A manager’s job Essay Example for Free

A manager’s job Essay \1. A manager’s job can be described from various perspectives. (Functions, roles, essential skills, systems, contingencies). describe what managers do using Henri Fayol’s functions approach and the contingency/situational approach. Bring out in you presentation, the advantages and disadvantages of the approach. Successful organizations are led by experienced and knowledgeable managers. Good managers are there to make work load look less difficult and their responsibility is mounting and endless. Managers oversee the use of all resources; that is to say financial, physical, information and human resources in their respective firm. All the aspects of a manager’s job are interrelated. Managers also develop, maintain and implement the organizations goals and objectives. They also lead their employees as well as motivating them to meet set targets. What managers do is represented by the term POLC. This means; planning, organizing, leading (commanding), and controlling. According to Henri Fayol, there are fourteen management principles. However not all of them apply to manager’s roles, essentials, system, functions or contingencies. Planning is a predetermined course of action in order to set up clear business objectives and making of decisions on the best use of resources. Mangers here decide on the tasks and resources that are needed to achieve business objectives. It is the most difficult among the four and therefore requires active participation of the whole organization. This then comes out as a manager’s role that is he/ she is responsible for coordinating this setup. According to Fayol, planning must be coordinated on different levels and with different horizons. Since this process involves defining goals and establishing strategies for achieving those goals and developing plans to integrate and coordinate activities, the manager is responsible for such. (w ww.provenmodels.com/3/five-functions-of-management/). Planning as presented by Fayol facilitates management objectives that are it highlights the purpose for which various activities are to be undertaken. It also helps  in focusing the attention of employees on the objectives or goals of the business. However on the other hand, planning is rigid that is it has a tendency to make administration inflexible. There also is high doubt in the development of employees because of which management might have faced lot of difficulties in future. Planning therefore introduces inelasticity and discourages individual initiative as well as experimentation. Planning minimizes uncertainties that are it reduces uncertainty of the future as it involves anticipation of future events. Planning also facilitates coordination. Planning improves employee’s moral Employees know in advance what is expected of them and therefore conformity can be achieved easily. This encourages employees to show their best and also earn reward for the same. Planning encourages innovations. In the process of planning, managers have the opportunities of suggesting ways and means of improving performance. However planning is time consuming and expensive. Planning is a time consuming process because it involves collection of information, its analysis and interpretation thereof. The entire process of planning takes a lot of time specially where there are a number of alternatives available. Collection, analysis and evaluation of different information, facts and alternatives involve a lot of expense in terms of time, effort and money. Organizing according to Fayol’s perspective, is when managers provide capital, personnel and raw materials for the day to day running of the business and building structure to match the work. However, Luther Gulick and Brit Lydnall Urwick expanded organizing as establishing a structure of authority for all work. This is an essential role played by a manager. Managers arrange work to accomplish the organizations goals. Managers also are concerned with assigning and allocation of resources and duties to employees. This is quite essential since the process brings people together that is as employees are grouped they get time to actually discuss therefore covering the social need as indicated by Abraham Maslow. It is also a manager’s job in organizing that is it is entirely up to him to know how tasks are to be grouped, who is to do the tasks, what tasks are to be done and who is to report to whom. Organizing helps in the division of work that then aids in the bringing up of specialization in various activities of concern. Specialization helps reduce wastages and in turn increases the quality of products produced. This is because everyone will be obliged to a  duty and the employees in a bid to get some recognition at work, they tend to work hard. Organizing also helps enhance effective administration, coordination, scope for new changes, and classifies authority. This is to say that organizing helps to define job positions, creates clear cut relationships among positions and ensure mutual cooperation among individuals, classifies power to every manager and the way he/ she has to exercise those powers can be clarified so that misuse of power will not take place respectively. However, specialization leads to boredom that is if the person continues to work in the same department for a long time. Leading is optimizing return from all employees in the interest of the entire enterprise. Successful managers have personal integrity, communicate clearly and base their judgments on regular audits. Leading is the imparting of a vision to the organization in order to achieve a goal. It does this by formulating a well-thought out vision and then clearly communicating it. It involves managers giving orders to employees. Managers here analyze workers’ reports and in turn get to know more about an employee. This thorough knowledge of personnel creates unity, energy, innovation, loyalty and eliminates incompetence. Managers here also motivate subordinates, influence individuals or teams as they work. This comes to the point in which a manager is said to work with and through people to accomplish organizational goals. It is within a manager’s job as well to choose the most effective communication channels or to deal with any employee behavior. Leading maintains order in the sense that everyone will be under one superior hence there are chances of having an organized structure. Members know to whom they report and who reports to them. This means that communication gets channeled along defined and predictable paths, which allows those higher in the organization to direct questions to the appropriate parties. It also means that individuals tend to know who does and does not possess the authority to assign or change tasks. A clear chain of command also generates clearly defined sets of responsibilities. However, Organizational structures that have leading as a management’s role are highly at an advantage because it offers very clear, if not always easy, advancement paths. In business organizations, for example, advancement frequently means replacing a departing or advancing superior. Also a leading management role  divides these areas of concern into various department configurations that specialize. Specialization allows organizations to concentrate particular skill sets and resources to achieve maximum efficiency. However In theory, organizations pursue a goal or goals as a unified team. The departmentalizing of specializations leads, in some cases, to decisions made to benefit a department rather than the organization goals. Amongst the POLC, controlling is the last element. Mangers here identify weaknesses and errors by controlling feedback and conforming activities to plans, policies and instructions. The manager under controlling; monitors actual performance, compares actual to standard performance and takes action