Describe what leadership is and all the relevant leadership styles

Describe what leadership is and all the relevant leadership styles There are various definitions and concepts by a variety of people it comes to defining leadership. According to G a Cole leadership is a dynamic process in a group whereby one individual influences the others contribute voluntarily to the achievement of group tasks in a given situation. Leadership engages other people, for example subordinates. The role of the leader is to direct subordinates towards set goals or aims and objectives of the group or the business. Subordinates help define a leaders status by how much there are willing to listen and accept direction from the leader. Weak leaders tend to have no respect from group members and find it hard if not impossible to direct them. Leadership involves an unequal division of power between the people or person in charge and group members. This allows order and coordination within a group or organisation if there is one clear leader, employees will know who to refer to for confirmation on decisions or when problems arise. It should be noted however that some employees are note entirely powerless; they do contribute and shape activities in the group in various ways. If a group is to be highly effective and successful every member needs to contribute and play a part form start to finish, but more power usually concentrated in the hands of the leader. Different leaders have different forms of power; reward, coercive, legitimate, referent and expert power. Reward power is formed on the leader having the skill to reward group members for getting instructions done and achieving set goals. Employees are more likely to work harder if they know their efforts will be recognised and rewarded. Rewards could include promotion, pay rise or a bonus. Reward power is highly used in the workforce as a form of disciplining and motivating employees. Coercive power is formed on the leaders capability to make subordinates accountable for not achieving objectives or getting their job done on time. Through coercive power subordinates are aware that failure to meet job requirements might lead to tell off or job loss. Legitimate power is a form of formal authority, it usually comes with the job. Under legitimate power employees recognize the fact that the leader has the authority to exercise influence over them. In many cases employees are obliged to accept this power and failure to concur will mostly result in them being reprimanded or made redundant. Expert power is formed on the principle that the leader has the significant skills and expertise that other members in the group do not. Subordinates are more likely to respect, accept and acknowledge the leaders authority and leadership if they are know he/she is more experienced that there are in that field. Referent power comes from the other group members desire to be like their leader. This type of leadership usually links with charismatic and pragmatic leaders. James A F Stoner notes that possession of some or all of [the above powers] does not guarantee the ability to influence particular individuals in specific ways. A leader may have subordinates approbation as a specialist but still fails to motivate or make them more corporative in the workforce. A good leader must have the capacity and skills to draw upon and use the various forms of power to be able to influence employees. Good leaders must possess the power of influence if employees are to do the work that is required of them, on schedule and in some cases on budget. As a individual a leader must be able to look ahead, identify how to get ahead and guide colleagues ahead. For a leader to be successful according to Tim Hannagan he/she must share common goals with those around or have the skills to steer group members towards their way of thinking. Employees must intern momentarily give up their own views in favour of the leaders and the rest of the group, listening to other group members and compromising. Although employees go about different ways in achieving company objectives à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦they accede to the preferences of the leader in exchange for the rewards they expect to receive as a result. Tim Hannagan 2005. Effective leaders motivate their employees by convincing them that the aims set for them is the best way to get the job done and will provide a better result. Happy employees work hard and are more likely to achieve the common objectives of the business or group. Leaders are in charge of employees under them therefore responsible for them and their actions in the workforce there are held accountable for the success and failure of their team. The accountability makes it comparative that the leader makes the best decisions, manages the team and communicates effectively with employees in such a way that action is taken and unneeded costly mistakes that could cost the leader, team members or the organisation avoided. Leadership involves avoiding obstacles and if they should arise overcoming them in the most cost effective way possible. The business environment as shown by the unexpected financial crisis is very unpredictable, so leaders need to be pragmatic and innovative if there are to survive and stay on top is an economic, technological and social environment that forever changing. The 21st century static business environment is rapidly changing and leaders need to evolve with the times if there are to retain employees and be successful. According to Hannagan leadership can be seen as performing the influencing function of management largely involved with establishing gaols and motivating people to help achieve them. In management there are various leadership styles and different leaders fall under different styles. Good leaders tend to use a style of leadership in response to the workforce or situation concerned to achieve the best result possible. There are old and modern styles of leadership, including; Transactional, Transformational, Participative and Situational Leadership. 