by Herman Bailey | Jul 4, 2023 | Essays |
We are writing to you the increased number of customers we have witnessed recently. Also this follows the numerous complaints from the employees who seem overwhelmed by the current customer order system. It is for this reason that we propose a new and an effective way of handling customer orders, the ‘e-customer order system’. The current system has served us well but it is time we adopt an efficient system, which will be free of errors. The new system is created in such a way that the customer will input their orders into their system. Use of this system will ease the work burden for employees. This system will also ease the numerous complaints and frustrations that customers have when queuing to be served. At the same time the system will come in handy during peak hours when the employees have to serve so many people at the same time.
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To ensure smooth transition into the e-customer ordering system, both of us shall ensure we hold training classes worth the employees and ensure that they know how to use the system. We shall also be available to assist customers through the ordering process. As the management you have the primary role to initiate this management role. To ease your work we have suggested that the change may take place in the following manner (Neumeier, 2013).
We propose to use Kotters Eight steps to leading change. Firstly, we recognize the need for change; employees and customers are important resources for the business. Both need to be satisfied for competitive advantage of the company. This is an opportunity for the company to show the employees that they are an asset to the business and should be motivated to give their best.
Secondly, we ask for the management support to initiate this change. We volunteer to train everyone in this new order system. From the leadership perspective, it is possible to face numerous incidents of resistance; it is therefore upon the management to convince the employees and the customers that change is necessary. We are looking into serving a larger population of customers. We shall inform our customers of the need for the change to serve them efficiently. It is for this reason that we suggest that customers be taken through the easy steps of using the system.
The change of system shall be communicated to both the employees and the customers. Employees need to feel as part of the company for successful change. We encourage employees to interact among themselves about this change and provide us with feedback. Any anxieties or frustrations shall also be addressed in the best way we can. Like any other process of change, we expect to experience obstacles. We are constantly looking at any potential challenges we may face in the process of change and how to deal with them (Appelbaum, 2012).
The system shall be put to test for a period of two months where we shall look at the progressive curve. Employees will also be asked their views about the system change. If the target of the business will have been achieved then the change will have been effective. As Kotter suggests most project change since success of the change is declared early. The project shall undergo continuous analysis; the successful steps shall be the stepping stone to even greater change. We also intend to make the e-customer order system part of the organization. The system shall be upgraded annually and all employees required be trained. This is to ensure that we have all the resources needed to assist our customer (Sedghi, 2012).
We look forward to your acknowledgement and the beginning of the change process in a timely manner.
Yours Sincerely,
Dalmana and Lei
Bibliography
Sedighi, M., Mokfi, T, & Golrizgashti, S (2012). Proposing a customer knowledge management model for customer value augmentation: A home appliances case study. , 321–347.
Appelbaum, S. H., Habashy, S., Malo, J., and Shafiq, H. (2012). Back to the future: revisiting Kotter’s 1996 change model. Journal of Management Development, Vol. 31 Iss: 8, pp.764 – 782.
Neumeier, Melanie (2013). Using Kotter’s Change Management Theory and Innovation Diffusion Theory in Implementing an Electronic Medical Record. Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics.
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
by Herman Bailey | Jul 4, 2023 | Essays |
Read the OP-ED article by Nassim Taleb in the New York Times from July 24, 2005 entitled “Scaring Us Senseless” identified below.
Risks are often portrayed using probabilities. Summarize the article and comment on the pros and cons of the use of probability to express risks like terrorism. Why aren’t humans good at processing risk/probabilities with respect to terrorism? What is the evidence? What did you learn from reading his analysis that could be applied more generally to our course? What role does context play if any? Finally, what ethical responsibilities do the media have, if any, with regard to reporting on this issue? Make arguments and support them with evidence. Feel free to bring in credible outside sources.
Use a paragraph format including an introduction, your analysis and conclusions. Remember – college writing! The length should be from 550 to 600 words.
In addition, read the following article entitled “What are the odds? To learn to think critically, take a statistics class.” Summarize the main points and explain how that relates to our Statistics as Evidence homework. Write an additional 150 word analysis.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/classes/2015/08/take_a_statistics_and_probability_class_in_college_to_improve_critical_thinking.html
Don’t forget the word count at the end.
Good luck!
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ANSWER
Scaring Us Senseless explores the danger of using probabilities and statistics to explain the occurrence of risk. The writer uses terrorism as the example and illustrates further how human perceptions are likely to be changed by statistics reported in the media. What are the Odds? Explores the importance of statistics and how statistics is used to predict true events.
