Leadership Styles and International Teams Essay

â€Å"The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers† Peter Drucker This definition, from Peter Drucker has been a great inspiration source. It generates a lot of interrogations and guides us all along this document. It’s brief, clear and amazingly relevant. How to define a leader without thinking about the persons who permit to consider them as leader? It’s sometimes difficult to understand how some leaders became such important because of our disagreement with their idea, or actions. Dictators are the perfect example to illustrate it. There were, and are a â€Å"kind† of extreme Leaders. But we have to recognize their extraordinary charisma and skills to rise crowd. Technically speaking, they can be considered as model even if they abuse of this personal power to satisfy their own desires and needs (regardless laws and needs of the many). But this ethical problem brings us another question, what’s the difference between an efficient and a good leader? We think it’s only a question of moral and an efficient leader can’t be consider as a good one historically speaking. More generally, leadership implies influencing employees to voluntarily pursue organisational goals. Thanks to his charisma, a leader is able to achieve goal (or to make them achieve by others) whereas a manager is able to, thanks to his knowledge and his capacity to organize. But it’s also possible to be both of them, because managing is a skill that everyone could acquire. Not Leadership, which is a quality issued from your personality. So we have to question ourselves: What is a good leader? And try to become the best as possible thanks to your personality? Firstly, we are going to present the different leadership styles management we grouped in 6 categories. Then, we are going to study how to be a good leader in an international team context and finally the particularities of leading an international team. I/ Leadership styles 1. Autocratic leadership styles The leader defines roles and tasks; he takes unilateral decision without consulting any members of the team. He imposes actions to be taken. He expects immediate execution without objection. The autocratic leader doesn’t care about others’ opinion or suggestions. The leader decides for everything and everybody has to execute his decisions. Moreover he keeps as much power and decision-making authority as possible. This is a one-way communication: â€Å"I tell, you listen†. Skills used for this leadership style: influence, performance and initiative When to use autocratic leadership style? * When quick decisions need to be taken or there is a limited time for decision making. For example a competitor rival decided to launch suddenly its new product * When there is no need to team agreement * When high-level of management is needed and the need of motivation is not critical. * When new and untrained staff does not know which tasks to perform or steps to follow in the company. In fact sometimes the company hasn’t got time to form an employee or to explain to him what he has to do exactly in the firm What are the limits of the autocratic leadership style? * Employees are expecting to simply follow the orders, and they are not given any explanations. * Employees have little opportunities to give suggestions even if it is for the welfare of the organization. * Passive resistance of the team: disinterest, disagreement. Lack of motivation and desire. * Some people tend to use this style for yelling, using demeaning language, and leading by threats and abusing their power. * Sometimes this is not the authoritarian style which is used but unprofessional style called â€Å"bossing people around† which is worst and abusive and has no place in a company Example : The autority of Chritine Lagarde Christine Lagarde, 56 years old and currently director of the International Monetary Fund, is classified 9th in the ranking of women with the greatest  power in 2012 according to Forbes Magazine. She is now the woman of power par excellence, she is recognized by all for her natural authority, intelligence and effectiveness. She presides over the destiny of many countries. Christine Lagarde is not afraid to confront the economic crisis and to take important decisions, this is why she has got the surname of â€Å"Iron Lady of the global economy.† 2. Coaching leadership styles The coaching leader defines employee’s roles and tasks but he considers all their inputs and suggestion. He asks for ideas before he makes the final decision: a team engaged with feedbacks a good way to develop team members. The coach spends time with his employees and helps them to develop their strengths and skills, in line with their career. He seeks individual autonomy and building competent teams. This can have long-term benefits for the company, the leader and also the employees. This is a two way communication style between the decision of the coaching leader and the suggestions of the employees, the goal is to help and assist employees Skills used for this leadership style : Listening skills, development of others, awareness of emotions, empathy When to use the coaching leadership style? * Help an employee to improve his productivity, to develop his resources, to be more effective in autonomy. * To create a team and accelerate the performance of this team in the future * To increase the organization’s productivity, growth and the business results in a long term period * To provide guidance and to develop a long-term strength because if the employees receive the right support, the right help, it will be positive for them and for the leader. The company will be more effective What are the limits of the coaching leadership style? * Difficult to implement * It does not provide immediate results. * This style is difficult to implement because it is a guideline but at the same time the employee has got autonomy * This style does not work with employees who expect a precise list of tasks to execute (and therefore expect the micro-management) We did a case study of the coaching style of Richard Branson and his company : The Virgin group. It is set out in the Annex. 3. Participative leadership style This style involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process. The leader wants to create a team with his employees without hierarchy. He encourages the staff to participate at the decision making process : â€Å"What do you think?†. The leader keeps staff informed about everything that affects their work. He can organized some brainstorming to reap ideas or criticism a project. Moreover this style enhances the creativity and the innovation; it allows the company to benefit from collective intelligence. Using this style is a sign that the leader respect his employees, it allows them to become part of the team and allows the leader to make better decisions. If there is a problem, the staff will be involved in the solving process: â€Å"Let’s go to work together to solve this† Skills used for this leadership style: Teamwork and collaboration, conflict management, influence, empathy When to use democratic style? * Leaders want to encourage team building and participation. * Leaders want staff to be involved in decision-making and problem-solving processes. * Leaders want to provide opportunities for personal development and job satisfaction. * If the team must agree with a decision and is responsible for the outcome. * When the leader needs to use the skills and knowledge of his team in order to come up with decision. * When the leader is new and wants to have information on his team. What are the limits of the participative leadership style? * It is inefficient when it comes to getting quick results * It is inadequate in times of crisis * An employee very efficient can be impatient waiting the opinion of the community to proceed, and in contrast: evasive employees, who prefer not to be involved, may create problems. * Participative time consuming process of decision-making and today â€Å"time is money† Example : The participative style of Steve Jobs Jobs believed in his employees’ creativity comes from spontaneous meetings : â€Å"You run into someone, and ask what they are doing, you say ‘Wow,’ and soon you are cooking up all sorts of ideas†. Steve Jobs infused Apple employees a belief that they could accomplish anything, he enjoyed working with teams who trusted in themselves, who saw themselves as winners. He believed in team’s collaboration. Moreover he commented that â€Å"if a building did not encourage innovation, you lose the magic sparked by serendipity† 4. Laissez-faire/Delegating/ Free Rein/Hands off Styles Style Description: Laissez-faire leaders allow followers to have complete freedom to make decisions concerning the completion of their work. Team members control the day-to-day decisions and involve the leader when needed. It is key that the team understands when to get the leader involved. It requires the leader to trust people and their skills, and give the maximal freedom to team members. It allows followers a high degree of autonomy and self-rule, while at the same time offering guidance and support when requested. The laissez-faire leader using guided freedom provides the followers with all necessary materials to achieve their aims, but does not participate in decision making directly unless the followers request. It is said that the Laissez-faire leadership style, or we may call delegating/free rein/hands off styles, may be the best or the worst leadership style. If the leader just simply follows the meaning of â€Å"hands-off†, doesn’t involve participation or intervention at all, when he /she leads his or her followers, this style of leadership might become the worst. The two words laissez-faire and leadership are absolute direct opposites. The French term laissez-faire was originally used relative to mercantilism, and is defined in economics and politics as an economic system that functions best when there is no interference by government, and is considered a â€Å"natural† economic order that procures the maximum well-being for the individual and extends to the community. Leadership is defined as an interactive process that provides needed guidance and direction. Leadership involves three interacting dynamic elements: a leader, a follower(s) and a situation. The leader’s role is to influence and provide direction to his/her followers and provide them needed support for theirs and the organization’s success. This free leadership style is based on the premise that the leader and the team have a common goal, have a close and reliable relationship. Through the free leadership style, leaders show a high degree of trust and recognition to the team members, including loyalty and professional skills. Thus, the enthusiasm for the work of the team members is stimulated, and the team can work efficiently. Therefore, the primary factors that affects this leadership style, is the relationship between the team leader and members. When the team shares the same target and the common direction, and the leader has full confidence in his/her own team members, it may be assured to the team members to have free rein to carry out the project and the free style of leadership can be possible to be applied from the beginning to the end. When the members and the leader do not have a unified goal, or the team does not have a common direction or the same target to reach, the team members will take advantage of thi s free style leadership for its own sake, harming the interests of the whole team or making a violation of the leader. Because the free rein leadership style gives high degree of autonomy to the team members, and it is an expression of trust in the team members, including the affirmation of loyalty, expertise etc, once the atmosphere of freedom is broken in the leading process, or the relationship between the leader and the team was broken, there will be conflicting, affecting freedom leadership style until the relationship is restored again. Therefore, the implementation of the free style of the leadership, attention should be focused on that the goal is the same, as well as a close relationship with team members. Suitable Group: When the team is highly capable to analyze de situation and have a clear idea of the situation to be taken in a particular situation. * For example, this style can often be found in teams of professionals, such a team of doctors or engineers, as they form to achieve a goal or solve a problem. * When a close monitoring of a decision is not necessary. * When leaders have full confidence in team members. Unsuitable Group: Not suitable for employees with lower-skills and experience. Free members who are free to take their own decisions can lack of motivation. Moreover, there is no way to check if they do the right thing, this can lead to poor productivity. Decisions can have negative impact on the whole result. 5. Psychological Leadership Style Style Description: Leaders of this style occupy a special position in any group. A psychological leader motivates group, encourages and supports his /her group members, and takes care of the emotional needs of group members. For example, in a sport team, when a member begins, the leader might ask, â€Å"How do you like to be supported? Would you like us to be verbal with our encouragement? Would you like us to be quietly attentive and add our ideas when asked? Or what?† In this leadership style, the leaders play the role of spiritual pillar. He/she is the team leader, team representatives, and even the role of technology source. They are supposed to be all-powerful, all-knowing, invulnerable, incorruptible, indefatigable and fearless. The Leader is responsible for failure or success. He/she is the superman/superwomen or the guilty. If the President of the United State shows weakness, sickness or fear, the effect shows themselves soon in the stock market, as well as in political cartoons and letters to newspaper editors. So the leaders need to have a high degree of personal charm and quality, attract team members to work around him. This leadership mode, the team leader is the charm of the team, the team members to be able to join the team under the team leadership to become the pride. Therefore, in this case, because of the charm of the leaders, the team was able to attract a large number of talents to enrich the team’s strength. The team will gradually grow under the leadership and guidance of the leader. In this team, the centripetal force of the team depends entirely on the personal charm and personal abilities of the team leader. The team leader is like a magician. He continues to attract the attention of the team members, and unites the team members closely. However, this model of leadership has such serious dependence on the leader that any wrong decision of the leader’s will result in the error of the team direction. Moreover, the excessive authority of the leader also causes that no one can supervise or correct the errors of the leader. What’s more, once the leader leaves the team, the entire team will face the situation of losing its pillar and vitality. For example, Steve Jobs for the Apple team is not only an  effective leader, but also a psychological leader. Early, Jobs’ personal creative spirit brought vitality to the whole team. Later, for the reasons of the Board, Steve Jobs left Apple. As a result, the Apple operating nosedived and even faced a closure. And then, Jobs was hired to Apple once again. Thanks to his leadership, i series products were developed, and Apple came b ack to life. Since the death of Steve Jobs’, Apple product ideas have been questioned, because Apple lost its original creativity and vitality. Suitable Group When members are â€Å"ready†, this is the most effective leadership style. For example, when employees already know their weaknesses and hope to improve their performance, the employees are aware of the need to cultivate new capabilities for self-improvement. Unsuitable Group: When the team members refuse to learn or refuse to change their work. As a matter of fact, this style of leadership has an influence on the mind of the team member. If the members are not willing to accept inwardly, it is impossible to make the style of leadership work. 6. Situational Leadership Styles Style Description: The situational leadership theory is developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. According to this theory, there is no single â€Å"best† style of leadership. Effective leadership is task-relevant, and the most successful leaders are those that adapt their leadership style to the individual, group or the situation. We can take some daily example to explain: because we know some people are always late, when we tell them the time to meet, we will make it earlier than others; on the first day of a new colleague, we try not to get angry with him/her, especially he/she is nervous. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model contains two fundamental concepts: leadership style and maturity level. Leadership style According to this theory, the leadership style, or we can also call the behavior pattern, includes directive (task) behaviors and supportive (relationship) behaviors. – Directive (task) behaviors: lead members to achieve the goal in one-way communication, like a commander of the group. Using methods as below, 1. Provide direction guiding, pointing out the direction of the team effort 2. Setting targets & telling members how to achieve them 3. Using evaluation methods & time lines to help members to get correct information 4. Defining roles, assigning responsibilities to each group member – Supportive (relationship) behaviors: help group members in two-way communication, like a coach in the team, these behaviors may include: 1. Asking for resources, raise funds, gaining time for the group 2. Solving Problems for the group, including technical problems, social relation problems, etc. 3. Encouraging members, listening to their thoughts, paying attention to their emotions, boosting their moral. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard classified all leadership styles into 4 behavior types, named S1 to S4: S1: Telling – is characterized by one-way communication in which the leader defines the roles of the individual or group and provides the what, how, why, when and where to do the task; S2: Selling – while the leader is still providing the direction, he or she is now using two-way communication and providing the socio-emotional support that will allow the individual or group being influenced to buy into the process; S3: Participating – this is how shared decision-making about aspects of how the task is accomplished and the leader is providing less task behaviors while maintaining high relationship behavior; S4: Delegating – the leader is still involved in decisions; however, the process and responsibility has been passed to the individual or group. The leader stays involved to monitor progress. Maturity Levels According to the individuals or the group, the suitable leadership style is to be chosen. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory identified four levels of Maturity M1 through M4: M1: They still lack the specific skills required for the job in hand and are unable and unwilling to do or to take responsibility for this job or task. M2: They are unable to take on responsibility for the task being done; however, they are willing to work at the task. They are novice but enthusiastic. M3: They are experienced and able to do the task but lack the confidence or the willingness to take on responsibility. M4: They are  experienced at the task, and comfortable with their own ability to do it well. They are able and willing to not only do the task, but to take responsibility for the task. Developing people and self-motivation A good leader develops â€Å"the competence and commitment of their people so they’re self-motivated rather than dependent on others for direction and guidance.† (Hersey 91)[6] According to Hersey’s â€Å"the situational book,†[7] the leader’s high, realistic expectation causes high performance of followers; the leader’s low expectations lead to low performance of followers. According to Ken Blanchard, â€Å"Four combinations of competence and commitment make up what we call ‘development level.'† D1: employees are low in competence and high in commitment. D2: employees are described as having some competence but low commitment. D3: employees who have moderate to high competence but may lack commitment. D4: employees are the highest in development, having both a high degree of competence and a high degree of commitment to getting the job done. Advantages of Situational Leadership 1) The outstanding reliability. This model has been proved to be an effective method of leadership. Many enterprises tend to use this theory to train leader. 2) The situational leadership theory can be widely applied. It is developed for all types of team. Compared to other leadership styles, which focus only on a specific type of team, situational leadership theory has greater adaptability. 3) Situational leadership model is easy to grasp and apply. On one hand, the concept of situational leadership model is easy to understand, on the other hand, it can tell clearly what to do and what not to do in various contexts. 4) Situational leadership model emphasizes the flexibility of the leader. A successful leader knows how to adjust their leadership characteristics according to the characteristics of the team, to enhance the team’s efficiency. 5) Situational leadership model concerns not only about the leaders but also about the team members. The team members would be more confident and comfortable in their work. Disadvantages of Situational Leadership 1) In practice, it is not easy to classify the subordinates’ level. 2) How to match the actual style of situational leadership? Situational leadership model is just a general leadership style type. How to operate in practice to achieve the goal, it has not been specifically defined. 3) It is not mentioned, how much the demographics will influence the application of the different leadership styles. 4) Lack of support from the empirical analysis. So far there are just a few surveys or researches done to justify the assumption. II/Leadership Styles in Managing International Teams International: Managers as a team leaders How to be a good Leader that is the question? A leader is not a friend, not a tyrant but a fair man and a fair business man. His work consists in managing international teams, diverse cultures and personal differences. He has to distinguish himself as a reference, because working groups need leaders. Moreover, in a whole interdependent business world, Globalization has imposed as a global and required attitude and not only an economic reality any more. But there are different styles of leadership reflecting the diversity of the world. That is why, a leader has to find fundamental tools and establish a strong vision for successful leadership. He has to inspire, motivate and lead a whole team. And do not forget to adapt to different ideals to follow the same road map. It is an everyday-job. 1/ How are perceived Foreign Leaders? First to underline a global vision of Leadership, we need to know how are perceived foreign leaders in the different countries? Is everyone has the ability to be a leader? Is there only a global leader or a huge amount of domestic leaders? All these responses could help us to understand all the difficulty to be a leader and also the stake to be culturally savvy in order to manage an international team. Let us have a look on different domestic leaders: * In Gallic culture: A leader should be a strong authority figure with a high degree competence. * In French culture: The French follow a competent leader, the follow the highest position. The French managers are integrated within an authority network, pyramid of differentiated power  (hierarchical). * In German culture: Germans respect competence rather than personality with both individual work and collective work. Indeed creativity and rational outlook are essential for a career success mostly in an entity organized as a network of individual. * In American culture: Americans evolve in an autocratic system. They advocate worker participation in management decisions. * In Scandinavian culture: They need a participative Leader, Mostly for sharing data and information within the organization. * In Japanese culture: Japanese respect social positions, age and status. Indeed, Japan has a close proximity, and a culture built around the extended family (fundamental element of life in th e Far East) with symbols as the village, the rice field and so on. They points out the cooperative ethos of the East. Eastern culture allows people to play in any way that will benefit the team, encouraging the spirit and score goals. Japan for instance encourages innovation and enterprise with a shared vision of the nation. Communication and information sharing are cornerstones of the Japanese corporation through report for instance. * In British culture: Instructions disguised as request with a fairness attitude are crucial qualities for Leaders (interpersonal and subjective view in an organization where there is a network of relationships and where things get done through influence). * In Spanish culture: Courage and decisiveness with ability to solve issues are the best leaders’ requests. * In Italian culture: Personal relationships are fundamental (family model), recognizing personal confidence of the owner. In addition, The West prefers a culture based on smaller units, encouraged to think for them and to be self-sufficient, to encourag e competition. These differences are reflected in the management practices. Westerns need for hierarchical organizations with multiple layers of management perpetuating feelings of exclusion, isolation and competition. Westerners assign people through positions and tell workers what they can or cannot do whereas they argue that group cohesion is crucial to productivity and their systems of reward are based on individual effort, and appraisal systems viewed with cynicism because they are open to favoritism. They are Individualists and for them competitive culture prevails. 2/ What are Leaders’ tasks and Attributes to manage an international team? A leader has moved his/her perceptions of the game to win. He needs to know how to change in order to improve the efficiency of his/her team. And in the same time,  leaders have to assess his/her followers’ perceptions of the game’s boundaries, rules and definition of success, because conditions in the global market place are forcing reevaluating the meaning of teamwork, global partnership or e ven alliances. That is why leaders have to take into account the right signal. But how to read the right signals? Misinterpreting the wrong signal, they could lose business opportunities. That is why Observing, Searching and underlying cross-functional, cross-cultural issues in multinationals teams help improving team efficiency. Sometimes it requires other additional qualities: * Flexibility * Sense of humor * Patience * Sensitivity * Ability to check assumptions * Willingness to listen to others * Curiosity * Respect for difference * Trust in the ability of effective teams to outperform individuals It is more or less difficult according to leaders’ origins. Indeed for Americans it is really difficult, because they have different professional outlooks and backgrounds. And personal leading qualities are innate or acquired, sometimes, imposing to pay a role in order to achieve key requirements. Exposure to other countries can just as easily reinforce ethnocentrism as counteract it. International managers can learn many of the skills they need, which are the following and adopt key behaviors: a) Applying good judgment It is about becoming aware of diverse assumptions, spelling them out and checking to see if others share them. That is to say learn to confront without alienating, clarify without prejudging, give and receive feedback without being defensive, centralize information, belief, feel, perceptions and broadcast it. Moreover it requires checking behaviors and showing example, because Leaders have to be models. b) Reading cross-cultural cues It depends on high context gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, nonverbal cues. It implies do homework on the culture in advance (dos and taboos), be prepared â€Å"spend hours in polite conversation before getting down to business in Japan or Mexico†. Indeed, that knowledge on different cultures is a bonus to capitalize on. Understand the difference between personal or cultural values, norms to adapt for Multinationals negotiations’ which differs according each corporate culture and history. Multinationals leaders have to develop ambiguity managing training courses and experience to be the most flexible as possible. They need to use their intuition and rationality to separate personal biases from probable facts. c) Finding a guide not to be manipulated but well-oriented A guide is a model figure that is followed. A Leader needs to be a guide and to the fit the corporation culture. It also infers sometimes becoming coaches or mentors, but not friends. Indeed a lack of proximity could reach a lack of efficiency and rigor. d) Reflecting as well as acting The international team leader has to be a model and act as one. Because of difference in players and game strategies they must make time to reflect as well as to act because they want long-run results. Moreover the mix of personnel is becoming increasingly international that is why they need to create an environment that rewards openness, frankness, engagement and teamwork. Do either one-to-one or group discussions to be more productive and have more creative results. The international team leader must decide when to use groups, how to compose them and how to orchestrate meetings so that power plays are controlled and personalities balanced. Adapting and changing, if necessary, from one-to-one management to an effective orientation in the global market place. HR staffs must build up their expertise to meet teamwork challenge. e) Modeling the process †Teamwork begins at home†. Leaders first examine their own internal capabilities and then buy or Make a flexible mobile cross-culturally competent team of professionals. f) Selecting the right people Through a set of international assignment criteria tailored to specific culture helps ensure success abroad, developing company-specific and country-specific personal profiles. g) Considering with shareholders Common decisions on the best objectives and elements for international human resources have to support plan through code signing. h) Training modification  With package courses leaders have to make sure people discuss their perceptions on what they actually see. Build the idea of differences because of gender, culture, organizations, age, personal learning styles. Indeed, when people work in groups, they need to make sure members are from a variety of backgrounds in order to cultivate diversity to teach people how to act and react without forgetting developing working rules that will allow each people equal air time. Furthermore, they have to encourage international managers to bring in actual team problems for discussion, role playing and reflection is substantial. Teamwork must be a driving value within the company and be appropriately rewarded. And HR Staff should develop an internal communication network, so that each employee is aware of how different teams work, what they accomplish and what knowledge and expertise they can share. Means as proper selection, training, support and incentives will get international teams outperform individuals. But how can we recognize the leader in any case? There is a practical test: take the right to apply sanctions, reward, put his/her veto, overriding individual’s decisions about corporation structure. i) Leaders’ Tasks (ability required):  * Simplify: Leaders have to resolve value conflicts among his/her followers. * Link action to vision: Leaders need to clarify and explain shared goals versus actions required in order to put a strategic and co-working framework. * Be different: Leaders must distinguish himself/herself from his/her followers (authority, hierarchy framework). They need to think to the answer of the following question:  « How do you see you leader?