Planning a Training Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Planning a Training Program - Essay Example It was identified particularly in the case of organizations that in order to carry out the regular operations effectively, the employees or the workforce needs to be in a constant process of learning. The requirement of this constant process or learning could be considered as an assurance which could also be regarded as a kind of support for conducting training programs (Caffarella, 2002). The aspect of action entails initiation of the response from the individuals engaged with the organization towards the mentioned promise with the help of budgetary along with distribution of other resources. The action also helps in ascertaining the definite engagement towards the education as well as training function. In certain organizations, there exist employees who are keen on looking or finding ways of enhancing their service. In such kind of organizations, actions are perceived to exist in the range of activities associated with education as well as training. The process of training would a lso ensure the distribution of the knowledge which facilitates organizational as well as individual learning. This aspect of distribution of knowledge remains to be a great concern for the management of the organizations which is attained with the help of proper education as well as training programs. The planners supporting or substantiating the need of such programs and in terms of differentiating the planning framework calls for the requirement of focusing increased concentration on the way of bringing individuals together and in seeking encouragement from the organization. The mentioned need of support also entails the aspect of help from the broader environment in which the considered organizations operate (Caffarella, 2002). There have been mentioned to be a few definite plans that makes certain of the assurance or encouragement from the individuals. Individuals have been categorized on the basis of groups and they have been mentioned to be supervisors, top-level managers, lea rners and middle-level managers. Apart from the facet of encouragement, it is also considered necessary to develop or build support from the organization. The organizational support entails taking into concern the essentiality of such training as well as education programs along with facilitating a certain kind of organizational culture which would encourage the constant progress and learning (Caffarella, 2002). In the process of establishing support from the individuals for training as well as education programs there are certain kinds of individuals who need to be engaged while developing a framework for the process. The individuals who require to be entailed are the present and the budding learners, in case of organizations or field of work, the supervisors of the budding applicants, the senior and mid-level managers related to the supporting organizations, at times need to even entail the board members along with the different stakeholders displaying vested interest. This intere st could be related to the planning procedure or in case of the consequences or the outcome derived from such programs, for instance, the funding agencies or the grassroots’ group of people. In numerous organizations, there exist certain definite vital individuals who need to be constantly tapped for the reason of encouragement, particularly in the instance of planning

1917 - 1970 World History Overview Research Paper

1917 - 1970 World History Overview - Research Paper Example The United States aimed at stopping communism at costs as seen in the Truman doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin airlift, and the Korean War. All these plans did, in fact, led to the end of cold war. Containment and cold were related in that the policy of containment aimed to stop the emerging tension between the two superpowers. The Marshall Plan and cold war The European recovery program or the Marshall plan was enacted at the Paris conference to enhance economic recovery in European countries after world war two. The plan was formulated to foster and promote European production and enhance internal trade in certain European countries during this period of heightened tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Marshall plan was enacted in order to contain the growing nature of Soviet influence, especially in Czechoslovakia. From the beginning, the Soviet Union opposed this plan while other Nations in Eastern Europe ignored or denounced it. The Marshall plan was an eleme nt of foreign aid plan of the United States and it led to the economic recovery of European states during the cold war period. Truman doctrine and cold war President Harry S.   The doctrine provided that it was the duty of the United States of America to assist those people who resisted subjugation from external or internal pressures. This doctrine led to an end of America’s policy of isolationism and embraced global leadership by assisting other nations to recover from the effects of the war. The cold war on the other influenced American local or domestic policy in that the consequences of the cold war affected positively on American people in America as they had an opportunity to expand their trading activities with other democratic nations in the world.  

