Operational Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Operational Management - Assignment Example The StarField Hyper Mall is a multinational chain with brilliant success across Europe. This was its first time in settling in the United Kingdom market and this involved endeavors that were different comparatively from other of its branches. One of such endeavor was its absolute helplessness over the fact that most of its partners did not have offices here in this country. As there was an adequate absence of services and partnerships, the company had to look for other partners from the local service industries. This involved new associations and new partnerships and the work that followed was not tested from past experiences but relied on mutual interest. Customers complained of the ‘Rudeness of the staff’, ‘Problems with facilities’ and ‘Reliability’. These are drastic complaints for each of the three complaints directly involves the company’s image. The rudeness in the attitude of the staff affects the customer-company relationship most effectively though. The staff is but ambassadors of the company and if they are found to default in their ethics and handling, it leaves an overall embarrassing reflection of the company’s image (Ali, 2003). Although the staff themselves mostly complained of such faults in attitude on the ‘help staff’, the implications affect the whole company. As the complaints fail to detail the rudeness, a hypothetical situation and subsequent assumptions have to be made in order to cater to this problem. The rudeness of the staff can range from the lack in listening to disability to help a customer in need. It can fall into many categories and can be a direct implication by any staff member of the company, be it the ‘help staff’, the counter staff or even the security. The customer could have had problems with the helping staff unable to provide them with timely assistance or failure to listen to them. The term rudeness can fall into different braches and can indeed include

Virtue theory Essay Example for Free

Virtue theory Essay Abstract: This paper develops and explores a pedagogical innovation for integrating virtue theory into business students basic understanding of general management. Eighty-seven students, in 20 groups, classified three managers real-time videotaped activities according to an elaboration of Aristotles cardinal virtues, Fayols management functions, and Mintzbergs managerial roles. The studys empirical evidence suggests that, akin to Fayols functions and Mintzbergs roles, Aristotles virtues are also amenable to operationalization, reliable observation, and meaningful description of managerial behavior. The study provides an oft-called-for empirical basis for further work in virtue theory as an appropriate conceptual framework for the study and practice of management. The results indicate that virtue theory may be used to re-conceive our fundamental understanding of management, alongside its capacity to weigh moral judgment upon it. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. Neither by nature, then, nor contrary to nature do the virtues arise in us; rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, and are made perfect by habit. we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts. —Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics V irtue theory has generated increasing interest among moral philosophers (e. g. , Maclntyre, 1981) and business ethicists (e. g. , Hartman, 1998; Koehn, 1995; Mintz, 1996; Moberg, 1999). While limitations of virtue theory have been justly noted (Koehn, 1998), scholars have effectively drawn on Aristotles (1999) virtues to help business students develop their moral capacities (Hartman, 1998; Mintz, 1996; Solomon, 1992). However, a significant challenge remains to help business students incorporate ethical concerns into a more integrated understanding of the practice of management (Park, 1998) and enhance their ability to recognize ethical issues (Gautschi and Jones, 1998). Our study seeks to address the moral integration problem by exploring a pedagogical strategy aimed at providing business students a moral lens via placing the virtues alongside other well-known frameworks of management. In  ©2001. Business Ethics Quarterly, Volume H, Issue 4. ISSN 1052-150X. pp. 561-574 562. BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY particular, students enrolled in a general management course were asked to observe managers actions and classify them according to tbree frameworks: our version of Aristotles (1999) four cardinal virtues; atextbook adaptation of Fayols (1949) functions of management; and our operationalization of Mintzbergs (1973) managerial roles. Most management textbooks are organized according to Fayols four functions (planning, organizing, controlling, and leading), with Mintzbergs roles being the second most-mentioned approach (Carroll and Gillen, 1987). We argue that, just as Fayol and Mintzberg provide frameworks that have proven helpful in talking and thinking about management and for helping students and practitioners to develop good habits of organizing, planning, making resource allocation decisions, and so forth, so also an Aristotelian approach will help us to talk and think about management in a way that permits integrating good ethical habits into management practice. Put differently, as expressed in the familiar maxim, A way of seeing is also a way of not seeing, at the heart of tbis current study is a pedagogy to provide management students an Aristotelian way of seeing what management is, to place alongside the more familiar and entrenched Fayolian and Mintzbergian ways of seeing. Providing students witb a lens drawn from virtue theory, to use alongside their lenses of managerial functions and roles, promises to help students integrate moral theory into general management thinking and practice. The remainder of our paper is divided into three parts. We begin by describing how we adapted Aristotles four cardinal virtues for our study, and present the tbree general research questions that guided our research. In the second part we present our method and our findings. The final section provides a discussion of the implications of our findings, future directions for research, and the potential usefulness of the virtues for integrating ethical concerns into management education. Virtue Theory and Management. It is commonplace to see management in terms of Fayols functions (planning, leading, organizing, and controlling) and in terms of Mintzbergs roles (interpersonal, informational, decision-making, etc. ). In particular, most management textbooks suggest that these ways of seeing provide the essential, basic lenses for developing an understanding about management (Carroll and Gillen, 1987). In this paper, we contend that virtue theory can be used in a similar way to provide a basic foundational view of management. Indeed, to make our case as forcefully as possible, we claim tbat virtue theory is primarily about management. For example, from Aristotles (1999) assertion tbat tbe purpose of life is to maximize bappiness, and that bappiness can only be maximized by practicing virtues in community, it follows that how we manage our communities is of main concern. Whereas for Aristotle ethics culminated in politics, we are suggesting tbat today etbics culminates in management, as managers play a critical role in society (cf. Maclntyre, 1981). Solomon (1992: 104 emphasis added bere) concurs that an Aristotelian approach to business ethics ARISTOTLES VIRTUES AND MANAGEMENT THOUGHT 563 conceives of business as an essential part of the good life, living well, getting along with others, having a sense of self-respect, and being part of something one can be proud of. Because managers in our society have a great say in what practices occur in business and organizations, and thus in facilitating social purpose, we contend that they are a central figure in virtue theory, Aristotles Virtues Reformulated for Todays Business Organization Just as Fayols original functions have been adapted and reformulated over time to fit and reflect contemporary concerns, so also we have adapted Aristotles four cardinal virtues for our study. Toward this end, we found the work of Solomon (1992) particularly helpful. Thus, our description of wisdom, justice, courage, and self-control takes into account the contextual and embedded qualities of virtues as relevant for present-day managers. We hasten to add that for our present purposes, our focus is on examining whether a virtue theory-based approach to conceptualizing management is