P.Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

P.Management - Essay Example We note that most of these costs are estimations; thus, some are more accurate compared to others. Director General Costs These are costs incurred in running a project and can be traced back to the said project. Such costs are charged on the project on an item-to-item basis. These include costs such as salaries and wages for personnel tasked with managing the student record management system. Moreover, costs such as fringe benefits for the project managers and other personnel should be incorporated in budgeting for direct costs. Fringe benefits refer to the benefits payable for insurance, retirement or group health policies taken on part time employees, temporary research professionals engaged in the development of the project and its implementation or any selected student employees who may be enlisted in the project management. Such benefits are, however, not payable to full time employees as they already enjoy the benefits associated with fringes. Purchase of additional computers, printers and scanners, which are essential in the project, is also classified as a direct cost to the project. While ordinary purchase of these devices may not be considered a direct cost, this project calls for purchase of highly updated models that are resistant to crashes and other device problems deemed normal. Costs involved in training staff who will be using the system on a regular basis, such as employees in the finance, administration and accounts departments, should be included when computing the project’s direct costs. It is also paramount to include transportation costs to the training centers and meals for trainees in computation of direct costs. Other direct costs for this project include costs of maintaining the system routers, computers, scanners and printers. Moreover, direct costs include costs incurred in maintaining high standards of security such as installation of security devices and security guards to man the project sites (Milosevic, 2001). Administra tive Overhead or Project Overhead Costs These are costs of activities which are beneficial to more than one project. Such costs are quite difficult to approximate, for instance, it is difficult to estimate how activities of the head of the finance department benefit the student records management system. Some of the administrative overhead costs involved in the running of the learning institutions include rent and utilities such as electricity and water payable by the institution, legal and audit fees to relevant persons or institutions, general college or university security, general telephone expenses incurred by the institution and salaries and wages of the institution’s administrative staff (Milosevic, 2001). However, there are certain costs that can be classified as either direct costs or administrative overhead costs. These include postage and telephone charges incurred by the project and other miscellaneous office expenses involved in the project, but which cannot be e asily differentiated from ordinary, miscellaneous expenses. Both direct and certain administrative overhead costs are summed up when formulating the budget for this project (Suhanic, 1999).  . Developing a Time-Phased Budget A time-phased budget such as the cost baseline budget is most suited for budgeting in such a project. The baseline budget involves the summation of estimates of costs of the project. A time-phased budget is the process of determining when funds need to be availed to support the performance of the project; thus, it requires information

Supply chain operations and concepts Research Paper

Supply chain operations and concepts - Research Paper Example his endeavor, the rise of the computer age has provided some tools that reduce the level of paperwork in the supply chain while it has also blown apart many of the preconceived ideas regarding territory and boundary. Now, not only are companies attempting to compete with regional and national firms, but must also fend off the advances of international organizations while attempting to gain footholds in new countries. This introduces differing sets of criteria for the supply chain manager including the production of products, governmental regulations or specifications and available technology or resources each of which must be addressed before a product can be offered in a new or old market. To help cope with these multiple concurrent concerns, operations managers and scientists have developed a wide range of strategy sets that are capable of addressing each concern independently or a variety of concerns concurrently depending upon the operation of the firm which is further defined by the type of product produced and the methods by which it is created and delivered. Supply chain management encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion and all logistics management behaviors. It also includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers or customers. In essence, supply chain management integrates supply and demand management within and across companies. Logistics management is the element of supply chain management that plans, implements and controls the efficient forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements (College of Business Administration, 2005). Many types of businesses and organizations most likely to employ supply chain managers include communication, consulting, military,

Self-Evaluation Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Self-Evaluation Paper - Essay Example However, this way of solving dispute has been criticized for being expensive, time-consuming, and in some cases leading to unfair and unjust outcomes regarding particular cases (Frenkel and James 22). As a result, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms have been devised in order to provide an economical, quicker and a more just and fair outcomes to parties in dispute. Mediation is one of the main alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Mediation is a confidential and voluntary type of alternative dispute resolution. This method involves an impartial and independent person(s) who helps two or more parties to reach a solution over a dispute which is acceptable to all the parties. It may involve talking to the parties separately or together. Often, mediators do not make judgments, instead they ask questions in an attempt to unravel underlying problems relating to the dispute, help the parties in understanding issues and clarifying the alternatives for resolution of their dispute ( Goodman 51). Principles of Mediation Being a critical alternative dispute resolution mechanism, mediation is guided by a number of principles that ensures that it achieves its objectives effectively. There are five principles of mediation which are generally- recognized that guides the mediation process. However, it should be noted that there are more other elements or principles that have been incorporated, but in