basing on the outcome. It is entirely a manager’s job to come up with plans, policies and instructions that can govern the business and in turn benefit the business as a whole. By allowing controlling functions to operate effectively and efficiently through coordination and control methods for Fayol, the manager is the one who overlooks an employee as a living organism that requires liaison officers and joint committees. Controlling is precisely a way of monitoring, keeping, comparing, correcting, giving explanation and evaluating how well the purposed organization is achieving and accomplishing its goals and how they are taking action to improve or increase their performance. Controlling is the process used to establish and provide structure in order to deal with uncertainties. Control helps to reduce the wastage of human, material and financial resources. This increases the profits of the organization. All the work has to be done according to these standards. So control, acts as a guideline. It guides all the operations of the organization in the right direction. A contingency approach is a situation in management where there is no one approach to management. In short, it is a situation where there is no one size fitting all. According to Wikipedia, it is also known as the situational approach that is to say that there is not a set of management principles or tools that can be used to manage an organization. This is because organizations are different hence they face different circumstances and this may require different ways of managing. The contingency theory states that managers must understand the situation contingences facing them before deciding the best way to work with and through others as they  coordinate activities. In this case it’s not that managers just sit back and relax, rather they work the hardest because they have to first observe before acting. Managers in the contingency approach, first have to evaluate and understand what type of situation they will be in. this is mainly because situations vary and change over time. The right approach to use depends on the complex variety of critical environmental and internal contingences. The manager’s job under the contingency approach is to observe and be quick to adapt to the changes inconsiderate of how extreme the situation is, the manager therefore instills flexibility in oneself so as to find relevant solutions to different contingencies within a little amount of time. The key advantages of situational leadership are that the model is easy to understand and REFERENCE RICKY W GRIFFIN (BUSINESS 6TH EDITION) (www.provenmodels.com/3/five-functions-of-management/ managementstudyguide.com/organizing_importance_htm www.ehow.com/about_7382944_advantages-disadvantages-succession-planning.html www.ehow.com/info_8416158_advantages-disadvantages-management-information-system.html http://www.ehow.com/about_5522264_advantages-situational-leadership.html http://www.ehow.com/info_8536984_advantages-disadvantages-hierarchical-structure.html

Athletic Directors Leadership Traits and Job Satisfaction

Athletic Directors Leadership Traits and Job Satisfaction This chapter will provide a review of the literature and research related to the purpose of the study. Because research identifying specific leadership traits of high school athletic directors is almost nonexistent, this literature review begins with a summary of: (a) leadership defined (b) general educational leadership traits and theories, (c) roles and responsibilities, (d) job satisfaction and finish with the (e) summary. Leadership Defined Leadership is a term that can be found throughout all workplaces. The meaning of leadership can be defined in a variety of ways. According to Fiedler (1967), leadership is defined by managing group work with appropriate control and organization. According to Dr. Jamie Williams (Sugarman, 1999), leadership is like gravity. You know its there, you know it exists, but how do you define it? Nahavandi (2008) explained that researchers disagree with leadership definitions because of the fact that leadership is a complicated phenomenon mixed with the leader, the follower, and the situation. For example, Coach John Woodens ability to motivate his mens basketball program at UCLA to win 11 national championships during his coaching tenure provides evidence of Woodens transformational leadership. Wooden inspired his players to play to the best of their ability and to never accept losing. He was also instrumental in making sure that his players stayed very humble in the process. Hughes et al. (2008) explained that some researchers have paid attention to the leaders personal traits while others have focused on the relationship between leaders and followers or situational factors that influence leadership behavior. Roach and Behling (1984) defined leadership as the procedure of guiding an organized team toward achieving its objectives. This is definition is accepted by any sports team that wins a championship or achieves their team goals. Rost (1993) defined leadership as influence dynamics among leaders and followers who attempt to bring true organizational changes that reflect their common goals. Daft (1999) stated that in the new era represented by a dramatic change, an old philosophy of control-oriented leadership is not effective anymore, and that leaders should make effort to retain soft elements of leadership qualities in addition to hard management skills. Watkins and Rikard (1991) defined leadership as the process of influencing the activities of an organized group toward goal achievement. There are many categories, given the different ways the influencing process is played out. Three such categories are transactional leadership transformational leadership, and situational leadership. Leadership Traits and Theories Theories of leadership have evolved and debate over the act of leadership, and what is required, continues. This study will explore the leadership traits of high school athletic directors and if they correlate with job satisfaction. According to Young, et al (2010), the documentation of educational leadership traits for high school athletic directors is scarce. However, the traits of organization, roles and responsibilities and job satisfaction of high school athletic directors are prevalent in previous research. Since the twentieth century there have been many researching leadership and creating theories to go with their findings (Dulewicz Higgs, 2003; Grint, 2000; Higgs, 2002; Kets de Vries, 1993). Leadership theories can be grouped into one of eight theory categories. These eight theories are the Great Man theory, trait theories, contingency theory, situational theories, behavioral theories, participative theories, management theories and relationship theories. This research will look into the details of the trait theory, behavioral theories, situational theories, and transformational and transactional leadership. Trait theories will identify which characteristics are shared by leaders. According to Shead (2010) since certain traits are associated with proficient leadership, it assumes that if you could identify people with the correct traits, you will be able to identify leaders and people with leadership potential. Trait theory takes on the assumption that leaders are born with leadership traits or not. This idea appears to be incorrect. Shead (2010) states that it is possible for someone to change their character traits for the worse and that someone who is known for being honest can learn to become deceitful. In addition, someone who is deceitful can learn to become honest. Often times we look for honesty, drive, goal oriented, competent and intelligent people to become our leaders. Between 1940 and into the late 1990s, researchers (e.g., Dulewicz Higg s, 2003; Partington, 2003) categorized approaches to leadership theory improvements into several