Australia Has Regional and Global Links Essay Example for Free

Australia Has Regional and Global Links Essay Australia has regional and global links with other countries for aid. This report will describe the advantages and disadvantages for Australia that result from its Indonesian aid links which includes improving Australia’s reputation and providing employment and training opportunities for people. However country may become too dependent on other countries for support and dishonest leaders may use the money for their own benefits. First and foremost, Australia is popularly known to be ‘champions of the underdog’ who believe in the ‘fair go’ principle. To not have an overseas aid program is thought to be inhumane and even unpatriotic. The Australian Overseas Aid Program argues that most Australians support Indonesian aid simply because they sincerely care about those who are less well off. Aid to Indonesia may then encourage a friendly relationship between them and Australia and the future of positive exchanges of cultural values. Secondly, by providing aid for countries such as Indonesia, it provides employment and training opportunities for Australians. Thousands of full and part-time jobs have been created in government and non-government aid agencies as well as in private firms. Voluntary aid has been said to benefit young people seeking work experience and retirees and unemployed people seeking worthwhile work. The theory is that voluntary work gives them valuable knowledge and work skills and improves cultural links between the two countries. However, when there are positives, there are always negatives. The disadvantage for Australia giving aid is that the receiving country of the aid can become too dependent on receiving that money. Instead of the country using the aid and becoming more independent by implementing programs and policies in their country, they remain dependent on the aid. For example, Australia gives Indonesia approximately 2 billion dollars a year. This is a concern because without Australian aid the people of Indonesia would be very poor. Furthermore, another disadvantage would include dishonest leaders abusing the money. Australian and international aid each year amounts to millions of dollars and unfortunately, must money is used by corrupt leaders who use the funds for their own benefits or to support their private armies. As a result, the aid does not get to the people who need it most. In summation, providing aid to other countries will always have its advantages and disadvantages. As seen from above, Australia benefited from providing aid to countries such as Indonesia because it provided employment and job opportunities for Australians and improved Australia’s reputation. However, providing too much assistant could result in the country becoming too independent or the money could be abused and used for the wrong purposes consequently, those who need it most don’t get the benefits.

