The vast majority of high school and college students despise mathematics; it is difficult for this majority to realize that various seemingly-unrelated areas of study include math as a foundation. Music, art/design, and even athletics are built on mathematics. A pianist can benefit from patterns and sequences when composing much the same way that a golfer can benefit from math-based physics, trigonometry, and even statistics when driving. No matter which avenue a student pursues, math will somehow be present. It is not only the responsibility of a nurse, an engineer, or a physicist to know mathematics. Rather, it is in each student’s best interest that they apply, or at least consider, mathematics in all areas of life.
The universal language of the world is math, and people have been using it for thousands of years across the world. Today’s society would not be in existence without the application of mathematics. By there example we now know why does simple math apply to most of the population. Without math our lives would be very different, and difficult
In closing, I think that ideally, every person should strive for proficiency in as many different academic disciplines as possible. In a perfect society, everyone would be intelligent and posses the ability to succeed in any endeavor. Realistically this is completely impossible. With this being said, I think that it is more important to focus on an individual’s strengths instead of attempting to exploit his or her weaknesses. I enjoy math, and have traditionally done well in it. However, this does not imply that others should feel the same. Everyone has different talents and abilities and should not be penalized for a lack of ability or interest in a specific area of study. All individuals must be responsible for their academic choices but should also be encouraged to challenge themselves to reach their full potential.
References:
1. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/is-it-worth-studying-mathematics.64213/
2. https://aidmath.com/
3. https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2011/11/08/why-learn-math/
When the father of an airline pilot dies of Huntington's disease, the airline does a routine random blood/drug screening. They instruct the lab to also screen for HD without informing the pilot. Now they want to fire him.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The Airline instruct the lab to screen pilot’s blood for Huntington’s Disease without informing the pilot. The Airline want to fire the pilot.
ETHICAL ISSUES
The privacy right of the pilot being violated.
Pilot’s career less significant than public safety.
DEFINITION AND TERMINOLOGY
Huntington's disease, chorea, or disorder (HD), is a progressive neurodegenerative genetic disorder, which affects muscle coordination and some cognitive functions, typically becoming noticeable in middle age. The disease is caused by a dominant mutation on either of an individual's two copies of a gene called Huntingtin, which means any child of an affected parent has a 50% risk of inheriting the disease The genetic test for HD consists of a blood test which counts the numbers of CAG repeats in each of the HTT alleles.
A positive result is not considered a diagnosis, since it may be obtained decades before the symptoms begin. However, a negative test means that the individual does not carry the expanded copy of the gene and will not develop HD. Physical symptoms of Huntington's disease can begin at any age from infancy to old age, but usually begin between 35 and 44 years of age. If symptoms begin before about 20 years of age, they progress faster and vary slightly, and the disease is classified as juvenile, akinetic-rigid or Westphal variant HD. Symptoms are:
-lack of coordination
-unsteady gait
-jerky body movements
-mental illness/psychiatric problems
-pneumonia
-heart disease etc
No cure
Only therapies to reduce physical and psychological symptoms.
AVIATION ACCIDENT STATISTICS
This 2 statistics clearly shows that pilot error is one of the major causes of aviation accidents. Even though there are auto-pilot system in plane, still it is not intelligent enough to fly the plane without the pilot. Pilot is a very important person and responsible for the safety of others. Thus, pilot having medical problems especially muscle coordination and psychology problem is just unacceptable. There are too much at stake to take the risk with pilot having HD. Why take the risk if don’t have to?
STAKES
LAW PERSPECTIVE
MALAYSIAN EMPLOYMENT ACT 1955
-If a employee lost his physical health ability to work, there is a possibility from him to be fired.
-The act of dismissing the employee must not be in rush and must consider other alternative work that can be given to him. TENTATIVE AGREEMENT between FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION and THE AIR LINE PILOTS in the service of FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION as represented by THE AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INT’L.
-Section 15C/1c(Alcohol/Drug Testing):
c. The Company may implement a non-mandatory change in a testing program only with the written consent of the Association. MISSING DATA
Does the pilot have the disease or not?
What kind of plane does he fly?
If he has HD what is the current stage of the disease?
What are the rules and regulation in the specific Airline industry? ASSUMPTIONS
The pilot has the disease.
Fly a passengers plane.
His disease is still not serious yet.
According to the available contract and law:
-The HD test is illegal.
-The pilot can be dismissed with compensation.
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
AUTONOMY
Freedom to make a rational decision.
Moral agent deserves respect.
Rights to ‘informed consent’
Without pressure, force or coercion
The pilot was not notified about the HD test.
There was no informed consent.
His privacy right has been violated.
His autonomic right has been taken away.
UTILITARIANISM
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
The greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
Known as consequentialism
If an action is predicted to be good and beneficial, then that action is considered as a good (and moral) act. According to utilitarianism, firing the pilot is ethical.
