ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Analysis of leadership style A senior executive whose leadership style has affected me positively is the director of the department that I work for in my current organization. His leadership style appears to be a combination of three leadership theories, namely, contingency, path-goal, and leader-style. The Contingency leadership theory supposes that by addressing leader-member relations, task structure, and position power, you are at the same time attending to the effectiveness of a leader. The director mediates between departmental staff members and the topmost executive of the company creating a productive relationship between these two organizational entities. In this manner, the staff members of the department feel that they are part of the company and are motivated to be more productive. The path-goal theory stresses increasing subordinate motivation by taking into account their ideas and making it clear to them how they can perform at their best. The director encourages departmental staff to share with him the ideas that they feel will improve job productivity. Personally, I felt motivated when I suggested a flexible working arrangement to the director when I had a pressing personal commitment and he agreed to it on the basis that it would not compromise my job performance. The leader-style theory guides leaders in making suitable decisions and also provides a measure of the extent to which subordinates can be included in the decision making process. The advantages of this style are that subordinates are committed to the organization’s objectives and it encourages leader-subordinate interaction. The director appreciates the importance of including staff members in making departmental decisions that will affect them. To him, cautiously winning staff support is a critical element in managing the department efficiently. Analysis of organizational structure and culture The organizational structure in question is a functional organizational structure. As such, it builds on job functions, with the direct aim of improving job and cost efficiency (Suttle, 2013, para. 3). The main organizational units in this structure are departments, whose heads are directors. The departments comprise of a team of employees with specific job skills. The director of the department reports to upper company executives and in addition mediates between them and his staff members. The organizational culture of the company inspires and supports continuous professional development (CPD). A professional setup demands that an individual maintains, advances, and broadens his or her knowledge and skills. Also in the same setup, it is imperative that this individual develops personal qualities that not only enable him or her to fit in but also to become very effective and efficient. CPD is the means through which individuals accomplish both of these. The company is striving towards achieving global standards of excellence and so it feels it has to encourage professional growth among its personnel. Org
The Most Appealing Ideas Expressed by the Author In his book, The Flight of the Creative Class , Richard Florida focuses on a fascinating phenomenon that has emerged relatively recently – the rise of the creative class. According to the author’s idea, the creative class is represented by a multitude of individuals who choose to pursue creative careers in a variety of fields. For instance, the creative class includes makeup artists, software developers, finance managers, scientists, content creators, technologists, among others. To be more precise, everyone whose work is based on their creative talent in some area belongs to the creative class. Florida maintains that, at present, the creative class is becoming one of the most densely populated segments of the workforce in the global labor market. Also, this segment is recognized as one of the most profitable in terms of income they are able to generate in their workplaces. In this book, Florida addressed the modern leaders of the United States of America, who, according to the author’s opinion, have made a serious of missteps that led to the establishment of an uncomfortable and unwelcoming environment for the creative class. It is interesting that the author compares the social conditions in the country before and after the events of 9/11 and concludes that due to the extreme security measures, foreign talent was seen a number of obstacles in the way towards the United States. Practically, the author warns the leaders and authorities of this country writing that because of the harsh treatment of foreign workers here, they started to prefer other developed countries as places to find employment. It was also a clever idea to present the matter with humor in order to make the book focused on quite a serious topic easier and more pleasant to read. In addition to the warning for the US leaders about the features that drive valuable talent away, the author also provides a discussion of the conditions that tend to attract it. The approach of the author could be called upstream due to his vision of a bigger picture and a clear idea of what kind of problems the country may face if its creative class becomes smaller, weaker, and outperformed by that of other developed countries. The Implications of The Ideas in the Book for Me as an Educator As an educator, I found this book rather interesting in terms of a critical approach to the sets of skills and abilities taught in schools today. Specifically, it was fascinating to learn about the phenomenon of the creative class and about the change in modern society that facilitated this shift in the workforce. In the 20th century, service jobs were used to represent the largest segment of the labor force. As a
