Am Certain and It Is Certain

Two very specific different messages are conveyed when one says “l am certain” versus “it is certain. When one says “l am certain,” it is understood by the recipient to mean that the individual is in the highest mental state of being without a doubt. However, this differs from “It Is certain” because the word “It” Implies a consensus genteel, an agreement, without a doubt, between many humans In making a knowledge claim. In both cases a knowledge claim Is being made with confidence, but one person’s certainty Is based on the Individual’s perception, Intuition. Season or emotion, whereas a whole group of mankind making a knowledge claim depends on many different people’s perceptions, reasons, and emotions. Since a great number of people consists of many individuals and their unique perceptions, reasons, and emotions, when a knowledge claim is made by all, the claim is transferred from simply a belief to a Justified belief. However, even though the number of people may vary from one to many, we must take into consideration the fact that there are various degrees of certainty.

How would one quantify amount of certainty one holds, or be able to create a universal scale for measuring degrees of certainty? Certainty within a people or an individual can have been rooted from many efferent factors, of which one is passionate conviction. The question, addressing passionate conviction, Inquires whether It Is ever sufficient for Justifying knowledge claim. The question Is Implying whether passionate conviction alone, not Including reason, is sufficient for justifying knowledge claims.

Passionate conviction that does not take root in reason must be coming from solely the emotional state, which is not sufficient for Justifying knowledge in most cases because further evidence should be presented and should be able to be agreed upon from one’s perception (if possible ND reason. “l am passionately convinced that daffodils bloom in the springtime” is a knowledge claim that is based on reason and perception, which fuel the passionate conviction.

However, passionate conviction that isn’t based on other ways of knowing is usually not sufficient for Justifying claims. However, there are a few instances where passionate convictions may be sufficient for Justifying knowledge. Since passionate conviction Is rooted In emotion, an emotion can dictate your passionate conviction. If I feel empathy for someone being treated abusively, my passionate invention may be enough to Justify my “knowledge” that the other person desires to not De put tongue ten solution.

However, tender are, again many Deterrent levels AT passionate conviction. How would you measure the degree of passionate conviction? Furthermore, is one basis for passionate conviction more valuable than another basis for passionate conviction, and does that change the strength of one’s passionate conviction? These are a few knowledge issues that need to be identified and taken into consideration when deciding whether passionate conviction is sufficient for justifying knowledge.

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What it is like to be young and a teenager!

From when you turn from twelve to thirteen you have become a teenager; you have rights and responsibilities now!!

At the age of a teenager you might think the whole world is in front of you, which it is, but there are big demands. When I became one I thought wow, I am a teenager, but now after being one for 3 and a bit years I am starting to realise that it isn’t so great after all. I have heard that your teenage years are supposed to be some of the best years of your life, is that so?

At the age of thirteen I have left primary school and have now faced the big girls and boys at high school. Two years passed and the work rate increased.

In year nine the first of many challenges has started, your Key Stage 3 SAT’s, at this time you think its ages until I sit in this same sports hall and do your real GCSE’s which for some people, will be the start of a completely new chapter in the life of a teenager.

So far in being a teenager all that has happened is a lot of work, but there are some privileges of being a teenager at the age of sixteen you have the right to go out and buy a packet of cigarettes legally, you are also able to have sex and even have and raise a baby, but it is not till you are eighteen that you are allowed to have a credit card, or buy alcohol legally. Are these good privileges? Or not?

Just before you take the GCSE tests you have to decide what you want to do. The decision is your own and the correct one needs to be made, the pressures are now starting to become apparent and it can be a stressful time for some that feel that they have to perform well. There are others who are thinking if only I had listened that little bit or a lot extra in class instead of messing around or talking with friends, and of course there are the people who go into the hall and think I have nothing to lose I don’t need many passes, because what I want to be you don’t need grades and all I can do is my best. The pressure at this stage are not just on the pupils, the teachers may sometimes be as nervous, and they may be thinking did I teach the write things and did we revise the correct thing which will come up.

These are all things to do with school, but you do usually spend 32 hours and 55 minutes in the place.