It concerns the benefit for the greatest number of people (passengers/public). The only one does not benefit is the pilot.
DEONTOLOGY
Immanuel Kant
Golden rule of Kantian Ethics:
“Do not use others as means to one’s ends”.
How about sacrificing others as means to one’s ends?
This can go both way either to the pilot or the airline.
The airline want to fire the pilot to ensure the safety of the passenger. If the pilot continue to fly the plane, he will put passengers life at risk so that he can still be a pilot. Basically, it is the duty of the airline to ensure the safety of the passenger at all cost.
PRACTICAL CONSTRAINTS
So far, the illegal HD is not ethical.
But firing the pilot is ethical.
The best way to solve this problem is by giving compensation to the pilot for both the test and his dismissal. Possibilities that the pilot will sue the airline because of misconduct. Protest from the pilot association. e.g. ALPA, Air Canada Pilot Association etc.
PRELIMINARY JUDGEMENT
HARM TEST
By relieving the pilot from his duties means not taking risk with the passengers life. This means we are only sacrificing the pilot’s career in order to make sure the safety of public. This do less harm than letting the pilot maneuver the plane. PUBLICITY TEST
This solution can be accepted by the public because it do less harm and give more benefit. We are sacrificing the career of the pilot not his life.
There career’s value is less significant than value of peoples life. MOTHER/FAITH TEST
The concept of sacrificing od oneself for the good of others: Christianity: The crucification of Jesus to abolish the sins of mankind.
-
This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" Gospel of John 1:28-29 "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this, to lay down his life for his friends." Gospel of John 15:12-13 “The one who died for all of mankind” 2 Corinthians 5:15 Islam: Sacrificing own needs for the benefit of others. The ansar and muhajirin. -And [also for] those who were settled in al-Madinah and [adopted] the faith before them. They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what the emigrants were given but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be the successful. Al-Hasyr 59:9 Even though it is not the pilot sacrificing himself, but the concept of sacrificing one for the greater good is widely accepted in society. In this particular case, firing the pilot for the sake of passengers/public safety is acceptable. PROFESSIONAL TEST
The airline will be regarded as very responsible since putting its passengers and public safety on first priority. Airline is a business company, it has to maintain the consumer satisfaction and provide best service to stay in business. Codes of ethics of pilot:
CODE OF ETHIC OF ALPA
An Air Line Pilot will keep uppermost in his mind that the safety, comfort, and well-being of the passengers who entrust their lives to him are his first and greatest responsibility. He will never permit external pressures or personal desires to influence his judgment, nor will he knowingly do anything that could jeopardize flight safety. He will remember that an act of omission can be as hazardous as a deliberate act of commission, and he will not neglect any detail that contributes to the safety of his flight, or perform any operation in a negligent or careless manner. Consistent with flight safety, he will at all times operate his aircraft in a manner that will contribute to the comfort, peace of mind, and well-being of his passengers, instilling in them trust in him and the airline he represents. Once he has discharged his primary responsibility for the safety and comfort of his passengers, he will remember that they depend upon him to do all possible to deliver them to their destination at the scheduled time. If disaster should strike, he will take whatever action he deems necessary to protect the lives of his passengers and crew.
CODES OF ETHICS AIR CANADA PILOT
Airline pilots will keep uppermost in their minds that the safety, comfort and well-being of the passengers who entrust their lives to the pilots are their first and greatest responsibility. Airline pilots will faithfully discharge the duty they owe the airline which employs them and whose salary makes possible their way of life. Airline pilots will accept the responsibility and rewards of command and will at all times conduct themselves, both on duty and off, in a manner that will instill and merit the confidence and respect of their crew, their fellow employees and their associates within the profession. Airline pilots will conduct their affairs with other members of the profession and with the association in such a manner that will bring credit to the profession and the association as well as to themselves. To airline pilots, their profession is dear and they will remember that their character and conduct will reflect honour or dishonour the profession.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Instead of fire the pilot, release him from any on air duties and assigned him as the on ground trainer, supervisor, management post etc. The airline should finance all the future medical expenses needed for the pilot. Compensation given to the pilot on the failure of the airline informing him about the test.
CONCLUSION
Ethics is a very wide concept.
There is no ultimately right or ultimately wrong.
Subject to matter of individual opinion.
Dealing with ethical case is about the best solution not the right solution. Best solution for the problem is give another job for the pilot, finance his medical expenses and give compensation. The pilot still would be a sacrificial lamb, but he can still manage his life.
Source
The last straw was when one of the laptops belonging to our senior marketing executive broke down in Bangkok. Hecould not find the service centre, thus resulting in a wasted business opportunity as he was unable to make hispresentations to potential clients.I am sure you can understand our disappointment and frustration that firstly, such breakdowns can occur as suchfrequency. Sony is supposed to be renowned for its quality, yet this has not proved to be the case. As suchbreakdowns have taken place so soon after our purchase, I would like for these eight laptops to be replaced by newones, and a thorough service check done on the remaining thirty-two laptops, with the same replacement done for the laptops that appear faulty.In addition, could you please look into the reason for the delays in your onsite- service and repairs? It isunacceptable that such delays persist since they affect our staff’s performance.