schools, according to time order. Trait school, behavioral school, contingency school, and visionary school were considered the four major trait schools. The trait school leadership theories were largely popular in the 1940s. Stogdill (1974) referred to the Great Man Theory, which stated that leaders are different from followers due to common leader traits. Additionally, Turner (1999) supported Stogdills (1974) claim about leaders being different from followers by explaining that leaders are born into being great leaders and not made into great leaders. Hogan (1991) explained that traits refer to repetitive patterns in a persons behavior and the trait approach attempts to explain peoples behavioral trends in terms of certain strengths of traits that they retain. Stogdill (1974) also stated that leaders traits are shown through hardwork, friendliness, conscientiousness, and willingness to take on responsibility rather than personality, ambition and physical makeup such as height. Turners (1999) research supports Stogdill (1974) by showing that effective managers have traits such as energy and drive, self-confidence, and highly effectiv e communication skills. The behavioral approach to leadership was well studied between the 1940s and 1960s. During this time period, researchers from the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University posited that leaders behaviors can be explained within two independent factors called consideration and initiating structure (Fleishman, 1973; Halpin Winer, 1957). According to the Ohio State researchers, the term consideration applies to the degree in which leaders show support and friendship towards followers, while the phrase initiating structure applies to the manner in which leaders stress the importance of achieving goals and tasks. According to Bower Seashore (1966), the behavioral students conducted by the University of Michigan researchers posited that effective group performance shows a relationship with four dimensions of leadership behaviors: support, interaction facilitation, goal emphasis, and work facilitation. The leader support behaviors shows a relationship with concern for subordinat es, while interaction facilitation shows a relationship with reconciling relational conflicts among group members. Bower and Seashore (1966) explained that in sum, goal emphasis and work facilitation are job-centered dimensions, but leaders support and interaction facilitation are employee-centered dimensions. Recent studies by (e.g., Curphy, 2003; Smither, London, Flautt, Vargas, Kucine, 2003) have claimed that considering certain leadership behaviors are adopted for effective leadership, leadership can be developed. The behavioral school states that, leaders can change their behavior via reflection, organizational development systems, and 360-degree feedback amongst others (McCauley, Ruderman, Ohlott, Morrow, 1994). According to Bass (1985), these two categories are points on a continuum of leadership behavior. Athletic directors are going to fall into one of the two leadership categories. Bass (1998) described transformational leadership as behavior that transcends the need for rewards and appeals to the followers higher order needs, inspiring them to act in the best interest of the organization rather than their own self-interest. Thus, leaders must possess high ethical and moral standards in order to provide the highest reward to the organization. One might infer that even the most ethically and morally charged athletic director cannot possibly provide the highest rewards each and every year to the organization that he/she represents. However, ethics and morals are two very important characteristics in an individual when determining the type of leader one might become. Leadership styles are known to change, and thus a transformational leader could dip into the realm of transactional leadership and vice versa. Generally, personality and character traits can provide us with the determination as to whether or not you are a transformational or transactional leader. According to Bass (1998) transformational leadership is universally applicable. He proposed that regardless of culture, transformational leaders inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the group or organization. Followers become motivated to expend greater effort than would usually be expected. If an AD exemplified Basss transformational leadership model, coaches in the school would offer up all that they have to support the athletic director and school that they work for. For example, the athletic director buys-in to the complete offerings of his/her current employer as we continue to transform the area of athletics. According to Sugarman (1999), excellence in leadership is acquired by people who have a strong sense of vision, have passion and are able to get people to commit 100% and take the necessary action to see that vision becomes a reality. Great leaders excel in the art of communication and motivation, mutual respect, instilling confidence and enthusiasm, and showing credibility and integrity on a consistent basis. Various high school athletic directors and coaches all across the United States create programs teaching their student athletes leadership styles and how they can be applied. One popular program that was used to establish athletic leadership for Wheeler High Schools football team in Valparaiso, Indiana is based off the acronym for L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. Coach Snodgrass of Wheeler High School utilized the L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. program that he learned while attending the Indiana Football Coaches Association Annual Clinic in 2003. According to Snodgrass (2004), the acronym is as foll ows: Influence, Integrity, Communication, Attitude, Courage, Sacrifice, Goals, Servant-Hood, Vision, and Perseverance. Each one of these terms forms a strong resilient leadership program for any athletic program. The athletic director must decide how important it is for him or her to provide this type of leadership program to his or her student athletes, school administration, and school community. With the proper education comes an ability to manage, facilitate, and guide. A true leader, however, does not simply read books or study what leadership should be. Rather, a true leader is someone who shows transformational or transactional traits naturally. Providing a program like the one that Wheeling High School provided for its football players shows that the leadership is transformational at this school. Giving the students an opportunity to understand what leadership is all about and how leadership is applied in everyday life allowed those football players at Wheeling High School i n Valparaiso, IN to become stronger individuals in the classroom, community, and field. The football coach for this team showed his athletic director a true meaning of transformational leadership. Bolman and Deal (2003) stated that leadership is universally offered as a panacea for almost any social problem (p. 336). Within the athletic arena, leadership is a term used to describe any event which coaches, staff members, administrators, and ADs go above and beyond their normal work day. Bolman and Deal (2003) noted further that if leaders lose their legitimacy then they lose the capacity to lead. For example, a high school athletic director has authority but not necessarily leadership. Additionally, a leader is also not necessarily a manager. Many managers do not know how to lead. Bennis and Nanus (1985) asserted that managers do things right, and leaders do the right thing. It is very important for high school athletic directors to understand the distinction between the terms leader and manager because high school athletic directors will not produce a successful leadership style if they cannot distinguish differences in leading and