It is statistically correct to say that both human beings and the modern society, in general, are wired to respond rationally to terrorism. Most of the time when a terrorist act occurs we tend to be more vigilant, but this vigilance fades away as our memories forget the terrorist act. There are three aspects that terrorism exploits in human beings. All these aspects are related to perception and management. People tend to avoid risks according to the message portrayed by their emotional system.
It is for this reason that the writer advises against relying on the human emotional system for statistics. He says that the emotional system was built for the primitive environment with no or very simple dangers. Terrorism is not a simple danger. Since the emotional system is built that way, then there is a very high chance that it would hinder any one’s ability to deal with a sophisticated risk like terrorism. The writer uses an illustration of someone who loses a friend in a motorcycle accident. According to statistics records, such a person is very likely to avoid motorcycle. A real-life example would be a child whose friend drowns in a pool, there is a very high chance that this particular child would avoid swimming at all costs. Besides, someone would avoid visiting Central Park because they were probably victimized in a cocktail party. All this events are as a result of the human emotional system. It would, however, be advised that such persons should read the statistics of the different events to obtain a realistic view of the occurrence of the events.
The emotional system is likely to destruct decision-making. For example, the cover cost of terrorism insurance is higher than that of general insurance. Most people would not complain about this higher cost due to the perception that terrorism risks are much higher than general risks. Terrorism as a word itself evokes emotions and anxiety. The writer uses the terrorism event of September, 11 to illustrate this point further. He says that Osama Bin Laden continued to kill more Americans and Western Europeans indirectly. He says that many people decided to drive rather than fly, with the idea that driving was less risky than flying. Due to a high number of people driving, the risk on the road increased even more. If people drive for more than 20 miles then the risk they are putting themselves into exceeds the risk of flying. However, these deaths are usually not reported because they are categorized as tragedies, unlike the terrorism deaths that are categorized as a statistic.
The Human Emotional system is designed to react promptly to minor risks, which it then forgets at the same rate. This is illustrated by the pictures of terrorism acts. With the bloody site, bodies everywhere, buildings being brought down, these images cause the emotional system to be alert. When, however, a new tragedy strikes they are quickly forgotten and shift their attention to the new tragedy images.
Television images and those in Newspaper publications play a bigger role in statistics. Since images are likely to distort our thinking through the emotional system, the media has the role of ensuring all its reports are closer to the statistical truth. The primary aim of terrorism is to terrify people, and the media should not help them do that. The media should build confidence and ensure they report credible information. This is not to say that the media should lie to the people. They should, however, make sure that what they report is statistically true or closer to the truth
This analysis is useful in determining the truth in statistics. Most of the events and decisions we make heavily rely on statistics. Terrorist events are usually predicted by our security organs based on statistics. For these reasons, the article is useful for general knowledge about statistics and what to put in mind when relying on statistics. (712 words).
What are the odds?
Most of the time in life we are faced with critical decisions that require us to use our statistical skills to predict the occurrence of an event of the future. To make decisions we look at patterns and the likelihood of an event is occurring. Statistics is less likely to lie to us because it involves critical thinking. For example, the writer says in a lottery game one studies the numbers, and one is less likely to pick the same number they picked yesterday. Statistics is also used in medicine, for example when picking a cure therapy for cancer one would go for one that has been statically predicted to have cured a higher number of cancer patients. The writer emphasizes that numbers always have a meaning that should not be ignored. This article is important not only for our statistics as evidence homework but statistics as the course itself. The writer emphasizes the need to study statistics since statistics never lie. (160 Words)
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
by Herman Bailey | Jul 4, 2023 | Essays |
Introduction
According to Gagné (2014), everything people do in their lives, they do for themselves. Self-interest motivates most people to pursue different things in life for their own pleasure. Andre and Velasquez (2015) asserted that everything people do daily in their lives is ultimately done for their benefit. In some situations, it is obvious for personal gains such as praise or public admiration and in other circumstances, it is not. The argument that human beings act because of self-interest is not new. However, if it is true that people act from their egoistic motives, then talking about ethics is hard. This is because it is traditionally conceived that ethics is supposed to override human beings’ self-interest. If an individual has a moral obligation of doing something, then he ought to do it even when it is not in their interest (Ryan 2012). McKay (2014) argued that human actions motivate self-interest even in the charity acts since they occur so as the giver will assuage a guilty conscience or feel better or set a good example. Therefore, no matter how capable, honest, experienced or good an individual is, no one is exempted from self-interest.