Finally, we seek compensation for the wasted business trip to Bangkok. Aside from the frustration and humiliationour staff faced, the flight and hotel stay amounted to S$1215. I have attached the receipts for the flight to and fromBangkok, as well as the hotel stay at the Mercure for 3 days, and expect that you will compensate us for the total.As I would like to resolve all the above matters as soon as possible, please do not hesitate to call me at 6336 8181.I look forward to hearing from you soon.Best regards,Faridah SaidPurchasing Officer ZoMedia Pte Ltd179 River Vallly Road#01-01 River Valley Building Singapore 179033
Reference:
http://graduateway.com/victimology-crime-and-deviant-place-theory/
https://soapboxie.com/government/The-Four-Theories-of-Victimization
Their ability in managing the human capital is considered by many as critical skill in order to achieve the organizational goals. In 21st century, the success of strategic leader is dependent on intellectual capital, which includes the ability to manage knowledge, create, and commercialize innovation. Most companies have failed in the global market. This is attributed to their inability to respond to changes in the complex global environment that requires appropriate and quick response. To solve this problem there is a need for strategic leadership for the firm to earn above average returns and achieve strategic competitiveness in the complex global competitive environment. For the organization to have effective strategic leadership, the top management team plays an important role particularly the chief executive officer. Other who participate in the success of strategic leadership are the board of directors, top management team and department general managers. The decisions made by these individuals determine the achievement of the goals set by organization. In making decision company mangers always, use discretion, which is determined by various factors such as external environment, characteristics of the organization, and characteristics of the manager. How managers exercise discretion in making decisions is very critical for the success of the firm. The decisions they make help the strategic leaders to make to come up with strategies that help the firm to gain competitive advantage in the global market. In addition to the top management in making sound and vital decisions, they need to develop a sound organizational structure and reward systems of the firm. Reward systems and organizational structure plays important role in implementation of various strategies created by an organization. They help strategic leaders in implementing strategies for the success of the organization. For instance, through support of top management strategic leaders in Avon were able to generate revenue of 5% higher despite Argentina experiencing economic disaster. The top executives Susan Kropf and Andrea Jung acted immediately to avoid cash and revenue problems. They enhanced and promoted sales in China and Europe to offset revenue losses in Argentina. The decisions and actions made by these two leaders acted as a source of competitive advantage. For development of the effective strategic leadership to ensure competition in the complex global market knowledge and expertise of top management, team is very important in dealing with stakeholders as well as its competitors. In addition, expertise and knowledge is important to operate internal organization. To achieve this, there is requirement of a heterogeneous top management.
This management team comprises of people with different experience, education, and functional backgrounds. Through this management, the organization is able to make sound decisions as the matter team members discuss various issues from different perspectives. For instance, in the airline industry, heterogeneous top management have propensity to take stronger competitive actions and reactions than what happens in homogeneous teams, for example AirAsia airline through Heterogeneous management team acquired competitive advantage in the airline industry by providing low cost flights. Therefore, it is important for firms to ensure that their management team is heterogeneous to ensure effective leadership that can lead to global success. The choices made by top executives in hiring workers are very critical in the performance of the organization. They play a vital role in the firm when establishing strategic leadership for firms operating in the global markets. Most organizations select their strategic leaders and managers from two managerial markets, which include external and internal markets. The internal managerial labor market comprises of individuals who are already working for the organization. On the other hand, external managerial labor market comprises of the people working in other organizations and they may be willing to work in your organization. Most proponents of internal managerial labor markets argue that when a firm chooses a insider as manager the firm accrues several benefits as he is has experience with how the firm operates and the environment of the industry in which the firm competes. In addition, they argue that it is the best choice especially when the firm is experiencing high performance. This is because it keeps the important knowledge, which the firm uses to enjoy competitive advantage in the global market. . For instance, General Electric Company appointed Jeffrey Immelt to succeed Jack Welch. This choice of top executives has lead to sustainable success of the General Electric leading to effective strategic leadership. However, because of dynamic competition in the modern global markets, increasing number of board of directors is appointing outsiders to succeed CEOs. According to the proponents of this thesis, they argue that executives who have spent entire career in the organization become stale and hence there need to get fresh ideas from outside the firm. They further argue that an outsider is likely to bring change especially when the company is performing badly in the market.