† Indeed, followers need believing in a â€Å"winner†, sometimes without any sympathy synonymous with expertise and success managing multinational teams. We can emphasize that leaders distinguish themselves with the following drivers balancing between firmness and severity: *  Expertise: depending on experience, knowledge and understanding of the world. * Personal qualities: energy, persistence, memory and insight. * Track record: past performance, reputation and ability to dealing with a situation nobody had faced before. * Vision: Traduce the corporate strategy; broadcast the road map of the group integrating followers through his/her presence. That is to say put image on action, identifying key common values and beliefs in order to the whole team can fell involved in. Inspire that vision giving an identity of each one linking through staff loyalty, implying the same aspirations. The leader’s vision need to be promoted throughout the organization and sustained thanks to every-day actions, with change if required. * * Have a vision: learn to communicate a vision to people, your team can follow: * Communicate it * Believe it * Follow it * Model it * Be passionate: Passion is contagious: â€Å"take your passion and make it happen† * Be a great decision maker: be quick, committed, analytical and thoughtful. * Be a team builder: let one of your team members to take responsibilities, don’t micromanage and make you available if questions arise. * Be a life-long learner: the world is changing and new resources become available every day. Leader must be aware of new technologies and to share it with your staff. * Communicate clearly: remember you have diverse listeners, make sure you tell everyone in the same way, the same message. * Give an expect respect: to earn respect, give it, and get it. * Be knowledgeable: leaders must be aware of everyday changes in business and discuss about it within the team, answer to up-to-day questions/concerns. * Be organized in order your staff be. Be exemplary. * Be positive: think positive to motivate and work in a positive and efficient way. Conclusion: To sum up, we have defined a leadership profile. Leaders are individuals who help create options and opportunities. They help identify choices and solve problems. Leaders build commitment and coalitions. They do this by  inspiring others and working with them to construct a shared vision of the possibilities and promise of a better group, organization, or community. Leaders engage followers in such a way that many followers become leaders in their own right. The varied demands of an increasingly complex world often require that leadership be shared by many of the members of a group, in ways appropriate for different situations. Be Aware, Be different! III/ Intercultural management: Leading an international team The last half century has seen enormous change impacting the way we work. The world is shrinking with advances in information technology playing a crucial role in facilitating the global expansion of organizations. International teams are now a common phenomenon with many large organizations structuring their workforce according to function rather than geography. Successful organizations do not hesitate to move their talents around the world to ensure that they have the right skills and knowledge in the right location when necessary. But what does it take to manage such a culturally diversified and geographically dispersed team? What is an international team? The increase – both in organizational global mobility and in individual migration –means that, most large organizations now employ a multicultural workforce. It is not unusual to find traditional teams made up of members from a number of different countries. These team members work for the same organization and may share the same profession, but the fact that they do not share the same cultural background provides them with a different view of the world. As a result, they think and behave differently to each other. Virtual teams are also on the rise as international organizations embrace new technologies to enable geographically dispersed teams to work together cost-effectively and efficiently. This virtual and remote working of members from different cultures and across different time zones doesn’t come without challenges. Cultural generalizations It would be wrong to suggest that team members from one specific cultural background always behave in the same way. Of course, personality, upbringing, previous experiences and a host of other factors all impact their behaviors. Any team bringing different personalities and experiences  together can face frustrations and challenges. However, researches have shown that values and attitudes tend to differ according to one’s cultural background resulting in different work practices and behaviors. * Do team members prefer to work on individual projects or pool their ideas and resources? * Is it acceptable to show emotion during conflict? * Should they be expected to stay late or take work home in order to finish a project? * Is it ok to interrupt a meeting to take an important phone call? Members of different cultural groups will answer these and other questions differently. Academic researchers such as Geert Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars have shown that cultural behaviors vary according to a series of dimensions on which we can place the countries of our colleagues. Key cultural dimensions include: * Hierarchy vs. egalitarianism * Groups vs. individuals * Relationship vs. task * Open vs. hidden displays of emotion * Degree of comfort with uncertainty and risk * Work/life balance * Attitudes to time and space * Attitudes to nature and the environment Understanding that individuals belonging to different cultural groups have varying attitudes to these dimensions can help us understand how and why our colleagues and team members sometimes do things differently. For example, a team member from a hierarchical culture such as India tends to be more deferent to their manager and expects approval for each piece of work before moving on to the next stage. Conversely, team members from more egalitarian cultures such as Australia or the USA are usually much more comfortable working autonomously. Management versus Leadership The purpose of management is to make people effective, motivate them, operate and communicate a strategic process. It is the hardest! Whilst Leadership is setting a new direction the entity will follow. Leaders are spearheads. Leadership complements management. But both deal with human aspects that require: self-awareness, to understand differences, accept and value them. This is a sum up of each one’s responsibilities: Leaders| Managers| * Cope with change * Set a new direction of that change * Align people * Motivate people by satisfying basics (human needs)| * Cope with complexity * Develop capacity to achieve its plans by organizing and staffing * Enquires controlling and problem solving * Budget and plan| Leading international teams: a Global Leader Definition proposed by Mendenhall and al in 2008: â€Å" Global leaders are individuals who effect significant positive change in organizations by building communities through the development of trust and the arrangement of organizational structures and processes in a context: involving multiple cross-boundary stakeholders, multiple sources of external cross-boundary authority, and multiple cultures under conditions of temporal, geographical and cultural complexity†. Managers of international teams need to take time to improve their own global cultural knowledge and sensitivity in order to understand the different expectations, priorities and behaviors of their team members. Intercultural training and/or coaching can help managers to develop the knowledge, skills and strategies to manage an international team more effectively. Taking the time to learn about other cultures and becoming more ‘culturally curious’ is invaluable for anyone new to managing an international team. The real challenge is to pre-empt challenges and frustrations that may arise in an international team and to harness the positives in order to create synergy from the culturally diverse team members. Managers may need to adapt their usual leadership style to maximize the potential of an international team. What has been successful with domestic teams may not always work as well with an international team. Planning, scheduling, trust criteria, expectations of delegation, feedback and regularity of contact will be viewed differently according to the culture of the individual. Good international managers need to adapt their style to take these differences into account. Managers also need to consider different ways of making team members feel valued as an important part of the team. For some cultures being valued as a person is not so  important as long as their work is respected. Other cultures are more holistic: they want to be liked by their manager and appreciated as a person and want to receive credit for the tasks they complete. So spending time getting to know team members is essential in the early stages in order to understand the skills and knowledge each individual brings to the team and how to bring out the best in each of them. When the manager form an international team, he needs to be clear and explicit and always uses documents ground rules and processes with input from all the team players to avoid ambiguity at a later stage. Good relationships between the team leader and members are essential but not enough on their own. Team members also need to get on well with each other, even if the team is geographically dispersed. Providing opportunities for team members to share knowledge and experience – whether through informal forums or more formal meetings, team building events or training programs – will allow the team to build rapport and trust, making it easier to work effectively as a unit. To finish, Global Leadership differs from Domestic Leadership. Indeed Domestic leadership lacks of connectedness. A global leader implies a global scope with a management perception, a relationship management and a self-management. It requires cultural sensitivity. A leader has to create relationship, hit the bottom line and merge a common vision and common goals. Global Leadership versus Domestic Leadership The increase of competent global leaders has become a key success factors in International Companies. Indeed, implement global strategies keeps on developing the number of constraints. Global talent leads to Global leaders and require understanding differences between global and domestic leadership stakes. Global leaders are distinctive in their scope, their mindset moreover they need to be culturally aware. The difference between global and domestic leadership infers additional complexity. In other words, Global Leaders need to cope with: * Multiplicity of issues across a range of diverse dimensions, for instance with different customers, legal procedures, regulation and competitors. * Interdependence among lots of stakeholders from different culture, countries that is to say with different polices, economies and environmental systems. * Ambiguity in interpreting relationships, cues and signals at the appropriate situation. * Flows in  terms of transactions, sharing information, v alues patterns and the last but not the least the organization structure. Ghemawat (2008), a Harvard Professor emphasizes the challenges of global operations linked with the complexity of operating abroad. He noted 4 difficulties: * Cultural issues as language customs, religion and ethnicities. * Administrative and political issues as laws, trading blocs or currencies. * Geographical issues as physical distances, time zones. * Economic issues as income levels, cost of natural and human resources, infrastructure or information. But Caliguiri, an expert in careers recognized in the Business area, in 2006 claimed the experience approach according to that global leaders distinguish through their researches and his or her definition of what leaders do through their tasks and positions. It is a ground approach, much more every day practical. He highlighted the following stakes to be a global leader: * Work with colleagues from other countries * Interact with external clients from other Countries * Interact with internal clients from other countries * Sometimes communicate using a second language * Manage and motivate geographically dispersed and diverse employees and teams * Develop strategic business plans on a worldwide basis * Manage a budget on a worldwide basis * Negotiate in other countries or with people of different nationalities * Manage foreign suppliers and vendors * Manage risk on a worldwide basis To conclude those leadership’s skills need to be assess to improve and develop talent and management processes. Because develop talented people and effective global leadership is definitively a competitive advantage for multinational companies. Different communication styles Good team work is all about good communication. Even in a monocultural team, frustrations can occur all too easily when messages are misinterpreted and communication breaks down. Individuals from different cultural backgrounds usually favor different communication styles varying in terms of directness, formality, and use of silence, non-verbal signals and the levels of information shared. A useful concept is Edward T. Hall’s ‘high and low context’, which illustrates how relationships impact communication and the balance between verbal and non-verbal communication. A ‘high context’ communicator will have a more indirect, implicit style and will rely more on the shared knowledge and experience than a ‘low context’ communicator. It is easy to predict a ‘low context’ team member’s frustrations with a colleague who seems unable to get to the point and ‘tell it like it is’. Asian cultures tend to be much more comfortable with silence rather than Western cultures in which it is more common to fill silences or sometimes to even talk over the person who is already talking. How does this impact an international team meeting and what can the team manager do to ensure that everyone’s opinion is heard? A clear agenda and meeting protocols are essential and the team manager needs to have the skills and awareness to interpret individual reactions and to guide the discussion to enable everyone to contribute. It is really