managing. Leadership and management can be situational. According to Hersey and Blanchard (2001) the situational leadership model combines task and people into a two-by-two chart, which shows four possible leadership styles: telling, selling, participating, and delegating. Bolman and Deal (2003) stated this model distinguishes four levels of subordinate readiness and argues that the appropriate leadership style depends on the situation. The four styles are as follows: Leadership through participation involves having a high relationship with ones subordinates with low tasks involved. This style is used when followers are able but unwilling or insecure to accomplish the task at hand. According to Sugarmann (1999), Vince Lombardi says, Leaders are made, they are not born; and they are made just like anything else has ever been made in this country by hard work. Additionally, Sugarmann (1999) stated that leading by example is paramount to becoming known as a great leader. Leadership through selling is exemplified when there is a high relationship value with followers and the tasks level is high. This style is used when followers are unable, but willing or motivated to accomplish the tasks at hand. The third style is leadership through delegation, and this is used with there is minimal relationship with followers and a low task requirement. The style is used when followers are able and willing or motivated to accomplish the tasks at hand. The four possible leadership styles explained by Hersey and Blanchards (2001) situational leadership model are significant in the maturation process of a high school athletic director. Each one of these leadership styles could be used during varying circumstances within the athletic directors position. Hersey and Blanchards (2001) situational leadership concept provides supporting information that in order to become an effective leader one must consider all four styles within the situational leadership model. Situational Leadership Situational leadership is another theory that focuses on the development of the follower and styles of each leader being exhibited. Hersey and Blanchard (2001) stated that there are four leadership styles (S1 to S4) that match the development levels (D1 to D4) of the followers. The four styles suggest that leaders should put greater or less focus on the task in question and/or the relationship between the leader and the follower, depending on the development level of the follower. The four leadership styles are named, S1 telling and directing, S2 selling and coaching, S3 participating and supporting and S4 delegating and observing. Hersey and Blanchard (2001) situational theory is broken down as follows: S1: Telling / Directing Follower: R1: Low competence, low commitment / Unable and unwilling or insecure Leader: High task focus, low relationship focus When the follower cannot do the job and is unwilling or afraid to try, then the leader takes a highly directive role, telling them what to do but without a great deal of concern for the relationship. The leader may also provide a working structure, both for the job and in terms of how the person is controlled. The leader may first find out why the person is not motivated and if there are any limitations in ability. These two factors may be linked, for example where a person believes they are less capable than they should be may be in some form of denial or other coping. They follower may also lack self-confidence as a result. If the leader focused more on the relationship, the follower may become confused about what must be done and what is optional. The leader thus maintains a clear do this position to ensure all required actions are clear. S2: Selling / Coaching Follower: R2: Some competence, variable commitment / Unable but willing or motivated Leader: High task focus, high relationship focus When the follower can do the job, at least to some extent, and perhaps is over-confident about their ability in this, then telling them what to do may demotivate them or lead to resistance. The leader thus needs to sell another way of working, explaining and clarifying decisions. The leader thus spends time listening and advising and, where appropriate, helping the follower to gain necessary skills through coaching methods. Note: S1 and S2 are leader-driven. S3: Participating / Supporting Follower: R3: High competence, variable commitment / Able but unwilling or insecure Leader: Low task focus, high relationship focus When the follower can do the job, but is refusing to do it or otherwise showing insufficient commitment, the leader need not worry about showing them what to do, and instead is concerned with finding out why the person is refusing and thence persuading them to cooperate. There is less excuse here for followers to be reticent about their ability, and the key is very much around motivation. If the causes are found then they can be addressed by the leader. The leader thus spends time listening, praising and otherwise making the follower feel good when they show the necessary commitment. S4: Delegating / Observing Follower: R4: High competence, high commitment / Able and willing or motivated Leader: Low task focus, low relationship focus When the follower can do the job and is motivated to do it, then the leader can basically leave them to it, largely trusting them to get on with the job although they also may need to keep a relatively distant eye on things to ensure everything is going to plan. Followers at this level have less need for support or frequent praise, although as with anyone, occasional recognition is always welcome. Note: S3 and S4 are follower-led (p. 259-261). Roles and Responsibilities The focus on the athletic director as an employee, leader, and representative of interscholastic athletics is needed to understand the gravity of where athletic directors come from and who they have become today. Todays athletic directors have many difficult tasks. It is their job to ensure that interscholastic athletics perform at a very high level. In addition, it is imperative that athletic directors maintain the integrity of the student-athlete. Davis (2002) states that previously, leadership ability was assumed because of athletic success. Today, those in athletic director positions are getting more training and education in administrative leadership. The training and education allow the athletic director to begin providing leadership at the beginning of his/her job. Thus, the success of the interscholastic athletic program hinges on the type of leadership training and education received by the athletic director. Athletic directors job descriptions will continue to evolve as the requirements to managing a successful program evolve. One sample written job description of an athletic director for a small private school in Florida shows that their athletic director will perform the following duties: direct the athletic program, assure that the school complies with all policies and procedures of the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), supervise the scheduling of all athletic contests, identify and recommend the hiring and firing of coaches for each sport, ensure that all school policies and procedures are followed by the entire coaching staff (including, assistant coaches), in addition to many other duties as assigned by the headmaster of the school. After reviewing this job description one could see how little time there might be for an athletic director to provide direct leadership. With all of the tasks listed within the job description the athletic director must provide leadershi p more via example, rather than through direct communication with his/her student-athletes and coaching staff. Doing nothing more than following the specific tasks list of the job description above would associate the athletic director with transactional rather than transformational leadership. Simply