Therefore, it is important for firm to make best choices when hiring strategic leaders and managers, as they are pillar to the effective strategic leadership. Strategic leadership contributes positively to the success of the organization. It comprises critical actions that need requires the strategic leader to exercise with expertise. This includes management of firm resources effectively this includes development of human capital , development of effective organizational culture, exploitation of core competencies, establishment of ethical practices and use of effective control stems in the organization. Management of the firm resources is considered as the most important role strategic leader. An organization is in possession of various resources, which includes human capital, financial capital, organizational capital, and social capital. To gain competitive advantage in modern global markets strategic leaders need to organize these resources in to capabilities and structure the organization to make use of these capabilities. In addition, the strategic leader needs to develop and implement strategies to exploit these resources to achieve competitive advantage in global markets. They should maintain and exploit the existing organization core competencies to prevent imitation of these core competencies. These core competencies relate to the functional skills of the organization, which includes finance, research, development, manufacturing, and marketing. The role of strategic leaders maintaining and exploiting these competencies is by ensuring they are included in implementation of the organization’s strategies. For instance, Intel uses competitive speed and agility when implementing its strategies. The competitive agility enables Intel to act various ways when faced with competition and competitive speed to respond in time when faced with competitive and environmental pressures. Strategic leaders should spear head in developing or changing their core competencies to maintain competitive advantage. The firms should make use of concept of diversification to reach more markets. This will help in achieving economies of scale hence competitive advantage in the global market. For instance, PepsiCo acquired Quaker Oats, the manufacturer of sports drink Gatorade. In addition, it makes use of the same channels to distribute Quaker Oats healthy snacks and Frito Lays salty snacks. To ensure effective strategic leadership strategic manager need to develop social and human capital.
Balanced control helps the strategic leaders in making decisions that are important to the organization. Most companies make use of balanced scorecard to verify strategic and financial controls to assess their performance. This technique is very popular when organization is dealing with business-level strategies. The balance scorecard framework consists of four perspectives, which includes financial, customer, internal business processes, learning, and growth. Using this scorecard the strategic managers look at growth and profitability from the shareholders perspective, how customers view the organization from the products it produces (customer perspective), processes that ensure company has competitive advantage (internal perspective) and what the firm need to do in order to improve performance(learning and growth perspective. These perspectives ensure that the organization strikes balance in its operation. This calls for strategic leadership to ensure there is balanced organizational control. In conclusion, strategic leadership is crucial in strategic management it enables the company to create a competitive advantage in the complex global competitive markets. From the discussion above its clears, that top management team is vital in enhancing strategic leadership and plays important role in selection and implementation of firm’s key strategies. In addition, for the firm to have effective strategic leadership components such as managing human capital, effective organizational culture, emphasis on ethical practices, core competencies and balanced organizational controls should be looked in detail. This topic of strategic leadership is important to every organization as it help organization to implement various strategies that aims at ensuring the firm gains and maintains competitive advantage in global market. When a firm achieves competitive advantage it enjoys economies of scale such, increased profits, lows cost and corporate social responsibility.
References
https://quizlet.com/77388430/formal-and-informal-powers-of-the-presidency-flash-cards/
http://graduateway.com/formal-and-informal-powers-of-congress-and-the-u-s-presiden/
https://prezi.com/ucd4x_hnqglw/formal-and-informal-powers-of-the-president-of-the-united-states/
1.
The separate actions of public officials and their staffs, employers and their employees, parents and children, teachers and their students and individuals determines the ethical quality of a society. Ethical decision making are important on an individual level because they establish and define our ethical character, they are crucial on a social level because they produce significant direct consequences and, indirectly, help to set up the moral tone of all social interactions. In essence, the ethical issue regarding river pollution suggests that values or moral judgment of the individuals in a society may come into conflict. Therefore, it makes eminent sense to approach such an issue by issuing a systematic problem solving model to generate possible solutions and to provide a framework for choosing among the solutions.
It is important to mention that ethical decision making was deployed in developing a solution for this problem and alternatives were evaluated systematically in terms of their ethical terms. Throughout the decision process, I recognized that although some responses may be unethical, there are number of ethical ways of dealing a situation (Josephson, 1988).
The first step for me as a manager of the manufacturing facility was to identify the desired outcome for the entire situation. As a manager, my goal was to draw out an ethical strategy for manufacturing that is based on an environmental compatible design by fostering relationship between the locals and the firm and to create a win-win situation for everyone. Once there was complete understanding on desired outcome, I conceded with the notion to define the problem keeping in mind about its antecedents and about the environment in which it is occurring. In this case, the problem was supposedly due to the result of a spillage from the faulty facility and the problem is of a real concern to the company. After carefully drawing out the management problem, I examined the difficulties that evolved in solving this problem. In this case, there were two obstacles that prevented from drafting a feasible solution. Firstly, the vested interest of EPA officials and secondly, the cost function inherited from repairing this facility reflected this task to be impossible. However after carefully reviewing the ethical implications of yielding to the difficulties, I as a general manager decided to comply with the law and to improve the corporate image in accordance with a genuine commitment to a cleaner environment. This is because the cost of harm to others and damage to the organization’s image outweigh the cost of not solving the problem (Waters, 1989).