At these ages peer pressure can become a big part of someone’s life the things that stick in your head could be “Everyone’s doing it”, “Its only one”, “Your such a loser”, “Chicken” and no one at this age wants to be left out and on there own. Is this really what being a teenager is like?

So maybe being young isn’t as good as it sounds!!

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Ford Pinto Case Study Critique Essay

Ford Pinto case and unethical decision making According to the article, Tioga is inclined to make unethical decisions due to the nature of his work. Therefore, his decision not to recall the defective Pinto for further Improvements to its safety standards Is unethical. This Is due to the fact that, people were unaware that Pinto could entail great risks for their safety. Moreover, Goal Is based on scripts before making his decision.

Thus, by using a cost-benefit analysis means that he considers human life a financial value which contradicts the values and principles of moral behavior. HIS decision making process Is based on the utilitarian model which means that he seeks for a decision that would maximize his overall happiness. This decision was to act In favor of his company’s profitability Instead of people’s safety. However, the sotto-psychological dynamics that forced Tioga to make an unethical decision are many and difficult to recognize even an experienced manager like him.

To start with, time pressure is a leading factor that he could not avoid during the decision making process. Indeed, the rigid completion between car industries along with the oil crisis which affected the marketplace were two key issues that Tioga had to take into consideration before making his decision. Moreover, Tioga felt loyal towards his Job because of the good salary and the carrier opportunities, therefore, he had adopted the cultural values of the organization which means that he was acting for the organization’s profitability and sustainability.

Furthermore, he experienced a lot of corporate pressure to follow specific guidelines concerning the production costs which did not allow him to move forward Pinto’s recall. Another reason was the heavy workload which limited his ability to consider the ethical dimensions of his decision, but rather, focus on a schematic processing which was the only way to evaluate the large amount of information.

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Factors of Career Choice

Table of contents

Introduction

“The occupational choice debate is concerned with the degree of choice individuals have over their eventual occupation. ” (Module Handbook) The process of occupational choice is “psychologically based and examines the way in which the individual develops and passes through a series of stages during which the self-concept grows as abilities, aptitudes and interests develop. ” (Watson T. J. 2008) This assignment is attempting the factors that may prevent or affect people’s occupational choices and how we can overcome them.

Role

Role plays an important part in human-being, it can influence a person’s behaviour and decision making. Role may be achieved or ascribed. “The concept of an achieved and ascribed role is important in occupation choice. ” (Module Handbook) Stark (2007) states that “An achieved role is a position that a person assumes voluntarily which reflects personal skills, abilities, and effort. An ascribed role is a position assigned to individuals or groups without regard for merit but because of certain traits beyond their control. (wikipedia) An achieved role can be changed and gained through putting efforts by a person, e. g. educational qualifications. On the other hands, an ascribed role is unchangeable. This role is assigned to you by your parents or family, e. g. height, gender, rich or poor, status, etc. The role of a person can influence one’s occupational choice. In general, people who have advantages in their ascribed role, it perceived to have advantages in their career path or development as well. Some people can act as model, and some cannot, because of the height of a person.

Fortunately, people’s achieved role can break this normal pattern. If people can put efforts and reach to higher educational level, they can also earn the opportunity on their career development and work as middle or top level management in a company. People cannot change fundamental elements but can change their path through their effort. Thus, people’s achieved and ascribed role can alter the decision when they are making decision on occupational choice.

Objective and Subjective Constraints

If we wish to product a model or theory which identifies the various factors that influence the individual’s occupational choice, we must consider both objective and subjective constraints. The individual has certain tangible resources such as cash, skills, knowledge or physique, which are objective constraints. The individual has certain intangible minds of motives, interests and expectations, such as to achieve power or gain job satisfaction, which all are subjective constraints. These are psychological factors of personal achievement.

