Thursday, October 31, 2019

Post War Era, 1946-1954 - Written Assignment Essay

Post War Era, 1946-1954 - Written Assignment - Essay Example ype, represents a fusion of jazz, blues, and boogie-woogie in a swinging upbeat designed to offer some comic relief in substance and rhythm, meaningfully and emphatically conveyed through percussions. Hoochie Coochie Man, on the contrary, features a more relaxed tempo and appears to have much inclination to romantic subjects with some degree of sophistication. In his performance, Muddy Waters was able to deliver a content peculiar with the black culture during post-war era. The need to tone down and experience soothing transition readily builds within the atmosphere and though the jazz level of the song leans towards neoclassicism, it is still one that could do justice to an unpopular struggle of uniqueness in which notes and succession remain unpredictable though artfully crafted to encourage slow yet sensational moves in response. As rendered through percussive selection, the music in Hoochie Coochie Man had been arranged to appropriately coincide with the overall composition such that it forms a trend in classic blues that was later to influence the modern rhythm and blues with flexible style and confidence. Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie seeks compatibility with those whose mood is up for raving and dancing in quick-paced steps and boogie fashion. An audience under rock and roll framework would most likely acquire fondness to blend with it, having a nature similar to the original preference. While Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie would normally target to have frolicking listeners, Hoochie Coochie Man is equivalently expected to play in front of a somewhat nostalgic or maudlin crowd hoping to be mildly stirred as thoughts dissolve into the blues with a little troubled lightness. It enables its audience to drift into a dimension of soul while maintaining a significant awareness of the reality. Being a mood music of its kind, either Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie or Hoochie Coochie Man brings about an attitude which each audience might not know they’d be taken into on the process. As

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Healthcare Finance Essay Example for Free

Healthcare Finance Essay Houston Dialysis Center is a department of Houston General Hospital, a full-service, not-for-profit acute care hospital with 325 beds. The bulk of the hospital’s facilities are devoted to inpatient care and emergency services. However, a 100,000 square-foot section of the hospital complex is devoted to outpatient services. Currently, this space has two primary uses. About 80 percent of the space is used by the Outpatient Clinic, which handles all routine outpatient services offered by the hospital. The remaining 20 percent is used by the Dialysis Center. The Dialysis Center performs hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, which are alternative processes for removing wastes and excess water from the blood for patients with end-stage renal (kidney) disease. In hemodialysis, blood is pumped from the patient’s arm through a shunt into a dialysis machine, which uses a cleansing solution and an artificial membrane to perform the functions of a healthy kidney. Then, the cleansed blood is pumped back into the patient through a second shunt. In peritoneal dialysis, the cleansing solution is inserted directly into the abdominal cavity through a catheter. The body naturally cleanses the blood through the peritoneum—a thin membrane that lines the abdominal cavity. In general, hemodialysis patients require three dialyses a week, with each treatment lasting about four hours. Patients who use peritoneal dialysis change their own cleansing solutions at home, typically about six times per day. This procedure can be done manually when active or automatically by machine when sleeping. However, the patient’s overall condition, as well as the positioning of the catheter, must be monitored regularly at the Dialysis Center. The hospital allocates facilities costs (which primarily consist of building depreciation and interest on long-term debt) on the basis of square footage. Currently, the facilities cost allocation rate is $15 per square foot, so the facilities cost allocation is 20,000 Ãâ€" $15 = $300,000 for the Dialysis Center and 80,000 Ãâ€" $15 = $1,200,000 for the Outpatient Clinic. All other overhead costs, such as administration, finance, maintenance, and  housekeeping, are lumped together and called â€Å"general overhead.† These costs are allocated on the basis of 10 percent of the revenues of each patient service department. The current allocation of general overhead is $270,000 for the Dialysis Center and $1,600,000 for the Outpatient Clinic, which results in total overhead allocations of $570,000 for the Dialysis Center and $2,800,000 for the Outpatient Clinic. Recent growth in volume of the Outpatient Clinic has created a need for 25 percent more space than currently assigned. Because the Outpatient Clinic is much larger than the Dialysis Center, and because its patients need frequent access to other departments within the hospital, the decision was made to keep the Outpatient Clinic in its current location and to move the Dialysis Center to another location to free up space. Such a move would give the Outpatient Clinic 100,000 square feet, a 25 percent increase. After attempting to find new space for the Dialysis Center within the hospital complex, it was soon determined that a new 20,000 square foot building must be built. This building will be situated two blocks away from the hospital complex, in a location that is much more convenient for dialysis patients (and Center employees) because of ease of parking. The new space, which can be more efficiently utilized than the old space, allows for a substantial increase in patient volume, although it is unclear whether the move will result in additional dialysis patients. The new dialysis facility is expected to cost $3 million. Additionally, furniture and other fixtures, along with relocation