1.Situational Leadership Situational leadership is ..an approach to determining the most effective style of influencing, considering the direction and support a leader gives, and the readiness of followers to perform particular tasks. David Buchanan, 2004. Situational leaders should be able to change their leadership style in response to the teams developing or changing behaviour, for example experience or willingness to accept responsibility. Blanchard and Heresy (1982) believe the maturity of the employee determine the leadership style of the leader, they believe that employer and employee relationship move through four stage. As employees become more experienced and skilled, the employer will need to change his style of leadership to motivate and take advantage of employees new found skills to make the team more effective, The Situational Model of Leadership SOURCE : OBNotes.HTM by WILF H. RATZBURG D1: LOW COMPETENCE HIGH COMMITMENT D2: SOME COMPETENCE LOW COMMITMENT D3: HIGH COMPETENCE VARIABLE COMMITMENT D4: HIGH COMPETENCE HIGH COMMITMENT As the diagram above shows the situational model of leadership has four stages : Phase 1 Directing . New subordinates are instructed in their tasks and the corporations procedures and rules. In the initial phase employees are given a lot of tasks by the leader. Subordinates are trained in their tasks as they are being familiarised to the organisation. They are told what to do, when and how to do given tasks. this is arguably a good and effective way to introduce new employees as a non directive [leader] would cause anxiety and confusion in new.. employees whilst a participatory, high relationship behaviour approach would à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦be inappropriate at this stage because the [employee] requires structure. James A.F Stoner, 1995. Phase 2 Coaching. In phase two there is more relationship behaviour than in stage one as subordinates become more accustomed to their job and the business. In this stage the participatory leadership style can be adopted as employees are considered to want more responsibility. Employees are more likely to seek more responsibility as they have become accustomed to the environment including how their leader wants tasks handled and completed. Task behaviour however remains necessary as employees still need structure to complete their work. The leaders trust and support for subordinates will increase at this stage as the leader becomes familiar with the team and wishes to encourage their efforts further. Phase 3 Participating. At this stage subordinates are more skilled and achievement motivation becomes mote noticeable which will lead to subordinates seeking more responsibility. As the employees become more experienced the leader will no longer need to strictly direct employees, in most cases skilled employees dislike autocratic leaders as they feel there are experienced enough to carry out certain task without strict supervision. There is a lot of interaction and support but little direction and task behaviour. The leader should however continually motivate employees by being supportive and considerate, if he/she is to bring out the best of employees. Phase 4 Delegating. High levels of delegation from the leader as employees are more confident, experienced and self-directing. Kenneth and Heresy feel that at this stage an employee no longer expect direction from their leader. There is less task or relationship behaviour. Under this leadership style leaders should constantly assess employee experience, motivation and ability to decide on which style is appropriate under changing conditions. If the leader chooses the most effective style there should be able to develop subordinates professionally and at the same time motivating them. The ability to be able to shift leadership styles is arguably a skill any good leader should possess as leaders are faced with different evolving situations on a daily bases. Leaders who are trained to flexibly use various leadership styles when faced with changing situations use the situational leadership style effectively as they know when to adapt or change to a different style. Leaders who are not trained to be flexible are likely to be more effective in situations that match their style of leadership. Failure to adapt will cause the leaders team to lack direction and to be less effective than if they had a flexible leader. 2. Participative leadership Participative leaders have total trust and confidence in employees. Leaders will always ask employees for ideas and opinions and then constructively use the ideas to further the groups or the organisations success. There is a lot of communication between the leader and employees and employees will be rewarded for their participation in the group. Being involved in the process of decision making help motivate and make employees more committed to their job and the business. When faced with unexpected problems employees are more willing to help as they no their input will be taken into account. Involving a group of people in the decision making ensures a better outcome, as suggestions are thoroughly analysed before the final decision is reached. Group decision making also unites employees as the social commitment amongst the group members is greater. Employees are more likely to corporate and come up with new ideas if they feel comfortable with the people around them. Leaders who adopt this style of leadership when operating usually have the greatest success as leaders. Businesses that use the participative style of leadership could be said to be the most successful in setting goals and achieving them and are also usually more productive. The success is due to