Key Theories of Occupational Choice

Developmental Theory

Eli Ginzberg (1951) defines “an individual never reaches the ultimate decision at single moment in time but through a series of decisions over [time]. ” (module handbook) It is the Developmental Theory of occupational choice. “E. Ginzberg looks at occupational choice as a cumulative process of decision making, taking place in three stages closely linked to those of emotional and intellectual development. Fantasy choice is followed by a period tentative choice, then finally there is a period of realistic choice. ” (White S. 968) People’s occupational choice do not occur only at the moment on the decision making, but “is an extended process which may begin as early as ten or twelve and continue well beyond the choice of a first job. ” (White S. 1968) Fantasy choice is occurring at the age between 6-11 when the children have no ideas about the real-life situation, all things are fantastic and delivered to them by their parents. When the children grow at the age of 11-17, the knowledge of the real world increases, they aware of themselves and the outside environment, and they makes tentative choice on the basis of their own interests.

Structural Theory

The structural theory is that the entry points of the occupational structure are impacting on ambition of people. According to Keil et al, they include family background and value, neighbourhood and peer group, school and education, gender and race.

RIASEC Model

Holland (1973/1985) developed a psychological approach “to identify people’s occupational preferences and helps fit a person’s choices and organizational characteristics. ” (module handbook) It is referred to as RIASEC.

RIASEC indicates Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional. By the research of Taiwan’s high school students, we found that “the R type is a very typical male-oriented type of career” and “girls, on the other hand, were more interested in the A-type fields and tended to choose artistic fields as their careers. ” (Tien H. L. , Wang Y. F. and Liu L. C. 2009)

Factors and Obstacles affecting Occupational Choice

People do not enter the occupational structure with equal opportunities. There are many factors and obstacles that can influence the choice-making on occupation of people, we are now focus on the factors in structural theory, including family and class, neighbourhood and peer group, school and education, race and gender.

Family and Class

When the children at the age of 6-17, which is in the stage of fantasy choice and tentative choice, they depend on their parents mostly. Thus, the patents’ expectations for educational achievement, beliefs and behaviors will affect the children’s future development.

The Parent Socialization

Model developed by Eccles and colleague (1982) has highlighted the important role parents play in the development of children’s achievement choices. The belief of parents “will then influence parenting behaviors and expectations, which, in turn, will affect child outcomes such as educational and career choices. ” (Jacobs, J. E. , Chhin C. S. and Bleeker M. M. 2006) Moreover, as the family background of a person on his or her ascribed role cannot be changed, family network and status also play important role on occupational choice. The structure of a family an individual faced when he or she was growing up may affect the individual’s social skills and lead to human capital investments” and “parental education appears to have an indirect effect on children’s occupational status through children’s education. ” (Tsukahara, I. 2007) Grieco (1987) shows “how this can be helpful both to the employee, who gains support from family members both inside and outside work and is sustained in steady employment, and for employers, whose recruitment costs are kept low and who can look to employees’ relatives to help train them and teach them to “fit in”. (Watson T. J. 2008) Even not every people will choose the same career as their parents, most people appear to have a high probability to make similar choices. Rather, parents’ education also appears to have an indirect effect on children’s occupational choices through the children’s education. For example, if the parents perceived a positive effect on the professional occupations, the children will then also have a positive effect on the professional occupations in future.

Neighbourhood and Peer Group

People can enjoy social experience through the contact of neighbourhood and peer group, such as friends and teachers.

As these peer groups always recognize in people’s earlier stage, such as school life, they have long-term consequences for one’s belief and value. “Teachers, parents, peers, and others may influence youths’ achievement and interests long before educational and occupational decisions are made. ” (Jacabs, J. E. 2006) These peer groups can provide people social support and encouragement; however, the groups may also provide somehow of negative impact if wrong perception and information are provided. 2. 3School and Education Formal schooling operates alongside the general cultural and family socialization process. ” (Watson T. J. 2008) Willis (1977) states education “as a form of preparation for the way those particular individuals will need to live with their subservient roles once they enter paid employment. ” (Watson T. J. 2008) The jobs which people choose were influenced by the level of educational qualifications they achieved. The more professional of the jobs, the more skills and abilities are needed, and the more rewards (both monetary and non-monetary) can earn.

On the contrast, there are more limitations on occupational choice for people who have lower educational level.