empirically possible; it is not critical to our present enterprise that the particular virtues we have chosen, or our particular operationalizations, are the most appropriate. Similar to Aristotle (1999), we conceive of practical wisdom as a capacity for deliberation and action by individuals to obtain what is good for themselves and others in general. Practical wisdom entails the ability to ask insightful questions, evaluate real-world business situations, and apply relevant knowledge to the-individual-in-the-organization (Solomon, 1992: 111) unit of analysis. Instead of an individual or community focus, the business manager who possesses practical wisdom views individuals as embedded in community and understands that a potential dichotomy between the two is more apparent than real. S/he recognizes the reciprocity of individual and community good despite the complexities associated with a plurality of different stakeholders. When Mintz (1996: 829) notes that wisdom is an intellectual virtue and is considered to be the consequence of teaching and for that reason requires experience and time to be cultivated, it draws particular attention to the responsibility of scholars and leaders who shape how we think about and understand management. Solomon (1992) views justice, in the sense of fairness and everyone connected with an organization getting their due, as the basic virtue that holds institutions together. This emphasizes a personal responsibility as essential to business organizations, and reflects present-day concerns with the accountability of private and public institutions as citizens in society as well as organizational citizenship behavior by individuals. With the growth of highly complex multinational corporations, burgeoning bureaucracies, and unregulated cyberspace, it is more incumbent today than ever for individuals to act justly with promptitude and pleasure (Pieper, 1965: 63, 113) and to develop personal responsibility for their participation in organizations and larger communities. Our view of the virtue of courage in organizations today differs from traditional notions of courage in battle or courage of ones convictions—both instances 564 BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY of extraordinary virtue which depend on especially threatening contexts (Solomon, 1992). To nurture oneself as an intimate part of a community, we see courage as a continuous fortitude or stamina to resist the ongoing pressures for impression management, job-hopping, and self-aggrandizement in todays organizations, which all potentially undermine other virtues necessary for community, such as honesty, loyalty, trust, and so forth. Courage implies hope and acting for the good of all even if this may diminish ones own status. Courage may involve speaking out on matters of injustice and personal conviction, and generally concerns maintaining ones integrity or wholeness (Solomon, 1992) in an increasingly fragmenting corporate context. The last of the four virtues, self-control or temperance, we see as relating to contemporary concerns with managers emotional regulation and impulse control. Such internal regulation is likened to Aristotles (1999) notion of virtue as a kind of mean, with excess and deficiency as vices (e. g. , see Aristotles commentary on anger). For instance, it is widely accepted that assertive, instead of aggressive or passive-aggressive, communications are more helpful in building relationships. Intermediate, rather than excessive or deficient, emotion is necessary for fostering other corporate virtues such as caring, gentleness, and compassion (Solomon, 1992). Self-control entails keeping focus on the whole, rather than over-reacting to details. Temperance in moderating desires is important (e. g. , reducing exorbitant individual and organizational consumption levels), but self-control vis-a-vis emotionality is especially relevant in todays crowded organizations, cities, and societies. Of course, the challenge that others have raised (e. g. , Hartman, 1998; Maclntyre, 1981; Mintz, 1996), and which underlies our current study, is to make virtues observable in management practice and a relevant guiding framework for management theory. More generally, this reinforces our overarching goal of placing this alternative way of seeing management alongside the two most common current ways of seeing (i. e. , Fayol and Mintzberg), and having virtue theory viewed as a partner framework for understanding and guiding management theory and practice. Research Questions We did not enter this study with a particular set of hypotheses we wished to test. Rather, ours is an exploratory study aimed at examining whether Aristotles virtues are similarly observable in managerial behavior by students as are Fayols functions and Mintzbergs roles. This leads to our first research question, to determine whether there are any differences between how able management students are to capture and classify managerial behavior using virtue theory versus the more commonly used managerial functions and roles frameworks. Can students be trained to see the four virtues as often as the managerial functions and roles? In terms of anticipated results from this first question, since our methodology was adapted from Mintzbergs original study, we expected students to be able to. ARISTOTLES VIRTUES AND MANAGEMENT THOUGHT 565 classify a greater proportion of managers activities using his framework than Fayols. We were not sure how well virtue theory could be used to classify behavior, but, given that it is a less common lens through which to view management, we would not have been surprised had students observed virtues less frequently. Of course, the less frequently virtue theory is able to categorize management behavior, the less utility it might have as an overarching approach on par with function and role theory. Our second research question is a deeper examination of the first. We wanted to compare how the various students applied the tbree frameworks, with an eye toward seeing whether there was some consistency in classifications of managers activities across students. Again, given the kinship between our methodology and Mintzbergs, we expected his framework to generate the highest inter-rater reliability. And, given the fact that management virtue theory is relatively underdeveloped, we might expect to see the least consistency in this framework. Of course, we were interested in this question because, in order for the virtues to be a useful framework for understanding management, they must be amenable to operationalization and consistent observation. We are using virtues as a way of understanding or (re)conceiving what management is, not as a way to pass moral judgment on it. In sum, we are interested in whether the consistency of students classifications of virtues were comparable to managerial functions and roles. Finally, we were curious to examine whether there were any inter-relationships between virtue theory and the other two frameworks. Again, as there is virtually (pun intended) no research in this area, our a priori expectations were based on speculation and intuition. Thus, for example, we might expect that managers who exhibit relatively high levels of justice might be more likely to manifest the controlling function and the decisional role. In asking this third exploratory question, we wanted to investigate how the virtues might be related to functions and roles in the behavior of actual managers, and how the three frameworks may be integrated. Method The methodology used for this study was adapted from the original method Mintzberg (1973) used in developing his managerial roles. We videotaped three managers from the same manufacturing firm during their regular work hours. The total amount of taping for all three managers combined was 9 hours, 39 minutes, and 56 seconds, and included the general manager, the financial controller, and a sales manager. These managerial positions comprise a reasonable representation of the variation in managerial job categories of the focus organization. The data reported here are based on the work of twenty student groups enrolled in one of three sections of an Introduction to Management and Organization Theory course offered in a midwest public university. The data reported here are based on the work of 87 students, with 4 or 5 students in each group. Each group was given the task of classifying one of the three different managers behavior according to each of the frameworks developed by Aristotle, Fayol, and 566 BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY Mintzberg. To help students operationalize