ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction The concept of management is one of the most complex and controversial issues in management practice involving directing and controlling, managing, and evaluating processes. Thus, different theorists and scientists propose diverse theories of management and its role in organizations. In the book Against Management , Martin Parker proposes a unique approach to management and its impact on the organization. He rejects many theories and practices used by other researchers and claims that there are no clear and detailed theories of management today. Parker underlines that all theories of management mix up the concept of organization and management, and use these terms as synonyms. Thus, this approach limits understanding of management and its role in the modern organization (Clegg et al 87). By way of review, management aims at a comprehensive and constructive examination of an organization’s management and its assigned tasks. Overall, the management is concerned with the appraisal of management actions in accomplishing organizational objectives. Its primary objective is to highlight weaknesses and deficiencies of the organization for possible improvements. Parker’s Vision of Management Parker underlines that “management can be seen as a generalized technology of control to everything – horses, humans and hospitals” (Parker 11). More specifically, Parker includes a review of how well or badly the managerial functions of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling are being performed. In addition, it evaluates how effective the decision-making process is in accomplishing stated organizational objectives. Within this framework, the questionnaire provides a means for evaluating an organization’s ongoing operations by examining its major functional areas. Parker underlines that “many people believe that management is a precondition for an organized society, for social progress and economic growth” (Parker 2). The early theory of management tended to be “normative.” In effect, practitioners and observers of management discipline reflected upon the managerial practices that they had used and observed in various organizations and synthesized this experience into management principles, that is, management theory. Because these observations were personal, the principles tended to be subjective. More recent theory has grown out of controlled experimentation. Using the methodology of the behavioral scientists, researchers carefully studied, and continue to study, the world of the manager. The results, within the boundaries of the experimentation, tend to be more objective. However, we are still dealing with management theory. Parker states that “management is both civilizing process and religion” (Parker.2). Whether personal observation or controlled experimentation is the source, any principle tends to focus on the managerial process and ignore the environmental considerations in
Introduction Fight Club is an American feature movie adaptation of the 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk, directed by David Fincher. Major actors and actresses were selected by the studio to assist promote the movie, and actors Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter were ultimately cast into the key roles. Fincher worked with Uhls to make up the script, searching for advice from others in the movie commerce and his own cast associates. Themes and perception When Fight Club was presented at the Venice Film Festival, the film became a sensation and challenged a broad range of opposing estimations from outstanding critics. Janet Maslin of The New York Times admired Fincher’s direction and editing of the movie. She also stated that Fight Club held a message of “current adulthood”, and that, if not watched attentively, the film could be misinterpreted as approval of violence and nihilism. David Fincher’s Fight Club is one of my preferred films. And like any great movie, it is unrestricted to a broad range of understanding and study. Different themes that run all through Fight Club entail anti-modernism, Buddhism, societal estrangement, nihilism, and non-conformism ‑ just to list a few. There is one subject that is necessary to embellish, and that is Fincher’s understanding of the contemporary male condition. Fight Club does not cover a perfect picture, mainly depicting men as a bird with a broken wing. A very aggressive bird that can not fly. The film offers that men no longer have a correct opening to voice their dormant violence, and to make issues inferior, they have been stated by society to repress their impulses. Fincher goes on to declare that men have turned to be feminized by the community. This notion should not be any immense revelation to anyone; it is a generally held in-joke that women work to domesticate their wild men. And given the propensity for male aggression and violence, this shouldn’t be unexpected