Race

Race or Ethnic Discrimination is also undoubtedly playing a major role in occupational attainment. The research project conducted by Cardoso P. and Marques J. F. (2008) about The Perception of Career Barriers Inventory found that African and Afro Portuguese students score significantly higher than Euro-Portuguese students on Ethnic Discrimination.

The Ethnic Discrimination “results highlight how, at the early stages of development and at crucial career decision moments, when these beliefs are structured, a negative influence on vocational behaviour development can occur. ” (Cardoso P. and Marques J. F. 2008) Melamed (1995) concluded that “discrimination accounted for between 55% and 62% of the variance in the differential career success of men and women in a British sample. ” (Brown D. 2002) Although the wide-spread prevalence of race discrimination in most countries, the limitations and difficulties in career choices and development of these minority groups are still high. .

Gender

Gender will be a major factor in the career choices. Due to the role conflicts between men and women, a study found that “women in Israel, Germany, the United States, and Japan assigned lower importance to the centrality of work in their lives than did men….. this is the result of women’s orientation to other life roles, primarily because of women’s concern regarding participation in the family role. ” (Brown D. 2002) By the survey report of “Third Quarter Economic Report 2010” in the section of “Labour Force Participation Rates by Sex” (www. enstatd. gov. hk), the data shows the participation rates of male employees is 68. 9% and female employees is 52. 2% in the third quarter of 2010. The number of women who engaged in labour force is still lower than men. We are now analyzing the gender by three sections: horizontal and vertical segregation, pay, and hours worked.

Horizontal and Vertical Segregation

Horizontal segregation is the term “used to describe the tendency to discover men and women in different types of occupation. (Module Handbook) For example, by the survey of “annual percentage of male and female managers by job function”, “female managers are mainly in the functions of “personnel & training” and “conference & banqueting”, whilst management posts in the areas of “property & security”, “food & beverage”, and “control & finance” are mostly held by men” in 1999 in Hong Kong. (Ng C. W. and Pine R. 2003) By the survey report of “Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics” in the section of “Employed Persons by Industry and Sex” (www. censtatd. gov. k), the female employed persons were mainly engaged in the public administration, social and personal services sector (35. 9%), while data of the male employed persons was different, with the financing, insurance, real estate, professional and business service sector being the largest sector (18. 2%) in 2009. Vertical segregation is the term “used to describe the situation where, the higher one progresses in an organizational or professional hierarchy, the fewer the number of females one encounters. ” (Module Handbook) Morrison et al. 1987) coined a term of “glass ceiling” to “describe the difficulties women face in climbing to the top of the corporate ladder. ” (Ng C. W. and Pine R. 2003) Although the percentage of women who studied law and medical and health subjects is over 60%, the opportunities to promote is still obstruct by the “glass ceiling”, such as traditional value and family responsibility. (Ming Pao Newspaper) For example, by the survey of “annual percentage of male and female managers by job level”, “only 7. 2% of senior General Manager positions were held by women” in 1999 in Hong Kong. Ng C. W. and Pine R. 2003) According to the record of Hong Kong Listing Companies, there is only 9% of women in the top management level who mostly were entered by the role of family members. (Ming Pao Newspaper) By the survey report of “Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics” in the section of “Employed Persons by Occupation and Sex” (www. censtatd. gov. hk), the figures show there are 96,500 women and 229,800 men in the Managers and Administrators role, while there are 398,800 women and 149,600 men in the Clerks role.

Pay

“Full-time working women earn 82. % of men’s hourly pay. ” (Module Handbook) According to “Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics” in the section of “Median Monthly Employment Earnings of Employed Persons by Age Group and Sex”, the median monthly earnings of female employed persons in Hong Kong was HK$8,500 in 2009 while that for males was HK$12,000. (www.censtatd.gov.hk). Over 70% of people indicated that Hong Kong is still have sex discrimination in career environment which men’s paid are more than women even they are on the same positions.

Hours Worked

Even the labour market participation of women has increased dramatically in many countries, the hours worked of women are still lower than men due to the different orientations to work. Hakim (1996, 2000) states that “whereas in general men prefer to work, women show a heterogeneous set of work-life orientations: some women prefer to work, others want to stay at home and almost half of them prefer to combine work and family life. ” (Doorewaard H, Hendrickx J and Verschuren P. 004) The data indicated that although many women are entered or re-entered into the labour market, they are still want to have work-life balance, especially for those women who are married and have children, it is also the barrier of women in the career path both actually or in people’s traditional perceptions.