After I had a clear and distinct mission of a bio-friendly strategy, I chalked down alternatives for solving this problem based on stakeholder acceptability and one that maximizes our goal. In this critical situation, there were two strategies on board that converge to a similar course of action, either to revamp the existing facility or to introduce a new manufacturing facility. The notion of a new manufacturing facility takes precedence over revamping the existing facility because apart from the fact that the latter one had already depreciated through its useful life, it was also prone to further spillage and also demanded a high cost schedule. Therefore, after conducting a feasibility study accompanied by cost benefit analysis, the benefit of a new manufacturing facility exceeded the cost of acquiring it by promising techniques for managing future spillovers. Finally after adopting the new solution, the reaction of the employees, EPA and the local residents was studied to remain aware of others perspective and at the same time be cautious over deliberate attempts by individuals to sabotage the situation in order to keep the problem. After reaffirming a positive reply from the stakeholders and ensuring the problem has been resolved to my satisfaction, individuals involved throughout the process were repaid for their efforts; to guarantee that the endeavor to implement ethical solution in the organization will continue.
2. Much has been written about Jack Welsh, the former CEO of GE (General Electric Corporation). Welsh have been credited with making GE the world’s largest corporation during his tenure with the company. Write a critical analysis of Jack Welsh as a leader. Questions that might be worthy of investigation include, but not limited to: What management theory did he most align with? What was his primary source of power of influence? Be sure to support all conclusions and points of view with credible information/facts. Unsupported claims will not be acceptable.
Revolutionary, innovator, notable, simple, ambitious, determined are few words that establishes the credibility of the long hailed, greatest business leader of the era, Jack Welch. He is considered to be the most favorable manager of the century because he had the charisma to change a model of perfection; GE motors. Jack Welch, celebrity CEO of General Electric, at the beginning assumed the direction of the company in 1981, and while all saw GE as a healthy corporation, a “sacred institution” that could not, nor would need to be touched, he saw it as an organization on the verge to collapse and took drastic measures to save it, and undertook changes that all had previously questioned. His approached, condemned by many, provoked a revolution in GE and it transformed it into a world-wide leader (Slater, 2003).
When Welch took over at GE, the business world had admired large bureaucracies as critical for close monitoring of personnel; it had placed great faith in a command-and-control management system, encouraging executives to over manage; it had allowed the employee to attain a protected status by guaranteeing of a job for life. Jack Welch punctured holes in each of these assumed notions. His legacy is that he has forever distorted these myths and has inspired managers of corporations around the world to behave in a different way: With flat organizational structure, bureaucracies have become much smaller, accompanied with fewer management layers; managers manage much less, delegating far greater authority to empowered employees; the right to a job for life is no longer assured as management runs much tighter and more productive (Lowe, 2008).
To speak on Welch is to speak on change management He is an untiring leader, a perfectionist who is always in search of new things that according to him will have a key role in future. He in an angry, candid executive whose thirst for achievement never ends and thus he is always unsatisfied with his work, as he himself says during GE board meeting: “We more want to be than this. We don’t want only to change the competitive scene by being better that the competitors, but what we are talking about is to take quality to a totally new level. We want to be so valuable for our customers, so important for the success of them that our products will be the only choice.”
For Jack Welch, in the businesses only the fittest survives, therefore for him, to be a leader was necessary in whatever he does. Initially, Welch received much criticism and the greatest number of resignations in GE because of the change he initiated in GE, that it provoked the media to title him as “Jack Neutron”, “a neutron bomb, who eliminates people, but leaves the constructions in foot”. Welch justified its action by saying that “If he had not acted in this manner, it would have transformed General Electric into a welfare society, and not in an agile and fiery enterprise that it was intended to be.” The years of progress and growth had justified his actions and today he is recognized as a revolutionist that listens to his employees, knows the name of majority of them and although being a genius, believes in the importance of learning, stimulating creativity and passion among the employees, and leveraging intelligence and teamwork in conducting business.
Anyone in business, from the most influential corporate managers to the hourly factory worker, has much to learn from Jack Welch and his ideas. Studying about his management skills tells us what American business was once like, and outlines how the tactics he pioneered have changed business for the better in so many ways. In his two decades at the helm of GE, Jack
Welch did more to add to the leadership literature than any other CEO of the modern era. Not only did he give more thought to the business of leadership, Welch devised principles, strategies, and tenets to lead by. By creating one of the world’s most determined and agile corporations, Welch created a new language for organizations, that gave voice to the new methods and strategies that transformed GE from a century- old bureaucracy into a relentless force.
3. Reflect on your experiences –both direct and indirect—and, in no more than two pages, explain why the ―ideal decision process‖ is or is not often followed in organizations. Provide management strategies and or guidelines that would make the ―ideal decision process‖ more prevalent in organizations.