Introduction The nature of business and how companies conduct their business today has created a potential for organizational members to engage in unethical conduct or behavior. Unethical behavior is defined as the harmful effect that one’s behavior has on other people. This harmful effect can be either illegal or morally unacceptable by the organization or the general society at large. Unethical behavior is usually brought about by the social behaviors and relationships that people have within organizations. Unethical behavior in organizations is usually influenced by the individual characteristics, their relationship with other organizations members and how they have embedded themselves into the organization’s system. Many people recognize self-interest as the major reason why individuals or companies engage in unethical conduct. There has been an increasing concern over the recent past on the business practices of most corporate companies around the world and how these practices might affect the ethical fabric of today’s society. As members of society, we daily face cases of ethics when our moral standards are put to question by purchasing counterfeit goods or engaging in illegal business transactions. The overall desire for individuals and businesses to be successful as most people engaging in unethical behavior so that they can get ahead. Unethical behavior, in general, is a vice in today’s society that has become limitless and unavoidable. In some cases, unethical practices in organizations might go unnoticed for a long time, but in the event, they are brought to light, the company might face litigation cases or cases of malpractice that might cost the company billions of dollars in lawsuits and settlements. Unethical Organizations and Business Practices The standards that are used to define what makes up ethical behavior are known as ethical standards. These are the principles that govern the actions or behaviors of every member of an organization or society. The most common ethical standards that are used by organizations today are the codes of ethics which set out the ethical and behavioral standards that employees within an organization are expected to follow. Codes of ethics are used to define the values and beliefs of a society, an individual or an organization. However, these codes of ethics have some grey areas that make it challenging to provide a clear cut answer for unethical practices that might bring success to a company or business entity. As a result, these grey areas force unethical practices onto an organization (Dellaportas et a
Introduction The top management at Bank of America (BoA) is considering adding more functionality to the bank’s mobile application in order to accommodate other lines of business. The bank initiated the mobile application in 2007 and since then the product has attracted over three million consumers. This immense success is the driving force behind the need to increase the mobile application’s functionalities. Other line-of-business managers are hoping to benefit from the already acquired customers and that is why they prefer using the existing platform instead of creating a new one. The head of BoA’s Digital Marketing Jen McDonald is working with the bank’s senior vice president Douglas Brown to decide how to best utilize the mobile banking application. The two managers have to find a way of opening up the mobile platform to other lines of business including mortgages and credit cards. Moreover, incorporation of new features into the app should not make it undesirable to customers. This case study investigates the complexities surrounding the decision to open up the mobile banking application to other lines of business. In addition, the study offers recommendations based on the findings of the analysis. Analysis BoA is one of America’s biggest financial institutions in terms of population coverage and asset base. The bank launched a mobile banking application in May of 2007. The mobile application/app enabled the bank’s customers to access banking services through a mobile phone software application or a mobile phone browser. In a period of less than three years, the product had been embraced by over four million customers. The application was also one of the best performing products among the ones launched in that period. This accomplishment led other product-managers to request that some of their products be incorporated into the mobile application. The other line-of-business manage
The “horizons of growth” model has been an effective growth strategy that IBM has used for a long period. The mode involved the segmentation of the company business entity into three different horizons: H1, H2, and H3. Each of the three business horizon represented a different stage of development. The success and growth of IBM can be attributed to this growth model. Its different business portfolios were growing at different rates and it was therefore necessary to accord different degrees of attention to each of one of them. The model was at fist problematic to managers because they did not possess adequate knowledge to enable them to apply it to different business venture the company was engaging in. The model was particularly effective because of several factors. For example, it enabled managers to improve productivity by cutting operation costs and hence improve the company’s performance. Secondly, the model enabled the company to evaluate its performance and identify its weaknesses. For example, H3 businesses were poorly developed. This realization was important in helping the management to develop strategies that would propel the growth of the businesses to greater heights. The model was effective and brought growth to IBM. However, it failed in certain aspects. It presented organizational collisions because each of the horizons had a unique management system. This means that IBM had three different management systems that were supposed to work in harmony and comply with the overall organizational structure. This presented great problems to managers in their efforts to reconcile the systems to the organizational structure. In addition, it lacked proper guidelines to promote a business form one status to another. The EBO management system evolved from humble beginnings to become a mainstream organizational system at IBM. Initially, the