each of the categories within each of the three frameworks, the instructor provided them with templates of each. An abridged overview of the templates is provided in Table 1. The templates described various behaviors that represent each of the managerial virtues, functions, and roles. Readers wishing more detailed information on Fayols functions may consult any introductory management textbook (the template used in this study was based on the description presented in Starke and Sexty, 1992, the textbook used in the students course). Similarly, further information on Mintzbergs managerial roles can be found in Mintzberg (1973), which was used to prepare the template for this study. Table 1: Operationalization of Virtues, Functions, and Roles Category Sample Actions. Aristotles Virtues Practical Wisdom Justice Courage Self-control Using appropriate knowledge required to size up a real world situation and making a decision that increases the common good; helping subordinates to improve in a way that allows them to feel good about themselves; asking insightful questions Giving credit for success where credit is due; assigning appropriate accountability and responses for failure; accepting and acknowledging the merit in advice/wisdom from others. Treating set-backs as temporary; empowering others rather than hoarding power; complimenting others; accepting others counsel even when it may seem to diminish self status Making other-full decisions; calming a situation where over-reaction might be tempting; correcting a mistake in a self-controlled manner; letting go of details to embrace a larger perspective Fayols Functions Planning Organizing Controlling Determining new industries to enter in the future; setting and priorizing market share goals; determining tevel of vertical integration; choosing strategic focus; implementing and evaluating plans. Setting policy statements; establishing procedures; setting rules; determining how a specific service is to be performed or product to be manufactured; ensuring payroll or accounting functions are performed uniformly across the organization Touring facilities; reviewing financial/productivity reports; evaluating individual, group and/or organizational performance; rewarding good performance or taking corrective action for poor performance Mintzbergs Roles Interpersonal Informational Decisional. Helping a subordinate to leam a new task; making job assignments for subordinates; meeting with other managers at the same level within the organization; talking to competitors/suppliers/customer organizations Readitig industry newspapers; attending industry conferences; reading fmancial reports; sending memos; attending weekly staff meetings; relaying information fiom upper level managers; lobbying for organizational unit Develop a new way to produce or to market a product or service; responding to day-to-day crises; setting budgets; deciding how to increase capacity; conducting union negotiations. ARISTOTLES VIRTUES AND MANAGEMENT THOUGHT 567 An earlier study based on these data provided a much more detailed rationale for how each of the various categories and sub-categories were established. For the present study, it is sufficient to make two notes. First, rather than provide a detailed analysis of each of Mintzbergs ten roles, we here report data only for his three basic roles: interpersonal, informational, and decisional. This allows for a much more parsimonious presentation. Second, our analysis includes data on only three of Fayols roles: planning, controlling, and organizing. Students were not asked to code Fayols leading function for several reasons, but mostly because the curriculum in our university covers the leading function in a different course. 2 Results The data from the twenty reports were analyzed in several ways to address our three guiding research questions. We used simple descriptive statistics to examine the first question, namely, whether there were any differences between how ably students could classify managers behaviours using the three conceptual frameworks (i. e. , virtues, functions, and roles). As shown in Table 2, the findings were different than expected. First, because our methodology is adapted from Mintzbergs, we expected that his roles would be evident more often in the videotapes than Fayols functions and Aristotles virtues. We found that the opposite occurred. Although the students did classify 80 percent of the managers behavior using Mintzbergs roles, this was slightly less than the 82 percent of the time they classified using Fayols functions, and both these are statistically significantly less than the 89 percent of managers behavior students classified using Aristotles virtues (p . 01). Practical wisdom was the most frequently categorized virtue at 48. 4 percent, followed by justice at 26. 6 percent, courage at 8. 6 percent, and self-control at 5. 3 percent. Fayols functions were categorized at 17. 1 percent for planning, 22. 5 percent for organizing, and 42. 4 percent for controlling. Mintzbergs roles were categorized 51. 3 percent for interpersonal, 24. 5 percent for informational, and 4. 4 percent for decisional. Our second research question was to examine how much consistency there was between students in observing the various virtues in managers. For virtue theory to be a useful way to understand management, and for it to be most helpful in developing students ethical competencies, there should be consistency. Thus, inter-rater reliabilities were calculated to measure the consistency of student group observations vis-a-vis each framework (see Table 2). As we expected, inter-rater reliability scores among the 20 groups were the highest for Mintzhergs roles at . 98 and lowest for Fayols functions at . 82; Aristotles virtues ranked between these two frameworks, at . 91. 568 BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY. Table 2: Descriptive Statistics and Inter-Rater Reliability Category n Category mean (†¢/o of time) Wisdom 20 48. 4 20. 3 Justice 20 26. 6 19. 9 Courage 20 8. 6 8. 3 Self-control 20 5. 3 Framework mean (†¢/. of time) Framework inter. rater reliability 88  » 5. 1 5d .91 82. D .82 80. 2 n Aristotles Virtues Fayols unctions Planning 20 17 1 14. 5 Organizing 20 22. 5 18. 7 Controlling 20 42. 4 19. 8 Interpersonal 20 SI. 3 14. 4 Infonnational 20 24 5 5. 5 Decisional 20 4. 4 3 1 Mintzber gs Roles Finally, our third research question was to explore how the virtues related to the other frameworks. Toward this end we calculated Pearson correlations between each virtue, function, and role (see Table 3 below). As this is an exploratory study, we used an alpha level of . 10 to examine significant correlations. We found four significant correlations between the virtues and the categories of the other frameworks. Practical wisdom correlated positively with both Fayols planning function (. 38, p=. O99) and Mintzbergs interpersonal role (. 55, p=. O12), and negatively with the controlling function (-. 41, p=. O74). Justice correlated negatively with the interpersonal role (-.40, p=. O78) and had an almost statistically significant positive correlation with the controlling function (. 36, p=. 118). Two more statistically significant correlations were found within the four virtues: (i) a negative correlation between justice and practical wisdom (-. 77, p=. OOO); and (ii) a negative correlation between justice and courage (-. 51, p=. O21). Finally, three other significant correlations emerged among categories outside of virtue theory: (i) a negative correlation between the organizing function and the controlling function (-. 70, p=.OOl); (ii) a negative correlation between the informational and decisional roles (-. 45, p=. O49); and (iii) a positive correlation between the planning function and the interpersonal role (. 61, p=. 