Decision making is one of the primary and most crucial responsibilities of being a manager. The quality for manager’s decision is important for two principal reasons. First, the quality of a manager’s decisions directly affects his or her career opportunities, reward and job satisfaction. Second, managerial decision contributes to the success or failure of an organization.
An ideal decision process entails identifying and choosing alternative solutions in a rational and systematic manner that lead to a desired state of affair. The decision process identifies the critical stages that must be followed when making a decision. However, decision does not always follow an orderly plan. Practical experiences, of course, tell us that the assumptions implied in an ideal decision process are unrealistic. The assumption of perfect rationality in an ideal decision process is contrary to the fact . According to Herbert Simon, a noble laureate, an ideal decision process is not even close to approximation, it does not even remotely describe the processes that human being use for making decision in a complex situation (Milkman, 2008) . Thus, the ideal decision process, based on the principles of rationality and logic, is at best an instructional tool
In reality, the decision making process of a manager is guided by a decision maker’s bounded rationality. It means that the decision makers are bounded or restricted by a variety of constraints when making decisions. For example, in our daily activities, our decision making process is hampered by personal or environmental characteristics that reduce rational or ideal decision making. In other words, the limited capacity of the human mind, problem complexity and uncertainty, amount and timeliness of information at hand, criticality of the decision and time demands may distort an ideal decision process.
It is a universal phenomenon faced by the managers that they are limited by how much information they process because of bounded rationality. This result in the tendency, on the side of the managers, to acquire manageable rather than optimal amount of information. In turn, this practice makes it difficult for managers to identify all possible alternative solutions. In the long run, the constraints of bounded rationality cause the decision makers to fail to evaluate all potential alternatives. The use of heuristics by decision makers helps reduce the uncertainty inherited from the problem. Since these shortcuts represent knowledge gained from past experiences, they can help managers evaluate current problems but also lead to systematic errors that erode the quality of the decision. In actual, a decision process reflects the combination of how a manager perceives and comprehends stimuli and the general manner in which he chooses to respond. This shows that decision making styles within the organization may vary and depends on value orientation and ambiguity. Also managers satisfice, that is choose solutions that meet the minimum qualification; one that is “good enough”, because they don’t have time, information, or ability to handle the complexity associated in an ideal process. Satisficing produces satisfactory results and not optimal result, which nowadays managers look for.
The use of knowledge management techniques can help an organization to overcome the obstacles against an ideal decision process. Knowledge management involves the implementation of systems and practices that increase the sharing of knowledge and information throughout the organization. The use of computer system to share explicit knowledge and observing, participating and working with experts and colleagues can influence decision making which in turn can lead to effective decision making. Moreover, group problem-solving techniques can facilitate better decision making within groups. Brainstorming can help generate multiple ideas and alternatives for solving problems. The use of computer aided decision making tools will reduce consensus roadblocks and collect more information and ensure objectivity to a decision in a shorter period of time.
James A. Waters, F. B. (1989). Attending to Ethics in Management. Journal of Business Ethics , 493-7.
Josephson, M. (1988). Teaching Ethical Decsion Making and Principled Reasoning. Ethics: Easier Said Than Drone , 50-62.
Kreitner, R. (2003). Organizational Behavior. Los Angeles : Mc Graw Hills.
Lowe, J. (2008). Jack Welch Speaks: Wit and Wisdom from the World’s Greatest Business Leader. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Milkman, K. L. (2008). How Can Decision Making Be Improved? Harvard Business Review .
Slater, R. (2003). 29 Leadership Secrets From Jack Welch. San fransisco: Mc Graw Hill.
“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity”. -Edgar Allan Poe While some Poe´s stories have a kind of fun and playful feel to them in spite of their themes of death, murder and betrayal, "Tell tale heart" makes us want to cry. As the audience, we can find sadness and nervousness in every line we read. This story might not seem sad at the beginning; because we might not take seriously what the narrator is saying, so it can be seen as a joke. Maybe, we feel a little superior as we untangle all the discrepancies. But, later on, we realize we have read the story of a man who, plagued by diseases of the body of the mind, is in a near constant state of stress, nerves, and meltdown. In my opinion the writer makes a remarkable job creating the main character, because the story uses an unreliable narrator very effectively; driving the story without giving too much away, to keep it tense. Also the character was well described, even thought we don’t know the name, the gender or the age, but we still can make an image of how the character looked like and behave. And also make us try to make our own predictions about the story. I believe that the Tell tale heart contains a great message behind its mystery. For me the message is that the truth cannot be contained, the guilt will always dominate the decision to lie. The first time we read the story, it is hard to tell what the message between lines is. But when you reread it, you can tell that it is simple, always tell the true no matter what. This short story, without a doubt is a horror or gothic story, because of the climax of the story which is unexpected and talks about death and insanity. The story has a wind of mystery since the beginning where the narrator starts talking about being mad and insane as a good thing, which is a great hook for the reader. The way the writer describes the characters makes the story qualify as a horror story. Also the end of the story is not a happy ending, it leaves the reader kind of shocked with the unexpected chain of events. “The tell tale heart” story written by Edgar Allan Poe is a great narration, because the writer makes the reader develop so many different emotions while reading the story. It is amazing how the writer transport us to the story making as put ourselves in the characters shoes, because we want to understand what is going through the mad man´s mind. This story can be a little complex to understand, but it is
interesting to read a story in which you have to become part of the story to understand the situation. Also, the story have great message hidden behind all the crispiness, which is to be careful with what we do, because at the end we might regret it.