system presented great problems to managers. They experienced difficulties in executing the horizon growth model, which was a vital component of the EBO management system. The senior management of IBM collaborated with its managers to classify its businesses into the three horizons, which heralded the EBO system. Emerging business opportunities (EBO’s) were classified as H1, H2, and H3. The CEO later reiterated that the company’s main goal was revenue growth, which would be achieved by implementing the EBO management system to all businesses. His great interest in EBO management system improved the degree of embracement by managers and employees. The key elements of the current EBO management system include quality leadership, tracking and monitoring, strategy development, and adequate resources. The current system has quality leadership because of competitive recruitment and selection of leaders based on their qualifications. In addition, selected leaders were evaluated regularly
Introduction Public health law is a legal mechanism that focuses on issues involving the governance and provision of medical services. The aim of the legislation is to ensure that the services are provided fairly to all persons. In the United States of America, the provision of Medicare is the mandate of both the state and the federal governments. It is provided in the form of Medicaid and Medicare. The services mainly target children, the aged, and the poor in society (Carson, Koger, Lebo, & Young, 2010). As such, there are legal mechanisms and guiding policies that are put in place to regulate the administration and management of resources and funds pooled together by the two governments. Consequently, there are common interests and conflicts between the two governments in the provision of these essential services. In this paper, the author will analyze these interests and conflicts with regard to the provision of Medicaid. Interests and Conflicts in the Provision of Medicaid Similarities between the Interests of the State and the Federal Governments with Regards to Medicaid Both the state and the federal governments share some vested interests in the provision of Medicaid. The two governments are interested in the provision of quality healthcare to the citizenry (Pearson, 2005). To achieve this objective, the governments come together and pool their resources in a guided and regulated plan. The federal and state governments also attempt to increase funding to the program to improve the quality of services provided. To this end, the federal government is proposing additional funding under the Affordable Care Act (Gordon, 2014). On its part, the state governments are pushing for the adoption of budgets and policies in favor of Medicaid. Bovbjerg, Wiener, and Housman (2006) observe that citizens are entitled to Medicaid. As such, the federal and state governments share some legal obligations to provide services to all citizens who qualify for the program. As such, there are laws and policies enacted on both sides to enhance the management of the plan (Wachino, Scheider, & Rousseau, 2004). Conflicts between the State and Federal Governments in Relation to Medicaid Cases involving two or more parties are characterized by a wide array of issues and conflicting interests. The same applies to Medicaid. It is a fact that the program is funded by the state and federal governments, creating a shared interest. In addition, the two governments are guided by statutory provisions, such as the Conflict-Free Case Management [CFCM] (Carson et al., 2010). However, there still exist cases of conflicts between the federal and state governments. A case in point is the application and definition of administrative policies that guide the program (Gordon, 2014). Each of the two governments attempts to outdo the other by imposing its policies. In addition, the acquisition of resources and facilities poses a challenge to the two entities. To this end, there are conflicts on who should undertake the procurement of human resources and facilities (Grabowski, 2007). Other factors that bring conflicts between the interests of the two governments include
Health Communication: Training Programs for Semiliterate and Illiterate Populations – Swaziland Case Study Health communication focuses on the solution of health issues through the dissemination of selected messages to communities. Most organisations apply various means to spread health messages including the use of social media and personal interactions with target audiences. Although communication plays a central role in th the study of health communication as an independent principle, this branch of communication intertwines with other fields of study including strategic planning, sociology, politics, and economics. This paper explores some of the essential elements involved in health communication. The paper involves the creation of a training program for a group with limited literacy levels by using the Kingdom of Swaziland, in Africa, as a case study. The program centres on the HIV/ AIDS pandemic, which has created a health problem for in Swaziland, thus causing significant effects in the economic and social spheres of the country’s structural arrangements. Planning a Training Program When planning the execution and successful implementation of a training program for health communication, medical practitioners have to consider several crucial aspects including conducting research, establishing essentials for the program, identifying the participants, and planning the overall management of the program. Conducting Research When conducting a research, one has to consider the target population for the program to establish the setting of the program, viz. whether formal or informal. It also helps in establishing whether there is a need to apply a multi-faceted approach to the method of dissemination of information. For instance, one may choose to use social and print media for a large population or seminars at a central location for smaller populations. Swaziland has a population of over a million people and social or print media would thus be appropriate in comparison to seminars. The culture of the people that make up the target population is also important as it informs the researcher on what language to use and habits that comprise the appropriate mode of interaction with the audience. It also allows the audience to connect with the researcher regarding