expenses of current equipment, would cost $1 million, for a total cost of $4 million. The funds needed for the new facility will be obtained from a 20-year loan at local bank. The loan (including interest) will be paid off over 20 years at a rate of $400,000 per year. Because the specific financing details are known, it is possible to estimate the actual annual facilities costs for the new Dialysis Center, something that is not possible for units located within the hospital complex. Table 1 (see Excel spreadsheet) contains the projected profit and loss (PL)  statement for the Dialysis Center before adjusting for the move. The hospital’s department heads receive annual bonuses on the basis of each department’s contribution to the bottom line (profit). In the past, only direct costs were considered, but the hospital’s chief executive officer (CEO) has decided that bonuses would now be based on full (total) costs. Obviously, the new approach to awarding bonuses, coupled with the potential for increases in indirect cost allocation, is of great concern to Linda Rider, the director of the Dialysis Center. Under the current allocation of indirect costs, Linda would have a reasonable chance at an end-of-year bonus, as the forecast puts the Dialysis Center in the black. However, any increase in the indirect cost allocation would likely put her â€Å"out of the money.† At the next department heads’ meeting, Linda expressed her concern about the impact of any allocation changes on the Dialysis Center’s profitability, so the hospital’s CEO asked the chief financial officer (CFO), Roger Hedgecock, to look into the matter. In essence, the CEO said that the final allocation is up to Roger but that any allocation changes must be made within outpatient services. In other words, any change in cost allocation to the Dialysis Center must be offset by an equal, but opposite, change in the allocation to the Outpatient Clinic. To get started, Roger created Table 2 (see Excel spreadsheet). In creating the table, Roger assumed that the new Dialysis Center would have the same number of stations as the old one, would serve the same number of patients, and would have the same reimbursement rates. Also, operating expenses would differ only slightly from the current situation because the same personnel and equipment would be used. Thus, for all practical purposes, the revenues and direct costs of the Dialysis Center would be unaffected by the move. The data in Table 2 for the expanded Outpatient Clinic are based on the assumption that the expansion would allow volume to increase by 25 percent and that both revenues and direct costs would increase by a like amount. Furthermore, to keep the analysis manageable, the assumption was made that the overall hospital allocation rates for both facilities costs and general overhead would not materially change because of the expansion. Roger knew that his â€Å"trial balloon† allocation, which is shown in Table 2 in the columns labeled â€Å"Initial Allocation,† would create some controversy. In the past, facilities costs were aggregated, so all departments were charged a cost based on the average embedded (historical) cost regardless of the actual age (or value) of the space occupied. Thus, a basement room with no windows was allocated the same facilities costs (per square foot) as was the fifth floor executive suite. Because many department heads thought this approach to be unfair, Roger wanted to begin allocating facilities overhead on a true cost basis. Thus, in his initial allocation, Roger used actual facilities costs ($400,000 per year) as the basis for the allocation to the Dialysis Center. Needless to say, Linda’s response to the initial allocation was less than enthusiastic, but before Roger was able to address Linda’s concerns, he suddenly left the hospital to take a new position in another city. The task of completing the allocation study was given to you, Houston General’s current administrative resident. You believe that any cost allocation system should be perceived as being â€Å"fair,† but you also realize that in practice cost allocation is very complex and somewhat arbitrary. Some department heads argue that the best approach to overhead allocations is the â€Å"Marxist approach,† by which allocations are based on each patient service department’s ability to cover overhead costs, but this approach has its own disadvantages. Considering all the relevant issues, you must develop and justify a new facilities cost allocation scheme for outpatient services. Be prepared to justify your recommendations at the next department heads’ meeting.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Impact Of Leadership Styles

Impact Of Leadership Styles Leadership styles Transactional leadership and transformational leadership have gained attention over a period of last few decades (Bass, 1988; 1990; Bass and Avolio, 1993; Hartog, et al., 1997). According to Kirkpatrick Locke (1996), Transformational Leadership and Transactional Leadership both are directly related with numerous workplace outcomes such as job satisfaction, group performance, employees performance, and organizational commitment. These results have also been tested in different research settings (Al-Dmour Awamleh, 2002).In spite of this, the effects of managerial leadership styles from transformational and transactional perspectives have not been validated in IT firms. A key objective of this study is to fill this knowledge gap. This study will assess the effects of transformational and transactional leadership styles on employees performance in IT firms in India. According to Lewis et al (1998), In the 21st century, managers and leaders are expected to cope with a rapidly changing world of work. Hooper Potter (2000) suggests that managers will have to be competent leaders in order to transform their people to achieve the required company outcomes. Ryback (1998) describes a 21st century leader as having the ability to demonstrate a greater empathy and concern for people issues than his/her earlier counterparts. Managing projects in the information technology domain remains