a broader sense they still fall under the five which are generally- recognizable (Frenkel and James 46). The first principle is the principle of informed consent that requires that prior to consenting participation in mediation, the parties in dispute should be informed about their legal options and rights, as well about the mediation process (Wall and Dunne 217-8). The second principle is that of voluntariness which requires that mediation process should be voluntary and that parties should enter into it freely and in any outcome resulting from the process. The parties a re also free to end their participation in the process at any time. The third principle is that of confidentiality which seeks to make parties aware that the process is confidential. This enables them to freely explore options and speak without fear that their communications in the process might be used against them. Also, confidentiality enables a party in dispute to request that particular information disclosed to the mediator not to be shared with the other parties (Frenkel and James 49). In addition, impartiality is a mediation principle which dictates that the parties are entitled to impartial and fair process involving an impartial and neutral mediator. The final principle is that of self-determination that requires that the parties and not the mediator to define the scope of issues to be addressed at mediation, and that the parties will determine the mediation’s outcome or results (Goodman 105-6). In order to understand the concept of mediation clearly and better, this self- evaluation paper will; consider the evaluation of my performance as a mediator. The paper will include the agreement reached by the parties and discuss the lessons learnt from the process that are deemed to be helpful for the future. I acted as a mediator between these two parties: Sammy Atwater (Plaintiff) and James

As Psychology Essay Example for Free

As Psychology Essay One of the key differences between the concepts of STM and LTM is duration. â€Å"Duration† refers to how long a memory lasts before it is no longer available. Short term memories don’t last very long. An example of STM in action would be trying to remember a seven-digit phone number that you have just been given. This is maintained in the short-term memory by REPETITION until the number is dialled, and then fades once the conversation starts. The way most people keep information in their STM for more than a few seconds is to rehearse it. So rehearsal is one way of keeping a memory active. The result of verbal rehearsal is that STM are held in the STM store and eventually become long term. Duration of LTM LTM refers to memories that last anywhere for 2 hours to 100 years plus, i. e. anything that isn’t short term. Some memories are very long lasting. For example Shepard (1967) tested duration of LTM. He showed participants 612 memorable pictures, one at a time. An hour later they were shown some of these pictures among a set of others and showed almost perfect recognition. Four months later they were still able to recognise 50% of photographs. The material to be remembered was more meaningful to the participants and therefore the duration of the LTM was better. Key study on duration of STM Lloyd and Margaret Peterson (1959) conducted a landmark study of the duration of STM. They enlisted the help of 24 students attending their university. The experimenter said a consonant syllable to the participant followed by a three-digit number (e. g. WRT 303 or SCX 591). The consonant syllable was selected to have no meaning. Immediately after hearing the syllable and number, the participants had to count backwards from this number in 3s or 4s until told to stop. Then the participants were asked to recall the nonsense syllable. The reason for counting backwards was to stop the participants rehearsing the syllable because rehearsal would aid recall. Each participant was given two practice trials followed by eight trials. On each trial the retention interval (time spent counting backwards) was different. They found that participants remembered about 90% when there was only a 3-second interval and about 2% when there was an 18-second interval. This suggests that, when rehearsal is prevented, STM lasts about 20 seconds at most. Evaluation The findings from the Peterson and Peterson study have been challenged. We might argue that, in this experiment, participants were relying on more than STM alone because they knew they were going to be asked to recall the items after an interval filled with a distracting activity. Other research such as Marsh et al, (1997) has suggested that when participants do not expect to be tested after this interval, forgetting may occur after just 2 seconds. This suggests that our understanding of the duration of STM may not be as clear-cut as first thought. In fact, more recent research even suggests that the duration of STM is not as short as Peterson and Peterson’s study would suggest. Nairne’s et al (1999) found that items could be recalled after as long as 96 seconds. In Nairne’s study, participants were asked to recall the same items across trials, whereas in the earlier study different items were used on each trial, which would have led to interference between items, decreasing recall. Capacity and Encoding Capacity is a measure of how much can be held in memory. It is measured in terms of bits of information such as number of digits. STM has a very limited capacity (less than 7 chunks of information) whereas LTM has potentially unlimited capacity. Increasing the capacity of STM The magic number 7+/-2 George Miller (1956) wrote a memorable article called â€Å"The magic number seven plus or minus two†. He reviewed psychological research and concluded that the span of immediate memory is 7; people can cope reasonably well with counting seven dots flashed onto a screen but not many more than this. Miller also found out that people can recall 5 words as well as they can recall 5 letters – we chunk things together and can then remember more. The size of the chunk matters Simon (1974) found that people had a shorter memory span for larger chunks, such as 8-word phrases, than smaller chunks, such as one-syllable words. Evaluation Cowan (2001) reviewed a variety of studies on the capacity of STM and concluded that STM is likely to be limited to above 4 chunks. This suggests that STM may not be as extensive as was first thought. Vogel et al, (2001) looked at the capacity of STM for visual information and also found that 4 items was about the limit. Encoding in STM and LTM PAGE 23 Encoding is the way information is changed so that it can be stored in memory. Information enters the brain via the senses. It is then stored in various forms such as visual codes (picture), acoustic forms (sounds), or a semantic form (the meaning of the experience). Information in the STM is mainly encoded acoustically (information is represented as sound); whereas information in LTM tends to be encoded semantically (information is represented by its meaning). Acoustic and semantic encoding We can compare the ways information is stored in STM and LTM in terms of encoding of the memory trace. Acoustic coding involved coding information in terms of the way it sounds The multi-store model of memory The multi-store model of memory (MSM) is an explanation of how memory processes work. The MSM was first described by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968. There is three stores/components in the MSM which are the sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Sensory memory The sensory memory is composed of several stores which are the eyes, ears, nose, etc, and the corresponding areas of the brain. If a person’s attention is focused on one of the sensory stores, then the data is transferred to STM. Attention is the first step in remembering something. Short-term memory Information held in STM is in a â€Å"fragile state†. It will disappear relatively quickly if rehearsal is prevented. Information will also disappear if new information enters STM pushing out the original information. This happens because STM has a limited capacity. Long-term memory The second step is moving information from STM to LTM. Atkinson and Shiffrin said that this also happens through rehearsal. The more something is rehearsed the more it will be remembered. This kind of rehearsal is referred to maintenance rehearsal. Evaluation The sensory store Sperling (1920) gave participants a grid of digits and letters for 50 milliseconds. They were either asked to write down all 12 items or they were told they would hear a tone immediately after the exposure and they should just write down that row. When asked to report the whole thing their recall was poorer (5 items recalled, about 42%) then when asked to give one row only (3 items recalled, 75%). This show that information decays rapidly in the sensory store. The serial position effect Glazer and Cunitz (1966) gave participants a list of 20 words, presented one at a time, and then asked to recall words they could remember. They tended to remember the words from the start of the list (primary effect) and from the end of the list (recency effect) but were less good at recalling words in the middle. The primary effects occur because the first words are best rehearsed and transferred to LTM. The recency effect occurs because these words are in the STM when people start recalling the list. Areas of the brain associated with STM and LTM One way to demonstrate the existence of separate stores in memory is to link STM and LTM to specific areas of the brain. Modern techniques of scanning the brain can be used to take images of the active brain and enable us to see what region is active when a person is undertaking particular tasks. Research (Beardsley, 1977) has found that the prefrontal cortex is active when individuals are working on a task in STM. The working memory model Baddeley and Hitch (1974) used the term ‘working memory’ to refer to that bit of memory that you are using when you are working on a complex task which requires you to store information as you go along. The components of the working memory Central executive This is the key component of the working memory. The function of the central executive is to direct attention to particular tasks, determining at any time how ‘resources’ are allocated to tasks. The central executive has a very limited capacity. Phonological loop This also has a limited capacity. The phonological loop deals with the auditory information and preserves the order of information. Baddeley (1986) further subdivided this loop into the phonological store and an articulatory process. The phonological store holds the words you hear, like an inner ear. The articulatory process is used for words that are heard or seen (inner voice). Visuo-spatial sketch pad The Visuo-spatial sketch pad is used when you have to plan a spatial task (like getting from one room to another). Visual and/or spatial information is temporary stored here. Visual information is what things looks like and spatial information is the relationship between things. Logie (1995) suggested that the Visuo-spatial sketchpad can be divided into a visual cache (store) and inner scribe which deals with spatial relations. Episodic buffer Baddeley (2000) added the episodic buffer because he realised the model needed a general store. The episodic buffer is an extra storage system that has a limited capacity. It integrates information from the central executive, the phonological loop and the Visuo-spatial sketchpad and also from the long-term memory. Evaluation Doing two tasks using the same or different components Hitch and Baddeley (1976) gave participants two tasks to do simultaneously. Task 1 occupied the central executive and task 2 either involved the articulatory loop or both the central executive and articulatory loop. Task 1 was slower when given a task involving both the central executive and articulatory loop. The speed on task 1 was the same whether using the articulatory loop or no extra task. This shows that doing two tasks that involve the same component causes difficulty. Evidence for the central executive Bunge et al. (2000) used an fmri to see which parts of the brain were most active when participants were doing two tasks (reading a sentence and recalling the final word in each sentence). The same brain areas were active in either dual- or single – task conditions but there was significantly more activation in the dual-task condition indicating that increased demands were reflected in brain activity. Evidence for the Visuo-spatial sketchpad Baddeley et al. (1975b) demonstrated the existence of thee Visuo-spatial sketch pad. Participants were given a visual tracking task (they had to track a moving light with a pointer). At the same time they were given kne of two other tasks: task 1 was to describe all the angles on the letter F, task 2 was to perform a verbal task. Task 1 was very difficult but not task 2. This is also evidence related to the effects of doing two tasks using the same or different components. Evidence for the episodic buffer Baddeley et al. (1987) found that, when participants were shown words and then asked for immediate recall, their performance was much better for sentences (related words) then for unrelated words. This supports the idea of an immediate memory store for itesms that are neither visual nor phonological. Accuracy of Eye Witness testimony Loftus and Palmer were interested in whether misleading interesting distorted the accuracy of an eyewitness’s immediate recall. What did they do? 45 students were shown seven films of different traffic accidents. After each film the participants were given a questionnaire which asked them to describe the accident and then answer a series of specific questions about it. There was one critical question. This question was about ‘how fast were the cars going when they hit each other? One group of participants were given this