004). In sum, it may be noteworthy that, of the nine statistically significant correlations found, most included at least one of the virtues (six), and fewer included one of the functions or one of the roles (four each). ARISTOTLES VIRTUES AND MANAGEMENT THOUGHT ao S p O g o 9 q o o o II 569 p o CN Z 9 tn so rn o e s o I o 00 I o 10 (N 2 g o o o o o 2S8 e o ci d o 8 i o. b O o U  § i  § 9 U , . ; N .2 s 3 570 BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY Discussion For proponents of a virtue theory of management, the results of our exploratory study are encouraging. Our findings offer preliminary empirical support for the contention that Aristotles virtues provide a useable framework for integrating moral concerns into a holistic view of management. Our results, that students are able to observe the virtues in actual managerial behavior, encourage their further use and development as a framework for education in management theory and business ethics. We will now discuss the implications of our findings, and future research opportunities, in more detail. Research Question #7 In regard to our first research question concerning the different frameworks efficacy to classify managerial behavior, Aristotles virtues performed better than the two most commonly used conceptual frameworks in management teaching. Students were able to use virtue theory to categorize almost ninety percent of managers behavior, about ten percent more than functions or roles. Thus, the further use and development of a virtue theory framework for teaching students about the responsibilities of management is supported. Future researchers may examine the link between the training that students receive and their subsequent ability to observe virtues, and also whether their ability to observe virtues is related to their likelihood of putting them into practice. This latter linkage, between being able to see in others and doing oneself, also undergirds mainstream management theory (e. g., students who observe the managerial roles will be more able to play those roles themselves) and is of particular relevance from a virtue theory perspective. Students who traditionally are taught to pose questions like What function or role should I be trying to improve as a manager? can be provided a framework to also ask Which virtue do I need to pay more attention to in order to develop as a manager? Do I practice enough justice in my interactions with subordinates? Have I been courageous in my dealings with upper management when advocating for my staff? Am I adequately temperate in my work aspirations? This approach to incorporate an ethical dimension within students professional identity is welcome given the competing complexities and demands of business life, and may help to address Parks (1998) concern with business students integrating ethical issues with other business frameworks. Unfortunately, current business ethics courses may be perceived as unrelated to the rest of what students are taught in business schools if they do not define a set of ethical responsibilities and practices in conjunction with other functional and role requirements of management proper. As a result, when students come to fill managerial positions, they may be left virtually point-of-viewless regarding their responsibilities as managers vis-a-vis ethical issues, and have a constrained ability to define managerial success. ARISTOTLES VIRTUES AND MANAGEMENT THOUGHT 571 Research Question #2 In examining our second research question, we found a relatively high level of inter-rater reliability across student group categorizations of the virtues, comparable to the categorizations for the two more mainstream views of management. Beyond providing additional empirical support to continue to develop a virtue theory of management, this finding also draws our attention to further study what the key management virtues are and how we should describe them. In particular, partially in response to readers who might be surprised at the high incidence of virtuous behavior observed in our managers (e. g. , Maclntyre, 1981), our exploratory study begs future research to more closely examine the content of what the students were observing to be virtuous behavior. The consistent student observations are striking because operationalizing the virtues is not an easy task. For example, a person can act fairly without manifesting the virtue of justice if he does so without promptitude and pleasure (Pieper, 1965) and, similarly, performing a courageous act does not make a person courageous. In this light, the consistency of observations in our study should serve to encourage researchers who focus on specifying which virtues are most important for contemporary managers, because it lessens their need to limit or compromise their choice to easy-to-operationalize virtues. In any case, we suggest that future research use multiple method research designs to study virtues. For example, researchers could collect self-report data alongside videotapes, where managers are asked to describe, say, what prompted them to act fairly in a given situation. Similarly, researchers may interview subordinates and colleagues with whom focal managers interact. There may also be merit in developing a grounded theory of virtuous management, and analyzing observers classifications. As the research stream matures, there is potential for experimental designs and even survey instrument research. In short, empirical research within a virtue theory perspective has the potential to utilize and draw from the same methods and design strategies that have proven useful for other theoretical points of view. Research Question #5 The answer to the third research question provides a final point of departure for future research. For example, what do the positive correlations between practical wisdom and planning, practical wisdom and interpersonal roles, and the negative correlation between wisdom and controlling suggest? Is the wise manager one who controls less and pays more attention to issues of planning and interpersonal relations? Or, do these correlations reflect a bias in students towards the rightness of more participatory management styles that have become increasingly in vogue? Another question arising from the correlational analysis is the meaning of the negative association between justice and practical wisdom and justice and the interpersonal roles. Does the manager who displays more 572 BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY practical wisdom do so at a cost to justice as we have operationalized them? Further, does the negative correlation between justice and the interpersonal role (and the almost-statistically-significant positive correlation between justice and controlling) indicate that students regard exhibiting the interpersonal role as somehow unjust and manipulative and not concerned with giving employees their due? Do managers who act justly perhaps do so at a cost to interpersonal relationships (e. g. , perhaps students perceived as just managers who enforce rules without adequate regard to unique personal needs)? The negative correlation between justice and courage draws further attention to issues around managerial manipulation, if students viewed managers ability to act unjust as something that takes courage. Alternatively, perhaps students see as courageous managers who protect their employees, even if this is not just toward shareholders. Along a different line, perhaps future research should examine the complementarity of virtues among managerial teams. Following Nadler and Tushmans (1990) argument that management teams should have leaders with complementary skills, so also the managers in our study may have complementary virtues. Thus, for example, one manager may be wiser while another more just. Such an approach leads to fascinating opportunities to examine the interplay between these virtues across managers. Finally, a comment on a non-finding in the correlational analysis. What about self-control? Is the lack of significant relationships with other categories, and the relatively low frequency of temperate behavior observed, an artifact of the methodology as might be the case if, for example, self-control is the least amenable to direct observation? Future research might find higher levels of self-control through self-reports asking managers about their feelings and stress levels during particular interactions. Similarly, one might design experiments using confederates to create highly frustrating interpersonal scenarios to assess the level of self-control displayed by subjects. These types of questions are indicative of potentially important directions in future research. Alternatively, perhaps our data suggest that future researchers should consider replacing self-control as a primary virtue for managers. Recall that the primary focus of our paper was to develop empirical support for the development of a virtual theory to conceptualize and understand management; we do not contend that the four virtues we have used here are necessarily the best or most appropriate. Our findings do demonstrate the merit in developing a virtue theory of management, and we now invite others to join us in the task of deciding which are the most important virtues for contemporary managers, a task which requires specifying its undergirding moral point of view (Frankena, 1973). Conclusion Our exploratory study provides welcome empirical support.