following the task list of the job description would essentially provide the student-athletes with a basic and universal athletic program. The athletic director would also be performing his or her job duties for the sake of getting the most basic job done. This shows the community that the interest level of providing leadership on a much higher level to the community, student-athletes, and administration is obsolete. Most people are able to complete the tasks that are provided for them by a school administration. What exactly does this do for the advancement and recognition of the efforts put forth by the student-athletes, as well as teaching the student-athletes and coaches the value of having strong ethics and morals? The next sample job description is from a public school in Virginia: Athletic Director Requirements and Responsibilities are to work with administration and the assistant athletic director to create and maintain a comprehensive program for student activities that emphasizes positive public relations, coaching performance, and student recognition, utilize a computerized software program for scheduling, prepares and distributes schedules for athletic and academic competitions, including contracts where required, supervise the preparation and distribution of eligibility lists, ensure that all students participating in athletic or academic competition are eligible, and have a Virginia High School License (VHSL) physical form and Stonewall Jackson High Schools Handbook (SJHS) sign off on file, oversee the athletic/academic activities budget, approve all athletic expenditures, follow school procedures for ordering, and determine allocations for athletic/academic program with the principal, obtain officials, ticket takers, clock operators, announcers, etc. f or all home events, work with the transportation department to arrange transportation for away events and practices where necessary, attend district, regional, and state VHSL meetings, ensure that annual equipment and uniform inventories are conducted by head coaches, and assist head coaches in updating equipment/uniforms, assist principal in selection of coaching staff, complete evaluation form for each head coach with an endorsement by the principal at the end of the season, ensure that head coaches submit required documentation in a timely fashion at the end of each season, including evaluation form for assistant coaches, inventories, end of season reports, etc, work with the Booster Club in coordinating their activities, including presenting requests for funding for all programs to the Booster Club, submit news releases on awards, etc. to local media, supervise the maintenance of the Sports Zone web page and ensure that it is up-to-date at all times, inform local media, official s, coaches, bus drivers and administrators immediately upon cancellation of an event and rescheduled dates as soon as available; post cancellations/rescheduled games on web site, prepare money for ticket takers, water for officials, scoreboard, PA system, etc. for home events, supervise events in conjunction with the building administrators, serve as a liaison between school clubs, departments and administration for scheduling events which do not conflict with VHSL athletic and academic events, work with custodial staff for proper maintenance of facilities and equipment. When comparing the two job descriptions above, one can see how important the athletic director position is to interscholastic athletics. Each athletic director shares many of the same responsibilities regardless of the population within the school with which they are employed. As an employee, the Athletic Director is the second most important position next to the schools Principal. High school athletic directors are vital to ensuring that the climate of the school which they direct will stay positive and energized. The athletic director as a leader is an integral part of the school system. Each year, the job description of athletic directors becomes more complex. Recently, responsibilities added to the athletic directors job description are (a) purchasing and distribution of equipment, supplies, and uniforms, (b) planning and scheduling for the use of facilities, (c) public relations, (d) fund-raising, (e) legal and medical protection for coaches and student-athletes, (f) compliance with national and state policies and procedures, (g) administration of events, (h) completion of the goals and objectives of the school, and (i) implementation and management of media events (Smith, 1993). These responsibilities make it highly unlikely that just one individual can effectively manage a successful interscholastic athletic program, especially at a large school with a c omprehensive athletic program. ADs must be willing to put the time and effort into getting the job done. According to Barnhill, (1998) in order to do so, a high school athletic director must call on his/her support staff, such as coaches and other administrators at the school. Additionally, Barnhill (1998) stated the high school athletic director must be a leader with the ability to delegate and manage delegated tasks. If the athletic director fails at delegating and managing the tasks necessary to lead a successful athletic program, his/her coaches will begin to lose faith in the athletic directors ability to lead. The many responsibilities that an athletic director assumes when taking a position within administration are largely dictated by the athletic directors fellow administrators. The athletic directors position is supported by many other administrators such as the director of development, dean of students, director of advising, director of admissions, and director of college recruitment to name a few. The director of development will help the athletic director with fundraising for athletics, the dean of students assists the athletic director with student-athlete disciplinary issues, the director of admissions assists the athletic director in qualifying the students for eligibility, and the director of college recruitment assists the athletic director in qualifying student athletes for colle ge recruitment. With all of these administrators working together the leadership within the school is strong and successful. The athletic directors ability to recruit co-workers to assist in leading the department of athletics as well as the institution itself would classify him/her as a transformational leader. As stated earlier according to, Bass (1997) transformational leadership is universally applicable. He proposed that regardless of culture, transformational leaders inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the group or organization. In order for this to occur the transformational leader must possess certain characteristics to inspire followers. According to Parks and Quarterman (2003) stated, those characteristics include: trusting his or her subordinates, meaning that a good leader will make use of employees energy and talent. The key to productive relationship is mutual trust. Secondly, develop a vision for employees to follow a visionary leader. They want to know what they are working for. Thirdly, keeping his or her cool, explains that leaders demonstrate their met tle in crisis under fire. They inspire others to remain calm and to act intelligently. Fourth, they are experts at what they do, informing us that employees are much more likely to follow a leader that radiates confidence, is intuitive, and continues to master the profession. Fifth, they invite dissent, meaning a leader is willing to accept a variety of opinions and integrate them. Sixth, they simplify the position, so that leaders can focus on what is important and reach elegant, simple answers to complex problems by keeping the details to themselves. Lastly, they encourage risk. Risk encourages employees to take chances and readily accept error (p. 