important asking for individual updates or switching roles at each meeting so that different people lead or take the minutes are simple ways of ensuring that all voices are heard. Coping with conflict Successful international teams need to be comfortable with conflict and ready to resolve any disputes quickly. Cultural groups that place more importance on the group than on the individual are usually less comfortable with conflict as they value harmony and saving face. This is in contrast to those from individualist cultures who focus more on task than relationship and are usually open in expressing any disagreement. They don’t view disputes as personal but simply as something to be resolved in order to get the best results for the project or task. Example: French colleague who seemed to be extremely critical of his colleague’s presentation but then gave very good feedback to his manager afterwards. He was challenging his colleague to stretch his thinking and to explore other options and possibilities but this didn’t mean he thought it was a bad presentation. For a Western manager working with Asian team members it is important to allow them the opportunity to discuss any areas of conflict individually rather than in front of the team as this would potentially cause them to lose face or  induce others to lose face. So, the way leaders manage international teams, cope with conflict, organize and orchestrate team can depend on the organization of the firm and its cultural origin. Moreover, we can distinguish the Horizontal Leadership (Obama) and the Vertical Leadership (Sarkozy). Horizontal Leadership| Vertical Leadership| * Hierarchical organization * Mechanistic * Controlling resources * Chain of command * Span of control * Knowledge is power| * Flat organization * Organic * Sharing resources * Coordinating * Unlocking potential * Knowledge creation| Conclusion: Now more than ever, there is a great opportunity for international collaboration through international teams. Whether it’s a single project or a long-term assignment, by taking a proactive approach to recognize the potential challenges of international teams, organizations can reap the benefits and create an international structure that ensures that their top talents are utilized to the best of their abilities and efficiency. International team leaders need to step back from usual assumptions and methods and put themselves in the shoes of their colleagues from other cultures. Re-evaluating what has worked well in the past, taking time to understand the preferences of each team member and finding common ground for all, will help to form a united and effective international team. Be a global leader, manage an international team is definitively an every-day job dealing with the hardest: human factors. Conclusion So, we have seen how important the leadership in the actual world is. No matter what is its form, it’s generally a real pro for a team. Managing an international team is a hard task that leadership can simplify. It’s necessary to understand that Leadership styles management are listed and defined, but it’s complicated to give advice about how leading because the person you are in relation with will impact a lot your leadership style. It will sometimes be more efficient to be â€Å"autocratic† whereas it was useless in a previous similar situation. The leader, to be the best as possible need  to be a good manager and also mix all the different leadership styles in order to take the best from each one. Even if it’s pretty idealistic, this is the advice we would give in order to be a good manager. But is a good leader enough to manage an entire company? Tables des Matià ¨res â€Å"The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers†1 I/ Leadership styles2 II/Leadership Styles in Managing International Teams International: Managers as a team leaders12 1/ How are perceived Foreign Leaders?12 2/ What are Leaders’ tasks and Attributes to manage an international team?13 a)Applying good judgment14 b)Reading cross-cultural cues14 c)Finding a guide not to be manipulated but well-oriented15 d)Reflecting as well as acting15 e)Modeling the process15 f)Selecting the right people15 g)Considering with shareholders16 h)Training modifications16 i)Leaders’ Tasks (ability required):16 Conclusion:18 III/ Intercultural management: Leading an international team18 What is an international team?18 Cultural generalizations19 Management versus Leadership20 Leading international teams: a Global Leader20 Global Leadership versus Domestic Leadership22 Different communication styles23 Coping with conflict24 Conclusion:25 Bibliography, Videos sources and Study Case27 Bibliography, Videos sources and Study Case http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y47qRvPHoVU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPfRKu05bkQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptKNVsf7b9Y&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCtfV8tspho http://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/culture-for-business-and-management/leading-across-cultures/index.php http://www.ehow.com/info_8210591_cross-cultural-leadership-styles.html http://www.legacee.com/Info/Leadership/LeadershipStyles.html Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K. H.. Management of Organizational Behavior 3rd Edition– Utilizing Human Resources. New Jersey/Prentice Hall, 1977 Blanchard, Kenneth H., Patricia Zigarmi, and Drea Zigarmi. Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness through Situational Leadership. New York: Morrow, 1985 Ronald Goodnight. Encyclopedia of leadership: Laissez-faire Leadership. Sage Publication, 2004 Study Case: Richard Branson Basic Example for Leadership 1. How it all began Sir Richard Branson is one of the world’s most eminent, creative, innovative and highly successful entrepreneurs of all time with a net worth of over $4.2 billion. Being the very epitome of a true business leader, he has gone through numerous difficulties to be able to found the Virgin Group, establishing a unique approach to leadership, which has attracted quite many followers all over the world. He has proved himself as the master of serial entrepreneurship, perfecting his one of a kind leadership style over the years. Born in 1950 and educated in Stowe in the United Kingdom, Richard Branson’s first business venture was setting up a Student Magazine at the age of sixteen. This was initiated after his final decision to drop out of school, most probably due to the hardships he had faced in his earlier childhood, caused by his having been diagnosed with dyslexia. However, despite Branson’s poor academic performance, in 1970 he founded Virgin as a mail order record retailer, which later turned into one of the most well-known brands in the world. During the following years, Virgin Records was established, which signed such prominent artists as Mike Oldfield, the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones, etc. The Virgin brand continued to grow during the next decades as Branson expanded his enterprise by founding the  Virgin Atlantic Airways, and also starting a Virgin record label in America. With around 200 companies in over 30 countries, the Virgin Group has now expanded into leisure, travel, tourism, mobile, broadband, TV, radio, music festivals, finance and health and through Virgin Green Fund his company is now investing in renewable energy and resource efficiency. Moreover, in 2005, the Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company, came into existence, where the intention is to eventually reach orbital trips around the globe as well as go to the Moon. Branson has been named a â€Å"transformational leader† in the field of management, with his maverick strategies and his stress on the Virgin Group as an organisation driven on informality and information, one that is bottom-heavy rather than strangled by top-level management. 2. The unique personality behind the face of Richard Branson Being a great leader is not an easy task to be achieved, and there is a certain set of personal characteristics, which are intrinsic to Richard Branson himself and make him the unique entrepreneur he is. Firstly, passion is of essential priority for the successful fulfillment of various tasks. It is the quality, which gives you the stimulus to further improve the performance of your company and develop your business ideas. Hence, Branson should definitely be considered a real passionate leader due to his incessant striving for perfection and sincere commitment to contributing to people’s welfare. On the Virgin Group’s corporate website it is mentioned that the company is â€Å"giving birth† to other firms as well as â€Å"holding their hand† through their development, as this pinpoints the exceptional supportive attitude of the company towards its staff. Secondly, the next personal characteristic of paramount importance happens to be courage in the form of having the guts to take risks and initiatives. One emblematic decision of Branson – to switch bank due to poor support and advice for Virginia records – led to the company’s ultimate survival. Additionally, there are many examples of Branson, jumping into different ventures such as is the case with the space tourism-related Virgin Galactic. This enterprise was extremely risky and brave, yet very profitable as well. Despite the substantial uncertainty involved, Branson has showed several times he is excellent in risk management as well. When starting a new venture, he usually shares the risk with other investors, but also makes sure the risk is minimized doe each  party. Thirdly, creativity along with having knowledge of the business you are in is a combination of personal features, which are fundamental in being a great leader. There is no denying Richard Branson’s extraordinary creativity, given the variety of industries his businesses operate in. From airlines to record labels, he has managed to build a steady empire. What is more, he has a profound knowledge of not only the business he runs, but the existing competition as well, which has led to a constant incr ease in the company’s profits. Fourthly, in spite of having insight into different situations, it is also very important to be frankly motivated to do the right thing. Branson has shown the world his open and kind nature to create something he is proud of. Actually, he mentions this as his underlying philosophy of business – to do something for the sake of improving other people’s lives, not merely making money. Another positive feature of his – adaptability – has also helped him in achieving this task, as he is now engaged in numerous environmental initiatives and research. 3. Branson’s leadership style Management is about doing things right, leadership is about doing the right thing, says Peter Drucker. Sir Richard Branson has developed his outstanding leadership style through the years and has proved it actually works. It can be best described as participative leadership. He makes sure to involve his subordinates as well as other stakeholders in the decision-making process in order to be able to extract various constructive opinions, which would aid to the flourishing of the business. Branson himself outlines that one cannot be a good leader unless he genuinely likes people. As a result of this, his leadership style is based on a few very simple and down-to earth rules, and namely: * Smile. Everything gets much easier if you show a friendly face. * Have fun at work. * Believe in your ideas, employees and colleagues. As we can see, Branson puts a serious emphasis on human resource management. He strives to find people, who have innovative ideas and are determined to give 100% to achieve their goals. He insists that all of his employees should be company-oriented, sharing common values, co-operating with one another in their work to beat up competition. Consequently, the human  resource management system is built, so that the staff is constantly motivated and encouraged to improve his/her performance, being given certain benefits such as bonuses, profit sharing or any kinds of promotion available. 4. Branson’s leadership qualities A magnificent businessman, an inquisitive person, a truly caring human being, Sir Richard Branson possesses a set of leadership qualities, which only few entrepreneurs in the world have. It is his leadership abilities which make him stand out and have helped him build his empire of businesses. I shall mention the quintessential ones in order to analyze his image much better. First of all, Branson claims he has learnt his management skills through trial and error since founding his first business when he was sixteen. Nowadays, his main efforts are concentrated into achieving an effective time management. He divides his days equally between trouble shooting, new projects and promoting his businesses. He is regarded as a genius at handling and preparing PR activities and is never afraid of being in the limelight. Next, another skill of his is the ability to delegate work to his co-workers and management staff, leaving them to get a stake in the business and try to develop it as much as they can. He surely spends a great deal of time to build a certain business, but he also wants to recruit such people, who would be able to run it without him, thus taking a step back. Moreover, Richard Branson is famous for his belief that if one looks for the best, he will get the best. He is really precise when it comes to hiring potential employees. After a thorough selection has been conducted, he gets them to stay in the company regardless of the mistakes they may make. He is more likely to bring specific people into another venture where the person is more likely to perform well according to his/her capabilities, than just fire them. With his likeable personality and professional leadership style, Sir Richard captures everybody’s attention with his openness to people and devotion to their well-being. He considers failure as an unfortunate occurrence when leaders avoid the reality of business. What is one of his guiding principles is that one has to trust the people with whom he works and learn from their mistakes. Blame, bitter accusations and recriminations are pointless. Another leadership quality to be highlighted is Branson’s striving to bu ild tight interaction between managers and employees. He  encourages his staff to write to him with whatever suggestions they come up with, which would be of benefit to the future success of the company. He assumes that motivational strategies extend to innovative ideas, so he tries to listen to as many propositions as possible and offer his professional feedback. The development of a bond with his team is an essential part of his everyday work. Following this feature, Sir Richard also gives his all to inspire people to think as if they were entrepreneurs themselves, and to treat them as adults. He believes that in order to make workers perform better, they should be given more responsibilities, which inevitably activates their self-conscience. Last but not least, one of Branson’s main positive leadership characteristics is that he sees no one way to run a successful business, because what works well today, may not work at all tomorrow. This adds up to the point of trial and error mentioned above. Branson considers there are no strict rules to be followed – just do what you believe is the best for you. When one makes a mistake, he stands up and learns how to avoid it in the future. He wittily mentions that this is the recipe for success and above that it deprives one from the unpleasant want to scream at the sight of a bullet points list.