question whereas the other five groups were given the verbs smashed, collided, bumped or contacted in place of the word hit. What did they find? The group given the world ‘smashed’ estimated a higher speed that the other groups (about 41 mph). The group given the word ‘contacted’ estimated the lower speed (about 30 mph). Evaluation Supporting DO LATER (PAGE 33) Factors influencing the accuracy of eye witnessing testimony Many researchers have looked at the relationship between anxiety and accuracy in eyewitness testimony. Deffenbacher et al. 2004) carried out a meta-analysis of 18 studies published between 1974 and 1997, looking at the effects of heightening anxiety on accuracy of eyewitness recall. From these studies it was clear that there was considerable support for the hypothesis that high levels of stress negativity impacted on the accuracy of eyewitness memory. Anxiety enhances recall Christianson and Hubienet te (1993) found when they questioned 58 real witnesses to bank robberies. Those witnesses who were threatened in some way were more accurate in their recall and remembered more detail than those who had been onlookers. This continued to be true even 15 months later. The weapon focus effect Johnson and Scott (1976) identified the weapon-focus effect. In their initial experiment, Loftus et al. used two conditions, one involving a weapon and one not. In both conditions participants heard a discussion in an adjoining room. In condition 1 a man emerged holding a pen and with grease on his hands. In conditions 2 the discussion was rather more heated and a man emerged holding a paperknife covered in blood. When asked to identify the man from 50 photos, participants in condition 1 were 49% more accurate, compared with 33% accuracy in condition 2. This suggests that the weapon may have distracted attention from the person holding it and therefore explain why eyewitnesses sometimes have poor recall for certain details of violent crimes. Evaluation Explaining the apparent contradiction Deffenbacher suggests that this contradiction in research finding could best be explained with reference to the Yerkes-Dodson law, which states that performance improves with increase of arousal up to some optical point then declines with further increase. Many researchers believe that anxiety effects in eye-witness testimony are curvilinear. This means that small to medium increases in arousal may increase the accuracy of memory, but high levels interfere with accuracy. Those studies which had found improved memory accuracy were most likely dealing with increased arousal within the first part of the Yerkes-Dodson curve, whereas studies which showed that accuracy decreases with increased arousal were most likely operating in the second part of the curve. MORE EVALUATION!! The cognition interview Fisher and Geiselman (1992) developed an interviewing technique, the cognitive interview. The original cognitive interview technique could be characterised by four distinct components 1. Report everything (hypermnesia) 2. Mental reinstatement of context- the interviewer encourages the interviewee to mentally recreate the environment and contacts from the original incident. 3. Changing the order- the interviewer may try alternative ways through the timeline of the incident, for example by reversing the order in which events occurred. 4. Changing the perspective- the interviewee is asked to recall the incident from multiple perspectives The first two components are based on the principle that if there is consistency between the actual incident and the recreated situation, there is an increased likeliness that witnesses will recall more detail therefore more accurate in their recall. The latter two components are based on the assumption that information that observed can be retrieved through a number of different routes into an individual’s memory. Evaluation Kohnken et al. , (1999) did a meta-analysis of 53 studies found, on average, an increase of 34% in the amount of correct information generated in the cognitive interview compared with standard interviewing techniques. Milne and Bull (2002) examined the relative effectiveness of each of the four components of the cognitive interview. Undergraduate students and children were interviewed using one of the components of the cognitive interview and compared to a control condition (where they were instructed to simply ‘try again’). When participants were interviewed using a combination of the components ‘mental reinstatement’ and ‘report everything’ their recall was significantly higher than in all other conditions.

Frankenstein Visits Utopia :: Shelley More Utopia Frankenstein Essays

Introduction â€Å"I HAD DESIRED IT WITH AN ARDOR THAT FAR EXCEEDED MODERATION; BUT NOW THAT I HAD FINISHED, THE BEAUTY OF THE DREAM VANISHED, AND BREATHLESS HORROR AND DISGUST FILLED MY HEART.† This statement by Mary Shelley, from the story Frankenstein, reflects the passions of men to pursue dreams, despite the often imminent consequences of their actions. In Thomas More’s Utopia, the reader experiences a similar tension for an uncertain place called Utopia. This place is described by a visitor to this land, named Raphael, as having a perfect society. How will Frankenstein fit in Utopia? Lets find out from Sir Thomas More, as both he and I can now see Frankenstein’s boat approaching, in return from a six month stay on the island of Utopia. We have not been in contact with Frankenstein since his departure in June. As far as we know, all is well, considering the saying ‘no news is good news.’ Book One More:While we have a few minutes, let me fill you in on some details about the island and its inhabitants, as described by Raphael’s five year visit. I would also like to reveal to you Frankenstein’s plight that led him to flee to such a place as Utopia. I am certain that Frankenstein’s perspective of Utopia will not be as representative as Raphael’s, but the feedback will undoubtedly be quite interesting. Many years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Raphael immediately after his return from Utopia. Over the span of a lunch sitting, Raphael described this island in vivid detail. Some of these descriptions I have long since forgotten due to a fire that engulfed my office, incinerating all my notes from this visit with Raphael. Still, I am quite aware of the wondrous details provided to me by Raphael’s account, including the intricacies of such a well organized and fascinating political system, and the overall quality of life, where nobody owns anything, but everyone is rich. I can never forget Raphael’s statement, â€Å"for what greater wealth can there be than cheerfulness, peace of mind, and freedom from anxiety?† We shall soon see if this statement holds water. On that note, let me begin with the politics of Utopia and then I will brief all the other interesting facets that make this island so unique. I would also like to inform you of my predictions of the effects this island should have on Mr.