179-180). One who exudes all of these characteristics is often seen as a leader in sport that is few and far between. While it is important that any leader become an effective manager, being an effective manager and an effective leader are two different matters. According to Hersey and Blanchard (2001) the definition of management is the process of working with and through individuals and groups to accomplish organizational goals (p. 9). In addition, they defined leadership as the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in effort toward goal achievement in a given situation (p. 78). Some theorists suggest that both management and leadership are necessary to those who seek professional management in high school athletics and other sport careers. Parks and Quarterman (2003) stated that many athletic directors find themselves involved with management as a process approach. This approach sees managers using interactive activities such as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting in order to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organ ization or institution. Conversely, the remaining athletic directors consider themselves as a leader in some capacity. As previously noted, two possible leadership styles of high school athletic directors nationwide are transformational and transactional. According to Bass (1985), transactional leaders are engulfed in the way of thinking that compliance is the key. The coach will get rewarded if he/she follows directions and orders. Additionally, Bass (1985) identified two factors as composing transactional leadership. Leaders can transact with followers by rewarding effort contractually, telling them what to do to gain rewards, punishing undesired action, and giving extra feedback and promotions for good work. Such transactions are referred to as contingent reward (CR) leadership. Field and Herold (1997) described transactional leadership as a reward-driven behavior, where the follower behaves in such a manner as to elicit rewards or support from the leader. If a high school athlet ic director is primarily transactional in style, coaches who work for that high school athletic director will only pursue the notion of success if they know ahead of time that there is a reward for achieving that success. In some instances, a primarily transactional leadership style may actually derive from the athletic directors own quest for external, tangible rewards. So, the question arises with many transactional leaders as to why they are involved with coaching or administration if all they are looking for is an end reward? Some administrators in athletics have not had relevant sports management training and likely have developed expertise in other areas, such as business, physical education, or simply general education. A high school athletic director with a traditional business background might be brought in by the administration simply to raise funds for the athletic program, manage the program, and direct the program much like one would manage a corporate operation. Likewi se, a high school athletic director who is brought in with a physical education background is traditionally done so because of his or her success with coaching the student-athlete and having the ability to get through to the student-athlete as needed to provide a successful interscholastic program. The umbrella that encompasses this can be very lucrative for the school if done correctly. In other words, an athletic director who has a physical education background starts out building r

War on Drugs Speech -- essays research papers fc

WAR ON DRUGS SPEECH   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The following speech is to be presented to the youth of America currently enrolled as High School Students. The topic of the War on Drugs directly coincides with the War on Terrorism. In order to stop terrorism, the funding through drugs must be stopped. The presenter will be using first person speech to make for a more personable presentation. On September 11th the United States became the victim of terrorism on our own shores. Many of you here are very aware of the Al Queda by now, and the name of Osama bin Laden has become a household term. I come to you today with a request for your support to help me fight the War on Terrorism along with me. We must first start by hitting the terrorist where it counts, which is their bank account that is funded by drug money. We must come together and stop the use of drugs in order to stop these acts of terrorism from occurring around the world. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, â€Å"Drug use hurts our families and our communities. It also finances our enemies,† (Walters). I come to you today as an ally against the War on Drugs. With your help, together, we can stop the drug funding of terrorist organizations right here in your own neighborhood. Accomplishing this mission will require the help from every individual in this room. No one here is insignificant when it comes to the mission of fighting the War on Drugs and ending terrorism. Even if you have never...

Eerie, Eldritch Erlkönig Essays -- Goya, Sleep of Reasons Produces Mon

Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters is an ominous image of the dark vision of humanity. A man sleeps, apparently peacefully, even though he is besieged by creatures associated in Spanish folk tradition with mystery and evil. There is an ‘unhomely’ feeling of darkness as the brutes seem to move in closer towards to the man that accomplishes a scary environment in the aquatint (a method of etching that creates a rough sketch). A mysterious creature sits at the center of the frame, staring not at the sleeping figure, but at us, the viewer. Goya forces the viewer to become an active participant in the painting — the monsters of his dreams even threaten us. This creates a blur between the dream and the real world; an obscure boundary between fantasy and reality. As Freud would claim, â€Å"we are faced with the reality of something that we have until now considered imaginary.† This negative quality of feeling, filled with dread and horror, repuls ion and anxiety, where the supernatural becomes a part of common reality, is one of the uncanny. It is a frightening feeling which leads back to something forgotten and lost. Similar to The Sleep of Reason, there is a sense of ambivalence in what is real in Hoffman’s tale The Sandman. The uncanniness attaches directly to the figure of the Sandman, which a boy believed to be true in his childhood. Hoffman exploits disturbances of the ego that involve regression to times when the ego had not yet clearly set itself off against the world outside and from others. Freud writes that the â€Å"uncanny [unheimlich] is something which is secretly familiar [heimlich], which has undergone repression and then returned from it.† The music of Schubert’s Erlkà ¶nig dramatizes Goethe’s haunting poem in an uncann... .... It contained works (from 1800s and 1900s) that were dominated by themes of the uncanny, the inexplicable and the incomprehensible from the 1800 1900s. A spokesperson at the exhibition said, â€Å"things that are mysterious or inexplicable will always evoke curiosity and interest.† Works Cited Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746–1828) Etching Freud, Sigmund, David McLintock, and Hugh Haughton. The Uncanny. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print. Hoffmann, E. T. A., and Christopher Moncrieff. The Sandman, Surrey. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Kerman, Joseph, and Vivian Kerman. Listen. New York, NY: Worth, 1980. Print. Gibbs, Christopher H. ""Komm, Geh' Mit Mir": Schubert's Uncanny "Erlkà ¶nig"" 19th-Century Music 19.2 (1995): 115-35. Print. Stein, Deborah. "Schubert's "Erlkà ¶nig:" Motivic Parallelism and Motivic Transformation." 19th-Century Music 13.2 (1989): 145-58. Print.