Orientations to Work

Orientations to work to different people are varying. People seem to be motivated to work by a mixture of options, e. g. earning money, developing their careers, gaining status, etc.

According to Crompton and Harris (1998), “it is not only influenced by someone’s own choice and motivation, but also by the constraints of the situations in which one lives and works. ” (Doorewaard H, Hendrickx J and Verschuren P. 2004) It can simply distinguish into three types of work orientations: job orientation, money orientation and people orientation. Watson (1994) said “life circumstances and the specific circumstances prevailing in the work situation influence what they are looking for and what they expect to get. (Martin E. 2004) Hence, orientations to work are also barriers to occupational choice if the job itself cannot fit in one’s orientation.

Solution of Constraints and Obstacles to Occupational Choices

It is no doubt that the work pattern and norm is constantly changing around the world, however, this change can help to overcome some of the constraints of occupational choices. The past few decades have been marked by a significant growth in women’s labour force participation in most countries. Although women play a stronger economic role than in the previous decades, men are usually the primary breadwinners in families. Women, who function as secondary earners, tend to have part-time and other nonstandard employment. ” (Kan M. Y. 2007) Those nonstandard employments, such as part-time job, temporary jobs, psychological contract, will be more common in the future work. “The nature of formal contracts has altered, with more short-term contracts….. sub-contracting and out-sourcing arrangements have become more common and are part of a set of strategic HRM options. (Westwood R. , Sparrow P. and Leung A. 2001) Furthermore, the increasing of feminine management style in both government and private companies where a more flexible and “feminine” approach to management, such as flexible work family arrangements, “Family Friendly Working Practices” in Hong Kong. This style helps women who want to balance between work and family life. Additionally, the work pattern of “10 years in employment and 10 years out” which is a flexibility approach for people who want to have a break for few years and return to work, e. . female returners who seek to re-enter the workforce after a few years of unpaid care-taking responsibilities. At the time of making occupational choice, people are still young and lack of knowledge and experience. “People make choices based on imperfect knowledge and uneven distribution of knowledge and at a young age. ” (Module Handbook) To prevent in making wrong decision and lack of confidence from the students, school and teachers can arrange some experienced people to share their real experience and give more support to them.

Luzzo (2000) proposes “to help students think about the role that perceived barriers play in the career planning and exploration process, and to identify effective resources and strategies for coping with such barriers. ” (Cardoso P. and Marques J. F. 2008)

Conclusion

Every people have different choices on career and different orientations to work. And, there are some subjective and objective variables affecting the process of choosing the career. People have to identify them clearly in hope to find the most suitable job for them which is fitting with their interests, intentions and abilities. owever, those obstacles can be overcome through the changing work pattern and work management. In fact, many of these trends of future work are already with us today. We are all in the moment of changing atmosphere.