the degree of participation and the maintenance of employee support for one another and from the leader. Participative leaders can improve the businesses effectiveness by using the skills, experience and knowledge of the workforce. Employees who feel and are involved setting business standards are more likely to feel ownership for the decisions made and tend to: Accept the legitimacy of decisions reached with their help; Accept change based on those decisions; Trust managers who ultimately ratify and implement decisions; Volunteer new and creative ideas and solutions. [David Buchanan 2004] It should be noted that it is the leaders choice to give or deny control to surbodinat6es under his control. Although an organisation might require their its leaders to use this type of leadership style, a manager might chose not to use it as effectively as they possibly can as they might feel involving subordinates in decision making might threaten their job position. The level of employee participation also depends on the sort of decision being made. Subordinates are usually involved when deciding on how to put goals into action, whereas employee evaluation on those decisions is done by the leader. Participative leadership is highly democratic and empowers employees. 3. Transactional leadership A transactional leader is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a leader who treats relationships with [employees] in terms of an exchange, giving [employees] what they want in return for what the leader desires, following prescribed tasks to pursue established goals. Transactional leaders perceive their association with employees in terms of bargains; they believe that employees are motivated by reward and punishment and not their willingness to work. Transactional leaders aim to create clear structures, where employees know exactly what they are expected to do. These type of leaders believe that social system are more effective with a clear chain of command, when employee are expected to yield all authority to their leader. Leaders who use this leadership style decide what subordinates need to do to attain their own and the corporations aims and objectives and help subordinates become confident in believing they can achieve the set aims and objectives through hard work, but employees are expected to do what they are told by the leader in all cases. Failure to comply with leaders instructions will lead to formal discipline which might result in job loss. As soon as a potential employee becomes an employee it becomes transparent the leader is in charge and in control. Employees who are successful under transactional leaders are usually the ones that follow orders Transactional leaders deem employees to be completely responsible for their work despite their skills, experience or resources. Subordinates are expected to take full responsibility for their work, success will be recognised and rewarded while failure is seen to be personally the subordinates fault despite internal or external influences that might have contributed to objectives not being met. Leader who use this type of leadership style believe that employees require little attention if they are meeting expectations or operating as expected. There is a variety of leaders that use this type of leadership. The leadership style might be effective with employees who are used to an autocratic leadership style and who work well under strictly structured conditions. The success of the leader is assured when the leadership style aligns with the work environment. Employees who are highly skilled and experienced are likely to despise and be unhappy under this type of leadership if it is constantly being used by the manager as they might feel they have more to offer to the business and will therefore despise being constantly told how to their job. Unhappy workers are unlikely to perform to the best of their ability and find a new job else where. .

Reasons for Re Launching Electric Car †Reva

Reasons for Re Launching Electric Car – Reva Introduction : The Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) was founded in 1994 by Chetan Maini, as a joint venture between the Maini Group of Bangalore and Amerigon Electric Vehicle Technologies (AEVT Inc. ) of the USA. The company's sole aim was to develop and produce an affordable compact electric car. Several other automakers were also aiming to do so, but in 2001 RECC launched the  REVA Reva, started off with a bang : The first electric car in India  and the people behind the car were confident of the success of the car.Plans were set and the forecasting team estimated that 1500 cars would be sold by the end of the first year. Three years after its launch,  Reva barely managed to sell a total of 300 cars. Reva was subsequently pulled off Indian markets. On May 26th 2010, Mahindra Group bought a 55. 2% majority stake in Reva and now has plans of relaunching the car in Indian markets. This article explores reasons for the failure o f Reva and what should be Mahindra Reva’s Strategy for achieving success in the Indian market. * Reva was  positioned  as a â€Å"Green,  low operating cost car†.The marketing strategy when Reva was first launched mainly concentrated on the car being green and the first of its type in the electric car segment. But this was not enough to create ripples amongst the consumers. * With a small  size, easy to drive (no clutch or gear)  and slow  speed, Reva  was targeted at  small families, old couples and female drivers. While Reva had a beneficial cost proposition of only Rs. 0. 40 paise per km travelled, it was not a cheap car. Priced at around Rs. 3. 