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With rifles and say,
Ese Gringo, gimme your job?
And do you, gringo, take off your ring,
Drop your wallet into a blanket
Spread over the ground, and walk away?
I hear Mexicans are taking your jobs away.
Do they sneak into town at night,
And as you’re walking home with a whore,
Do they mug you, a knife at your throat?
Saying, I want your job?
Even on TV, an asthmatic leader
Crawls turtle heavy, leaning on an assistant,
And from a nest of wrinkles on his face,
A tongue paddles through flashing waves
Of light bulbs, of cameramen, rasping
“They’re taking our jobs away”
Well, I’ve gone about trying to find them,
Asking just where the hell are these fighters.
The rifles I hear sound in the night
Are white farmers shooting blacks and browns
Whose ribs I see jutting out
And starving children,
I see the poor marching for a little work,
I see small white farmers selling out
To clean-suited farmers living in New York,
Who’ve never been on a farm,
Don’t know the look of a hoof or the smell
Of a woman’s body bending all day long in fields
I see this, and I hear only a few people
Got all the money in this world, the rest
Count heir pennies to buy bread and butter.
Below that cool green sea of money,
Millions and millions of people fight to live,
Search for pearls in the darkest depths
Of their dreams, hold their breath for years
Trying to cross poverty to just have something.
The children are dead already. We are killing them,
That is what America should be saying;
On T.V, in the streets, in offices, should be saying,
“We aren’t giving the children a chance to live.”
Mexicans are taking our jobs, they say instead.
What they really say is, let them die,
And the children too.
Mexicans and Americans face this situation every day. It has become a current problem in society. Jimmy Santiago Baca’s poem “So Mexicans Are taking jobs from Americans”, written in Free Verse, demonstrates how Americans misinterpret Mexicans. Americans have this stereotypical view of Mexicans taking their jobs away. What they don’t realize is that Mexicans cannot take away something that Americans have given up in the first place. By using different literary devices, Baca explicates his theme that people are too focused on one issue to worry about the real problems in the world. In the first stanza, the speaker is portraying the way Americans see the common Mexican. He starts off with: O Yes? Do they come on horses with
rifles, and say,
Ese gringo, gimmee your job? (1.1, 1.2, 1.3).
The speaker is explaining that Mexicans are all categorized as “bandidos” or outlaws in the old days that go around on horses carrying rifles demanding “gringos” for their jobs. The speaker proclaims that is the way Americans have come to think about Mexicans. He goes on to explain how Americans pretend to react to Mexicans taking their jobs. “And do you, gringo, take off your ring” drop your wallet into a blanket
spread over the ground, and walk away? (1.4, 1.5, 1.6,).
He is mocking Americans by saying they act like victims when they are not. It is not as if Americans simply allow Mexicans to take their jobs away. The author explains to the “orders” that Mexicans are giving Americans. As if they are allowing this to happen and are doing nothing about it because that is not the case. The speaker makes a renowned statement about the American society and there logic.
The second quatrain is a further description of the perception that people have about Mexicans. “I hear Mexicans are taking your jobs away.” (2.1). Baca begins with saying that people keep talking about how Mexicans are taking jobs away. Then he goes into further evaluation of Mexicans:
Do they sneak into town at night,
and as you’re walking home with a whore,
do they mug you, a knife at your throat,
saying, I want your job? (2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5).