challenging, since various global trends contribute to rising complexities. Software development projects account for a very large portion of the overall IT outsourcing market. According to Dibbern et al. (2008), prior information technology research has provided a list of possible reasons why IT offshore outsourcing projects fail to meet the initial goals and expectations of both client and vendor. However, research is still limited dealing with leadership and management of Information technology projects (Lee 2008; Mao et al. 2008). Carson et al. (2007) states that one of the most important issues within project management is leadership. However, research about the crucial leadership styles focusing on IT projects is still limited. IT projects experience high failure rates since many years. The Standish Group reported significant time and cost overruns, add to by not fully meeting quality expectations of the project sponsors (Xia and Lee 2004). The primary reason, however, are not technological, but rather managerial issues (Scott and Vessey, 2002). Sumner et al. (2005) states that to successfully implement technical projects, strong project leaders with superior leadership skills are essential which will offers the potential to contribute to IT project success. Durham et al. (1997) states that research has proved the importance of leadership behaviour for team effectiveness, and for employees performance. According to Sumner (2000), lack of leadership or ineffective leadership is among the top hindering factors for IT project success. IT leaders of ten lack interpersonal leadership skills, because technical employees get promoted to become project leaders due to their technical knowledge, not for their people management capabilities (Rosenbaum 1991). The effect of transactional and transformational leadership style on employees performance have been validated on Health, Retail, Education and manufacturing sectors. There is a limited knowledge or research conducted on the leadership style of the project leader/team leader in the IT sector and how it affects the employees performance. This research aims to investigate the relationship between the effective team leader/Project manager leadership style and subordinates performance. The literature review discusses the link between Transformational leadership and employee performance and also the link between transactional leadership styles and employees performance. Objective of the Research This study investigates the impact of transformational leadership and transactional leadership style on employees performance. The objectives of this research are: Evaluation of the employees performance in relation to the transformational and transactional leadership styles. Assessing the employees preference over transformational and transactional leadership style. Finding the recommendations to improve employees performance with the help of transformational and transactional leadership style. Literature review Leadership and performance Yukl (1994) defined leadership as a social influence process whereby intentional influence is exerted by one person over other people to structure the activities and relationships in a group or organization. Max Weber is one of the major contributor of leadership and theorists to observe the parallel between the industry mechanization and bureaucratic forms of organization (Morgan, 1998).According to (Bass, 1990 Morgan, 1998) , the classical theorists such as Henri Fayol and F. W. Mooney, loyal advocates of bureaucratization in contrast to Weber, identified methods through which this kind of organizational structure could be achieved. These classical theorists set the basis for many modern management techniques. Webers concern about bureaucracy, however, did not affect theorists who set the stage for what is now known as classical management theory and scientific management (Stone et al., 2005).Scientific managers focused on the systematic management of individual jobs while the Classical theorists focused on the design of the total organization (Stone et al., 2005).Scientific management, an approach introduced by Frederick Taylor, was technological in nature (Hersey, Blanchard, Johnso n, 1996). Taylor initiated time-and-motion studies to analyse work tasks to improve worker productivity in an attempt to achieve the highest level of efficiency possible. He has also been accused of viewing people as instruments or machines to be manipulated by their leaders. Under scientific management theory the function of a leader was to establish and enforce performance criteria to meet organizational goals; therefore, the focus of a leader was not on the individual worker but was on the needs of the organization. Emerging theorists encouraged leaders to recognize that humans were not machines and could not be treated as such. During mid-1940s, a post bureaucratic shift moved everyone taking responsibility for the organizations success or failure (HeckscherDonnellon, 1994). Researchers started to examine the relationship between the leader behaviour and the other outcomes such as follower satisfaction level, organizational productivity and profitability. According to Griffin and Moorhead (2011),two of the first behavioural approaches to leadership were the Michigan and Ohio state studies which were conducted during 1940s and 1950s.The results of the Michigan studies suggested that there are two fundamental types of leader behaviour, job -centered and employee-centered which were presumed to be at opposite ends of a single continuum. The Ohio State studies also found two similar kinds of leadership behaviour consideration and initiating structure but this research suggested that these two types of behaviour were actually independent dimensions. These characteristics could be either high or low and were independent of one another. A new theory of organizations and leadership began to emerge based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied (Stone et al. 2005). Maslows (1959) Hierarchy of Needs says that once a workers physiological, security, and social (intrinsic) needs were