Exploring Gardners Theory on Multiple Intelligences Essay -- Educatio

Howard Gardner used to define intelligence as â€Å"the ability to solve problems or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings† (Gardner 33). The modern day human being would most likely include the words â€Å"smart† and â€Å"dumb† in their definition of intelligence. Gardner questioned the belief of only one intelligence so he created his own theory that involved seven different discoveries. He didn’t want to call these discoveries â€Å"skills† or â€Å"talents† or gifts† because those all suggested a drawback so he decided on the word â€Å"intelligence,† creating his theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner 33). Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences including, linguistic, logical/mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal and interpersonal, has many implications for modern education and culture. Howard Gardner grew up in Pennsylvania in the late 1940’s, although his parents were originally from Germany. He attended Harvard as an undergraduate with the hopes of becoming a lawyer and with a major in history. However, as soon as he became the mentee of Erik Erikson, a well-known psychoanalyst, his interests started to change. Gardner entered the doctoral program at Harvard and received his PhD in 1971 with a dissertation on style sensitivity in children. During his years of doctoral study he became a part of the Project Zero, which does research on arts education, and he now co-directs the project. Gardner’s work with Project Zero led to the Project on Human Potential, which resulted in his first well-known book, Frames of Mind. He has written many books since then including, The Shattered Mind and Multiple Intelligences, and he is â€Å"currently Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Har... ...ly. It’s not Gardner’s goal to take over the education system and have it all reformed, but he does want educators to rethink their everyday lessons and see if they can improve them using his theory in order to broaden the comprehension of ideas to all students. Now all our society has to do is learn how to use this theory as an advantage and put all the intelligences to work. Gardner has started this concept of multiple intelligences but no one knows where it will end and what other implications it will have along the way. Works Cited Gardner, Howard. Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. New York, NY: Basic, 1999. Print. Smith, Mark K. "Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education." The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. 2008. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.

Critical Reading Of Professional Literature

How do pesticides disrupt food chains? TWO: Review the homework by asking student volunteers to suggest ways one population's growth can lead to another population's disappearance during succession. ; Display a blank copy of a K-W-L Chart (ERE, p. GAP-8) on pollution. Have students individually complete the chart except for the L column. ; (Teacher Note: The K-W-L Chart will be completed during the Warm-up section of tomorrows lesson, so you may wish to collect it from students for safekeeping. SW: Organize the students in groups of 3-4, and ask each group to write down ways that pollution released into the environment might affect plants or animals in an ecosystem. Have students list as many possibilities as they can think of in five minutes Saba, Subs, cashed, cash, cashed, cash, cash How do populations grow and what factors limit population growth? TWO: Use Figure 4. 3 in GAL., p. 97, to explain how populations grow exponentially. ; Ask students why populations cannot continue to grow endlessly.Explain carrying capacity, using â€Å"Inside Story' in GAL., p. 98, to illustrate population growth patterns. ; Define and provide examples of limiting factors on populations. Explain that factors that limit one population in a community can also affect other populations (e. G. , populations in the same food chain). Teacher Note: See GAL., up. 68, 97, and 100-101, for examples of limiting factors. SW: Have students study the graph in Figure 4. 8 in GAL., p. 02, and suggest reasons the lynx and hare populations rise and fall together.Explain that population sizes can be controlled by interactions among organisms in a community, including predation, competition, and crowding. INSTRUCTION THURSDAY Saba, chubs, cashed-e, chubs, coaches, cashed How can you model the way ecologists determine the size of an animal population? TWO: Have students brainstorm (ERE, p. GAP-4) the following question for three minutes in groups of 4-5 students: If you had to count all of the squi rrels in a park, how would you do it? Have each group decide upon and present one method. Write a word or two on the board to describe each group's method.Briefly discuss the pros and cons of each idea with students. SW: Ask students to explain why electioneering is effective and to suggest ways that other species of animals (e. G. , owls, wolves) could be marked without harm for recapture. ; Have students answer questions #2-5 of the Analyze and Conclude questions in GAL., p. 109. FRIDAY TWO: Teacher will review limiting factors. SW: Students will be given a quiz on limiting factors. 10/1/12-10/5/12 Saba, CUBIC, Sub, Subs, cash, cash SECT: cells Why is water important? TWO: ; Explain the dependence of all organisms on water for survival. Sub) ; Describe how plants are adapted to use the capillary action of water to obtain ground water. (Subs) ; Read about the properties of water and relate them to organism survival in a graphic organizer. (Cash, Cash) SW: Have students select one o f the properties of water discussed in the text and write two or three sentences about how that property is vital for the survival of organisms. Encourage students to use an example that is not discussed in the text to support their claim. Saba, CUBIC, cash, cash How does the interaction of atoms drive life processes?TWO: Explain to students that atoms are the building blocks of all matter, including organisms. Discuss how atoms form compounds and that compounds interact in chemical reactions, upon which life processes depend. Remind students of the dissolving properties of water, emphasizing that a salt dissolving in water is a chemical reaction. SW: Think-pair-share: Water is a substance that is vital to the survival of organisms. List as many vocabulary terms from the lesson that can be applied to water as possible, and explain why each term fits. INSTRUCTION SIB b-c, cash-b, cash, cashHow does temperature affect the reaction rates of enzymes? TWO: Review the following terms: che mical reaction, substrate, product. ; DOD Shared Reading (ERE, p. GAP-12), explaining the action of enzymes using the example in GAL., p. 166. Emphasize the specificity of enzymes to specific substrates. Explain that chemical reactions require energy, and enzymes often lower the amount of energy required to carry out a chemical reaction. SW: Describe in a short paragraph the importance of digestive enzymes in the chemical breakdown of food, including an example of a digestive enzyme and its specific role in digestion.