Job Promotion Press Release

Ohio, approximately five minutes outside of West Milton, Ohio, has recently Just received a promotion at his local grocery store. Post has worked at this location going on five years now and has been offered a managing position. It will require him to put in more hours, but he will receive better pay, plus benefits. With this new position he will be in charge of opening up the store, along with closing; depending on what shift he works.Added to that he'll make ere other co-workers stay on task, as well as balancing out cashier's money drawers. Post will as well have to be trained on the cash register for when that have a rush of customers to be able to provide help. The previous position Post held was Just a regular customer service position. Post stocked shelves when new products arrived on the truck, conditioned the shelves, and bagged customer's groceries. Post as well would provide carrying out customer's groceries if there were four or more bags, or upon customers request.Every night before leaving Post would start his nightly responsibilities, which included filling eggs ND milk, sweeping the store, and taking out all trash. That Job helped Post get comfortable interacting with customers on a dally basis, and Improve his people skills. Post was approached by his boss before he left one day and he said, â€Å"what would you think If I said we'd Like to promote you to a higher position? † Post was more than (more) thrilled by this comment.Post's boss continued by saying, â€Å"you've shown some real dedication to this store recently, and you've received many compliments from customers. † With all this positive feedback, Post was more than excited to accept his bosses offer. Post graduated from Milton-Union High School In 2011, where he then continued his education at Sinclair Community College. Post later transferred to Columbia College Chicago where he Is currently attending as a Marketing Communications Major focusing In Public Relations.Giv en his Job promotion remains back In Ohio, his boss was more than understanding to allow him to accept It as a seasonal management position. Therefore Post will work there over his Christmas and summer months off from schooling. There are many GIG locations throughout Ohio, but the Chasten family Independently owns the West Milton GIG. The motto of the store Is â€Å"hometown proud. † The Chasteness want you to experience a hometown feel when you shop at their store. One of the mall reasons they still offer carryout boys for their customer's groceries.GIG specializes In the groceries that your family needs. They also happen to have one of the best dells around, a little pricey, but well worth It. – end – Job Promotion Press Release By specs_post comfortable interacting with customers on a daily basis, and improve his people you think if I said we'd like to promote you to a higher position? † Post was more than Post graduated from Milton-Union High School i n 2011, where he then continued College Chicago where he is currently attending as a Marketing Communications Major focusing in Public Relations.Given his Job promotion remains back in Ohio, his boss was more than understanding to allow him to accept it as a seasonal independently owns the West Milton ‘GA. The motto of the store is â€Å"hometown their store. One of the main reasons they still offer carryout boys for their customer's groceries. GIG specializes in the groceries that your family needs. They also happen to have one of the best delis around, a little pricey, but well worth it.

Personality Theory Analysis Essay

In human nature, personality is explained in various ways depending on the environment an individual lives in. Personality is the traits and characteristics of an individual unique ways of expressing his or her feelings towards any situation in his or her social circle. The learning theory is explained as the process in which humans learn and how they adapt to permanent behavioral change in the environment. Humanistic and existential theories are the holistic approach to psychological health and human behavior toward meaning, values, personal experience, and self-actualization. The knowledge of both humanistic and existential and learning theories gives a board insight into human nature and personal reaction and growth in the external environment of one’s personality (University of Phoenix, 2013). The learning theory is examine how an individual’s reacts to his or her personal environment and the behavior conditions which one displays in his or her environment. B. F. Skinner theory of behaviorism explains how a person is held accountable for his or her actions with the illusion of self-control. Skinner argues the choice of free will or genetics shape the environmental factors of reinforced behaviors. He believed that people are a product of his or her environment. Skinner believed that positive reinforcements strengths an individual’s behaviors by providing a sense of consequences and rewards for the reinforcement (University of Phoenix, 2013). Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory redefines the assumption human functioning is a combination of genetics and influences from the environment. Bandura proposes humans are capable of self-efficacy from using his or her external and internal instincts. Bandura believed through personal strengths influences the way a person reacts to different situation that can affect a person’s behavior. Observation learning is proposed in Bandura’s theory. He believed that people learn from his or her environment when placed in various situations  (University of Phoenix, 2013). Learning happens in a cause and effect relationship in the environment. The cause would be the reaction to a behavior in the environment and the effect would be the consequences an individual faces from the reaction to the situation in the environment. Individuals are placed in similar experiences to determine what the outcome will be in the situation. The individual becomes passive and simply react to the experience he or she is going through. Cognitive learning explains how a person’s rational thinking and behavior determines a person’s complex responds to a behavior from individual thought process (University of Phoenix, 2013). The humanistic approach is implemented when an individual has reached self-fulfillment or potential growth. The way a person reacts in situational behavior depends on the level of potential behavior one is capable to re sponding too. Maslow suggests the driving force in a person motivation and personality needs is called holistic dynamic theory. A person’s motivation is created from another need to another need in personal growth and self -actualization. Maslow believed a person needs are being met when he or she satisfy a lower need (University of Phoenix, 2013). Carl Rogers believed that humans evolved from a conscious mind through formal tendencies. Rogers agreed with Maslow that individuals motivated toward self-actualization of a person’s personal growth in his or her environment. Rogers’s person-centered theory focused on a person’s constructive and personal directions in his or her life. With self-awareness, a person is free to make choices and participate in his or her own personalities. He suggested that people focused on his or her current subjective understanding rather than the unconscious motive interpretation of the current situation. Rogers’s relationships encourage psychological growth within individuals (University of Phoenix, 2013). The existential theory explains that individuals are responsible for his or her own choices that he or she makes in a formal or informal decision. Rollo May believed that anxiety and informal decisions are the factors in human motivation. The anxieties come from an individual’s mental state of mind and are prone to avoid anxiety. May’s believed that individuals show move to his or her own destiny (University of Phoenix, 2013). The learning theory is an accumulation of learned behavior that will increased through a person’s life span. Individuals stem from situational behaviors to gain possible reinforcement  and reward from the decisions he or she makes. Skinner believed the environment shaped a person’s personality from the environment he or she resides in. The environment influences a person’s character and traits to make decisions to gain personal rewards. The humanistic and existential theory moves toward fulfillment and the realization of an individual growth for his or her needs (University of Phoenix, 2013). Rollo May believed a person have to maintain a healthy relationship with others, but in the end will be alone. Abraham Maslow insists through self-actualization a person will gain the feelings of others, but will not rely on others for self-esteem or personal gain. Rogers believed through a caregiver responds to promote psychological growth in a child. Humanism emphasized on the interpersonal relationship that is essential to personal development in a person’s personality. In interpersonal relationship, a personal will have confidence in social gatherings he or she holds close to them. Bandura proposed an individual learning comes from observation learning from a person’s observation in making a critical or informal decision (University of Phoenix, 2013). From the learning perspective side, people associate with others to receive reinforcement or rewards from social interactions. People continue to form associations with others to reinforce a particular behavior from ot hers around them. People make inform judgments in protecting his or her environment from natural forces or people trying to inflict personal harm towards them. When reinforcement is not applied, people will maintain a healthy relationship through personal association to gain reinforcement. People learn from his or her environment and if is placed into a different environment, then the individual will have to adjustment in a new situation. By taking a person what of his or her comfort zone, the individual will able to adapt of different environment needs and make decision accordingly. The theory relates more to nature verses nurture when an individual needs are being met for personal growth and development in his or her new surrounding environment (University of Phoenix, 2013). The existential theory concentrated on the free will of an individual to make any decision he or she chooses. The theory drives on the sense of well-being and to be in the world to maintain a healthy psychological growth. If a p erson decides to on making bad choices, he or she will have to answer to them. The choices a person makes show his or her character and personality traits of how to make  an inform decision. He or she wants let any other person cloud his or her decision-making and will rely on his or her own judgment. The results can be either constructive or deconstructive role in the decision making process (University of Phoenix, 2013). Social constructivism is defined as behavior or knowledge constructed from person’s behavior based on new ideas a person gain from past and present knowledge or experiences. Bandura believed a person learns from experience and through observation personal growth and development was shorten. The beliefs are essential component of personal development that depends on the social environment others within another’s environment. The genetic factors contributed to the social influences by others in constructing his or her own personality in significant individuals. The action did not encourage the behavior, but changed the events of the behavior. The social relationship changes the perspective of one’s view within another’s environment and emotional state of mind. The personal development will be what the individual gain from his or her learning experiences (University of Phoenix, 2013). Maslow laid the foundation in understanding the characteristics of a healthy and normal person. His theory of self-actualization gave the perception of reality, straightforwardness, and genuine characteristics of an individual’s personality traits. Many individuals have the need for solitude and independence to appreciate the ordinary things in life. People need to indulge in social interests, seek social experiences, maintain a few interpersonal relationships, and have an idealistic sense of humor to properly functions in today society (University of Phoenix, 2013). Learning theories is the human learning that is results from behavior and personality in an individual’s environment with internal considerations. Humanistic and existential theory is the tendency for internal drive of self- predetermination. The behavior viewed as a movement toward actualization and situational behavior as reinforce or reward. The aspect of interpersonal growth with each theory discussed. The perspectives affect by situational behavior in distant characterizations of human nature. The personal development of an individual when placed in a social setting and the decision- making he or she encounter in his or her environment. The diversity of reasoning related to thought and understanding of human nature from a psychological point of view. References Colman, A. M. (Ed.). (2010). Humanistic psychology. In Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://www.oxfordreference.com/pub/views/home.html McLeod, S. (2007). Carl Rogers. Simply Pychology. Retrieved March 7, 2015 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html University of Phoenix. (2013). Theories of Personality. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY405 website.