met, productivity would only be possible if the employees ego and self-actualizing (extrinsic) needs were also met. During 1950s and 1960s, the behavioural theories came into existence. According to Bass (1990), Theorists began to consider behavioural concepts in their analysis of organizational leadership and focused to understand the relationship between a leaders actions and the followers satisfaction and productivity. Barnard was involved in including behavioural components and his work focused on the behavioural components analysis of organizational leadership.Barnard claimed that leadership involves accomplishing goals with and through people (Bass, 1990). Subsequently, the goal of effective leadership was evolving and was moving away from classical and scientific management theories that treated workers as machines. According to (Johnson et al, 1996, p. 100), the real power centers within an organization were the interpersonal relationships that developed among working groups. Based on the idea that individuals operate most effectively when their needs are satisfied, a new theory of leadership began to emerge. McGregor (1960) work was closely linked to behavioural theorists, providing a foundation for the future emergence of transformational leadership. McGregor Theory Y says that individuals do not essentially dislike work and, under certain conditions, work could actually be a source of great satisfaction (Pugh Hickson, 1993). Theory Y assumed that individuals would employ self-direction and self-control, accepting and seeking responsibility (Pugh Hickson, 1993).During 1960s, researchers acknowledged that leaders did more than simply act they often had to react to specific situations, and thus, the situational/contingency theory of leadership evolved (Stone et al., 2005). However, in an appa rent return to the one best way of leadership, recent studies on leadership have contrasted transactional leadership with transformational leadership. According to Cummings and Schwab (1973), Leadership is perhaps the most investigated organisational variable that has a potential impact on employee performance. For the strength of an organization job satisfaction plays a vital role which has significant effect on employee performance.Walumba Hartnell (2011) suggests that the word performance is used to pass on the individual aptitude to be inspired, stirring, pioneering and to determinant to achieving the goals on an organization. Bass (1990) and Burns (1978) suggest that strong leaders outperform weak leaders, and that transformational leadership generates higher performance than transactional leadership. The researcher aim is to discuss whether the transformational leadership does really stimulate the employees for higher performance. From this we can conclude that transformational leadership stimulate higher performance. Cummings and Schwab (1973) suggest that in order for an organisation to perform an individual must set aside his personal goals, at least in part, to strive for the collective goals of the organisation. Employees are of paramount importance to the achievement of any organisation and hence effective leadership enables greater participation of the entire workforce, and can also influence both individual and organisational performance (Bass, 1997; Mullins, 1999). For an effective organisation, there must be effective and stimulating relations between the people involved in the organisation (Paulus et al. 1996). It is generally accepted that the effectiveness of people is largely dependent on the quality of its leadership and hence effective leader behaviour facilitates the attainment of the followers desires, which results in effective performance (Fiedler and House, 1988).Previous study results shows that there is a positive relation between satisfied employees and organization, as the performance of the satisfied employees are more productive for the organization then less satisfied employees (Ostroff,1992).Leadership is connected with employee performance (Ogbonna Harris 2000). The main idea of every organization is to enhance employee performance. Howell, Merenda (1999) Goodwin (2001) suggested that transformational leadership plays an imperative role in increasing job satisfaction as well as role play to achieve organizations goal and employees acts. Transformational leadership correlated with subordinate skills with work worth to assess employees performance as stated by Walumbwa, Avolio Zhu (2008). According to Ozaralli (2002), Organisations increase employees performance by giving empowerment to their team members. Researchers have studied that the employee performance is increased under the extraverted leadership when employees are passive and the result will be opposite if employees are proactive (Grant, Gino Hofmann, 2011). Researchers have also studied the employees performance with variety of variables. Opren (1986) observed that, satisfied employees not only be the cause of increasing employee performance but also they dont think to leave organization. Su, Baird and Blair (2009) feels, the level of productivity will be high when the employees are satisfied. According to Biswas (2009), the supporting style of manager also plays incredible role for increasing employees performance. Transformational leadership originated from charismatic leadership. House (1977) suggests that the personal characteristics of the charismatic leader include a high degree of self-confidence, strong moral convictions, and a tendency to influence others as well as engaging in impression management behaviours to boost trust and confidence in the leader. Furthermore, the articulation of a mission, setting challenging goals, and arousing motives are also important. Burns (1978) was the first person who identified the concept of transformational leadership. He suggested that transformational leadership is observed when leaders encourage followers to boost up the level of their motivation, morals, beliefs, perceptions, and coalition with the objectives of the organization. Bass (1985) proposed a new theory of transformational leadership and outlined its