References

  1. Brown D. (2002). “The role of work and cultural values in occupational choice, satisfaction, and success: A theoretical statement”, Journal of Counseling and Development, Vol. 80, Issue 1, PP. 48-56
  2. Cardoso P. and Marques J. F. (2008). “Perception of career barriers: The importance of gender and ethnic variables”, International Journal for Educational & Vocational Guidance, Vol. 8, No. 1, PP. 9-61
  3. Doorewaard H. , Hendrickx J. and Verschuren P. (2004). “Work orientations of female returners”, Work, Employment and Society, BSA Publications Ltd, Vol. 18(1), PP. 7-27
  4. Eccles J. S. (1994). “Understanding Women’s Educational and Occupational Choices: Applying the Eccles et al. Model of Achievement-Related Choices”, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18(1994), PP. 585-609
  5. Jacobs, J. E. , Chhin C. S. and Bleeker M. M. (2006). “Enduring Links: Parent’s expectations and their young adult children’s gender-typed occupational choices”, Educational Research and Evaluation, Vol. 12, No. 4, PP. 395-407 Kan M. Y. (2007).
  6. Work Orientation and Wives’ Employment Careers: An Evaluation of Hakim’s Preference Theory”, Work and Occupations, Sage Publications, Vol. 34, No. 4, PP. 430-462
  7. Martin E. (2004). “Who’s kicking whom? Employees’ orientations to work”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Vol. 6, No. 3, PP. 182-188
  8. Module Handbook – Management, Work and Society, University of Huddersfield, January 2011 Ng C. W. and Pine R. (2003).
  9. “Women and men in hotel management in Hong Kong: perceptions of gender and career development issues”, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 22(2003), PP. 5-102
  10. “Third Quarter Economic Report 2010” (2010), Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government
  11. Tien H. L. , Wang Y. F. and Liu L. C. (2009). “The Role of Career Barriers in high School Students’ Career Choice Behavior in Taiwan”, The Career Development Quarterly, Vol. 57, Issue 3, PP. 274-288
  12. Tsukahara, I. (2007). “The Effect of Family Background on Occupational Choice”, Labour: Review of Labour Economics & Industrial Relations, Vol. 21, Issue 4/5, PP. 871-890
  13. Watson T. J. (2008). “Sociology, Work and Industry”, Fifth Edition, Routledge
  14. Westwood R. , Sparrow P. nd Leung A. (2001). “Challenges to the psychological contract in Hong Kong”, International Journal of Human Resources Management, 12:4, PP. 621-651
  15. White, S. (1968). “The Process of Occupational Choice”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 6, Issue 2, PP. 166-184
  16. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, [retrieved on 18 February 2011]
  17. “Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics” (2010), Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government

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Role of Marketing Staff

The Role of the Marketing Staff DONALD R. LONGMAN Business management [S increasingly dependent upon marketing to gain enduring competitive advantage. This article describes the rich opportunities for success presented by a change rn the approach to marketing stafF work and acquisition of professional personnel for it. GREAT DEAL has been written in recent years about the marketing concept. We may expect to see much more; for competition in American industry is increasingly centered in marketing-. This is a substantial change from the situation only a few decades ago.

Success then hung on creative skill in evolving substantially new types of products, new production processes, new efficiency systems. Each step forward in these areas produced relatively strong and enduring competitive advantages. This is much less true today. Mass training of skilled research and development men and of production engineers, increased mobility of manpower, and mass communication at the professional level have all served to spread technological know-how with amazing speed. Competitors employ research men and engineers of parallel training, professional contact, and skill.

If one company’s team seems relatively inept in the competitive battle, it is still possible to call upon a superior group of consulting engineers for help while a new team is being built. Under these conditions, competitors quickly identify and match successful innovations made by any company in their field. They may even improve on the original innovator’s ideas. It would be vain to suppose that even such corporate giants as Esso, U. S. Steel, or^ General Motors could gain and hold for long a major competitive advantage in product or manufacturing process.

Indeed, it has become common practice to grant licenses to competitors on a royalty basis, thus removing technical innovations as a basis of competitive advantage in the market. Competitive Opportunities It^ is this comparative equality in production skills that is forcing a shift in the weight of competition to marketing. Marketing is still a relatively unexplored area. Our customers are so many, so scattered, and so nonhomogeneous in nature and in demands that they are difficult to understand. We are not even sure how we can best serve them economically and efficiently.

Changes are still commonplace among big, well-established companies in such basic elements as channels of distribution, discount systems, warehousing arrangements, and service policies. Such changes grow as much out of uncertainty and insecurity m marketing decision as out of changes in the market itself or m marketing institutions. Marketing offers a rich area of opportunity for competitive advantage, richer today than that offered by any other phase of business. But if a company is to seize this opportunity, a lot has to be done. 29 30 Journal of Marketing, July, 1962 Requirements for Efficient Marketing 1.