Death Of A Planet Essay -- essays research papers fc

Death of a Planet Air pollution is a very big problem in the United States. A large part of air pollution comes from cars. The Environmental Protection Agency says, "The most polluting activity an average person does everyday is drive their car"(1 factsheet OMS-5). Most people probably aren't aware that they are polluting the environment. Maybe if everyone knew how serious this pollution problem is, they would find ways to reduce the pollution. Most pollution that is released by cars comes from the exhaust, mainly in the form of hydrocarbons(1 factsheet, OMS-5). Hydrocarbons are organic compounds ,a combination of two or more elements, that contain only carbon and hydrogen (2 factsheet, OMS-5). Hydrocarbons are released when fuel in the engine burns partially. When hydrocarbons come in contact with sunlight they form ground level ozone. Ground level ozone is a major ingredient in the formation of smog. Ground level ozone is responsible for irritating eyes, damaging lungs, and it complicating respiratory problems. Hydrocarbons aren't the only pollutants released through car exhaust. Two more pollutants released through car exhaust are carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide. The first reduces the flow of oxygen to the bloodstream, and could harm people with heart disease. Nitrogen oxide is formed when a car engine gets hot. It contains chemicals that aid in the formation of ground level ozone as well as acid rain (2 factsheet, OMS-5). Acid rain destroys the outsides of buildings, statues, etc. Acid rain can also contaminate drinking water, damage vegetation, and destroy sealife. These two pollutants are two of the most dangerous pollutants released through car exhaust. If these two pollutants were cut down just a little bit our planet would be a safer place to live. Carbon dioxide is another gas released through exhaust emissions. It isn't dangerous directly to humans, but it is considered to be a "green house gas." A "greenhouse gas" is a gas that is associated with global warming. Global warming is the gradual increase of temperature due to human activity. Certain gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and ozone allow radiation from the sun to break through the atmosphere and go to the earth's surface. Global w... ... recognized sooner than regular testing, done year by year. If the remote sensing devices are used people don't have to worry about their car being tested. They just have to get their car repaired when the device says it's polluting the environment. Air pollution caused by cars is a serious problem that can be reduced by average everyday people. If the citizens of earth don't act fast, and reduce the amount of pollution caused world wide, earth will be a horrible place to live. If something isn't done soon there might not be a place to live at all. Works Cited Brown, Lester R. The World Watch Reader: On Environmental Issues. NewYurk:Norton, 1991. 97-105. The Environmental Protection Agency. Automobiles and Ozone: Factsheet OMS-4. http://www.epa.gov/OMS WWW/04-ozone.htm. 1993. 4. The Environmental Protection Agency. Automobile Emission: An overiew: Factsheet OMS-5. http://www.epa.gov/OMS www/05-autos.htm. 1994. 1-5. The Environmental Protection Agency. Remote Sensing: A Supplemental Tool for Vehicle Emission Control: Factsheet OMS-15. http://www.epa.gov/OMS www/ 15- -remot.htm. 1993. 1-2.