“Socio-technical is basically people and technology. When you put an information system into an organization, unfortunately it’s much harder to influence people’s behavior [than to simply install computers and load software on them]. People attach emotions to their tools, and they also have cultural norms of usage that become important. Once you add people to information system usage and change efforts, you magnify the complexity—it’s an awful headache” (“Easing the information system headache where people and technology intersect”, 2008). The theory of sociotechnical systems (STS, sociotechnical systems theory) became popular in 1970-1980th years. Its development was caused by European experiments with work democratization from the one hand, and from the other — works of American scientists in engineering and sociology. According to the theory, the organization which wants to become successful should provide harmonious unity of social and technical systems taking into account the purposes of the organization and external conditions. The technical system is not only the equipment, but also corporate principles, standard working procedures. Every method introduced by management engineer is a part of technical system. The social system includes everything connected with head-hunting and development of the people working in the organization, their characteristics and cultural interaction. The term “system” describes set of the interconnected and co-operating components forming a single entity. It is impossible to understand, how the system works, without considering its parts separately. It is understandable only after learning the interaction of people and equipment. The system is dynamic, it changes after environment changes. Let’s browse how the STS system works for such well-known company as Toyota. What is the secret of its unprecedented success? Is it because Sakiti Toyoda borrowed some magic potion from ancient Samurais when he was founding a company for manufacturing automatic weaving looms? Or perhaps, it’s the army of super-engineers armed with expert-systems and brand-new super computers, who work for the company? No. Everything is much simpler. Toyota’s top managers responsible for product development at the American enterprises, usually answer these questions with a short phrase that their work is based upon common sense. Unfortunately, the idea of common sense in Toyota and behind its borders differs quite often. The secret of Toyota’s success cannot also be defined because there is no uniting answer of how to gather to one term all the parts: persistent work, talented engineers, culture of team work, the debugged processes, a complex of simple, but effective tools and Kai-dzen – continuous perfection of everything written above. In a word, Toyota is a real economical, sociotechnical system which constantly develops
Analyze the causes and the impact of the current financial crisis on the UK economy . The United Kingdom has maintained swift economic growth and low inflation over the past decade. The U.K economy developed 3% growth in 2007. Inflation had been under control in 2007. Further, U.K’s net debt stays well under the G-7 average. Thus, U.K can achieve this feat due to its strong policy frameworks and economic policies. This strong economic foundation has facilitated to withstand global economic turmoil and turbulence. However, U.K’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is expected to be around 1.75% to 2.25% in 2008 as compared to 3% growth in 2007. The U.K started to witness imbalances in recent years due to global financial shocks in commodity markets, financial markets and energy prices. Thus, confronts are in the shape of declining domestic savings, overheating in the housing markets, high current account deficits, increasing inflation and prolonged decreases in international investment positions. The downtrend in U.K’s economy is evidenced by the fact that its financial results over the past few financial years came down headway under golden and sustainable rules. Through the U.K government intervention like tightening of monetary cycle from middle 2006 has somewhat contained the imminent inflation perils and began to give a soothing effect to the housing market. However expectations over the medium-term inflations which had been on the rising trend over some period –happened to increase and fundamental external inequity augmented with the factual efficient appreciation of sterling pounds. Further, the recent global financial shocks have augmented the significance of transforming the policy mix and put forth new issues in the structure of policy frameworks to the surface. In case, the upward drift and imbalances in inflations anticipations continue and the linked perils to prolonged growth that is to be address
Introduction I have noticed that our society today has turned into one that prefers “instants.” Instant communication, food, gratification, socializing, and all the other iterations of quickness and experience. Some cities never sleep like New York and people that work 16 hours a day for 7 days a week and enjoy it (i.e., the workaholics). Suffice it to say, our culture at the present is one that places great importance, even pride, in being constantly on the move. Yet, I believe it is due to this that our society will break down and collapse since we have forgotten that at times we need to stop, think, and evaluate what has happened to us and just relax. For me, my conceptual metaphor that has had the greatest impact on my life is the belief that: “even the strongest engines need rest.” A person should not always be on the move, we should not always demand things to be done instantly and immediately, and we should strive to reflect on past events