Urban Legends :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Urban Legends      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The subject of this report focuses on the phenomenon known as Urban Legend. Urban Legend, henceforth referred to as UL, is well known in the arena of folklore and other sorts of stories passed down through generations; however, it is relatively new to the world of literary composition as a legitimate genre to be analyzed and studied in texts by experts of literature. In fact, if it had to be labeled, UL would be considered a sub-genre of folklore by many of the experts. These stories are known as "modern oral folklore - typically a tall tale with a frisson of comeuppance of horror, related as having actually happened to a 'friend of a friend'" (Clute & Grant, 1997). UL is also considered to be very similar to myth and fantasy.    I originally became very interested in this phenomenon after seeing the film Urban Legend several years ago. My curiosity on the subject matter was rekindled when Stacey Burleson presented on "Legend" in our class. To be quite honest, I did not realize that UL was considered as being part of a genre of literature until Ms. Burleson's presentation. This newfound interest in the subject, as well as a desire to dig beyond the surface of the subject matter, is the reason I chose this topic. In doing this research, I realized that I have been participating in UL's every since I was a young boy. The simple fact that I never used the term "urban legend" is why I thought I was so unfamiliar with this subject area. During my childhood, my family and peers always referred to these legends as "campfire stories". It was not until college, when I saw the previously mentioned movie, that I associated the term with the countless stories I had heard and told to others.    According to Jan Harold Brunvand, considered by many to be the leading expert in the field of UL and fantasy folklore, UL's are "stories that are too good to be true. And are events that happen to a friend of a friend, or 'FOAF'."(Brunvand, 1999). Also, most of the time, the stories are told in such a believable manner because the storytellers themselves believe the story, or at least the probability that the actions in the stories could take place.

Perception of Time

We often brag about the technological and scientific developments of today's modern society and how we benefit from these advancements. The barriers that were once created because of the diversity in culture were brought down by the modern trend of globalization. Culture is society's main foundation that is deeply rooted in our native land. Culture is a broad term encompassing tradition, ways, and means of leaving, traits and values. Every individual belongs to a certain culture to which he has to fit his activity, values, and attributes. Everyone is raised within the confinements of his or her own culture and brought up by beliefs, traditions, values, and traits which conform to the standards set by the culture that has long been intact in our society. The line of conflict between humans with regards to their culture starts when what is culturally acceptable to us may not be acceptable to others. Even science that we used to think is universal and adheres to generally accepted human principles is predominated with the culture of the people from the western hemisphere (Bartholomew 36). Some behaviors that do not comply with the standards of a certain culture are often remarked as an abnormality or deviance. Thus, even though science applies universal scientific principles, it is never neutral in determining what is deviant or abnormal and what is not (Bartholomew 36). It can never really explain why some cultures do certain practices that are not culturally accepted in other countries. We used to separate behaviors and label them as normal, moral and legal. Other traits, practices and rituals that do not fit in what is accepted in our culture are recognized as otherwise. These activities reflect a person's prevailing norms, values, and beliefs that he adheres to at a particular time and place (Bartholomew 36). The psychological aspect that is responsible for the discrepancies in people's culture and how it affects our perception is cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is a theory of knowledge that is responsible for the person's judgment on what is deemed as acceptable. This judgment is anchored to his or her beliefs, values, and attitudes that are shaped by the culture he or she was accustomed to (Bartholomew 37). Hence, the culture of individuals influences their perception on things around them. They view things according to their existing beliefs and values. Time is also perceived differently in many cultures. Individuals see time differently today than the people in the past used to ages ago. Through the invention of time devices, the people of modern times are able to track time by the hour, by the minute, by the second, and even by the millisecond. Thus, the people’s perception of time molds them and their minds. The ancient people were only aware of the fundamental time—the night and day. They used to determine time by making interpretation of the celestial and heavenly bodies. Through the use of these methods, humans also acquired an understanding of the future. They perceived the future in terms of contingencies of cause and effect relationship. People were able to utilize their environment to develop a perception of time. Their ancient clocks and calendars were the daily motion of the sun and moon, as well as the season changes (Falk n. ). In 1895, H. G. Wells' book, The Time Machine, was made available for the public. Wells' fiction novel opens to people the possibility of traveling through time. The idea seemed impossible, but well-known Albert Einstein explained that attaining the ability or means to travel to the future or to the past is not improbable (Gott 8). Einstein proposed his theory special relativity in 1905, describing the possibility of time travel based on the descr iption of how time is measured differently by moving and still observers. It is further strengthened by his mathematics professor Hermann Minowski, looking at time mathematically as the fourth dimension (Gott 8). With all the psychological differences explained by cultural relativism, the different perception of time in each culture and society, and the possibility to travel through time, a clear, if not precise, definition of perception of time can be attained. 2. 0 Sources Edwin A. Abbot in Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions provides an overview of a two-dimensional world and guides his readers through some of the implications of life in two dimensions. Meanwhile, Robert Bartholomew, in his article â€Å"Borderlands: Deviance, Psychiatry and Cultural Relativism,† explores the problem with cultural relativism, basically defined as the principle in which the belief of an individual is analyzed and interpreted in relation to the individual's own culture. Ray Bradbury in â€Å"A Sound of Thunder† warns us that traveling to the past can be dangerous. Antonio Damasio, in his article â€Å"Remembering When† explains the concept of mind time. Dan Falk's â€Å"Past, Present, Future PERCEPTIONS OF TIME THROUGH THE AGES† presents differences in perceiving time through different ages. Richard J. Gott, in his book Time Travel in Einstein's Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time, discusses applications of time machine, wherein time travel is possible and how time travel can be explained in terms of physics and quantum mechanics. Dorinne K. Kondo in her article â€Å"On Being a Conceptual Anomaly† presents her experiences as a Japanese American woman. Robert Levine in A Geography of Time: The Temporal Misadventures of a Social Psychologist analyzes what it means to live beyond time or by time event. Richard E. Nisbett in his book The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently†¦ and Why confronts conjectures of well-known philosophers with a different take on human thought influenced by cultural ideologies and principles. The videotaped program Only Human presents few experiments which were created to learn various aspects of human behavior. The book How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Ag e by Theodore Schick, Jr. and Lewis Vaughn provides strange assertions and ideas abound in culture to illustrate the rational assessment of any claim. Finally, the videotaped program Time Travel shows that space is curved, time is relative, and time travel is theoretically possible. 