Full of Life Company Description Coming up with a name for a company is one of the most critical components of a successful business plan; the name has to not only attract customers but also be representative of the entire business itself and for what it stands. The business plan included in this paper relates to a non-alcoholic beverage company. It is proposed to call the company “Full of Life.” This name instantly shows the customer that the brand is oriented on providing high-quality drinks that will not take their energy away and will not be harmful to their health (e.g. like Pepsi or Coca Cola). On the contrary, “Full of Life” is a brand name that represents a response of business to care for their customers’ health and provide them with a high-quality product. Moreover, the name was chosen to fit the criteria of a successful brand name, which include simplicity, familiar sound, distinction, and vivid imagery (Hague, 2016). It is noteworthy to mention that Full of Life will position itself as a “green” brand that focuses on spreading awareness of the environmental issues and engaging the public into a conversation about the harmful effects of unhealthy beverages as well as the adverse impact the food and beverage industry has on the surroundings. Mission Statement and Rationale The mission statement for “Full of Life” will be “Creating the best product that will differ from any other on the market for bringing you energy, inspiration, and a moment to refresh your day.” The mission statement was chosen for communicating to customers that the company has the best intentions in mind when it comes to providing a product to consumers. The product will be different from any others on the market because of the unique combination of high-quality ingredients and reasonable pricing. Moreover, it
Abstract This paper provides a critical review of the theories of change and innovation, as well as, leadership of change and innovation. It also presents an assessment of my leadership skills, as well as, examples of change processes that I have participated in. The change that I successfully led involved improving the website of a bank. This change was successful because of effective planning and my ability to create a sense of urgency. In addition, a team of experts from the bank who had a clear understanding of the company’s needs modified the website. A less successful change that I have led involved renovating 32 bank branches and increasing the efficiency of serving customers. This change failed because of inability to eliminate obstacle (financial constraints) and early declaration of victory. An analysis of my leadership skills reveals that am capable of creating urgency for change and the vision to guide its achievement. My main weakness is inability to eliminate obstacles to change. Introduction Innovation refers to the creation of new customer value by developing solutions that satisfy emerging needs, unarticulated needs, as well as, existing market needs in a different manner. Change, on the other hand, involves initiating and managing the consequences of new business processes, organizational structure, and culture. In most organizations, change and innovation often occur simultaneously. Thus, the two can be conceptualized as two sides of the same coin. Figure 2, in the appendix highlights the increase in innovation in the UK, in terms of expenditure on R&D. Change and innovation can be realized if effective leadership guides the process. This paper presents a critical review of various innovation and change theories. An assessment of my leadership skills will also be discussed. Critical Review Creativity, Innovation and Change Creativity, innovation, and change are related concepts that managers often use to create competitive advantages for their organizations. In the business world, creativity is associated with the production of novel and valuable products (Imtiaz 2012, 326-332). Thus, creativity refers to “the mental ability to conceptualize new, unusual, or unique ideas and to identify the new connection between random and unrelated things” (Barcana 2010, pp. 6-7). In this regard, creativity involves the production of an original and worthwhile product. According to Amabile (1997, pp. 39-58), creativity is determined by the following factors. First, organizational encouragements facilitate creativity. Creativity develops in an environment that supports risk-taking. Additionally, motivation facilitates creativity by influencing the extent of explorations, as well as, the possibility that alternative responses will be evaluated. Intrinsic motivation develops within an employee because of the interest, satisfaction, and challenges that are associated with the execution of a task. A performance-based reward system often leads to the development of intrinsic motivation. Second, resource availability det