My Blueprint of Professional and Personal Growth

This paper is my analytic theorem to my Blueprint of Professional and Personal Growth from the course â€Å"Managing People & Promoting Collaboration†. It gives a brief breakdown of my path to become a manager I aspire to be, how my relationship with my family, partner and work can be a root of my happiness and how sure I maintain my personal integrity of ethics and morales within my work environment.An executive summary is presented to show how the course educated me in a more systematic way and how it helped me identify my strengths and weakness as a manager, how I can build a functional team, managing team and teams in virtual environment, building a team charter and etc†¦ Furthermore, in detail is one goal I added to my previous goals I identified in the previous course â€Å"Dynamic Leadership†, that I plan to achieve in my personal and professional development.Executive SummaryThroughout this course, Managing People & Promoting Collboration has educated and e nlightened me in four aspects – how to manage people, how to build a successful team, how to select a strategy to use in supporting a positive work environment and creating & sustaining culture in organization. Managing people can be natural as well as an acquired skill. Due to human nature that is ever changing and evolving, management also in order to be effective must also be evolving and be able to accommodate dynamicity. As this course exposed me to so many different concepts, theories and strategies in building a functional team, team work and fostering collaboration.I was able to identify my strength and weakness as a team leader which actually can aid as well as can hamper my ability to manage. Thought-provoking topics we covered during the eight (8) weeks ranging from finding an effective  manager; ensuring effective communication in organizations; handling difficult conversations; motivating others & personal motivation and purpose; strategies required to motivate team members; giving effective feedback; forming a team & selecting members; building a team charter; building functional teams; managing diverse teams and teams in a virtual environment; my role as an effective collaborator; ethical challeneges and legal risks of being a manager; creating a sustainable organization; strategies, theories and concepts on promoting a positive work environment and being a manager that’s a dynamic leader.Two elements that improved my understanding of managing people and fostering collaboration is effective communication and vulnerability based trust. The key to effective communication within team members is the context of the information. â€Å"Team members, therefore, must be aware of what, where, and when to communicate information to achieve effective and efficient outcomes† (McComb, 2012). Furthermore a team with a creative behavior creates an environment that could compel them to work with determination. Being able to make a difficul t task look like a fun game, the ability to challenge each other’s ideas in order for a new idea to arise and to be innovative.â€Å"When teams engage in creative behavior, their activities are focused on generating novel and useful ideas and solutions† (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson, 2013). Also having energetic persona within the team keeps the team in rhythm and enables the team members to make spontaneous decisions – energetic persons have the natural powers of conviction and are able to communicate to others their point of view openly and with acuity. Most importantly, building vulnerability based trust according to Lencioni, â€Å"This means that members of a cohesive, functional team must learn to comfortably and quickly acknowledge, without provocation, their mistakes, weaknesses, failures, and needs for help.They must also readily recognize the strengths of others, even when those strengths exceed their own† (Lencioni, 2003). Such a trust enables the team to work with each other recognizing and admitting their strengths and weakness and they accept each other’s challenge as a lesson or an experience to their skills and not as an offence. Learning to be humble and show humility with each other will lead to successful team collaboration. This will enable the team to accept others point of view with keenness and also allow them to face any hindrances and challenges with  diplomacy.Moreover, this course assisted me in learning how to create a team charter in which it has showed me my strength and weakness. A Team Charter helps â€Å"team members recognize their complementary skills, their common purpose, common goals, and mutual accountability† (Byrd & Luthy, 2010, p. 14). It made me understand how to be prepared for any arising conflicts and how to manage it. †Conflict management works best when the parties involved in a disagreement are equipped to managing it themselves† (Weiss & Hughes, 2005). I also learnt the importance of feedback and feed forward. â€Å"Feedforward helps people envision and focus on a positive future, not a failed past† (Goldsmith, 2002). How it puts the employees in a check list in order to spot where they are wrong and perform better.â€Å"Effective feedback helps the coachee see the gap between intended performance and actual performance† (Payne, V. 2007). The requirements needed to excel and improve in their workforce. †Employees can provide useful input on the effective of procedures and processes and as well as input to managers on their leadership effectiveness† (Goldsmith, 2002). I believe that I can be more impactful to organizations due to my improved understanding by the way I can improve team building and team work as well as forster collaboration among collegues. I would also be able to be impactful as a manager who is able to lead, a leader who is able to communicate effectively, and one who can motivate others, a good manager that has an inspiring values following with ethics and morales at work and with the team memebrs; most importantly I can be a leader who can manage people and resources of an organization effectivtely and efficiently.â€Å"Some of the most critical decisions a manager makes involve personal values- how much emphasis to place on the immediate interests of the customer or the long-term interests of the company† (Posner, 2009). The understanding of effective communication has changed the way I view the job of a manager and the way I can practice collaboration in the organization because it has made me realize that the manager is not just a post or position but a responsibility taken upon oneself to utilize resources in an organization and to make sure that every individual under his control is aware and equipped with all the necessary information and that communication flows to and fro management to employees and between employees in oder to keep all parties involved in tune with organization’s objectives and targets.My goals to be successful and finish with my MBA in  the nearest future has grown even more stronger and this course has exposed me to the possibility of using other people to achieve these goals by learning from them and openining myself to opinions of others. Taking advices as well as giving advices to others that have problems and learning from the results. In other words, this course taught me how to feed forward effectively. â€Å"Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things.