According to McKay (2014), in most societies, money represents what will satisfy most people’s wants and need. Therefore, when a situation holds for a possibility for huge reward financially, people are normally more than willing to invest great efforts in the form of scheming, designing, thinking, and working. Therefore, an economic system that is grounded in every individual opportunity to gratify their desire for money and what the money represents really capitalizes on the constant, universal, and often compelling or intense self-interest motivations
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The conflict between ethics and self-interest in a competitive environment
The question that needs to be answered is why self-interest drives pressure people to cross the legal and ethical lines. McKay (2014) pointed out that if people perform actions that are both legal and ethical and avoid unethical behaviors in a competitive environment, they commit themselves to a serious disadvantage. Individuals who are willing to play near the lines of ethics and even cross it over increases their number of alternatives available to them. This always gives them a competitive advantage in the environment. Furthermore, the more alternative actions available, the greater the competitive ability. This explains the reasons why the urge of stepping over the line in a competitive environment can be strong
The virtue of greed
It can be called self-interest, selfishness, or greed, but the bottom line is that they are the human motivations that get things done. According to Williams (2015), this should not be confused that its concern or compassion. Adam Smith, who is considered the father of economists said that “it is not from the benevolence of the baker, brewer or the butcher, that people expect dinner, but from their consideration to their own interest.” Similarly, he also said that “I have never known much good that is done by the people who are concerned in trading for the good of the public.” In other words, Smith meant that the good of the public is promoted best by the individuals who are pursuing their personal interests. These people are not concerned with results but with motives (Williams, 2015).
A close examination of the Chinese and the Soviet economies, they collapsed because people or the citizens were not allowed to have personal enterprises where they can explore their capabilities maximally. The gains from individual initiatives and innovations being harvested as a communal or as a public good, productivity froze, and innovation ceased. This simply shows that the bottom line for human motivation is self-interest. For a pay to have to mean, it must be related to the performance. Without the relationship, the pay has no meaning and becomes just a mere entitlement.
Kohn (2013) stated that giving some people rewards necessitated the penalization of other people. Perhaps the best response can be the apt aphorism of Winston Churchill when he said that “the communism virtue is the equal sharing amongst people its misery, and the capitalism vice is the unequal sharing amongst people it is a blessing.” In simple terms, it is impossible to have outcome equality with the dynamic, robust economy everyone wants.
Ordinary citizens responsive to incentives is demonstrated in the economy daily. According to Miller (2015), the consumers will cut their consumption in response to the price increase “penalty,” and increase their purchase in response to the lower price “bribe.” The pricing system allocates scarce resources efficiently and precisely because it is rewarding the individuals who conserve and, on the other hand, penalizes the people who fail to respond
Self-interest, employee motivation, and reward systems
Employee motivation is the instructed enthusiasm by an employee and the drive to accomplish work. According to Baker III and Wolters (2015), self-interest reaches a point when employees keep asking themselves, what is in for them? What do they stand to gain from their exclusive job performance? Research shows that from the minute they ask themselves that question, they lose focus, concentrate on misplaced priorities, and begin to underperform bringing the organization down.
According to Kohn (2013), it is very much difficult to elaborate the extent to which the majority of company managers and their advisers believe that the power of rewards is redemptive. Certainly, the majority of companies apply different programs intended at motivating their effecting the rate of premiums. For instance, an insurance firm that operates with many employees by linking their compensation to specific performance indexes. However, what is striking most is the belief that is rarely examined that people will work optimally or do a better job in their companies if they have been given promises of different incentives. The practice and this assumption are widespread, but increasing evidence indicates a contrary view. According to several studies conducted in classrooms, workplaces, laboratories, and other settings, typically rewards undermine the same processes they are supposed to enhance (Crumpton 2013; Bryson & Tanguy 2012; Miller 2015). By the view of Kohn (2013), the findings from these studies suggest that any given incentive program failure is not because of the programming glitch but because of the inadequacy of the basal; psychological assumptions on such programs.
The question that the essay will ask is whether reward works in any given circumstances. Research indicates that, to a large extent, rewards are successful in securing temporary compliance. This implies that rewards do not create a commitment that is enduring to any action or value. They are temporary or merely change what people do, therefore, as Baker III and Wolters (2015) asserted, at workplaces, incentives simply cannot work.