components. Transformational leadership engages followers by appealing to their upper level needs and ideas that yield higher levels of fo llower satisfaction and performance (Bass, 1985; Bryman, 1992).According to Schepers et al. (2005), transformational leaders allow employees to think creatively and analyse the problem from numerous angles and explore new and better solutions of the problem. Gill et al. (2006) suggested that organizations can reduce job stress and burn out by applying transformational leadership. Transformational leadership focuses on more sensitive side of organizational interactions like vision, culture, values, development, teamwork, and service (Fairholm, 2001).Bass (1998) claims that by emphasizing the symbolic and expressive aspects of task goal efforts and the important values involved, the transformational leader makes the difference. There are three mechanisms in Transformational Leadership: Leaders give values to their subordinates, motivate their subordinates and persuade in mounting or varying followers needs (William, Richards, Steers James, 1995).Transformational leadership is comprised of four central components. Bass (1985) suggests that Charisma is the key component of transformational leadership and it generates profound emotional connection between the leader and follower. According to Bass Avolio (1990) Charisma is operational through vision where the charismatic leader earns the respect and trust of followers, which leads to the acceptance of challengin g goals. The second transformational component is inspiration where leaders provides followers with challenges and meaning for engaging in shared goals and undertakings (Bass Avolio, 1990).Another major component of transformational leadership is individualized consideration, the leader first identifies the individual needs and abilities of followers and then mentors and coaches them, and also uses delegation (Bass Avolio, 1990). The final transformational component is intellectual stimulation, the leader helps followers to think on their own and analyse problems from their personal perspectives, encourages creativity, innovation, and challenge conventional wisdom (Bass Avolio, 1990). Most of the researchers had associated transformational leadership with employees performance and job satisfaction and argued that transformational leadership can be the best predictor of employee performance (Raja Palanichamy,2011).Transformational culture boosts both the organization and the employees performance without enforcing extra burden (Schlotz, 2009). Prior researcher has demonstrated that followers who work under transformational leaders are motivated and committed which facilitates their satisfaction with jobs (Givens, 2008). Masi cook (2000) believed that transformational leadership style is only the factor of increasing employee productivity.However,Parry Thomson ( 2002) claimed that it is important to adopt the appropriate leadership style for the success of an organization and examining, praising and assessing a leader do not truly assures the followers honesty in this case transformational leadership becomes inapplicable. According to Kuhnert Lewis (1987), transactional leadership is an exchange between followers and leaders desired outcomes by fulfilling the leaders interest and followers expectations, which involves promises or commitments embedded by respect and trust. Bass (2000) suggested that effective leaders accommodate the interests of their subordinates by giving contingent incentives, honour and promises for those who auspiciously succeeded in fulfilling the commitments of the leaders or the organization. On the other hand, Bryman (1992) argues that transactional leadership behaviours do not even qualify for a true leadership label because of the fact that the leader and follower agree, explicitly or implicitly, that desired follower behaviours will be rewarded, while undesirable behaviours will draw out punishment. He states that since it is based on exchange, transactional leadership does not seek to motivate followers. Bass (1985) and Burns (1978) suggest that total reliance on this lea dership style may cause performance and satisfaction to suffer. As modelled by Bass, transactional leadership is comprised of two fundamental dimensions: contingent reward and management-by-exception. Contingent reward takes place when the leader provides rewards if followers perform in accordance with the contractor expend the necessary effort. In Management-by-Exception, the leader takes action only when major deviations from plans are evident. Unlike Burns (1978), Bass (1985) insists that, to be effective, leaders need to demonstrate features of both transactional and transformational leadership. HowellMerenda (1999) conducted their research on transactional and leadership in forecasting employees performance and concluded that transactional leadership style is a positive predictor of followers performance. Gadot (2007) claimed that the transactional leadership style is weakly associated with performance. Ponce et al. (2006) Indicated that there is a dominance of the transactional leadership style over transformational style. Halpin et al (2006) suggested that leadership behaviours and team performance outcomes revealed that transactional leadership behaviour is significantly related to team performance. According to Jung et al. (1999), to make transactional leadership more effective, appropriate usage of contingent reward is an important feedback to assemble expectations with followers in term of their performance. Janssen Yperen (2004) acknowledged that transactional leadership assists the efficiency by enhancing innovative job performance and job satisfaction. From this we can conclude that some authors believe that transactional leadership stimulates higher performance and some believe that it is weakly associated with performance. Empirical evidence tends to support the view that leaders will maximize their effectiveness when they exhibit both transformational and transactional behaviours (Avolio et al, 1988; Bass Yammarino, 1989).Bass and Avolio (1994) and Ristow (1998) conducted research in different environments and found that transformational leadership has a positive influence on employee performance, and therefore organisational performance. Research conducted by Pruijn and Boucher (1994) showed that transformational leadership is an extension of transactional leadership (Bass, 1997).Bass and Avolio (1994) stated that the difference between these two models is that followers of transformational leadership exhibit performance which is beyond expectations, while transactional leadership, at best, leads to expected performance .Ristow (1998) suggested that transactional leaders were effective in markets which were continually growing and where there was little or no competition, but this is not the case in the markets of today, where competition is fierce and resources are scarce. Brand et al. (2000) has clearly shown that transformational leaders are more effective than transactional leaders. Brand et al. (2000) showed the evidence gathered in South African retail and manufacturing sectors, and also in the armed forces of the United States, Canada and Germany, points towards the marginal impact transactional leaders have on the performance of their followers in contrast to the strong, positive effects of transformational leaders .This research has been further supported by research conducted by Ristow, et al. (1999), according to which there was a positive relationship between certain styles of leadership and organisational effectiveness within the administration of South Africa cricket. Bass and Avolio (1997) conducted research on the topic of transformational and transactional leadership, an appropriate instrument was identified, called the MLQ(Multi factor leadership questionnaire ).The questionnaire contains statements that identify and measure the key aspects of leadership behaviour, and each statement in the questionnaire relates to either transactional, transformational or non-transactional leadership factors. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Type of Research Design The type of research design that will be used in this study is quantitative research design, survey method. The present study is quantitative in nature because I will use quantitative data which is collected through questionnaire. Then the first step of my study will be to make worth by the validity by as its focus using positivism approach. Positivism paradigm will be used in this study is on understanding the ideology of multiple participants in their locations and work place. The survey design is chosen because it provides a quantitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. So that, it can best show the level of relation between leadership styles and employees performance. Sampling technique and measures The level of leadership qualities possessed by project managers/team leaders and the subordinates in XXXXX Company will be determined by the questionnaires distributed to a random sample of employees. Hence project managers/team leaders as well as their subordinates will be the participants of the study. Questionnaires will be distributed to a sample population of 50.All the questions are close-ended and are measured using Likerts Five Point scaling ranging from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always). The advantage of using close ended questions is that the results can be presented in the form of statistics and answers can be pre-coded so that the responses can be fed into a computer. Pilot survey has been conducted to check if there any problem in the questionnaire before the real investigation and the final version of the questionnaire has been set up. The transformational leadership is measured by the following components Idealized attributes, idealized behaviour, intellectual simulation, confi dence, individual consideration and inspirational motivation. The transactional leadership is measured by the following components contingent reward and management by exception (active). The performances measured that are included in this study are extra effort, effectiveness and satisfaction. Data Collection Instruments, Variables and Materials As a primary data collection instrument questionnaires will be distributed to a random sample of employees. The questionnaire is adapted from Multi factor Leadership Questionnaire; commonly called MLQ, developed by Bass Avolio (1990). The study will also make use of secondary sources of data such as relevant books in leadership and related areas. The data will be analysed with the help of descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis to find out the most relevant leadership styles and relationship of these leadership styles with the selected outcomes such as extra effort, effectiveness and satisfaction. According to my opinion, the MLQ holds well in studying leadership behaviour. Previous research shows that to study the leadership behaviours most of the researchers have adopted MLQ.The MLQ is valid and reliable and has been used extensively worldwide (Bass and Avolio, 1997; Whitelaw, 2001). It has proven to be a strong predictor of leader performance across a broad range of organisations (Bass and Avolio, 1997).The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (self-rated) is used to get evaluation of leadership behaviour and organizational effectiveness (Bass and Avolio, 2000). The MLQ is a questionnaire describing behaviour and employees performance outcomes, each rated on 5 point scale. It measure transformational, transactional leadership and employees performance outcomes like satisfaction, effectiveness and extra effort. The previous researchers have used MLQ which consists of two versions, one for the leader to complete, and one for the raters of the leaders to complete. The leaders complete a questionnaire describing their own leadership style, whilst the raters complete a questionnaire regarding the leadership style of their specific leader. These two versions consist of exactly the same statements, except that they are written from different perspectives. These two versions are known as the leader version and rater