† â€Å"Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It improves responsibility.† – Peter DruckerLive, Learn & Loveâ€Å"The worm on the hook for the fish† – I stated this in my previous post as my motivational theme. The desire to achieve the goal and knowing what needs to be done to achieve that goal. The truth is I don’t know if I would be happy in my career, but I do enjoy and d o know that I want to be happy in any field I choose to be in and give a hundread percent to achieveing things expected of me. Being a manager must start with me being able to first manage myself, because if I can not take charge of things around me that are available to me and motivate myself to be the best I can be with the resources at my disposal then it would definitely be unnatural to manage others.And I can be that manager I aspire to be by gradually practicing and building on myself and then applying it to with others. I have to show others that I can lead and manage and that I believe in myself- by coaching and teaching them through what I have learnt and through my experiences. I must say it is an uneasy task to lead and manage especially when it comes to a diversity workforce of gender, qualifications, ethnicities and etc†¦ But I like the challenege as it gves me joy and eagerness into gaining more experience, learning openly without fear of making mistakes and enabl e me to make the right decisions. No relationship is perfect, I argue with my spouse and family at times and yet they are the one’s I seek advices and support from. I love them and they love me and we want to keep loving each other and pushing each other to attain the best things we want to acheive in life and more.My father taught me that family comes first and there is no joy if there is no family bond. Nothing is perfect and what makes the thrill of the bond to be unbreakable is all those arguments and laughter after that. What makes me sure that I can be happy with my partner and family is  because first and foremost, I want to be happy and remain that way with what I have. Though there would be differences and clashes at times because no one and nothing is perfect, I know that we can always try to make each other content and importantly, as long as we keep trying, that’s really want counts.Regardless of the fact that I may not be able to see or have enough time for my partner and my family am just glad that technology beats it all in bringing me close to them through phone calls, emails, skype and other applications. I for one can not please or make everyone happy, but to sustain my relationship with my family, partner and work I try as much as possible to separate my professional life from my personal life and also as I give my full time to my work I also have to give sometime for my personal matters. When it comes to intergrity, personal morales and ethics, I have come to realize that when in Rome, behave as the Romans would at the same time having standarnds and limits to what you can accept from others that are not ethically accepted by you is important.In business it is no new thing to get dirty for the greater good of the organization like to lobby or tell white lies; like hyping in other to make the organization have a favorable postion but at the same time safety, health and respect should never be compromised. I would as a leader work for the interest of the organization and push on to hit its projected targets but would pull the plug when its target are harmful and could end up bringing more loss then profit to the myself, the organization and its employees. Moreover, instilling humility and fairness is an important factor of my values in giving me a firm stand of integrity.Of course as a leader of a hospitality company I do make aware to my staff about policies and rules in order to control any unforeseen unethical behavior. Strategies that I am using at the moment in my organization as well as my personal life is firstly to communicate effectively – from the article of â€Å"Difficult Conversations† by Christensen, K 2011; feedforwad instead of feedback; the five (5) basic conditions to maintain an effective team by Coutu & Beschloss, 2009; building trust – vulnerability based trust by Lencioni, 2003 and the 4Rs of motivation by Maccoby,M 2010.The shared practices within the forum, he lped me to be more analytical and logic. Reading from my peers their diverse experience and goals, not only  powered me to achieve more, open other types of companies, listen more, better creative ideas, but most importantly they give me the â€Å"determination† in achieving them without fear and be prepared to face predicted challenges. My passion driven for the purpose; as the previous course â€Å"Dynamic Leadership† has taught me the dynamic styles of leadership due to dynamic personalities a leader have to encounter when leading others. This combined with Managing people & promoting collboation have broadened my goals and how I would develop my action plan.Action PlansDuring the shared practices and articles read during the eight (8) weeks of the course â€Å"Managing People & Promoting Collaboration† and the previous course â€Å"Dynamic Leadership†, I was able to build an action plan that I was taught from my previously. This has helped me see th ings more clearly and able to establish a clear game-plan and clarify my goals as a leader. Moreover, I was able to draw out many short and long term goals and have them prioritized. From the action plan that I have set, it is much easier to ride the wave of my success. As it is a stimulating elemenet that drives my passion for the purpose as I excel in my performance and also help others excel in theirs. Below is a new goal added to my list of the other goals I have planned previously.New Goal : My new goal is to improve my ability to motivate myself as well as others. My aim is to understand the personality traits of each employee and how they interact together; by identifying their strengths and weakness and coaching them if the need be. Motivation internal and external is a great factor that fuels the urge to achieve the unachievable. â€Å" Men and women want to do a good job, a creative job and if they are provided the proper environment, they will do so.