Mf0010

Master in Business Administration – Semester3 MF0010– Security Analysis and Portfolio Management – 4Credits (Book ID: B1208) Assignment Set- 1 (60 Marks) Q. 1 Frame the investment process for a person of your age group. Ans:- It is rare to find investors investing their entire savings in a single security. Instead, they tend to invest in a group of securities. Such a group of securities is called a portfolio. Most financial experts stress that in order to minimize risk; an investor should hold a well-balanced investment portfolio.The investment process describes how an investor must go about making. Decisions with regard to what securities to invest in while constructing a portfolio, how extensive the investment should be, and when the investment should be made. This is a procedure involving the following five steps: †¢ Set investment policy †¢ Perform security analysis †¢ Construct a portfolio †¢ Revise the portfolio †¢ Evaluate the perf ormance of portfolio 1. Setting Investment Policy : This initial step determines the investor’s objectives and the amount of his investable wealth.Since there is a positive relationship between risk and return, the investment objectives should be stated in terms of both risk and return. This step concludes with the asset allocation decision: identification of the potential categories of financial assets for consideration in the portfolio that the investor is going to construct. Asset allocation involves dividing an investment portfolio among different asset categories, such as stocks, bonds and cash. The asset allocation that works best for an investor at any given point in his life depends largely on his time horizon and his ability to tolerate risk.Time Horizon – The time horizon is the expected number of months, years, or decades that an investor will be investing his money to achieve a particular financial goal. An investor with a longer time horizon may feel more comfortable with a riskier or more volatile investment because he can ride out the slow economic cycles and the inevitable ups and downs of the markets. By contrast, an investor who is saving for his teen-aged daughter’s college education would be less likely to take a large risk because he has a shorter time horizon.Risk Tolerance – Risk tolerance is an investor’s ability and willingness to lose some or all of his original investment in exchange for greater potential returns. An aggressive investor, or one with a high-risk tolerance, is more likely to risk losing money in order to get better results. A conservative investor, or one with a low-risk tolerance, tends to favour investments that will preserve his or her original investment. The conservative investors keep a â€Å"bird in the hand,† while aggressive investors seek â€Å"two in the bush. † While setting the investment policy, the investor also selects the portfolio management style (acti ve vs. assive management). Active Management is the process of managing investment portfolios by attempting to time the market and/or select „undervalued? stocks to buy and „overvalued? stocks to sell, based upon research, investigation and analysis. Passive Management is the process of managing investment portfolios by trying to match the performance of an index (such as a stock market index) or asset class of securities as closely as possible, by holding all or a representative sample of the securities in the index or asset class.This portfolio management style does not use market timing or stock selection strategies. 2. Performing Security Analysis : This step is the security selection decision: Within each asset type, identified in the asset allocation decision, how does an investor select which securities to purchase. Security analysis involves examining a number of individual securities within the broad categories of financial assets identified in the previous step . One purpose of this exercise is to identify those securities that currently appear to be mispriced.Security analysis is done either using Fundamental or Technical analysis (both have been discussed in subsequent units). Fundamental analysis is a method used to evaluate the worth of a security by studying the financial data of the issuer. It scrutinizes the issuer's income and expenses, assets and liabilities, management, and position in its industry. In other words, it focuses on the „basics? of the business. Technical analysis is a method used to evaluate the worth of a security by studying market statistics. Unlike fundamental analysis, technical analysis disregards an issuer's financial statements.Instead, it relies upon market trends to ascertain investor sentiment to predict how a security will perform. 3. Portfolio Construction : This step identifies those specific assets in which to invest, as well as determining the proportion of the investor’s wealth to put i nto each one. Here selectivity, timing and diversification issues are addressed. Selectivity refers to security analysis and focuses on price movements of individual securities. Timing involves forecasting of price movement of stocks relative to price movements of fixed income securities (such as bonds).Diversification aims at constructing a portfolio in such a way that the investor’s risk is minimized. The following table summarizes how the portfolio is constructed for an active and a passive investor. [pic] 4. Portfolio Revision : This step is the repetition of the three previous steps, as objectives might change and previously held portfolio might not be the optimal one. 5. Portfolio performance evaluation : This step involves determining periodically how the portfolio has performed over some time period (returns earned vs. risks incurred). Q. From the website of BSE India, explain how the BSE Sensex is calculated. Ans:- SENSEX is calculated using the â€Å"Free-float Mar ket Capitalization† methodology, wherein, the level of index at any point of time reflects the free-float market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period. The market capitalization of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company. This market capitalization is further multiplied by the free-float factor to determine the free-float market capitalization.The base period of SENSEX is 1978-79 and the base value is 100 index points. This is often indicated by the notation 1978-79=100. The calculation of SENSEX involves dividing the free-float market capitalization of 30 companies in the Index by a number called the Index Divisor. The Divisor is the only link to the original base period value of the SENSEX. It keeps the Index comparable over time and is the adjustment point for all Index adjustments arising out of corporate actions, replacement of scrips etc.During market hours, prices of the index scrips, a t which latest trades are executed, are used by the trading system to calculate SENSEX on a continuous basis. Dollex-30 BSE also calculates a dollar-linked version of SENSEX and historical values of this index are available since its inception. (For more details click ‘Dollex series of BSE indices') SENSEX – Scrip Selection Criteria 1. Equities of companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. (excluding companies classified in Z group, listed mutual funds, scrips suspended on the last day of the month prior to review date, scrips objected by theSurveillance department of the Exchange and those that are traded under permitted category) shall be considered eligible 2. Listing History: The scrip should have a listing history of at least three months at BSE. An exception may be granted to one month, if the average free-float market capitalization of a newly listed company ranks in the top 10 of all companies listed at BSE. In the event that a company is listed on account o f a merger / demerger / amalgamation, a minimum listing history is not required. 3.The scrip should have been traded on each and every trading day in the last three months at BSE. Exceptions can be made for extreme reasons like scrip suspension etc. 4. Companies that have reported revenue in the latest four quarters from its core activity are considered eligible. 5. From the list of constituents selected through Steps 1-4, the top 75 companies based on free-float market capitalisation (avg. 3 months) are selected as well as any additional companies that are in the top 75 based on full market capitalization (avg. months). 6. The filtered list of constituents selected through Step 5 (which can be greater than 75 companies) is then ranked on absolute turnover (avg. 3 months). 7. Any company in the filtered, sorted list created in Step 6 that has Cumulative Turnover of >98%, are excluded, so long as the remaining list has more than 30 scrips 8. The filtered list calculated in Step 7 is then sorted by free float market capitalization. Any company having a weight within this filtered constituent list of