Leadership And Teamwork In Action

Leadership And Teamwork In Action When reflecting on the practical team event, based in the Llandysul Paddlers and Canoe centre on the first and second of November, many examples of teamwork and leadership were shown by the group members. When faced with some of the tasks and problems that the occurred during the event, different members of the team displayed various characteristics that showed them to be team workers or team leaders, and sometimes even both. The following report reflects on some points raised during the event, and aims to show examples of leadership and teamwork in action. The report also discusses various topics which include, but are not limited to, how the team developed over the weekend, what leadership skills and strategies were covered by the event and how leadership skills were developed and influenced by the event. Other topics which are relevant to the subject matter with also be discussed and critically analysed. 2.0 Methodology The research methodology used for the basis of this report is mainly first hand account of a weekend attended by myself and the other people in my lecture group. I will use first hand experiences from this weekend, along with academic theory and relevant examples. 3.0 Main Body Colin Powell once stated that leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible. This statement reflects on the fact that good leadership is a skill that you are not born with, but something that needs to be developed. To become a good leader, your skills must be developed through a process of training, education and experience. The practical team event on the 1st and 2nd of November was an experience which proved to be a valuable insight into the roles of a person in a position of leadership, and showed many examples of teamwork in action. From the outset of the weekend, it was clear by the way in which it was proposed, that it would be a very team orientated event. Our group met on the morning of the 1st of November, and we were gathered onto busses and taken to the Llandysul Paddlers and Canoe Centre, Carmarthenshire. When we entered the centre, we were greeted by all the centre staff, and introduced to them all. This appeared to be done in a very informal way, though it served a purpose. Not only to introduce the team leaders to all of the group members, but also to re-enforce the sense of team atmosphere in the centre. The leader of the staff team, and the manager of the centre Gareth Bryant, first introduced himself, then the other staff members. It was also done to address the question of who was the leader of the staff team. It was only after introducing everyone that our teams were selected. To encourage people to integrate with people outside of their friendship circles, and to make new friends, it was not left to the team members to choose which team they would like to be in. As expected, when everyone entered the centre, and took a seat, people sat in their friendship groups with people that they knew and trusted. In an attempt to break this barrier of friendship, Gareth selected the groups at random. This ensured that the teams were well mixed with a wide variety of team members of various sex and backgrounds. To encourage team dynamics, after our teams had been chosen for us, we were shown to our sleeping quarters, and it was implied that each team should stick together over the course of the weekend very closely. In this environment, where dangerous activities are taking place, it is more important than ever to have a fully functioning and well selected team. Teams can achieve brilliant things if they are well functioning and work well together. This is mainly because of the team sense of purpose, where everyone is aiming to achieve one single outcome. According to the work of Dr. Meredith Belbin (Management Teams Why they succeed and fail, 1981) members of a group or team can have many roles associated with each of them that allows for a smooth running group that works well. Belbin defines a team role as A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way. These behavioural tendencies facilitate the progress of a team, because of the way people with different roles work with each other. The members of a team know their place in the team, and can benefit the team as a whole by helping to work towards the objectives set. Belbins research concluded that there are nine team roles, within a well functioning team, and each of these roles must be played by at least one team member. This does of course not mean that each member is limited to one role, or that a team should have nine members to work well. It simply means that if each of these roles is present within a team, the team will work to a much higher standard overall. After working through some team exercises with some of my team members, it was clear to me that some of what Belbins research suggested was indeed the case. It soon became apparent to some extent that members of the team were showing characteristics in line with those suggested by the research. Some members of the team were happy to just be a team worker, and simply do what is needed of them. Other team members were constantly coming up with new ideas, and new ways to tackle problems. These are known as Planters because they are creative and imaginative and keep arriving at ideas to face problems. During many of the exercises, I was quite disappointed to find that I displayed a lot of the characteristics of a monitor evaluator. Although this, as all the other roles, is an important one, it did mean that I simply got on with the job in hand, and lacked the drive to inspire others. This is probably due to my lack of confidence with my own ideas, as sometimes I do not raise ideas as I think