3. 0 Results People live by the underlying rules and principles in the society where they belong. They adhere to the maxims and dogmas that have long been in existence. They pattern their everyday life according to these unwritten rules that governing the society. To conform to the traditional beliefs and values is to live harmoniously with the other people. People coexist in a society that must adapt and do what is culturally accepted to avoid being ostracized by the general public. . 1 Perception As mentioned earlier, cultural relativism explains the people's differences in perception. People’s judgment differs from one another because they pattern things according to their cultural preferences. If something fits their criteria as prescribed by their culture, then it is acceptable for them. Standards set by culture create cultural diversity in the world. According to Richard Nisbett, Westerners and East Asians looked at things differently resulting in dissimilarities in understanding. This is due to the difference in environment, social structures, philosophies, and educational background. In addition, it was discovered that Asian thought is holistic or a functional relationship of parts and the whole. They do not much rely on formal logic or categories. In comparison to the Westerners, people from the west mostly rely on formal logic to understand their behavior. In Dorinne Kondo’s article, â€Å"On Being a Conceptual Anomaly†, she relays her experiences upon conducting a research in Japan. She was raised as an American so she had a difficult time adjusting herself on the ways of living in Japan. This is because the Japanese perceive White people as different and offensive (Kondo 524). During the course of her stay in Japan, she had to learn their traditions, values, and most of all, their practices to be able to cope up with the new environment she was in. There came a point when she saw herself differently, not as the observer on the immersion she was doing but as part of the participants in her research. There is an existing dilemma brought by cultural relativism especially in the field of mental health. Psychiatry is a branch of psychological science that deals with human behavior. Through psychiatry, we are able to find out if we have acquired any psychological disorders. Basis on the diagnoses on such behavioral disorders is human behavior only without in-depth consideration of the underlying social, cultural, and political circumstances that brought up such behavior (Bartholomew 38). Examining closely the behavior of people's conformity to a group is discovering the power and influence of the majority in a certain society (Only Human n. p) Psychiatry can be considered as the most debatable branch of medicine. There is a necessary clarification on the term mental illness. â€Å"Illness† denotes an impairment or injury on any body's part. People who were diagnosed with mental illness do not have any injury, but only suffering living difficulties (Bartholomew 38). Based from the ideas discussed by Nisbett and Kondo, an American may experience difficulty adapting to an environment different from his usual environment and therefore may be tagged as mentally ill by the Japanese, or it could be the other way around. This just shows that there is an existing conflict brought about by cultural relativism. Due to the diversity of culture, there is no strong fundamental basis on what is a behavioral disorder. 3. 2 Time In a world where time is considered as a necessity while many of us try to squeeze in the tasks that we have to accomplish with the little time that we have, it is fascinating, and at the same time important, to learn how time was viewed and used through the course of human civilization. Across the centuries, humans have looked and treated time differently the way their ancestors used to perceive time. At present, there is an international standard of telling time and it is universal, for every nation adheres to that standard. Due to the rotation of the earth, people experience differences in time—when it is day in the east, it is nighttime in the west. Humans have developed a biological clock or circadian rhythm based on the daily activities and lifestyle of a person. This clock is located in the hypothalamus of one's brain. This is responsible for how a person’s body perceives time. For instance, it is nighttime in his or her biological clock if he or she feels tired and sleepy (Damasio 36). When the region of the brain that is highly important for learning and recalling new information is damaged, a major disturbance occurs in a person’s innate ability to place events in a chronological sequence. This is what happens to amnesiacs or people suffering from amnesia. They lose the ability to estimate the passage of time in different scales (Damasio 36). Amnesia is a permanent damage on the brain's hippocampus, a part of the brain essential to memory, and the temporal lobe, a region of the brain that serves as a two-way communication with the rest of the cerebral cortex. Damage in the hippocampus hinders the creation of new memories. Patients with an impaired hippocampus are known to have anterograde amnesia. They are unable to hold factual memories for longer than one minute. On the other hand, the amnesiacs that are unable to retrieve long-term memories are diagnosed with retrograde amnesia, which is characterized by an impaired in temporal lobe (Damasio 36). Amnesiacs do not have awareness of the correct time, which makes it difficult for them to place events in the right chronological order and store new factual memories. This deficiency greatly affects their way of living and their social interaction. The idea of time travel has not escape the imaginative minds of people. In 1895, H. G. Wells published the book The Time Machine, which opened the idea of time travel to the public. The proposition seemed so impossible but the physicist Einstein attempted to explain the possibility of such phenomenon through physics (Gott 8). In 1905, Einstein developed his theory of special relativity and explained how time is measured differently by still and moving objects. Einstein's mathematics professor Hermann Minowski expanded his theory and told that time could be treated mathematically as the universe's fourth dimension (Gott 8). If their proposition is correct, their theory would allow humans to travel back in time or go forth to the future. However, Ray Bradbury stated the dangers of time travel to the past and the possible effects to the present once the course of history is altered. Hence, the events that happened in the past cannot be touched for it will greatly affect the current circumstances. 3. 3 Perception of Time. Time is treated also differently in every culture. The differences in perception of things could be attributed to the cultural relativism aforementioned. Awareness of time is very important to humans. Today, we are paid by the hour and our daily routines are based on time. Our early ancestors utilized everything that can be found in their environment to be able to tell time. They used the daily motions of the moon and sun. Assuming an unconventional movement of the celestial bodies resulted in certain phenomena, they were able to perceive the future through a cause-and-effect relationship (Falk n. p). For example, the Babylonians had their way of foretelling events by means of hepatoscopy, which involves sacrificing a liver. They believed that through this ritual, the gods allow them to foresee the future (Schick and Vaughn 97). Different cultures developed various methods and devices to determine time. For instance, the Romans developed the calendar, which was by Pope Gregory XIII. The perception of time could also be considered necessary in one's cultural requirements. This is evident in the empires established in Latin America. These empires dictated how to regulate time in order to fix civil, agricultural, and religious dates. On the other hand, Muslims, maintain strict daily routine of timely prayers to keep track of time (Falk n. p). Today, we treat time as inanimate, passing in a constant rate. We are all considered as slaves of time. We can never hasten up or slow down the passage of time. However, this was not the case for the Maya, as time is organic for them. According to the Mayas, time can be stretched, shrunk, or even overpowered by human activity. In fact, many cultures perceived time as organic in nature. In these cultures, time was told through human activities and not through the constraints of a clock or a calendar (Falk n. ). 