75 lakhs, people would have preferred to purchase a Maruti Zen or an Alto which are within the same price range.The major problem with Reva was that it was perceived to be a low cost car, but it was actually not. Also it was not a car that the rich wanted to buy, as it looked below their league. In one word, Reva, was a  total misfit. * Aesthetically, Reva did not appeal to the youth. It was  not fast, did not have a  high range, had high  maintenance problems  (100 % charging needed 8 hours) and was not meant for long drives. The small car space and the design made it look like a rather  uncomfortable car. People do advocate being green but they are not willing to sacrifice their comfort for it. * The arketing campaign for Reva also was not an aggressive one. The car made news for itself for being the first electric car in the Indian market but no marketing effort was made to create ripples in the customers. The buzz through promotions and advertisements was very low. There was  no excitement  and  curiosity  created in the minds of the consumers before the product launch. A research done by me amongst 50 female drivers, 35 elderly people (50+ age) and 20 couples has helped me come up with the following  customer value hierarchy  for a Car: 1. Core benefit:  T akes you from one place to another without an  inconvenience. . Basic product:  Easy to drive,  comfortable seats and leg room,  high mileage. 3. Expected Product:  Safety, does not break down,  easy to repair. 4. Augmented Product:  Speed,  smooth on road,  Stylish. 5. Potential Product:  Environment friendly. As seen the points  bolded in red font  are the ones that Reva clearly misses. Not being able to satisfy the core, basic and expected product benefits has been a major miss in the marketing strategy of Reva. If Reva has to be successful it has to first cater to these customer benefits, satisfy them and then only will being environment friendly be a product differentiator.Reva had expected to sell around 1500 cars in its first year itself. After 3 years, Reva managed to sell only about350 odd cars. This is a definite failure in the first innings of Reva. However the fact that it is the only one in the electric car market, a proper marketing strategy can help it become a success. Reva’s Second Innings: A Re-launch Strategy It is not like Green cars are boring and cannot be successful. Take the example of  Roadster Tesla  an electric car which is the coolest and one of the most aspired cars in the automobile market. So surely there is no reason for Reva to fail if it is marketed in the right way.If the car is able to satisfy the core, basic and expected benefits of its target audience then we have a winner on our hands. In today’s, Global warming era. Being green is in fact the in thing. But just Green Cannot Sell. Reva should market itself on its other facets as well. Consider the slogan below for marketing Reva: Reva: â€Å"Easy to drive, Stylish, Comfortable Car †¦ By the way, we are also Green† The easy to drive attribute is already present in Reva. Reva needs to do slight alterations in its design to make it look more stylish, ergonomically designed for seating and safety needs.As given in the figu re above, Reva should look at targeting the growing female car owners. Also it should target the young and old couples, who find the  cuteness factor  in the car, exciting enough to purchase it. Reva should be promoted as a  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Fun† car to hang out with. Promotions The Reva advertisements  should not hire any stars to advertise it. Instead it should look at taking the common office going man, the girl next door, the college couple to brand it. This will ensure that its target audience connect to the advertisement and Reva to a greater extent.The greenness in Reva can be subtly highlighted in the advertisements. The promotion ideas for both print and television advertisements are: 1. The office goer:  How because of heavy traffic he used to reach late to office and get reprimanded by his boss. How now Reva has made him reach office in time and get promotions. Catch line: â€Å"Traffic problems. No Problem. Reva is here† 2. The girl next door: How Reva has m ade her independent. Highlight the ease and comfort of driving the car in the advertisement. Catch line: â€Å"Get Independent. Do The Reva† 3.The lovebirds: A part by part ad series in which an old couple get nostalgic on how they started their love story in a Reva and their memories associated with the Reva car. Highlight the comfort of the Reva car. Catch line: â€Å"Reva getting you closer† Social media promotions – Low cost and high effect. 1. Social gaming applications  in which users play a car racing game and get green credits for using the Reva Car. This will help spread the Reva brand virally. 2. Get expert reviews on the Reva car and publish them on the  Reva Blog. 3. Have a contest in which users can upload their Reva moment on  YouTube.Also upload YouTube videos to show how Reva makes a greener world. 4. Have, â€Å"The Spacious Reva Contest†: Customers try to fit in as many of their friends in a Reva car and upload a picture of it on  Facebook. The one with maximum likes would win the contest. 5. Listen to what your customers are saying  about Reva, how are they feeling about Reva? Have you managed to create the right buzz? Social media would tell you instantly and help you to do any kind of damage control if necessary. The  social media is a good measure  on how well your marketing strategy has worked.In conclusion , Reva has already in its â€Å"First Innings†, highlighted its attribute of being a  Green Car. The â€Å"Second Innings† strategy that has been mentioned will market Reva as an easy to drive, safe, stylish and comfortable car. Thus satisfying the core, basic and expected needs of its customers which will help the Reva car become a success story. While the Mahindra brand name and its distribution network and capabilities in the Indian market should definitely benefit Reva, in having a successful second innings. The strategy outlined above should help Reva preventing burns and scars the second time round.