that other people will not agree with them. I did notice this lack of confidence becoming much less of a problem as the event progressed, however. I did occasionally get given the opportunity to become a co-ordinator, when I was given leadership roles, but I will discuss that in more detail later on. The way in which the teams were selected for this exercise also meant that friends were placed in opposite teams that would occasionally have the chance to compete with each other. Competition is very important for teams to work well because a lot of people thrive on the thrill of competition, and generally love to compete. At the very least, this is due to the fact that people love to take part in an activity with a purpose, but more often than not, people compete for the thrill of winning. Admittedly, a lot of people stick to the ideal that its not the winning, but the taking part that counts. In this case, there are many examples of competition to help progress the teams. One such example occurred in the form of a race. The team building exercise showed many different examples of competition, but the biggest one was the plank walking exercise. The team was split into two groups by the instructor, and each team was given two planks of wood with pieces of rope attached. It was the job of each team to stand on the wood, whilst holding the rope and attempt to collectively walk the wood to the finish line. This task sounded simple, but was unfortunately full of difficulties. Our team was one of the worst performing in this task, not only because of a flawed system, but also because of bad communication within the team. Jennifer, one of our team members, elected herself immediately as the leader of our team, and started trying to devise a system as to how we could complete the task. Unfortunately, going back to Belbins theory, we had two other plant members of the team, each with different ideas. In the end, our system became too complicated, and while we were still discussing how we were going to attempt the task, the other team was completing its trial run. Katzenbach and Smith commented on teams in their book (The Wisdom of Teams, 1998) stating that a team is a small numbers of people with complimentary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and common approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Teams are designed to maximise output, and encourage continuous improvement. In our example, this was certainly not the case. Due to conflicting personalities and ideas in the team, it took us far too long to bring what ideas we had into practice, and we were left behind in the race. This was partially due to the fact that the other team members may not have wanted to elect Jennifer as the leader and they disliked the fact that she took and otherwise positive step in using her own initiative to elect herself as one. I also believe that this exercise was a good example of the Ringlemann Effect in action. This is because moving the wood was a joint effort, but it became increasingly more and more difficult to move as time went on. I suggest that this was because people were slacking and loafing and not putting their full effort in. The stages of our group development were in fact closely matched to Tuckmans four stages of group development model. The forming stage was short lived, our group like all the others was formed early in the exercise at the centre. During this stage, there were few problems or conflicts within the group, as everyone was in high spirits. The first exercise that our group embarked upon was the Kayaking, which although we were in high spirits, people argued over equipment and small items very quickly. These arguments could most likely be attributed to the cold and wet weather. By our final exercise, the rock climbing, we seemed to have reached the third stage of the Tuckman model of norming. Our group was more established by this point and responsibilities were clear and well formed. Everyone was more open to suggestion and less likely to criticise. People were also less resistant to new ideas. The rock climbing was a good example personally of how peer pressure in groups works. I had been rock climbing before and had not enjoyed the experience. On this attempt, when it was my turn to face the rock, I had started to climb when a rock moved as I grabbed it, which knocked my confidence. I had decided to climb down from the rock by this point. When I saw everyone else scaling the same rock face later on, I felt that I should not have been so quick to give up. When it was my turn to attempt the abseiling, I attempted it with no fuss or problems at all. I even found myself encouraging other group members and comforting Simon by telling him how strong the ropes actually are. I feel personally that the rock climbing was the best experience for me, even if it was not the most successful in terms of results. I feel that I did well to overcome my initial fears in attempting it again. This was, in part, due to the advice and support of other team members, and of course group peer pressure. As I mentioned previously, teamwork is extremely important in tasks like this teambuilding weekend. This is not just due to reasons of morale, but also because of synergy. This basically means the interaction of two or more agents, so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effect. Simply put 1 + 1 = 3, because the effect on teamwork on a task improves output and efficiency greatly and in a very positive way. The leader of a team is described as a person who influences others so that they may accomplish an objective. This is quite a broad definition, though it applies just as well to most examples of teams in a team working environment or situation. If someone elects