youthfulness in spite of fifty-plus years"(72). She also explains how she, Daniel's father, and the citizens of the town have handled Uncle Daniel. Arnold states:"Her narrative becomes in part a lesson on how to treat Daniel: that is, how to protect him and let him do whatever makes him happy"(73). Lastly, Arnold asserts that Edna Earle emphasizes how Uncle Daniel gave away almost all of the Ponder money. Eudora Welty's The Ponder Heart. :: Eudora Welty The Ponder Heart. Eudora Welty's The Ponder Heart The critical essay "The Strategy of Edna Earle Ponder" by Marilyn Arnold expresses the idea that Edna Earle Ponder is sizing up the woman who has come to the Beulah Hotel, while her car is being fixed, as a potential new wife for Uncle Daniel. Arnold believes that the "narrative ear" is important character in the novel. Arnold argues that the listener is a young female who is naà ¯ve and shy and that Dean Earle utilizes her self-professed intelligence to get Uncle Daniel married again. By marrying again Uncle Daniel would come out of his reclusivness and be happy once more. She states:"Throughout the novel the adroit Edna Earle travels the course of her story selecting details meant to charm and impress a young woman and at the same time she sets forth the expectations that would govern a liaison between her guest and Daniel"(Arnold 70). According to Arnold, Edna Earle is completely disappointed in the two previous marriages of Uncle Daniel. As his protector and the one person who is concerned with his happiness "any further brides will be first sized up, then courted, then forewarned and foreordained by Daniel's niece and protector"(71). It is Edna's belief that Uncle Daniel can only be truly happy when he is in love. In the beginning of her tale Edna Earle gives her listener a plethora of favorable descriptions and accounts of Uncle Daniel. "Edna Earle is especially careful to stress Daniel's youthfulness in spite of fifty-plus years"(72). She also explains how she, Daniel's father, and the citizens of the town have handled Uncle Daniel. Arnold states:"Her narrative becomes in part a lesson on how to treat Daniel: that is, how to protect him and let him do whatever makes him happy"(73). Lastly, Arnold asserts that Edna Earle emphasizes how Uncle Daniel gave away almost all of the Ponder money.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Poetry project Essay

He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled, That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust, But still lies pointed as it plowed the dust. If we who sight along it round the world, See nothing worthy to have been its mark, It is because like men we look too near, Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere, Our missiles always make too short an arc. They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect The curve of earth, and striking, break their own; They make us cringe for metal-point on stone. But this we know, the obstacle that checked And tripped the body, shot the spirit on Further than target ever showed or shone. How does poetry help you see yourself/your world differently? Imagery Imagery is when the poet describes the items in the poem and the reader can picture or feel as the poet wants them to. When poets use imagery they want the reader to be able to see in their mind what the poem is about. Imagery is used with adjectives. The Gladiator Kevin Prufer When I died When my blood feathered away and I stared blankly and sideways into the grass. When the grass ceased against my cheek, I could not help but remember the gladiator who, in falling, never groans, who, ordered to accept it,  does not contract his neck for the final blow. And the hillside grew quiet. The bombers passed withering the trees and the city to flame. The empire fell. My empire, like a blood drop into the grass. It is of little consequence to the observer if the gladiator falls forward into the dirt. He is of a mind, merely, to do as he is told. He will not see the emperor’s thumbs. His city fell to its knees and burned, rolled on its side, but he won’t think of it. Those who once cheered for him are cheering still. The airplanes flew over the hill and I, crouched in the grass, was terrified but did not look up, did not complain  when a lost bomb startled me away. Seal William Jay Smith See how he dives From the rocks with a zoom! See how he darts Through his watery room Past crabs and eels. And green seaweed Past fluffs of sandy Minnow feed! See how he swims With a swerve and a twist, A flip of the flipper, A flick of the wrist! Quicksilver-quick, Down he plunges Softer than spray, Down he plunges And sweeps away; Before you can think Before you can utter Words like â€Å"Dill pickle† Or â€Å"Apple butter,† Back up he swims Past sting-ray and shark, Out with a zoom, A whoop, a bark; Before you can say Whatever you wish,  He plops at your side With a mouthful of fish! 1. In â€Å"Seal† how does the use of rhyme scheme keep you entertained throughout the poem? 2. After you have read both poems: How do the authors compare and contrast in their use of imagery? Which one did you like better? Why? After you read: How did your poem compare to these ones? How was yours different. Did you like the way these poets used imagery? Why/Why not? Figures of Speech A figure of speech is the use of a word or multiple words that can do many things. Simile – A comparison of two things using like or as. Example: I am as sly as a fox. Metaphor – A comparison of two things not using like or as. Example: Life is a Journey. Personification – Giving an inanimate object human quality. Example: The tree waved. Hyperbole – An extreme exaggeration of something. I stood there, waiting for you, for 74 hours. And there are other kinds of Figures of Speech but these are the most common ones. Before You Read: Do you use figures of speech when you write your poems? Why do you use them or don’t use them? While you are reading: Do you understand these uses of figures of speech? Why does the author use the simile/metaphor/etc. in this way? The Writer Richard Wilbur In her room at the prow of the house Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed with linden, My daughter is writing a story. I pause in the stairwell, hearing From her shut door a commotion