rather than constantly move forward regardless of the consequences. This is a lesson that took me quite a while to learn, however, it has influenced my actions to this day since it resounds with all the adverse situations that have happened to me that could have been avoided if I had just taken the time to stop, look and reflect. Life has seasons too One of the things people fail to realize is that your life has seasons just like the environment you live in. Spring in a person’s life can be associated with opportunities that come your way, the creation of the initial spark or drive that makes you want to take up new activities and new experiences and acts as a springboard to help you become a better version of yourself. Summer is when things get serious, and you actively pursue those activities that started in spring resulting in new outcomes, better results, and a general feeling of accomplishment for tasks that were accomplished. Fall is when things start to slow down, where we begin to feel the need for rest, introspection, and internal self-reflection. Winter is when things grind to a halt completely and indicate a necessary period of rest so that you can get ready for the upcoming spring and summer, where a fully rested body and spirit are necessary. Unfortunately, most people seem to live under the assumption that their entire life is nothing more than one constant cycle of spring and summer. They keep forcing themselves to move forward and go from one activity to another without heed for rest or self-introspection. They always state phrases such as “YOLO” (You Only Live Once) or “I will rest when I am dead.” Yet, I have noticed that it is usually people like these that develop the most problems in life. They always seem stressed they seem to lack energy, and in the end, they tend to develop the most emotional problems out of all the other types of people that I have encountered. The reason for this goes back to my conceptual metaphor of “even the strongest engines need rest.” If you ignore the necessary seasons of life, if you keep on going against the rest that your body and spirit need, then it is very likely that you will destroy yourself from within. One
Introduction The North America Free Trade Agreement came into effect in January 1994. It is an exhaustive trade pact that defines the regulations regarding trade and acquisitions (NAFTANOW.ORG). Parties to this agreement include Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico . By and by, the pact has lead to the removal of a majority of tariff and non-tariff barriers to costless commerce and investment between the three signatories to the pact (NAFTANOW.ORG). It is the largest free trade area in the whole world in terms Gross Domestic Product (Amadeo). NAFTA is manned by several trilateral institutions that make sure that the pact is properly interpreted and implemented as per the provisions of the pact (NAFTANOW.ORG). These institutions include The Free Trade Commission which has ministerial delegates from the member states and whose main role is to arbitrate in disputes related to the pact (NAFTANOW.ORG). Other institutions are the NAFTA Coordinators, Working Groups, the Secretariat and the Commission for Labor Cooperation (NAFTANOW.ORG). Objectives of NAFTA NAFTA was formed to fulfill several goals. Principally, the pact was to do away with all barriers to commerce and aid the cross-border transportation of commodities and services between the member states (NAFTA Secretariat). Secondly, the pact was to enhance an environment of unbiased competition in the jurisdiction of the pact. The pact also aimed at adding more trade chances across the jurisdictions of the member states (NAFTA Secretariat). Over the pact was to offer proper protection of intellectual property rights, establish institutions and procedures for joint oversight and create structures for increased trilateral cooperation in the future (NAFTA Secretariat). Advantages of NAFTA Through the elimination of trade barriers, the pact has resulted in the expanded trade, lower levels of unemployment, and afforded consumers more options at very competitive prices. In addition, the three party states have enjoyed increased prosperity (Bautista) . Removal of tariffs leads to reduced inflation since it decreases the costs incurred in imports. Cost of trade has also been reduced and this has resulted in increased investment in the free trade area (Amadeo). In regard to increased trade in commodities and services, it was noted that commerce between the member states grew by more than four times between by 2009 (Amadeo). U.S exports to Canada and Mexico increased from 142 billion dollars to 452 billion dollars in 2007 while exports originating from Canada and Mexico to the U.S. grew from 151 billion dollars to 568 billion dollars in 2007 (Amadeo). The pact has lead to the increased U.S. farm exports to Canada and Mexico. The exports grew from 22 percent of the whole U.S. farm exports back in 1993 to 30 percent in the year 2007. This was