Quiz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Quiz - Essay Example he computer screen behind the objective of staying connected to the people online, he does not know that to stay connected online, he is getting disconnected from the world around him, and is getting oblivious of those living around him, who need him and can make him happier than the online community. The social isolation creates adverse effects on the family relationships because online socializing works by dissociating social relationships from physical actuality. Today, we are always connected to the people we know, whether we are sitting on our couch or we are out of town, yet we are suffering from depression, anxiety and loneliness. Today, we are all the time getting updates from our friends, relatives and classmates; and, we do not have to schedule face-to-face meetings in order to stay in each other’s lives. And, all this has been possible thanks to the online social networking websites which offer great fun and mind-engaging applications in addition to letting us find people of our own interests and hobbies. However, this has resulted in people hesitating in interacting with others in the physical world. They are hiding from the bitter events that come with real relationships. They do not want to make commitments with physical world relationships. So, they find a way out in the form of online socializing. They are, however, unaware of the fact that this epidemic of social media will make them socially excluded; and, time will come when they will become totally oblivious to real feelings and

Globalization Influence on Big Companies Management Research Paper

Globalization Influence on Big Companies Management - Research Paper Example However, latter 20th-century managers have faced some new challenges coming along with age of information, and particularly, globalization. Nowadays, globalization has influenced big company’s management on levels of organization and administration making specific impacts and bringing certain ramifications in managers’ work. On a field of economy and business, for big companies, globalization is â€Å"a process of interaction and integration† among companies from different countries around the world, a process, which is â€Å"driven by international trade and investment† (Globalization101, 2015). Globalization reasons most of the innovations and renewals, which world companies come through because under the conditions of globalization business competition increases omnidirectionally. Globalization also â€Å"forces† companies to interact, and be open to the world market because national economies of world countries (especially, developed ones) are deeply involved in process of globalization too. Thus, in the world market all the internal companies’ organizations, as well as companies’ business-to-business partnerships, are in need to be reorganized according to general modern tendencies (Globalization101, 2015). The case is that along with the modernization, big companies face the new sort of dependency. Earlier â€Å"dependency† implied a kind of business relationships when peripheral economic areas were subdued to core national economic where big companies usually came from. â€Å"With globalizing tendencies taking over†, a current situation is changing â€Å"from dependence on interdependence† (Zafarullah and Huque, 2012). Subdual is replaced by cooperation. National economic development starts to matter less for big companies because they are organized according to regionalization tendency (Zafarullah and Huque, 2012).  

Proposed change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Proposed change - Essay Example that hand, hygiene is universally acknowledged by several organization such as, World Health Organization (W.H.O), and Center for Disease Control (C.D.C), as the main requirement for cross infection. The effect the following strategies will be employed to ensure that hand hygiene is implemented to the letter to control cross infection (White, 2012pp.304) Several communication strategies will be employed to ensure that hand hygiene is not only initiated but also complied and strongly adhered to. Firstly, hand hygiene will be made a policy before any procedure is done to the patient or on anything since cross infection come in any form. This will form a breech in any case the policies on hand hygiene that are written and communicated to staff are end up reneged. By doing this, discipline will be instilled to the staff that just decide to be reckless. Another area that is important to ensure effective communication is by examining the organizational or institutional culture for this case is the hospital. Organization culture plays a pivotal role in facilitating and supporting effective communication across. In this case, communication should have open channels; there should be transparency and trust. This will ensure mutual trust between those who are the target of communication. The objective is to change their habitual character of poor hand hygiene. Still on the organization culture, there is a need to have leadership support. Health care teams need strong leadership to ensure that whatever is communicated is implemented. The policies and procedure earlier communicated will only be implemented if only there is strong leadership. Strategy here is strengthening the organizational leadership first. On the education of the health care team, the educator must do the following as the strategy of giving a thoughtful education to the health care staff to have an impact on implementing hand hygiene. One there must be a clearly stated links between the communication and

An Historical Perspective on the Value of Wealth Essay

An Historical Perspective on the Value of Wealth - Essay Example Three prominent figures from the late 19th century were Andrew Carnegie, Booker T. Washington, and Ida Tarbell. This small group was made up of a business titan, an ex-slave and a female journalist. They were of vastly diverse backgrounds and yet all shared the common thread of being almost obsessed with the idea of wealth. All for different reasons, yet sharing some common motives. Washington, born into slavery, had worked his way up through sweat and diligence. He was a college graduate, prominent figure, and believed in the accumulation of wealth as a means to elevate your position in society. He was willing to compromise freedoms to attain modest material wealth in the notion that even modest wealth would bring greater power than social activism. He had understood the difference between rich and poor and had made a conscious plan to narrow the gap. While Washington respected the gaining of modest wealth as a means to power, Carnegie was the image of the man who collected wealth for what the wealth could do for others. He realized early in life that wealth was not an end to itself. He understood that wealth was not happiness and it was meant to be given away for public good.1 Washington and Carnegie both understood the difference between poor and rich. ... Ida Tarbell, a female journalist, took a more disparaging view of wealth as well as poverty. Though Tarbell was not a vocal advocate of women's issues, her notoriety in the field of writing and broadcasting would elevate her to prominence and pave the way for future generations of women seeking careers. Yet, she did not work to accumulate wealth. She saw wealth as concentrated in too few hands while poverty flourished. She had no attraction to wealth or money except in the capacity it had to solve hunger or suffering. She viewed a woman's right and ability to attain a factory job as a matter of gaining equal access and being recognized as more than a housewife. The opportunity to make money or prosper was not an influence in her thinking. In an undated essay she states "It is with her a question of self-respect, a question of freedom, a question of opportunity to advance, to take and make a place for herself in the community."3 To Tarbell, the pursuance of wealth was simply a by-prod uct of her quest for equality and liberation. To Washington it was a means to liberation. Carnegie, already liberated through the power of wealth, viewed it as a means to help mankind. While Carnegie was becoming the richest man in the world, Tarbell was taking journalistic aim at the class that he represented. Tarbell professed that wealth would do more good to solve social ills than in the hands of so few industrialists. Tarbell loathed wealth, considered it excessive greed and wondered how much does one man need. The best description of Tarbell's view of wealth comes from her own words: "For what then Why this relentless, cruel, insistent accumulation of money when you are already buried in

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 10

Philosophy - Essay Example It believed that since the source of unhappiness was the body itself, happiness could be derived only when the body became devoid of any kind of pain or suffering, and their psyches relieved from the traumas of the world. Epicurus advocated a rational approach to life to circumvent the fear of gods and fear of death. They feel confident that both god and death are not concerned with human beings. Both have a wide variety of tentacles to grapple or monitor in addition to human beings. The Epicurean outlook on death is quite a poetic truth that envisages: death can not inflict pain on us since we would be no more after death; and we need not fear any pain of death as death do not capture us when we are alive. According to this ideology, there is no need to fear death, since by the time of death, the body ceases to bear sensation and therefore, the pangs of death may not be experienced. Thus, humans need not fear what they cannot feel, or endure, which is death. Again, according to Epicurean theory, unhappiness is the outer manifestation of inner anxieties and fears caused by material longings. The physical pain and sufferings one endures is also a part of this unhappiness. According to him, absence of unhappiness could be rendered by man’s constant engagement in working for peace and harmony within himself. Leading a pleasurable life, enjoying the company of philosophical friends/ associates and not worrying too much about worldly affairs could also lead to happiness. (Lecture 9: From Polis to Cosmopolis: Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World: 323-30BC: Hellenistic Philosophy). Epicurean philosophy delineates that happiness and tranquility are not attainable by man otherwise than by obtaining what is desired with propensity of not falling prey to it. The Epicurean philosophy deals much with the laws of physics. It does not spell anything

Human Resource Management Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Management - Literature review Example An organization manages its talent through the HR and this is how both HR and talent management are linked. HR has a responsibility of ensuring that the employees work for the achievement of the organizational goals. In order to manage the organizations talent, HR needs to come up with effective employee policies, etc (BRATTON, J., & GOLD, J. 2000; CHEESE, P., THOMAS, R. J., & CRAIG, E. 2008) There are different scholarly studies that discuss about the role of HR in the talent management and the organizational performance. One of the studies discusses about the different phases that occurred during the development of the theory of HR and performance. There are basically five phases that took place during the development of the theory of HR. The beginning phase was when the HR was actually associated with the performance of the company. There was a link made between the HR practices and the strategies of the businesses. The second phase was empiricism, when statistical surveys were us ed to support the development of the theory of HR. The phase was successful in establishing a positive relation between the HR and the organizations performance. ... The study links this theory to the current role of the HR. It also discusses about the challenges faced by the HR theory. The scope of the theory is too narrow. It argues that the workforce motivation and commitment are an important aspect of the increasing sophistication. It states that keeping in mind the respective workforce HR managers need to come up with the best practices to have the most positive outcomes and to have the greatest impact on performance. The study has some loopholes. It does not suggest how the HR managers can come up with good practices. It does not suggest exactly what models and research methods should be used to understand the impact of HR theory on the performance. It also does not suggest ways of talent management to bring out the best out of employees (GUEST.D 2010) Another study was conducted which focused on the Human Resource Management and the Corporate Performance in the UK. The study basically focused on that how human resource management can help the corporations to achieve competitive advantage through its workforce. It shows a clear relationship between the human resource management and performance but the study fails to establish the level of extent to which the HRM results in a higher performance of the corporations. During the course of this study it was found out that greater use of HR practices results in lower labor turnover higher profit contribution per employee but it does not ensure a greater productivity of the employees. There were 366 UK based companies that were studied by the researchers to establish the above results (GUEST.D, MICHIE.J, CONWAY.N & SHEEHAN.M 2003) Talent management is the most important aspect of the HR

Why I Want To Be A Nurse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why I Want To Be A Nurse - Essay Example When facing difficult illnesses or generic hospitalization for infirmities, the patient will often express himself or herself in relation to problems they perceive in treatment or health concerns. The nurse must use active listening to understand the catalysts and rationale of the problem, offering explanations to try to address these problems with psychological, social, cultural or even spiritual discussion (Campinha-Bacote, 2011). The patient, in this situation, is looking for advocacy from the nursing professional as they are often the most visible and routine figure available as it is associated with quality patient care. Through the patient-centered approach, the nursing professional is able to instill a sense of security with the patient, one of the most fundamental motivators related to emotional needs (Craven, Hirnle & Jensen, 2013). Security needs include not only fundamental shelter; it includes a need to feel free of health burdens and feeling free from danger (Craven et a l, 2013). This is why nursing has always been an attractive career path, as the potential positive benefits of meeting patient needs secures my own fundamental needs for caring, assistance, and protecting general human welfare. The patient-centered approach provides the nurse the ability to secure a sense of well-being in the patient, which can further assist in creating self-esteem for those who desperately need to be respected and supported while coping with difficult health issues. My own needs related to the intrinsic fulfillment associated with social compassion and social empathy can be fulfilled through nursing as it provides a direct outlet for self-fulfillment and, in many ways, self-actualization as it relates to career goals. Being an advocate for someone in need is personally rewarding and the thoughtful considerations that a person who has been assisted offers post-advocacy are personally gratifying. Since