4. 0 Discussion In light of the findings provided by the sources, the existence of various traditions, beliefs, and values anchored to their culture has created a disparity in people’s perception. People act in accordance to their culture and society where they live. Behavior and action against the prevailing norms will be perceived by other people as a deviatio n or as a mental illness. This disparity in perception of right and wrong could be attributed to cultural relativism, or the difference in cultural beliefs and values. Throughout history, people have developed their perception of time. Our ancestors used conventional tools and devices to be able to tell time. Through the use of astrological components, they were able to acquire an understanding of the future events through cause-and-effect relationship by connecting a certain lunar or solar manifestation that resulted in certain events. Perception of time greatly depends on the brain’s functioning. An impairment of certain regions of the brain responsible for holding and storing memories and sequencing events in a chronological order deeply affects an individual’s perception of time. An example of this brain disorder is amnesia. Amnesiacs have an incorrect perception of time due to their ailment. The idea of time travel that seems unworkable was made theoretically possible by Einstein. In his theory of special relativity, he explained that the treating time as the universe's fourth dimension can make time travel possible. Still, there are dangers in traveling back to the past because it may alter the course of events and the present situations. There is no universal perception of time. Time is perceived differently in various cultures. Some culture perceive it as inanimate, others treat it as organic that can be controlled by human activity.

Family Values Are Not Contradictory to Personal Choice as Well as Self-Fulfillment Essay

With the collapse of the traditional family mode and the accelerated development of the capitalist world, the world has changed significantly. According to John Dewey, â€Å"The significant thing is that the loyalties which once held individuals, which gave them support, direction, and unity of outlook on life, have well-nigh disappeared† (Individualism—Old and New, 1962). And the situation remains the same in the 21st century. There has been more flexibility on lifestyle and people are no longer under the pressure—or under less pressure –of forming a family. Some people choose to devote their whole self to what they want to do, claiming that carrying out family values will prevent themselves from choosing what they really want and affect the process of realizing self-fulfillment. There has been a heated debate on whether family values are contradictory to personal choice as well as self-fulfillment. This essay will consider arguments in support of family values conflicting personal choice as well as self-fulfillment, and then point out the problems of these statements. It will set forth reasons why family values are not contradictory to personal choice as well as self-fulfillment. Many people claim that people are not free to make personal choice because of family values, especially in a society dominated by Confucius culture, where several generations live together and filial piety as well as blood relationship is appreciated; however, this is not true. In Confucius culture, rather than love relationships between couples, much weight is put on the affection between family members. As Lin Yutang said in â€Å"The Chinese family ideal†, this affection contributes to a feeling of obligation which amounts to a deeply religious attitude. This leads some people to suspect that family members may have to sacrifice their own opportunities or even personal life for the advantage of the whole family, which negatively affects their pursuit of self-actualization. Generally speaking, this statement is true. Nevertheless, it is insufficient in the sense that it ignores the implications of affection between family members and wrongly interprets Confucius family mode. Chinese philosophers make the passion between husband and wife the very basis of a normal human life so much that they regard it as the very foundation of all normal human life (Lin Yutang, 1937). Besides, Confucius culture starts out with a belief that man exists as a member of family unit and no one exists completely alone. So, by emphasizing the affection between family members, Confucius culture regards one’s achievement the glory of his own and at the same time the glory of his family. In other words, the whole family will stand out if one member needs help, which means it is possible to facilitate his chase of self-fulfillment with the resource from the whole family. It can be inferred that with family values, how much easier it is for one to fulfill himself once he makes the decision. Family values play an important role in facilitating one’s pursuit of self-fulfillment, especially in a family appreciating Confucius culture. It has been argued by some that one evidence showing how family values are against personal choice as well as self-fulfillment is the unattainable balance between career and family; yet this statement is problematic. With the accelerated pace of city life in modern society, many people have failed to maintain a job and a family at the same time. And in most of the follow-up of these cases, men turn to career and have to spend little time with family members while women sacrifice their career to stay at home and look after the whole family, and more and more young people turn to a personal choice of remaining single in the name of pursuing self-fulfillment, instead of celebrating family values by marrying a spouse and having children as what people did in the old days. However, although the dilemma of modern citizens does exist, the statement above is no longer correct, for it is the result of misunderstanding. As Immanuel Kant introduced in his philosophical system, freedom is not about doing what we want according to instinct, but about realizing our free will by controlling our instincts. Therefore, family values are not to blame for restraining our choices as we are not free to our choices in the first place. People should face the fact that their time is limited and be aware of their unlimited choice of way of self-fulfillment. This means, to work for long hours to support the family is an admirable method to value the family and fulfill themselves as well. From my point of view, family values and personal choice as well as self-fulfillment are so tightly connected with each other that we cannot even separate them. Self-fulfillment is realized through a series of personal choices, and personal choice depends heavily on the influence of family values. Because the personal choice one makes is never fully personal. It is affected by numerous external factors, for example, the economic and political environment, the inter-person relationship as well as the mainstream values, and he justifies and weighs these factors using his beliefs which are influenced by his family values. On top of this, whatever the social environment and cultural background, the universal family values contain the concepts of flexibility, communication, compromise and unconditional love. Healthy family values are intended to make the family a positive and supportive place for members, facilitating their personal choices as well as self-fulfillment. After analyzing the arguments presented here for both sides of this question, it can be contended that family values are not contradictory to personal choice as well as self-fulfillment. People’s belief for family values can be a strong support for one to realize his ambitions in the sense that the whole family will be his backing. And one’s pursuing for self-fulfillment can be another admirable way to celebrate family values. Family values, personal choice as well as self-fulfillment are actually interactive factors positively affecting each other.