of typewriter-keys Like a chain hauled over a gunwale. Young as she is, the stuff Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy: I wish her a lucky passage. But now it is she who pauses, As if to reject my thought and its easy figure. A stillness greatens, in which The whole house seems to be thinking, And then she is at it again with a bunched clamor. Of strokes, and again is silent. I remember the dazed starling Which was trapped in that very room, two years ago; How we stole in, lifted a sash And retreated, not to affright it; And how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door, We watched the sleek, wild, dark And iridescent creature Batter against the brilliance, drop like a glove To the hard floor, or the desk-top, And wait then, humped and bloody, For the wits to try it again; and how our spirits Rose when, suddenly sure, It lifted off from a chair-back, Beating a smooth course for the right window And clearing the sill of the world. It is always a matter, my darling, Of life or death, as I had forgotten. I wish What I wished you before, but harder. What are frail? Spring blossoms and youth; What are deep? The ocean and truth. How can sorrow be heavy as said in the poem? Today and Tomorrow be brief? Youth be frail? And truth be deep? Sounds of Poetry Sounds of poetry contain many different elements including rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and there subtopics. Rhyme –The repetition of the sound of the stressed vowel and anything after it. Approximate rhyme –Not exact rhyme, not an echo. Internal rhyme –Rhyme inside of a line or lines. End rhyme –Usual rhyme at the end of lines. Rhythm –A musical quality of repetition. Meter –Regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. Iamb –Unstressed followed by stressed. Foot –Stressed followed by one or more unstressed. Trochee –opposite of an iamb. Anapest –Two unstressed followed by a stressed. Dactyl –Stressed followed by two unstressed. Spondee –Two stressed syllables. Onomatopoeia –Words that sound like what they mean. Alliteration –The repetition of the same consonant sound in several words. Assonance –The repetition of vowel sounds.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Year of Wonders

Year Of Wonders Essay 2 Whilst Anys and Aphra are minor characters, they still play an important role in the novel, do you agree? Introduction: In the historical novel The Year Of Wonders, Although the author Geraldine Brooks portrays both Anys and Aphra as support characters, both Anys and Aphra play an important role in the novel, this will be explored in three ways, Anys’s view on the patriarchal society and how she effects the town, Aphra’s importance in the town and her influence on Anna, and lastly Anys’s influence on inspiring and teaching Anna.Anys Gowdie may not have a large acting role in the novel but her presence in the novel compensates for that, Anys plays an important role in the town because of her attitude towards the patriarchal society and her unique views on religion and on the men. In a time where women were living in a society where they were suppressed, uneducated and restricted in their occupations, Anys and Mem demonstrate a new form of w omen that are emerging among the village of Eyam. They challenge the values of the period in several ways.They are highly educated in herbal medicine, independent and non-conforming to the conventions of society. In particular, the Gowdies sense of uniqueness is what allows them to contribute to positively impacting the village. Anys shows how Barber surgeons â€Å"knew nothing of women’s body† and how she does, just by being a woman. Brooks verges on an idea of how logic, science and independence (all followed by the Gowdies) allows one to be stronger than those who oblige themselves to superstition and religion, thus showing us the importance of Anys’s character in the novel.Anys Gowdie doesn’t just have a big impact on the town of Eyam but Anys also plays an important role with her unlikely friendship with Anna. Anys inspires Anna to be a strong, independent woman. For it is â€Å"Truculent Anys† that Anna hears â€Å"whispering impatientlyâ₠¬  in her ear as she tries to deliver the Daniels baby. Anna admires Anys’s strength (â€Å"Why would I marry? I’m not made to be any mans chattel, I have my work, which I love, I have my home- its not much, I grant, yet sufficient for my shelter, but more than these, I ave something very few women can claim: my freedom, I will not lightly surrender it†) and this in turn makes Anna stronger. â€Å"she was a rare creature, Anys Gowdie, and I had to own that I admired her for listening to her own heart rather than having her life ruled by other conventions. Without Anys’s â€Å"guidance Anna wouldn’t have believed she could deliver the baby alone. Aphra Bont is also considered a minor character but like Anys she still plays an important role in the novel.Throughout the novel Aphra is seen as a great contrast to Anna she is portrayed as a cold hearted harsh women and Anna’s view was â€Å"I was always a pair of hands before I was a person, someone to toil after her babies† None the less Aphra was still an important woman without her we wouldn’t have seen the harsh breakdown of society which is shown in the chapter †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ where Aphra’s punishment is carried out by the angry and fragile towns people, Aphra is chucked into a cave filled with pig excrement up to her nose and left there for an entire night, when she emerges from the cave she seems to have gone insane, it is this side of Aphra that signals just how far the town has fallen since the plagues beginning, this scene highlights Aphra’s importance in the novel. However Aphra also plays an important role in the climax of the plot. In a fit of rage (after her decaying daughters head falls off) Aphra stabs and kills Elinor with the very knife that kept Joss Bont stuck to the mine. This is a key scene in the novel, for it is this scene that starts Michael Mompellion down the path of depression, it is after this chapter that Michael M ompellion loses his faith and falls into a pit of despair, which is shown by his comment â€Å"untrue in one thing, untrue in everything. This key scene emphasises the importance of Aphra’s character.