A Sound Understanding of the Market First, it is essential to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the market itself. This is a matter of getting the facts, completely and accurately. One has to know the exact size of the market and its geographical distribution. One must know who make up the market, the numbers and kinds of people. Where do they buy, in what quantities, how often, why? What products are available for them to choose among? What are their characteristics, their prices, tbeir patterns of distribution? What are the products used for, what satisfactions do they provide? Why is one brand chosen over nother; and why do people change in their choices? There is so much that needs to be known, and known well. How else can we think constructively of the marketing process until we have a solid grasp of the facts, a sure sense of perspective? The truth is that little effort to think constructively about marketing was made during the decades when competitive success was established by production efforts. Systematic collection and analysis of marketing facts have been undertaken, even by the largest and most progressive companies, only during the last fifteen or twenty years. Indeed, the evolution of marketing, research may serve as n index of the shift in competitive pressure toward marketing. We possess today the tools and techniques for acquiring quickly and efficiently almost all the basic data necessary to provide executives with a sound perspective in marketing. Yet marketing research is still inadequately utilized; there is ample room even now for a company to gain major marketing advantages over competitors simply by superior knowledge of the facts of the business. The 10,000 professional marketing research men today are probably not a third of the number we may expect when marketing has been developed to a peak of fficiency comparable to production. 2. Innovation The second requisite to superior marketing lies in innovation. There is no progress in acceptance of routine, in copying competitive practices, in turgid operation. Indeed, in the fiuid environment of marketing, with changes in policies, practices, and procedures borne no more of creative thought than of uncertainty, the well thought out, tested innovations may prove extremely rewarding. We must be prepared to consider alterations, often radical changes, in methods and policies. We must become creative, cultivating a flexibility of mind that seeks and considers ew approaches. We must be prepared to reexamine the basic premises upon which our policies rest. We must begin to ask the fundamental questions and to fix them in our mind, looking, looking always for new answers. There exists a unit expected to devise and explore new ideas in the production area. It is supposed to suggest innovations, to challenge current practices. It is staffed with men of imagination, men of specialized education, men whose minds are constantly stirred and challenged by contacts with basic research scientists in our universities, foundations, and government units. They are in continuous ontact with other professionals throughout the country, often in other countries, and are constantly stimulated by the ideas and exploratory efforts they encounter in a wide variety of industries. They are Research and Development men. There is no comparable unit in marketing, even in companies whose marketing costs far exceed manufacturing costs. The nearest marketing pai’- allel’is to be found in advertising agencies. These owe their independent existence to the very fact that creative imagination and innovation are obviously essential to advertising; and even the largest advertisers do not provide in their marketing rganizations a climate conductive to high quality creative work. But the advertising agency is concerned fundamentally with only one of many marketing activities. It is not well equipped to serve as the creative arm for the entire marketing function. It is not paid enough to do the job; nor is the company advertising manager who works with the agency so positioned in his own company that he could spark the creative effort for the entire Marketing Department. This means that a new and different unit is needed to function within the company itself. It must be staffed with men of creative minds, trained n seeing and exploring possibilities not clear to others. They need to be observers of marketing in all of industry, stirred and challenged by professional association with creative men in universities, consulting firms, everywhere that pioneering thought g-oes on. They must imagine, synthesize ideas, experiment systematically. They may be engineers exploring the application of operations research to warehousing. They may be psychologists studying the foundations of sales- • ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Donald Longman is Vice President and Director of Research for the J. Walter Thompson Company, New York. He is President f the American Marlteting Association and Chairman of the International Marketing Federation. In earlier years Dr. Longman was a university professor and a government executive. He has held senior positions in business in both line and staff capacities. He is the author of a number of books and articles. The Role of the Marketing Staff 31 men’s or dealers’ morale and motivation. They may be marketing researchers probing ways to break old consumer buying habits and build new ones. They may be systematically testing consumer responses to a range of product styles, flavors, or scents. They must be the Marketing R and D. . Scientific Approach to Decision Making The third major requisite to superior marketing lies in hard-headed, scientific decision making. This requires a solid grasp of the facts of a business through research and through experience. More important, it requires imagination, perceptiveness, thoroughness, objectivity, analytical skill, and emotional stability. Few people acquire all these traits in the normal course of their lives; our marketing executives today introduce large portions of emotion, hunch, habit, and haste in their judgments. But needed qualities can be developed as a matter of explicit training.