Here the speaker is explaining how Americans view Mexicans and how maybe Mexicans are being sneaky and taking jobs from Americans when they don’t realize it. He uses satire to exaggerate how Americans view Mexicans. He makes it seem like Mexicans are burglars or criminals who sneak into towns. He interrupts his line by mocking Americans by saying they are hypocrites because as Mexicans are acting like criminals by “sneaking into town at night” whites are immoral and doing illegal things. It’s not like Mexicans are threating to kill you if you don’t give them your job. Mexicans are doing jobs that Americans do not want to do. So how is it that Mexicans are taking their jobs away when they don’t want to do them in the first place? If Americans want to work in the sweating fields, cleaning houses, and dirty chicken houses then they should go and work and then we’ll see if they keep saying the same thing. It is not that Mexicans are being sneaky and taking jobs from Americans, It is that Americans are too busy doing other things to see what Mexicans could be doing. In the next set of lines Baca uses different types of figurative language to portray the way that Americans talk about Mexicans. This entire sestet is filled with figurative language. He begins by saying “Even on T.v, an asthmatic leader”(3.1). Baca is using personification in describing the “asthmatic leader”. He later says “crawls turtle heavy, leaning on an assistant” (3.2) this is talking about an older man on T.V. and even maybe a politician because he has an assistant. “a nest of wrinkles on his face” (3.3), this reassures that it is in fact an older man speaking. Baca continues to give the readers an abundance of personification In his next lines: a tongue paddles through flashing waves of lightbulbs, of cameraman, rasping
“They’re taking our jobs away.” (3.4, 3.5, 3.6)
Here, the speaker is saying that people are “gossiping” about how Mexicans are taking jobs from Americans. People can see that people are judging Mexicans and how rich people have nothing better on their minds, but to talk about things that do not even affect them. In the fourth set of lines, briefly he describes how he has not been able to find these Mexicans that are trying to take jobs away from Americans. He says that he has “gone about trying to find them” (4.1) wondering “where the hell are these fighters” (4.2). He’s searched everywhere and has not been able to find them. In the fifth set of lines he goes on to say that while he has not been able to find those “fighters” it is the hypocrisy of Americans that he finds instead. Baca describes American’s as hypocrites by saying: The rifles I hear sound in the night are white farmers shooting blacks and browns
whose ribs I see jutting out
and starving children, (5.1,5.2, 5.3, 5.4).
He describes that it is not Mexicans who threaten Americans. It’s white people that are shooting their own people. It is whites killing blacks and browns. He emphasizes that prejudice is not only Americans against Mexicans; it is whites shooting their own brothers and sisters of different ethnicities. He is saying that while Americans want to blame Mexicans for things, they have worse problems of their own that need to be solved. I see the poor marching for a little work, I see small white farmers selling out
to clean-suited farmers living in New York,
who’ve never been on a farm,
don’t know the look of a hoof or the smell
of a woman’s body bending all day long in fields. (5.6, 5.7, 5.8,5.9, 5.10)
He continues to explain the American way of life. He presents his view on things and what he sees. He sees poor people trying to do anything to have a job. Baca is trying to convey a sense of relationship to Mexicans. Mexicans are just trying to do the same thing. All they want is to make a living and are willing to do any kind of job to be able to provide for their families. He continues on to explain the inequality amongst the American people. That while these poor people are looking for any kind of job, rich people are taking over farms and controlling the white farmers when they have no idea what it takes to do the jobs that farmers do.
In the sixth set of lines Baca explains why Mexicans perform the jobs that they do. I see this, and I hear only a few people
got all the money in the world, the rest
count their pennies to buy bread and butter. (6.1, 6.2, 6.3).
He is saying that while some people have all the money they could have, the rest “Mexicans” earn every cent just to afford food because they live day by day thinking of how they will get money to earn a living.
In the seventh set of lines, the speaker provides the readers with imagery and sympathy. “Below that cool green sea of money,” (7.1), which represents richness, “millions and millions of people fight to live,” (7.2) meaning that while rich people have all the money they need, so many people are simply trying to survive and making a living. He continues on to execute imagery by saying:
Search for pearls in the darkest depths
of their dreams, hold their breath for years
trying to cross poverty to just having something. (7.3, 7.4, 7.5)
Once again, the speaker is saying that their whole life, Mexicans have tried time and time again to have something. Tried so hard to get out of misery because that is what their whole lives have been; all just to have a little----to have something. They search something to look forward to in life, something to keep them going because they have nothing else to live for. ¬That is not asking for much.
In the eighth set of lines, the speaker states what is that Americans are doing by not allowing Mexicans to make a living. He does so by saying:
The children are dead already. We are killing them,
that is what America should be saying;
On TV, in the streets, in offices, should be saying,
“We aren’t giving the children a chance to live.”(8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4).
The speaker explains that instead of saying that Mexicans are taking jobs away, they should think about what they are really doing instead. That is allowing children to die because they are not allowing their parents to make a living and be able to feed them. Instead of all that, people should realize that they are condemning children to die and their family too.
In the last set of lines, Baca reinforces the idea that there are far more important things going on in the U.S. to worry about than just Mexicans taking jobs from Americans. He does so by saying:
Mexicans are taking our jobs, they say instead.
What they really say is, let them die,
and the children too. (9.1, 9.2, 9.3)
He finishes his poem by saying that Americans are insensitive because by saying that Mexicans are taking their jobs, they are neglecting them the possibility to earn a living. Americans do not realize that by not allowing Mexicans to work, they are also not giving them the opportunity to feed their families, their children. Americans keep saying Mexicans are taking their jobs away, but the real consequences are that their families are dying as well.
And so, through his literary devices, Baca communicates his theme that people judge others without knowing the reasons for their actions which leads them to focus on one issue and not directing their attention to real problems in society. This causes problems because people always get a misconception of others, and they don’t realize the damage that they are causing others.
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