version respectively. I would be following the same approach. Reliability and validity are the statistical criteria used to assess whether the research provides a good measure (Whitelaw, 2001).The MLQ has been tested for reliability and validity in a number of settings (Pruijnand Boucher, 1994). The MLQ (Bass Avolio 2000) is one of the widely primary instruments used and accepted to measure transformational and transactional leadership styles.MLQ has gone through many revisions to strengthen its reliability and validity. Also more than 200 doctoral dissertations and master thesis have used the MLQ (Bass Avolio 2000). After collecting the data from the participants then SPSS software will be used for the data analysis. After recording the data into SPSS software, Descriptive statistic will be used to get the overall summary of the variables. In the table of descriptive statistic, the values of mean, Standard deviation and also the maximum and minimum values are obtained for leadership and performance variables which would define the response rate of the respondent. Descriptive statistical analyses will be performed to measure general demographic characteristics of the sample including age, gender, and years of tenure with the company. These analyses are unrelated to research questions or hypotheses but they are discretionary and exploratory in nature. The researcher believes that some of this demographic information may be useful and if any of the data proves interesting or significant in any way it may be an area for future research but it is not the focus of this study. Secondly, total scores wi ll be analyzed. Finally to test the hypotheses framed for the relationship between dependent and independent variables and to check the value that how much change comes in dependent variable due to independent variable, multiple regression analysis will be used.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Capitalism Was Behind American Colonization of Puerto Rico Essay

Capitalism Was Behind American Colonization of Puerto Rico The platform upon which the United States was built, freedom, was erected in response to the oppressive nature of colonialism. On July Fourth, 1776, the original thirteen colonies declared their independence, because the weight of Great Britain’s colonial restrictions proved to be too burdensome. The Constitution was signed shortly thereafter to protect American citizen’s rights from being abridged in the future. America was created as a direct response to the harmful nature of colonialism, however it soon forgot its idealistic birth. Freedom for all became a free for all, under America’s capitalistic system. When America was confronted with the question of what it should do with Puerto Rico it had three choices: accept it as a state, give it it’s freedom, or use it for profit. Capitalistic America saw Puerto Rico as an easily exploitable market, and enabled America to overlook the inconsistencies colonization presented in constitutional terms, or the widespread suffering colonization would cause. Thus, capitalism was the deciding factor in America’s decision to withhold from Puerto Rico its freedom. Originally Puerto Ricans had high expectations regarding their future under American guidance. Puerto Rico wanted nothing â€Å"but American law, leaving no trace of Spanish legislation† (Trias -Monge 36). Under their new parent country, Puerto Rico hoped to receive universal male suffrage, American citizenship, elective mayors, free trade, and the right to elect a delegate to Congress, all of which had been denied them by Spain (Trias-Monge 36). Originally, implementing a system which would allow the maximum possibilities for Puerto Ricans to govern themselves was th... ...colony, its inhabitants became subjects rather than citizens (Fernandez 11). Americans justified their decision to exploit Puerto Rico and its people, through capitalism and its survival of the fittest mentality. Bibliography James Dietz, Economic History of Puerto Rico (Princeton: Princeton U Press, 1986). Ronald Fernandez, The Disenchanted Island: Puerto Rico and The United States in the Twentieth Ventury (Westport: Praeger Publishers, 1996). Lillian Guerra, Popular Expression and National Identity in Puerto Rico: The Struggle for Self, Community, and Nation, chs. 2-3 (Gainsville: U Press of Florida. 1998), 45-121. Library of Congress American Memory Collection LC- USF34- 012370- E Jose Trias-Monge, "The Shaping of a Colonial Policy," from Trias-Monge, Puerto Rico: The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World (New Haven: Yale U Press, 1997), 36-51.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Jolly Java Essay

Jolly’s Java and Bakery Jolly’s Java and Bakery For the SWOT analysis, I chose evaluate the business plan for Jolly’s Java and Bakery. JJB is a bakery and coffee shop managed by two partners, Austin Patterson and David Fields. The company offers a broad range of coffee and espresso products at competitive prices, all from high quality Columbian grown imported coffee beans. In addition, the bakery will provide freshly prepared bakery and pastry products at all times during business operations. Catering to all of its customers by providing each customer coffee and espresso products made to suit the customer is a top priority. During the SWOT analysis, I discovered the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the company. The background experience of the owners strengthens many areas in the business plan. Austin Patterson has extensive experience in sales, marketing, and management, and was vice president of marketing with both Jansonne & Jansonne and Burper Foods. David Fields brings experience in the area of finance and administration, including a stint as chief financial officer with both Flaxfield Roasters and the national coffee store chain, BuzzCups. With this experience, the owners could address a well thought out start-up plan. The problem with hiring a majority of part- time workers is stability. Most responsible and dependable people are not able to balance their daily expenses with only a part-time job. They would require a second job which can affect the work environment. The retail coffee industry in the United States has experienced recently rapid growth. The cool marine climate in southwest Washington stimulates consumption of hot beverages throughout the year. With minimal levels of competition in the immediate area, JJB is presented with the opportunity to take over the industry.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Commonly Confused Words for ESL Students and Classes