Voltaire’s novella Candide can be regarded as a biting satire of the political and cultural life in eighteenth-century Europe. In this work, the author attempts to explore a great number of problems such as incessant wars, philosophical beliefs of this period, colonialism, and many other problems which affected thousands of people. To a great extent, this work is aimed at showing that in various European societies, people could be treated only as objects that did not have the capacity to think and feel. In many cases, they were denied the right to humanity. In his turn, Voltaire attempts to demonstrate the destructive nature of this ideology. It should be mentioned that for a long time, Candide remains virtually impervious to the outside world. In fact, he lives in the castle of his uncle, Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh (Voltaire 5). To some degree, the protagonist is convinced that he lives in an ideal society in which suffering and injustice do not exist. However, when Candide leaves the castle, he is forced to join the war about which he does not know anything. Moreover, he is flogged for refusing to take part in the battle of the two armies (Voltaire 17). One should bear in mind that in the eighteenth century, thousands of soldiers were coerced into military service. Their opinions, needs, or views were rejected as something irrelevant. It seems that these problems remained relevant long after the death of Voltaire. Additionally, in this novella, Voltaire highlights the immorality of slavery. The author mentions that the characters are enslaved several times. Moreover, in many cases, they are treated as mere objects that are not allowed to have their own values, ideas, or opinions. This is one of the details that can attract the attention of a reader. One should focus on the narrative told by an old woman who has been enslaved for almost the entire life (Voltaire 27). In particular, she says that she has never been viewed as a living and thinking being by other people. This example is important for describing the moral problems which were not fully resolved in the eighteenth century. Finally, it should be noted that the author does not attempt to provide solutions to the problems that he describes. The protagonist of the novella decides to end his travel and work as a peasant. He comes to the conclusion that devotion to work is probably the only worthy way of living (Voltaire 84). Moreover, he rejects philosophy as something unnecessary. This is one of the details that should be considered by readers. On the whole, one can say that Voltaire’s Candide is an influential work of literature and philosophy. Admittedly, the author does not show how one could transform the European societies of that period. However, this novella can enable the readers to see how various
Italy is considered one of the healthiest counties in the world by the Bloomberg Global Health Index. However, the Italian economy is in bad shape, and unemployment in the country is high. People all over the world wonder how Italians can live such healthy lives in such a bad economy, and the answers are likely to be tied to their eating habits. This paper will examine their eating habits based on the principles of nutrition. Italian Eating Habits Eating habits of the Italian people involve a variety of food groups, most of which contain a healthy balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fat, minerals, vitamins, and water. They include such foods as vegetables, fruits, beans, tomatoes, fish, poultry, whole grains, dairy products, red wine, and olive oil. Red meat and carbohydrates are kept to a minimum. However, chicken, turkey, and fish are often eaten. Fat is present only in a small portion of products, and the majority of energy comes from relatively healthy foods (Prinelli et al., 2015). This is consistent with the principles of human nutrition. Eating habits themselves are also good for Italians. In the morning they eat very light food that is full of energy such as small biscuits or cereals. Then they eat a variety of lunches depending on personal taste, such as sandwiches and salads, pasta, and chicken with vegetables. Dinners are balanced and include major food groups. Also, Italia
Pig feed at the present contains an amalgam of ingredients that focuses on developing a sufficiently plump and heavy specimen as opposed to creating one that is of moderate size yet is far healthier in comparison. Modern-day pig feeds contain ingredients such as ground corn, ground oats, animal fat, dried whey, soybean meal, animal by-products such as fish meal and bone meal as well as various ingredients such as Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite, and Pyridoxine Hydrochloride. Various synthetic amino acids are also utilized as a more economically viable option to provide the necessary proteins for growth as compared to the use of various types of fish meal and bone meal in order to meet the amino acid needs of your average swine. While pig feed is generally cheaper as compared to other types of feeds utilized for animals, it is generally inferior in overall nutritional content. For example, an examination of the feeds utilized on fish, domesticated cats and dogs as well as chickens reveals a higher percentage of vitamins, minerals, as well as better sources of protein as compared to those utilized within pig feed. Not only that, such feeds often do not derive their carbohydrate content exclusively from inferior sources such as soybean husks, ground corn, or ground oats but rather focus on deriving it from better wheat-based sources. All of this equates to a meal product that is nutritionally better for such animals as compared to the amalgam of ingredients that are fed to pigs. On the other hand, what you have to understand about pig feed is that not only is it cheaper, easily digestible and can be fed to pigs at almost any point during their development stages, its main purpose is to bulk up pigs at an incredibly fast rate (Emiola and Gous, 79-86). This means that many of its active ingredients have synthetic amino acids and growth formulas that have been specifically engineered to increase growth and development. The inherent problem though with such ingredients being included in pig feed is that this actually creates the potential for a certain level of toxicity to build up within pigs if they are overfed. Also, specific types of pig feeds cannot be fed to pigs that are 10 weeks away from slaughter in order to prevent the addition