According to Crumpton (2013), the best approach for business is to carve the workers into sharing a portion of the profit they contributed in making for the company. The profits for a company should be defined following the relevant terms of cash flow after all employed cost of capital is covered. This measure referred to as Economic Value Added provides companies and businesses operate with certain expectations and values. employees with three distinct incentives: to grow profitability, to improve profitability, and to withdraw resources from uneconomic activities. Additionally, it ties their energies and decisions to the net present value of their company directly.
Currently, companies are under high pressure to improve quality and efficiency while at the same time their resources are limited severely. It is appealing to many managers to fiddle with schemes for compensation as a cheap way of improving the performance of their companies by providing their employees with incentives to work harder. Bryson & Tanguy (2012) pointed out that in the United States, there is a long history of reliance on individual incentives as a way of motivating the workers to spur productivity. In the 1950s, the United States human resource model partly evolved in response to the current industrial psychology theories of the time. By designing schemes for compensation that recognize and reward differences among individuals, companies had expectations of reaping the rewards of improved job performance and increased employee motivation. This concept continues presently in informing thinking among managers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, self-interest is the bottom line of human motivation. The essay defined the concept of self-interest and its characteristics in humans. Furthermore, it discussed the conflict between self-interest and ethics in a competitive environment. Self-interest has also been shown to be perpetuated by the virtue of greed among people from a different perspective. Lastly, the essay discussed the reward systems managers apply and how self-interest manifests amongst the managers and the employees in companies.
References
Andre, C. and Velasquez, M. (2015). Ethics and Self-Interest. [online] Scu.edu. Available at: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v2n1/samaritan.html [Accessed 17 Sep. 2015].
Baker III, G., and Wolters, D. (2015). Rethinking Rewards. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/1993/11/rethinking-rewards [Accessed 17 Sep. 2015].
Bryson, J. J., & Tanguy, E. J. (2012). Simplifying the Design of Human-Like Behaviour.
Crumpton, M. (2013). Keeping the motivation going. Bottom Line: Mg Lib Finances, 26(4), pp.144-146.
Gagné, M. (2014). The Oxford handbook of work engagement, motivation, and self-determination theory.
Kohn, A. (2013). Punished by rewards: the trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A’s, praise, and other bribes. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co.
McKay, Q. (2014). The bottom line on integrity. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith.
Miller, D. (2015). The Norm of Self-Interest. [online] Faculty-gsb.stanford.edu. Available at: http://faculty-gsb.stanford.edu/millerd/docs/1999amerpsyc.html [Accessed 17 Sep. 2015].
Ryan, R. M. (2012). The Oxford handbook of human motivation. New York, Oxford University Press.
Williams, W. (2015). The Virtue of Greed. [online] Econfaculty.gmu.edu. Available at: http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/articles/99/nature-of-greed.htm [Accessed 16 Sep. 2015].
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
by Herman Bailey | Jul 3, 2023 | Essays |
Why Politicians Plagiarize So Often
The article focuses on political plagiarism and how most politicians go unpunished for plagiarism. The writer uses Senator Walsh as an example, Walsh was accused to have plagiarized his graduate school papers. Senator Walsh tried hard to defend himself from the plagiarism accusations by first saying that his plagiarism acts were not intentional, secondly, he added that his actions of plagiarism were connected to post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered while in Iraq (Martin1). Members of the public did not believe this reason and Walsh swept the matter under the carpet by asking Americans to look and move ahead, admitting that he made a mistake. More and more politicians get away with the crime due to their status, Barrack Obama has also been accused of plagiarizing governor, Deval Patrick’s words (Osnos 1).
The only politician who has paid for his crime was Joe Biden when he stepped down in 1987 from the presidential race. More and more politicians continue to plagiarize without paying the price for their actions. It is unfortunate to see a good number of politicians getting away with the crime. Non-politicians found to have plagiarized lose their job and careers are destroyed completely (Osnos 1).
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Why do you think politicians are so likely to plagiarize others’ works?
Politicians are so likely to plagiarize because they are in constant competition and all of them want to look good before the public. They, therefore, tend to use other people’s words to please the public. Most of the time the speeches of politicians are written by their staff who is likely to overlook the plagiarism consequence to deliver a perfect speech to their boss. Politicians have to also adhere to the talking points delivered by their committees, this way they are prone to plagiarism. Another reason politicians are prone to plagiarism is due to ghostwriting. Politicians should be advised to write their own speeches to avoid plagiarism.
What does this say to you?