themselves as the head of a team, or their superior elects them as the leader, this does not automatically make them a leader. It simply makes them the person who is in charge. To be effective leaders you must make people want to achieve the goals that you set them, not because they are forced to accomplish or complete them. Bass (1989) theory of leadership explains that there are three ways to define how people become leaders or develop into a leadership role. In the case of examples of leadership from the team building exercise, it was always the case that there was a leader involved, simply because of the dangerous nature of the activities that we were doing. The instructor of each activity was normally the leader, as they had been told to do so by their manager, and it was their job. However, sometimes as the tasks involved allowed, the instructor stepped down and elected a different leader for the task. For the kayaking task, after we had some basic training on the water, the instructor stepped down to allow a different activity to take place. In this example, it was myself that was elected as the leader of the group. It was my task to transport a member of the group, who was pretending to be injured, across the lake. The severity of the situation was important and very high, because I was told that the injured party had hyperthermia setting in, and their condition would deteriorate rapidly if help was not found. As Bass describes in his transformational leadership theory, awareness of the importance of the task motivates people. This was certainly true in this case, because if there was no time limit, people would not be rushed to complete the task. Bass describes charisma as an important factor in leadership as charisma evokes strong emotions with the leaders followers. Being elected as the leader of the kayak task was not easy. The instructor advised me as to what equipment I was allowed to use and that everyone must reach the other side of the lake quickly and safely. When you are elected as a leader, especially in a crisis, it is often hard to decide which tasks to approach first. Bass talks about this in his Great events theory where he mentions that sometimes a crisis or event can cause someone to be elected as a leader, which was exactly what occurred in this situation. In my situation as leader for this task, I initially found it very difficult to effectively allocate resources, as I initially found myself focussing too much on certain aspects. The instructor was quick to step in and point out on a couple of occasions that I had team members who were sitting around, doing nothing. It was only later in the process that I began to effectively keep everyone in the team informed of the situation and to use the full capabilities of the group. One of the other important principles of leadership was that I needed to follow was to ensure that all tasks were understood and supervised until they were completed. This is important because some of the members of the group were not well informed at all times, so they simply sat around while others attempted to do the task around them. During this task, I definitely found that there was a communication barrier between myself and some of the Chinese speaking group members. This was usually just a language barrier. This was soon avoided when I managed to convince them of the severity of the task, and the speed needed to complete it. Trust was also an important factor in the exercise. The injured party was not allowed to move at all, or help her team mates in any way. Because of this, the injured team member had to be carried into a kayak and across the lake while being completely immobile. This must have been a hard task because putting all of your trust in the hands of people you hardly know, especially when there is water involved, is no small accomplishment. Communication is one of the key aspects of leadership. As I have previously mentioned, language can be a barrier, but communication of all aspects is important. Especially during the exercise when I found myself in a leadership role, I realised it was very important for your team as a whole to keep them informed of developments and even simply what you require them to do. It is often easy, especially when discussing ways to complete a task for team members to either not give any input at all, or to simply go along with the general consensus and not say anything. I feel that if I have learned anything about communication in this leadership weekend, it would be that is important to raise your own views, and to listen to the views of others, and take their comments and criticisms on board. 4.0 Conclusions Leadership is the art of influencing people accomplish tasks and objectives. Leadership is not something that you are born with, however you are born with certain traits which make some people more suitable for leadership roles than others. Leadership skills must be developed through time. Teamwork can be a very important tool that helps develop and accomplish tasks. There are many different types of people who make up a team, but too many people with new ideas can make the situation become argumentative. Over the course of the management weekend, some people showed themselves to be more suited to leadership than others, or more suited to teamwork than others. However, the duration of the weekend was short. Some suggested that it should have been over a longer period, even as long as a week. This would have given us more chance to develop theory associated with teamwork and leadership, however, time and financial concerns would limit this greatly. Overall the weekend was an excellent opportunity to see management, leadership and teamwork in action, and was a very valuable experience overall.