Cheating and plagiarism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cheating and plagiarism - Essay Example It is therefore, important to give their meaning in order to fully understand their difference. Cheating is a broad term that is used to describe behaviour that is characterised by any of the following elements: being dishonesty, untruthful or unfaithful where an individual intentionally uses falsehoods that are unacceptable to gain advantage over other people. On the other hand, plagiarism is loosely defined as the act of stealing or using other people’s ideas without properly acknowledging them. This is a form of cheating but is mainly focused on the area of academic work in schools or colleges. As going to be highlighted in detail below, the main difference between the two is that cheating is intentional in most cases and is a broad term while plagiarism may be unintentional and is particularly limited to academic circles. As noted above, when one is being untruthful or unfaithful to other people, it can be said that the person is cheating. Having extra marital affairs or being adulterous is another form of cheating that has gained considerable concern from the members of society especially during this current period. For instance, a married person who indulges in adulterous behaviour is likely to cause conflict if the unsuspecting partner discovers the bad behaviour of the other partner. Socially, it is generally agreed that cheating behaviour is not a good thing to partners who love each other as this is likely to cause misunderstandings that can lead to the disintegration of that relationship. Such behaviour is outside the generally acceptable rules or societal standards of living and the judgment given to the people who are caught on the wrong side of the rules depends on the nature of the offence and the rules of the society. In some instances, people tend to use falsehoods or deception in order to gain advantage over

Primary Notes For Girlfriend in a Coma Essay Example for Free

Primary Notes For Girlfriend in a Coma Essay Theme Statement Rediscovering one self to give hope for the future. At some point in your life there will be sense of loneliness, to overcome this, you ought to find a significant meaning in life. Richard Richard a loyal, smart, boyfriend to Karen who is in a coma for the past 17 years. He has been by her side till the very end. Hes devoted to her, counting all the days she has been in the coma. (108) He question what is life without her? He started to having a drinking problem (79) thinking it will solve everything. He was already in depression, giving up hope when his friend, Jared died to cancer. (236) Hes been alone for 17 years even tho he is still close with his friends, theyre not always there. Questioning his fatherhood, why he failed to raise his daughter, Megan while Karen is in a coma. He broke down and went back to this drinking habits (107) When Karen awoke everything seems to have hope now.(131) When he withdrew he stills to able to maintain a proper lifestyle in his community on Rabbit Lane(246) Loneliness Each one of the character at a point along this book feels a sense of loneliness. Richard the most out of the character suffers this when Karen went into a coma. Even tho he has his daughter Megan, he still feels empty. (79) Wendy also feels lonely when Jared has passed away, he was her one true love (145) When she saw Jared ghost she wanted him to take her away, from her lonely life (224) Megan also deals with loneliness, after the â€Å"plague† she lost her â€Å"bestfriend† Jenny. She went to visit her home and read her diary â€Å"230† She also requested Jared to take her away.(234) Linus also question the purpose of life, he no longer wanted to live on the planet.(236) He wanted a glimpse of afterlife, which he then saw heaven.(238) Rabbit Lane All the events that occurred revolves around Rabbit Lane, where are there character grew up. They question why the plague hasnt reach them in Rabbit Lane. A lot of memories have taken since when they were young till â€Å"the last day of the world†