Most of the time, politicians get away with this, since they do not pay attention to plagiarism. Their members of staff need to be well educated and pay for the consequences of their plagiarism actions. Politicians need to also discourage plagiarism by owning up to their actions (Sands 2). A certain degree of honesty needs to be cultivated in the leaders we vote for.
How should voters evaluate candidates who are prone to plagiarizing?
Voters should hold politicians who plagiarize other works accountable for their actions. Plagiarism is a crime against intellectual property and no person would get away with it no matter their social or political status. A politician with a plagiarism scandal is a liar whether the plagiarism actions were intentional or not. Such politicians should be allowed by the voters to sit in the office. They should immediately resign or withdraw from the public office race.
What is the difference in consequences between a candidate and you, the college student?
The consequence for a college factors that affect student outcomes. College student is probably an F in that paper and they are forced to rewrite it. For a writer or a professor, they are likely to lose their jobs if found guilty of plagiarism. For politicians or political candidates, they will most likely get away with the crime or be required to step down or reassign.
Works Cited
Osnos, Evan. “Why Politicians Plagiarize So Often”. The New Yorker. 29, July 2014:1. Print.
Martin, Jonathan. “Senators Thesis Turns Out to Be Remix of Other Works, Uncited”. The New York Times. 23 July 2014: 1. Print
Sands, Crystal. “It’s Complicated: Plagiarism in our culture”. Excelsior Commentary. 7 August, 2014:2.
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
by Herman Bailey | Jul 3, 2023 | Essays |
Leadership is defined as an individual’s ability to influence other people so that they can obtain specific objectives enthusiastically and willingly. It can be seen that leadership is quite different from management because it is considered one of the most important management elements. Leadership needs a very good and clear vision of thinking all over boundaries. In the environment of business, leadership goes beyond the people in the business as a particular organization has the capability of attaining leadership in the various markets by beating the competitors they have. In this case, leadership can be seen in terms of brand, costs, products, and many more. On the other hand, management can be defined as a person’s ability to run things in the very best manner possible. It is further elaborated as the art of expertise of being able to get the given work done with colleagues. In nature, management and leadership are inseparable. Managerial qualities need leadership skills so that the subordinates can be inspired. In most cases, management is majorly about the maintenance and arrangement of an organization (Bailey et al., 2018).
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Research indicates that diverse groups of individuals, communities, and markets outperform those that are homogenous (Alesina & Ferrara, 2005). Working together with people from different communities and markets enables a business organization to come up with better solutions for our clients and it also helps us build better relationships with the clients which will assist us in distinguishing us from our major competitors. Demographic trends show that minorities and women quickest growing parts of the workforce worldwide. Therefore, when an organization focuses on diversity and includes a variety of cultures, they have a greater chance of retaining and attracting top talent. For those parents who are working especially mothers, formal flexibility can be considered as an important factor. Therefore, a company or an organization should put into consideration having different programs that allow people to work from home, work for fewer hours, or organize job sharing.
In my opinion, the main difference between and management strategic decision making is that; leadership can be seen as an important managerial function that assists in efficiency maximization so that the goals of an organization can be achieved. Leadership involves an individual who communicates the plans and policies of work before it begins to his support staff (Noe et al., 2006). For a business owner to be successful, he or she needs to have both the managerial and leadership skills to get the team on board so that they can help him in reaching his goals. Managing however is majorly concerned about the administration and ensuring that everyday activities are taking place the way they should. A very good example of leadership is; when a business organization decides to teach and involve the community about their products for that community to familiarize themselves with the product, samples will be taken to the people. In this case, there will be a team leader who will ensure that the right amount of the product has been given and the targeted group received the products. The manager is the one who will permit such activity and take the products to be given from the store. He will work with the leader to ensure this comes to success.
Leadership can be seen as a way of being in charge of people through encouragement while management is being in charge of an organization’s activities. An organization needs both leaders and managers for the various activities to run smoothly. The manager works with the leader to get to other staff members and hence eases communication in the organization. For one to lead he needs his followers’ trust while for management, the manager controls his support staff. With the help of the leaders, the management gains the trust of his staff because they feel the leader believes in the management so why not trust in the management.
References
Alesina, A., & Ferrara, E. L. (2005). Ethnic diversity and economic performance. Journal of economic literature, 43(3), 762-800.
Bailey, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C., & Garavan, T. (2018). Strategic Human resource management. Oxford University Press.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2006). Human resource management. China People’s University Press.
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