Essay --

I think that beliefs and behavior are connected. What we believe can and does determine how we behave. Beliefs are thoughts and concepts that we hold to be true and behavior is the action taken. I do not feel that children should be taught to be ashamed of their beliefs or behavior unless it is harmful to others or against the law. But, who determines what responsible beliefs and behaviors are? Let’s examine this further by looking at a few arguments involving Pascal’s wager, leap of faith and existentialism. I would like to explain my point of view by using religion and faith to answer this question. Firstly, let us discuss the argument of faith vs. reason. Faith and reason will always be in conflict with one another, especially between the non-believers and the believers of the Christian faith. According to French mathematician Blaise Pascal, there is no rational proof for God’s existence. Pascal, however, argued that it is justifiable to believe in God if you assume he does exist. Let us imagine that God does exist but you get external punishment all because you did not believe i...

Time Warner Essay -- essays research papers

Time Warner In 1989, the largest Media Corporation was formed. The integration of Time Inc. and Warner communications produced Time Warner, which in 1996 with the acquisition of Turner broadcasting, regained it's status from Disney as the largest media corporation in the world. The company right now, with over 200 subsidiaries world- wide, is becoming fully global with it's profits from the USA falling, and it's profits throughout the world rising. Globalisation is proving to be Time Warner's major asset in beating other competition to the World market. Currently, Time Warner has interests in many different business fields. Music accounts for a large proportion of its income, while not far behind are its cable systems, entertainment, films, video and television holdings. But, the company has also centred its resources and invested in the global media, producing programmes and channels for countries around the world, which in turn has proven to be a very lucrative area of growth. Time Warner in general has become a 'major force in virtually every medium and on every continent'; So then, why should a company like Time Warner be a threat to the public, and something which all of us citizens around the World should be aware of ? Isn't Time Warner just a success of capitalism ? A successful company, which employs thousands of people and makes massive turnovers, while at the same time advancing the cause of the global market and promoting commercialism doesn't seem like a thing of public concern. In the World village today, why should we need thousand's upon thousand's of small independent company's and tv stations and newspaper's, when we could have ten large conglomerates who would control everything from production to sales to distribution ? The way in which thing's have developed over the past ten years, that scenario or fiction might even become fact or reality. So why should it bother the people of the World ? To begin answering that question, we need to go back a hundred years or so and look at the work of Karl Marx and his interpretations of 'socio-economic order produced by industrial capitalism'; . Marx believed that the unequal distribution of wealth and the way in which the capitalist class controlled this wealth through the possession of raw materials, means of distribution and labour, enabled them to make... ...in maintaining its role as a public broadcaster, and given more financial aid from the government. Advertising could be controlled more vigorously and regulated, particularly during children's programming (As in Sweden). A more drastic approach would be the breaking up of the vertically integrated oligopolies, and establishing more competitive markets. In general, any change must strive to serve all of societies needs and interests, which includes audiences and broadcasters, and not only advertisers and media moguls. So, in the end are oligopolies, vertical integration and concentration matters of public concern ? Of course they are. Matters of ownership of the media and the means of production, distribution and sales are too important to be ignored. In the interests of holding on to a healthy democracy, diversity has to be achieved and maintained. As I have tried to show oligopolies and vertically integrated media industries are just as dangerous as state run ministries that have a monopoly over information. 'Concentrated media power is political and social power';. Thankfully, the World hasn't yet become like the latest offering from James Bond 'Goldeneye';.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking Essay

The textbook in chapter one page 4 defines critical thinking as: a collection of skills we use every day that are necessary for our full intellectual and personal development it basically means to be able to have good judgment , make good decisions, and how to think rather than what to think. Another set of terms that are found in the textbook is Affirmative Action which is a political, and social controversy about race and equality when hiring potential employees or admitting students into a college university usually this involves minorities who may or may not have the necessary credentials or are unable to meet certain criteria for acceptance it is based merely on a person’s race, or even sexual gender or both. Sometimes affirmative action can seem unfair to Caucasians who may qualify can feel a sense of discrimination themselves it can create a hostile environment if not dealt with properly Nancy Cantor a woman who is the Chancellor at The University of Syracuse is in favo r of affirmative action and hopes that the process will improve in the future and create more harmony and understanding and that all people will be treated with respect and dignity. Ward Connerly an African-American male and college professor is not in favor of affirmative action because he thinks that it is unfair to white Americans to not to get the opportunities that they have worked hard for in their careers and in educational pursuits I find it difficult to choose one side or the other however for the sake of this assignment I reluctantly agree with Ward Connerly personal drive, responsibility, and character should be the motivation for admission and acceptance not skin color, sexual gender, or nationality. Both sides use excellent critical thinking skills on this subject however both of these individuals are minorities themselves and may have had some negative experiences in their past in career and education which may be the consideration for their points of view they are valid and can be used in the process of critical thinking. Affirmative Action in itself is an opportunity for critical thinking skills in that you have to have an open mind and not be a relativist thinker it involves taking positive steps to correct certain injustices against certain  groups as well as maintaining the standards set by employers and educational institutions. In June 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School, which awarded points to applicants based on race, was flawed. However, in its final ruling the court permitted race to be considered as one among many factors when considering individual applications for both the law school and undergraduate admissions. The majority of Americans (53%) oppose college affirmative action programs that give the preference in admissions to blacks and other minorities, arguing that it constitutes reverse discrimination and, as such is unjust. Proponents of affirmative action note that it is a positive step in the right direction be needs work.