Free Essays on Geographical Information Systems

Geographical Information Systems What Is a GIS? A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer-based tool for mapping and analyzing things that exist and events that happen on earth. GIS technology integrates, via the Internet, common database operations such as query and statistical analysis with the unique visualization and geographic analysis benefits offered by maps. These abilities distinguish GIS from other information systems and make it valuable to a wide range of public and private enterprises for explaining events, predicting outcomes, and planning strategies. This would be a very tedious and slow process without the speed and efficiency of the Internet. The Internet allows huge global companies to maintain a single database that can be accessed from branches around the world and maintained locally free from manipulation. The major challenges we face in the world todayoverpopulation, pollution, deforestation, and natural disasters have a critical geographic dimension. Whether siting a new business, finding the best soil for growing bananas, or figuring out the best route for an emergency vehicle, local problems also have a geographical component. With the use of the Internet, companies will have the power to create maps, integrate information, visualize scenarios, solve complicated problems, present powerful ideas, and develop effective solutions like never before. GIS is a tool used by individuals and organizations, schools, governments, and businesses seeking innovative ways to solve their problems. Mapmaking and geographic analysis are not new, but a GIS performs these tasks better and faster than do the old manual methods. And, before Internet technology, only a few people had the skills necessary to use geographic information to help with decision-making and problem solving. Today, GIS is a multibillion-dollar industry employing hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. GIS is taught in schools, colleg... Free Essays on Geographical Information Systems Free Essays on Geographical Information Systems Geographical Information Systems What Is a GIS? A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer-based tool for mapping and analyzing things that exist and events that happen on earth. GIS technology integrates, via the Internet, common database operations such as query and statistical analysis with the unique visualization and geographic analysis benefits offered by maps. These abilities distinguish GIS from other information systems and make it valuable to a wide range of public and private enterprises for explaining events, predicting outcomes, and planning strategies. This would be a very tedious and slow process without the speed and efficiency of the Internet. The Internet allows huge global companies to maintain a single database that can be accessed from branches around the world and maintained locally free from manipulation. The major challenges we face in the world todayoverpopulation, pollution, deforestation, and natural disasters have a critical geographic dimension. Whether siting a new business, finding the best soil for growing bananas, or figuring out the best route for an emergency vehicle, local problems also have a geographical component. With the use of the Internet, companies will have the power to create maps, integrate information, visualize scenarios, solve complicated problems, present powerful ideas, and develop effective solutions like never before. GIS is a tool used by individuals and organizations, schools, governments, and businesses seeking innovative ways to solve their problems. Mapmaking and geographic analysis are not new, but a GIS performs these tasks better and faster than do the old manual methods. And, before Internet technology, only a few people had the skills necessary to use geographic information to help with decision-making and problem solving. Today, GIS is a multibillion-dollar industry employing hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. GIS is taught in schools, colleg...

Alactraz essays

Alactraz essays Imagine yourself existing in a dirty, smelly, cold prison cell that has water dripping down the walls from the ceiling and hardly ever seeing daylight. If you were a guest at Alcatraz, that is exactly what you would experience. Alcatraz was a Federal Prison located in the San Francisco Bay. It was built on a twelve acre, solid rock island, one mile from the main land. There were no roads or bridges built to get there. The only access was by boat. The name Alcatraz means Pelican or strange bird. The reason it was named that was because when it was being built it had a lot of strange birds on it. It was built in 1933 as a federal maximum security prison. But prior to Alcatraz being built it had been a military prison and before that an Indian Reservation. There have been several famous inmates who served time at Alcatraz. A short list would include Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Robert "Birdman" Stroud. Al Capone was convicted of mass murder after ordering his gang of mobsters to gun down 9 members of a rival mobster family execution style. It was said to be the most brutal mass murder in history. He was held at Cook County Jail in Chicago until arrangements could be made for his transfer to Atlanta. On May 4, 1932 he started his prison sentence there. It was not until August of 1934 that he was transferred to Alcatraz. He spent 4 1/2 years there. It wasnt an easy time for "Big Al". He got in a fight with another prisoner and was put in isolation for eight days. He was also stabbed with a pair of shears while he was getting his hair cut. After being diagnosed with a terminal disease in 1938, he was transferred to Terminal Island Prison in Southern California to serve out the remainder of his sentence. He was released in November of 1939 and died in his Palm Beach Mansion on January 25, 1947. George "Machine Gun" Kelly got his name by waving around a machine gun, threatening to blow everybodys he ...