Concept of Figuration: An Analysis

Concept of Figuration: An Analysis Figurational Sociology The concept of figuration grew out of Norbert Eliass best-known work, The Civilizing Process (Elias, 1939/1994). This work provided an analysis of how the European nation state emerged. It analysed social behaviour in modernity, and particularly social interactions. Split into two parts, the work first focussed on an analysis of manners to provide a description and understanding of the way in which modern norms underlying social interactions had developed. The second part of the book looked at how the nation-state had been built in the twentieth century. What Elias was most interested in, the central thesis of the book, was that it was possible for forms of social discipline manners and social norms to be translated into aspects of individual self-discipline (Olofsson, 2000). For Elias, then, there is a clear connection between a tendency towards state centralisation and the development of modern social manners. This is what he called the civilizing process. This essay, therefore, examines the concept of figuration, its theoretical roots in the study of court society, its modern form and the criticisms that have been levelled against it. As will be seen, the argument over the usefulness of the concept of figuration has been highly contested and strongly polarised (Featherstone, 1987). At the heart of Elias work are a number of concepts figuration is best understood within these. The concepts are interdependence, functional differentiation, self-control and power differences. Social change for Elias mostly results from the effects of functional differentiation. This is an idea shared with writers like Marx who placed the division of labour at the centre of his theory. For Elias, though, this functional differentiation leads to increasing levels of interdependence (Olofsson, 2000). Elias argued that the coercive power of societies emerges out of increasing interdependence. This brings the discussion to the concept of figurations. In order to explain these, Elias uses the example of court society (Olofsson, 2000). He argues that in court society calculation is an important process which individuals must engage in to negotiate with each other as the king communicates with his aristocracy. Because of changes in economic factors, many courts in Europe saw a shift of power from the aristocracy to the king. The power each member of the aristocracy had, therefore, depended on their relationship with the king. In order to survive, aristocrats had to play by certain rational rules that developed. These were based on the complex interdependency between the individuals and the fact that they were playing long-term power games with each other. An important component in playing these long-term power games was being able to control impulses. Because of the number of people in the court, the chains of interdependence were long and complicated. This required planning, attempting to predict the future and saving. Elias called this complex relationship between the king and the court a figuration. A figuration is characterised by asymmetrical power relations amongst a network of individuals. The court situation can, therefore, only be understood in terms of how the individuals relate to one another. Four critical propositions about the figurational approach are extracted from Elias work by Goudsblom (1977). These are firstly that human beings inevitably exist in relationships of interdependence with each other. As a result of this interdependence, complex dynamics emerge which shape many aspects of development and change the ways in which peoples lives develop. The second proposition is that these figurations are constantly changing and being transformed. The third is that these social figurations are not essentially planned but emerge from the interdependencies. Fourth, figurations provide an important cause of the development of human knowledge. In order to better understand the idea of figurations, Elias used various metaphors from games (Olofsson, 2000). Games are useful to analyse because the interactions between the players are not just a result of the absolute strength of each player, but of the relationship between the strengths of the two players. One example is two chess players pitted against each other. If one of them is significantly stronger than the other, then she will be able to control the manner of the victory as well as the actual victory itself. If, however, the levels of skill are much closer then the manner of victory will be much more uncertain and emerge from the interaction between the individuals. What this metaphor shows is that the power differences between two individuals have an important effect on the relationship. Chess only normally involves the relation between two players, but society obviously involves the relations between many more players, all with varying levels of power. Shifts of power differences in society can be seen in the way the upper and lower classes interact. The lower classes have, for example, increased their level of organisation in order to increase their level of power in negotiating with the upper classes (Olofsson, 2000). One of the questions Elias wanted to address was how people continue to interact in generally peaceful ways when there is so much animosity in, for example, power relations (Loyal Quilley, 2004). Models used to answer this question should have a number of characteristics. These are firstly that social processes cannot be analysed in terms of aggregations of components. Secondly the models work to both mould and constrain the behaviour and habitus of individuals. The strength of the idea of figuration for Elias was that it was able to access ideas of what society was about more effectively than other methods in sociology (Krieken, 1998). Specifically it tends not to emphasise the dichotomy often present in sociological literature between the individual and society. Instead it places the emphasis on how human beings are interdependent. Society was not most usefully thought of as a totality or a whole system of individuals. Society for Elias was the way in which people interweaved with each other (Krieken, 1998). The advantage of this view was that it didnt downplay the agency of the individual at the expense of societys control and helped to show how peoples individuality melded together to form networks of interdependence. One important theoretical aspect of figurations that Krieken (1998) points out is that they can continue without the existence of the same individuals but they completely cease to exist if there are no individuals at all. Krieken (1998) argues that Elias concept of figuration has been extremely important for sociology. One of its major strengths is the avoidance of the dichotomy between structure and agency. Although the distinction has been questioned many times in sociology, it is often still treated by sociologists as though it were real. Krieken (1998) points out that some have argued Elias concept of figuration should be placed alongside of the idea of structure. Mouzelis (1993) argues for avoiding abolishing this distinction. He argues for designating relations between actors in terms of figurations, relations between institutions as institutional structure and plain structure when analysing the interaction between institution and individual. Krieken (1998) does not, however, agree with this three-way distinction. Krieken (1998) argues instead that Elias used the concept of figuration to subsume all these categories of analysis. This means that figuration includes the analysis of what is traditi onally called the structure of society. Habitus is also an important concept in Elias theory of figuration. Habitus refers to the idea that each individual has their own set of personal preferences, attitudes, beliefs, expectations and rules. Habitus comes from a persons community and family experience and through their own experience of life as they grow up. For Elias, though, this habitus develops in an essentially shared manner (Krieken, 1998). Individuals grow up in society and their personal characteristics are, to a certain extent, moulded by those around them. Through this collective moulding of individuals, the nature of collective behaviour is formed. The ideas of habitus and figuration lead to a further important concept in Elias theory. That is that the way in which a persons habitus is formed is called psychogenesis. This, then, can only be properly understood when it is considered in relation to social relations or sociogenesis. Theoretically and methodologically, therefore, Elias was arguing against the separ ation of sociology from psychology. Each has important complementary effects on the other, so it is hard to get a clear picture of the full human being if both are not considered together. Elias ideas have vital implications for the way in which sociologists carry out their research. Krieken (1998) identifies two particular characteristics of Elias theory that are a challenge to some types of sociology. First is the focus of figuration on social relations which points to the fact that an individual cannot be analysed in isolation. Individuals can only be understood, even in isolation, argued Elias, in terms of how they relate to other people, as that is how people are formed. Thinking about humans without the relational element has a huge array of possible associated mistakes. For Elias, the analysis of power especially fell foul of the tendency to see power as a thing in itself rather than as arising from social relations (Krieken, 1998). This led, he thought, to all sort of misunderstandings. To be understood effectively, power should be seen in reciprocal terms. Elias argued that power was often analysed as though it only flowed down from above. A figurational analy sis, however, also points to the reciprocal effects flowing up from below. The second major characteristic of Elias theory is that it focuses on processes (Krieken, 1998). Figuration, therefore, cannot be seen as a static phenomenon, but as something that evolves and emerges over time. What had happened in sociology, however, argued Elias, was that there had been a reduction of social phenomena to particular states. Communities, families, individuals, all should be analysed as though in a state of flow, rather than statically. The use of figurations could be used to analyse these flows as long as there was not a reduction to a simple argument of causality. For example, Elias argued that a particular figuration made other, later figurations possible although it did not guarantee they would happen. Analysing society using a series of static conceptual categories, therefore, was precisely what Elias did not agree with (Rojek, 1986). Instead a process theory of sociology encourages analysis in terms of movement. This type of approach has a character quite oppos ed to many in sociology. Figurational sociology can be seen as extremely useful as a reaction to six dominant paradigms in sociology (Arnason, 1987). First Marxs work is limited by its concentration on the economic areas of life, whereas Elias figurational sociology is applicable to all areas. Against Durkheims idea of norms, Elias argued these do not represent fundamental units but rather the question should be asked in terms of power relations. For Elias, these questions should be addressed using a long-term analysis. Examining the functionalist approach, Elias found that trying to explain social structures in terms of the needs of the system was ineffective. The functionalist account is lacking because it finds it difficult to account for the fact that systems are interlinked at all levels. As has already been seen, Elias argued against a structuralist approach. The reductionist approach also had problems for Elias as society, he believed, could not be understood at this level. Finally, Elias took issue w ith individualism, the idea that it is possible to analyse society in terms of individual behaviour (Arnason, 1987). This is replaced by Elias with a focus on power relations and the analysis of figurations. A number of methodological injunctions develop naturally from Elias theory of figurations; these are examined by Loyal and Quilley (2004). The first is that sociologists should not think about either individuals or society as in any way static or fixed. An effective analysis emerges which sidesteps arguments over macro- or micro- level explanations. A further dichotomy which Loyal and Quilley (2004) present as being avoided by Elias work is that of mind-body duality which has crept into sociological work. The idea of figuration draws attention to habits of language in which processes are often reduced to states. The focus of figuration, however, is on using language that has the meaning of motion and flow built into it. The danger for sociologists of automatically adopting the available language of states is a misunderstanding of the processes occurring in society. This view was influenced by the work of Whorf (1956) who argued that language fundamentally affects the perceptions of t he members of the society that speak it. Finally, Elias believed that some measure of distance was required from society in order to be able to analyse figurations effectively. A Critique of Figurational Sociology While much of the commentary on Elias figurational approach discussed so far has been complimentary, his work has a number of critics. Layder (1986) argues that many of Elias claims about the benefits of his approach to sociology are vastly exaggerated. As a result, argues Layder, Elias tends to focus on trying to solve problems that dont actually exist. Layder (1986) starts by considering Elias focus on the static categories used in language as well as the idea that positivistic notions of causation are inadequate. The concept of figuration is used to challenge these ideas by Elias. In addition, underlying Elias concept of figuration is the idea that it transcends long-running arguments in the philosophy of the social sciences such as that between induction and deduction and rationalism and empiricism. Layders (1986) first criticism is that Eliass figurational approach does not transcend previous approaches. One reason for this is that Elias uses only the worst examples from disciplines so that he can easily demolish their explanatory power. Elias critique of social psychology and psychiatry assumes that all its approaches are atomistic. It doesnt, for example, take into account the wide variety of approaches such as those which do, indeed, focus on the effects of society on the individual and are not so atomistic. Symbolic interactionists, for example, highlight the way in which the ordinary, everyday processes of social interaction build to create what is called society. Mead (1934), an important theorist in this approach, emphasised the importance of socialisation and social interaction. For Layder (1986), then, the concept of figuration does not provide any additional explanatory power. Layder also argues that Elias does not demonstrate exactly how the idea of figurations provi des a better explanation of society. In criticising the concept of figurations, Layder (1986) argues that Elias makes a number of philosophical mistakes, some ontological and some epistemological. Layder describes figurations as generalised depictions of the social ties between individuals that Elias argues cannot be analysed outside of individuals. Figurations, though, must have some meaning outside of the interactions of individuals; otherwise it would not be possible to talk about them in an abstract sense. This is not, of course, to suggest that figurations only have meaning outside of actual interactions. For Layder, then Eliass mistake is to argue that a figuration does not have both a manifestation as a social practice as well as existing as an idea about that particular social practice. If the ideas did not exist it would be impossible to talk about the things themselves in an abstract sense. For Layder, then, the very discussion of social practices as figurations proves that they exist outside of the actions th emselves. What Layder allows Elias concept of figuration is that it does provide a useful descriptive tool. Although it doesnt transcend alternative explanations advanced by those working within structuralist and functionalist models, it can provide a useful way of examining interrelations between people. These analyses would, however, in Layders view, be useful in addition to those insights from structuralist or interactionist perspectives, they wouldnt supplant them. The weakness of using the concept of figuration is that it tends to ignore actual people, in deference to their networks of social relations compared to, for example, the analysis provided by interactionism which is very much focussed on social actors themselves. In this sense, it is again difficult to argue that figuration provides an approach transcending interactionism and other schools of thought. The second major criticism that Layder (1986) makes of Eliass concept of figurations relates to their rejection of objectivist structures. As discussed, figurational sociology sees social processes as fundamentally fluid and avoids reductionism Elias claims that this is an insight that helps the figurational analysis transcends other approaches. Against this idea, Layder (1986) argues that many phenomenological and interactionist schools of thought are based on the idea of social relations as a process. But, Elias does not compare his theory to these approaches, preferring to pretend they dont exist. Instead, figuration is compared with the theory of Talcott Parsons as an example of an objectivist theory. Elias takes Parsons idea that society is essentially in an unchanging equilibrium and states that this is the way society is seen from an objectivist viewpoint as a static system. In this analysis one of the mistakes Layder (1986) thinks Elias has made is to create a false dichoto my between static and fluid analysis as though there is no intermediary point. In doing this Elias claims that theories such as Parsons cannot explain processes, which, argues Layder, they can. Indeed, in concentrating on long-term processes, Elias does not allow an effective analysis of short-term processes. The third major criticism which Layder (1986) levels at Elias is that the concept of figuration lacks explanatory power. Rather than helping to explain what lies behind social changes, Layder argues that it merely provides a description of what is happening. When looking for the causes of figurations, Elias presents more figurations. Criticism of the concept of figuration has also come from Rojek (1986). In particular Rojek (1986) examines the way in which Elias talks about the accumulation of scientific knowledge. As briefly noted earlier, Elias argued that the quest for knowledge was not immune to the power of figurations. Indeed he thought it was a mistake that philosophers of the social sciences tended to make that assumed there was one model of the way science should be conducted. One particular claim that has been made for the usefulness of figurational sociology is that it provides a link between micro and macro approaches (Mennell, 1980). Layder (2006) argues, however, that using figurations as the linking between the macro and micro approaches just serves to blur the differences between the two. The character of social relations is quite different depending on its manner for example a face-to-face encounter is different from sending and receiving an email. Within Elias approach each of these would be considered aspects of figurations. Layder (2006), however, argues that each of these creates different levels of reflexivity and therefore requires a different analysis. For Layder (2006), Eliass figurational approach deflects attention away from a number of important factors. Institutions, for example, have important effects on the behaviour of people but this is difficult to analyse by thinking in terms of networks of connections between people. Further, when analysing social organisation in the form of groups, a figurational approach can deflect attention away from the nature of the ties between people, preferring instead to focus on their actual existence and their particular form. A false criticism that Elias makes of sociology generally by way of his figurational approach is that not enough emphasis has been given to the interaction between society and the individual Layder (2006) argues that this interaction is practically the founding idea of sociology. The challenge for sociology is in working out where to split the society from the individual. A problem which Elias work shares with sociology more generally is that a socially constructed model makes it difficult to understand the uniqueness of an individual. A complete lack of barriers between individuals leads to the conclusion that people have no individuality themselves. While it is not helpful to focus too much on the individual, it is also problematic for a complete understanding to give too little focus to the individual. Layder (2006) argues that, like extreme social constructionists, Elias theory of figuration is in danger of completely eradicating the individual as a legitimate object of study. Figurational Sociology and Sport In order to further assess the usefulness of the concept of figuration and see the benefits and criticisms in action, it is instructive to examine an example of its practical application. The principles of figurational sociology have been applied in a number of different areas, but one particularly popular area is that of sport. Figurational sociology has been used to try and understand football hooliganism, the growth of professional sport, the globalisation of sport and finally initial process of sportization (Murphy, Sheard Waddington, 2002). To take one example in this line of analysis, Dunning and Sheard (1979) examine the development of rugby. They explain the increased professionalism of the sport in terms of a societal move towards functional democratisation. This process leads to greater levels of competition, so that rugby players can no longer play just for fun. Instead, it is necessary to be highly committed to the sport in order to be recognised as successful. Because of the increased interconnectedness of individuals, it is no longer possible for athletes to play for themselves; instead they have to play for their countries (Dunning Sheard, 1979). This analysis helps to explain professionalism in rugby and the advantages of a figurational approach can be seen. Societal changes are examined here in terms of figurations and this provides a useful analysis and explanation of changes. In contrast, Murphy et al. (2002) point out that one of the criticisms of the figurational approach to sport is that it has ignored gender issues. Hargreaves (1992) argues that the figurational obsession with detachment has meant the analysis of sport has readily accepted a notion of sport as dominated by men. Even while Murphy et al. (2002) argue that this absence of the analysis of gender in figurational sociology is not a result of its theoretical limitations, from the criticisms already described the opposite can be argued. Particularly, as Layder (2006) points out, the figurational approach is weak on the analysis of the individual. Conclusion Elias made many claims for his concept of figuration. He claimed that it transcended previous approaches to sociology, rose above false dichotomies and helped sociologists focus on human beings as fundamentally involved in a network of interrelated relationships. Methodological injunctions also flowed naturally from Elias theory: e.g. focussing on processes rather than categories or states and establishing a distance between the researcher and the subject. Considering the criticism levelled at Elias work by Layder, however, it is difficult to see that these claims for a transcendent sociology are justified. Elias frequently misrepresented or ignored the work of sociologists he was apparently transcending as well as making serious epistemological and ontological errors. While both the advantages and disadvantages of the figurational approach can be seen in the area of sport sociology, it is hard to argue that Elias work stands up to Layders criticism. Perhaps the strongest criticism i s that figuration is merely a descriptive rather than an explanatory approach. For that reason, the usefulness of Elias concept of figuration is limited. References Arnason, J. (1987). Figurational Sociology as a Counter-Paradigm. Theory, Culture Society, 4(2), 429-456. Elias, N. (1939/1994). The Civilizing Process: The History of Manners and State Formation and Civilization. Blackwell. Dunning, E., Sheard, K. (1979). Barbarians, gentlemen and players: a sociological study of the development of rugby football. London: Martin Robertson. Featherstone, M. (1987). 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