† – Bill Hewlett – Co-founder, Hewlett-PackardObejctive 1: Self MotivationMilestones: a. Set mini goals or mini targets. This will aid me achieve a fraction of the major goal I have set. So this will actually help me feel like I am accomplishing something and I am moving forward in a bid to attain the entire target. Milestones: b. Positive mental attitude & enthusiasm to work. By avoiding negative feelings and persistently focus on the positive and eyes on the target. By talking to inspiring people or listening to new ideas. Being enthusiastic in finishing the mission; maintaining a healthy work and life balance. Obejctive 2: Motivating OthersMilestones: a. Mountain of vote of confidence. By making them aware that I am confident in the team members ability in getting the work done. Keeping things in perspective. According to Christensen article, Frederick Herzberg stated â€Å"the powerful motivator in our lives isn’t money, it’s the opoortunity to learn, grow in respo nsibilities, contribute to others and be recognized for achievements† (Christensen, 2010) Milestones: b. Recognition for those who portray exemplary attitudes in aiding the team, achieve its goals as well as also a collective reward for the teams success.Below is my previous goals I have listed in my previous course â€Å"Dynamic Leadership†. Goal 1 : My first goal as I mentioned in the post of week 7, is to successfully improve and expand the hotel industry that I am leading. My aim is to attract more customers and offer quality services. My calculated time frame for this is between 2 to 3 years.Obejctive 1: To do this I have to achieve my MBA within 2 years. Milestones: a. Implementation of new approaches and different leadership styles.Although with these time set objectives, there are other points that   will stay for a long term such as building team work that involves   shared goals, productivity and problem solving. b. Professional training: A period of 6 mon ths period will be   offered for advanced staff training to a more higher professional   level. With this knowledge I would be able to help guide the   people I lead, share with them my experiences and foremost   improve myself personally and professionally. Obejctive 2: Improve many features within the hotel industry which will take 6 to 9 months. Milestones: a. Establishing flexibility to access: Such as improve the  quality of   services, improve the advertisement criteria by subscribing to   different online booking websites like www.booking .com or   Expedia and also spreading of flyers to the airport and other public   vicinity – cafeterias, malls or supermarkets. b. Enlargement of infrastructure or amenities by increasing more   rooms and provide other facilities such as business center, spa and   gym which this will take approximately a year or so to put that into   settlement.Goal 2 : Obtain another MBA degree in Marketing to be achieved in th e commencement of the 3rd to 5th years. Obtaining more degrees may open doors to so many opportunities such as becoming more effective, more strategic, more developed, more crtitical thinking and be able to progress more strengthing my pillars in the realm of my business.Obejctive 1: To do this I have make a thorough research on the subject. Milestones: a. This is a milestone itself to plan to have another MBA degree in Marketing. I would do researches on the subject through the   internet or library or articles And also seek vices from my   academic advisor. b. Seek opinions and advices from family, friends, peers, colleagues   at work and most importantly from my academic advisor. More   prominently to know how this MBA, if pursued how it could be a   transition to effectively prepare for a career progression or a career direction.Obejctive 2: Time Management & Finances Milestones: a. Being that I am already pursuing an MBA degree I have to virtually draw a schedule betw een work, family , MBA – Project Management , Upcoming MBA – Marketing and myself. It is   essential that I don’t cram myself up and know if there is a   possibility I could pursue it comfortably. In the case if I did I would end up being workaholic plus MBA-holic. b. Financing my education wont be that much of a problem, being there is so many possibilities that I could fund my MBA. By   loaning from my income, family help maybe but may not be   needed, bank loan or a financial aid if applicableGoal 3 : Finally my last and ultimately crucial goal is to develop and enhance myself. After taking the Personal Values Survey, I was able to identify my eakness and would like to transform it into strength.Obejctive 1: Improve my communication skills with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Milestones: a. Improvement of communication skills, strengthening my   presentation as well as the way I carry myself in the business world   as well as in the society. b. Improve my ability to get information to and fro, people of diverse  culture and background in a clear, accurate and concise manner that would enable my messages to be clear and easy to understand. As in straight to the point, simple and understandable.Obejctive 2: To be more courageous Milestones: a. Build my courage esteem to venture into opportunities, ask questions and have a stand in decision making. b. To instill the valor to follow what I believe. As well as having a  personal and professional evaluation of things. Moreover I want to   have the courage to believe in my judgements and my intuition on business and other important decisions.As implied above, by achieving the goals and others I am planning for, I see and believe that these will help me advance to the next higher level and more professional. There is this quote that I stumbled across which resonated to me, â€Å"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.† – Vince Lombardi. I couldn’t agree less to this quote, because your team portrays you and vice versa, therefore in order to be an exemplary leader  for your people to look up to, one would have to be a genuine leader who is wise, modest, trustworthy and fair; to be supportive, to allow them the initiative, to involve them and to be true.I am aware of all the possible obstacles that could delay me and cause hindrance but I believe if you want to achieve something you will have to be well prepared to face the challenges ahead. Therefore, from the knowledge I have gained from this course, Managing People & Promoting Collaboration, not only it has heightened my beliefes but also give me the power to advance to another level I was not expecting to heed. My dad said, â€Å"Nothing comes easy†¦ To dream and to talk is free†¦ To achieve it requires your utmost effort and preparedness†.Therefore, I am de termined with trust and belief that together with my team I will achieve my goal with full passion and nothing is going to hold me back. A good relevant quote that shares the same point, â€Å"There’s nothing anyone can do to prevent you from reaching your potential; the challenge is for you to identify your dream, develop the skills to get there, and exhibit character and leadership. Then you need to have the courage to periodically reassess, make adjustments, and pursue a course that reflects who you truly are† (Kaplan, 2008).