The Garden Party

The Garden Party is written by Katherine Mansfield, a New Zealand prominent modernist writer of short fiction. Set in colonial New Zealand, â€Å"The Garden Party† falls into two clearly differentiated parts. For the major characters, Laura Sheridan, Mrs. Sheridan, Meg Sheridan, Jose Sheridan and Laurie Sheridan are considered by because they appeared in the story quite often. And for the minor characters, they are mostly the workers and helpers in the party, except for Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Scott.From this short story, we have encountered some literary theories. First theory that we have analysed is cultural theory. â€Å"The Garden Party† is a story about the differences between the upper class and the lower class lives. The Sheridan family represents the upper class while the Scotts represent the lower class. Mansfield gives certain importance for many words by repeating them persistently, especially hats, lilies, flowers, all those are symbols of wealth and superiori ty, in connection to the Sheridans.The Sheridan’s life appears more comfortable even when Mansfield is talking about them she uses only positive images, pleasure, flowers, songs, even in the house is highly organized. While talking about the Scotts and their class, only images of dark, ugliness, sorrow, disorder, and chaos came to our minds. Psychoanalysis theory is also one of the theories that we have encountered in this short story. â€Å"The Garden Party† traces the psychological and moral growth of Laura Sheridan.The story presents her adolescent confusion regarding the social values of her family and her awakening to a more mature perception of reality after her exposure to poverty and death at the carter's cottage. The third theory will be likely criticism theory. Most criticism of Katherine Mansfield's short story â€Å"The Garden Party† concentrates on the story as a story of the growth and maturity of a young idealistic character. For example, see Laur a's initiation as a passage from the â€Å"dream world of her parents and social class to the real world of the Sheridan's neighbouring working-class. This also describes the symbolic significance of the garden party, â€Å"The garden party epitomizes the dream world of the Sheridan women, a world whose underlying principle is the editing and rearranging of reality for the comfort. Throughout this short story, we have also analysed a few themes. For the overall theme and sub-themes from this story, â€Å"The Garden Party†, the major theme is growth. Laura’s mother summons Laura to supervise the workmen who come to set up the marquee for the garden party, she intends to leave everything to her children as a way to make them independent.When Laura suggests placing the marquee on the lily lawn, a workman rejects the idea, saying that she should the marquee â€Å"where it’ll give you a bang slap in the eye. † Laura then wonders whether it is respectful of a laborer to speak to a girl of her upbringing in the crude language of the common people. However, Laura ends up approving of the men even though they are the ones who choose the location for the marquee–against the karaka trees. Thus, though failing to supervise the men with authority, Laura learns to overlook class distinctions in dealing with the outside world.The another theme will be the contrast between life and death. The Sheridan's garden is a place of thoughtless pleasure and burgeoning energy, where young people resemble brilliant butterflies and arum lilies bloom with an almost frightening vitality. In contrast, the home of the dead carter is dark and oppressive, guarded by an aged crone and surrounded by a shadowy crowd. Mansfield deliberately exaggerates the difference between these two locations in order to emphasize her theme.That life and death are part of the same continuum is suggested by the temporal structure of the story, which begins at dawn and ends in a gathering dusk. As many critics have noted, Laura's journey to visit the bereaved family has strong mythic overtones and resembles the tale of Proserpina, a goddess who was abducted by Hades into the underworld. Laura's moment of epiphany testifies to a kind of knowledge unavailable in the sunny world of the garden party. In this way, her journey also has the quality of an initiation rite, in which a naive young girl achieves emotional and moral maturity.Last but not least, we realized that this short story is focused on third person point of view. It is because the narrator withholds information in favor of limiting what she says to what Laura thinks and experiences. Besides, she generally does not understand the incident of what she undergoes that day, at least not until the very end, when she says â€Å"isn't life, isn't life? † only for her brother to interrupt her, misinterpret her, and silence the knowledge about death she had just obtained from visiting the cottage o f the man who had died.

Analysis Of Michael J. Ackerman Et Al Privacy, Mhealth,...

Michael J. Ackerman et al. (2013) describes his experience as well as topics discussed at the meeting of the American Medical Informatics Association that he attends each year. One session titled â€Å"Privacy, mHealth, and Social Media,† brought up an important question; can you ethically look up a troubling patient on social media in order to get information that did not add up during your patient interview? (Ackerman, 2013). Resulting from HIPAA only covering providers and not patients, medical information given away on social media by an individual has waved their right to privacy, giving all users access to the information posted (Ackerman, 2013). It is important for social media users to understand that the information they post, as well as store in the personal health record kept on their smart-phone, is accessible to other users and further and unwanted information may also be released or obtained in the case of one losing their phone. Ackerman also states that due to patients now having the ability to send data obtained from m-health devices to their physician and expect an immediate response and interpretation, there are now several guidelines for physicians to follow when using social media (2013). Smalls (2012) reinstated Ackerman’s point regarding HIPAA covering providers only. Anything a provider shares or posts must be in compliance with the Act; if a patient can be identified by the information given, that information is individually identifiable health