Commonly Confused Words for ESL Students and Classes Here are some of the most commonly confused English word pairs. They have been chosen especially for ESL learners. beside / besides beside: preposition meaning next to, at the side of Examples: I sit beside John in class.Could you get me that book? Its beside the lamp. besides: adverb meaning also, as well; preposition meaning in addition to Examples: (adverb) Hes responsible for sales, and a lot more besides.(preposition) Besides tennis, I play soccer and basketball. clothes / cloths clothes: something you wear - jeans, shirts, blouses, etc. Examples: Just a moment, let me change my clothes.Tommy, get your clothes on! cloths: pieces of material used for cleaning or other purposes. Examples: There are some cloths in the closet. Use those to clean the kitchen.I have a few pieces of cloth that I use. dead / died dead: adjective meaning not alive Examples: Unfortunately, our dog has been dead for a few months.Dont touch that bird. Its dead. died: past tense and past participle of the verb to die Examples: His grandfather died two years ago.A number of people have died in the accident. experience / experiment experience: noun meaning something that a person lives through, i.e. something that someone experiences. - also used as an uncountable noun meaning knowledge gained by doing something Examples: (first meaning)His experiences in Germany were rather depressing.(second meaning) Im afraid I dont have much sales experience. experiment: noun meaning something that you do to see the result. Often used when speaking about scientists and their studies. Examples: They did a number of experiments last week.Dont worry its just an experiment. Im not going to keep my beard. felt / fell felt: past tense and past participle of the verb to feel Examples: I felt better after I had a good dinner.He hasnt felt this well for a long time. fell: past tense of the verb to fall Examples: He fell from a tree and broke his leg.Unfortunately, I fell down and hurt myself. female / feminine female: the sex of a woman or animal Examples: The female of the species is very aggressive.The question female or male means are you a woman or a man. feminine: adjective describing a quality or type of behavior that is considered typical for a woman Examples: Hes an excellent boss with a feminine intuition.The house was decorated in a very feminine manner. its / its its: possessive determiner similar to my or your Examples: Its color is red.The dog didnt eat all of its food. its: Short form of it is or it has Examples: (it is) Its difficult to understand him.(it has) Its been a long time since I had a beer. last / latest last: adjective usually meaning final Examples: I took the last train to Memphis.This is the last test of the semester! latest:  adjective  meaning most recent or new Examples: His latest book is excellent.Have you seen his latest painting? lay / lie lay: verb meaning to put down flat - past tense - laid, past participle - laid Examples: He laid his pencil down and listened to the teacher.I usually lay my pies on the shelf to cool. lie: verb meaning to be down - past tense -lay (be careful!), past participle - lain Examples: The girl lay on the bed asleep.At the moment, hes lying on the bed. lose / loose lose: verb meaning to misplace Examples: I lost my watch!Have you ever lost anything valuable? loose: adjective meaning the opposite of tight Examples: Your trousers are very loose!I need to tighten this screw. Its loose. male / masculine male: the sex of a man or animal Examples: The male of the species is very lazy.The question female or male means are you a woman or a man. masculine:  adjective  describing a quality or type of  behavior  that is considered typical for a man Examples: Shes a very masculine woman.His opinions are just too masculine for me. price / prize price: noun - what you pay for something. Examples: The price was very cheap.Whats the price of this book? prize: noun - an award Examples: He won a prize as best actor.Have you ever won a prize in a competition? principal / principle principal: adjective meaning the most important Examples: The principal reason for my decision was the money.What are the principal  irregular verbs? principle: a rule (usually in science but also concerning morals) Examples: Its the first principle of aerodynamics.He has very loose principles. quite / quiet quite:  adverb  of degree meaning very or rather Examples: This test is quite difficult.He was quite exhausted after the long journey. quiet:  adjective  meaning the opposite of loud or noisy Examples: Could you please be quiet?!Shes a very quiet girl. sensible / sensitive sensible: adjective meaning having common sense i.e. not stupid Examples: I wish you would be more sensible about things.Im afraid you arent being very sensible. sensitive: adjective meaning to feel very deeply or to hurt easily Examples: You should be careful with David. Hes very sensitive.Mary is a very sensitive woman. shade / shadow shade: protection from the sun, a dark area outside on a sunny day. Examples: You should sit in the shade for a while.Its too hot. Im going to find some shade. shadow: the dark area created by something else on a sunny day. Examples: That tree casts a large shadow.Have you  every  noticed your shadow getting longer as it gets later in the day? some time / sometimes some time: refers to an indefinite time in the future Examples: Lets meet for coffee some time.I dont know when Ill do it - but I will do it some time. sometimes:  adverb of frequency  meaning occasionally Examples: He sometimes works late.Sometimes, I like eating Chinese food.