In increasing measure they are being developed in the best of our Schools of Business. Decision making is extraordinarily complex in the marketing field. When decision is required between alternative policies or procedures, it is necessary first to grasp fully and completely the exact nature of the alternatives and all their implications. It may seem simple, for example, to select a brand name for a new product; but this is only true for one who does not know both the values and dangers in a name. A name can convey a sense of quality, lend itself to easy recall, facilitate effective advertising, express values to be received in use; n sum, it can secure a privileged competitive position to its owner. Or it can be easily ridiculed or played upon, fail of copyright, be subject to confusion with other names, and so on. In truth, there are scores of facts to consider in selecting names, a wide variety of criteria to employ in judgment. There is a lot at stake. If this is true of names, imagine how much more true this is of issues concerning pricing, packaging, discount systems, employment and motivation of salesmen, advertising themes, and so on and on. Each issue must be studied objectively, its implications uncovered. All the facts relevant to ecision must be marshalled. The possible effects of alternative courses must be weighed. Experimentation or testing may be considered. This is the slow, arduous, but hard-headed and scientific approach to decision making. This is the way to confident action, desirable any time but mandatory when significantly new, creative innovations are put into effect. Those of us privileged to have close contact with marketing management over the past twenty years have seen a slow but steady progress toward this kind of decision making. Arbitrary, hasty, “seatof- the-pants” decisions based on hunch, enthusiasm, nd personal preferment for the individual advocates of one course are becoming less common. Yet there remains much room for improvement in decision making today. 4. Efficient Administration The fourth requisite to marketing success lies in efficient administration—the daily execution of policy and practice, the employment of facilities and men, the operating job. This is the field of marketing performance, so obviously necessary that it could not be overlooked. Here the need is for inspiring leadership of men, operating drive, astute supervision of performance in every detail, the building and aintenance of a morale that instills a motivation in the doers of the marketing job. Broadly speaking, marketing can claim credit for superior performance in this area; it has been given thought and attention at a senior business management level. By the same token, it is the marketing requisite least rich in opportunities for improvement and, therefore, least likely to yield a competitive advantage in marketing. The very obviousness of the need for sound administration has tended to obscure the need for the other three basic requisites in marketing—a full understanding of the market itself; the development f creative, new ideas or innovations; the making of decisions on a hard-headed, scientific basis. Administration is a big job, involving, the employment and supervision of hundreds, even thousands, of people, as well as the purchase, maintenance, and operation of equipment and facilities of countless kinds. And the huge expenditures for marketing lie under the administrator’s control. Small wonder, then, that marketing administration was equated with all of marketing, until increasing competitive equality in other areas forced people to study more seriously the nature of the marketing function.

Sound administration is a fundamental component of marketing, but is far from all of it. It is the operation of a gigantic “machine. ” This marketing machine works on the materials provided it, and under the policies and procedures set for it. The machine operator, skilled as he may be in his function, is rarely qualified alone to conceive, test, and decide upon new ideas, on new policies and procedures. He is not an innovator. He is not a researcher. He is not a trained and objective decision maker. These are different problems, requiring skills and training different from his, perhaps even a different temperament.

A New Organization of the Marketing Function The slowly growing recognition that marketing management requires much more than administra32 Journal of Marketing, July, 1962 tive skill has led our largest and most progressive companies to bring a new kind of man to the Marketing Vice Presidency. He tends to be more thoughtful, sometimes skilled more in handling ideas than in handling men. He is more objective, analytical, less emotionally involved in his assignment. He has begun demanding research—searching for ideas, thinking of both “strategy and tactics. ” The basic administrative management of arketing, the line operating responsibility, is being delegated to a subordinate General Sales Manager or Director of Field Sales Activities. Concurrently, staff departments in marketing have grown in number and influence. New units have appeared. We now have Product Managers, Marketing Operations Managers, Research Managers, along with the older Advertising and Credit Managers. Even Marketing Accounting and Marketing Personnel Managers may serve as members of the Marketing Stafif. Functions and Operation of the Marketing Staff The functions of these several staff groups have not been clearly crystallized as yet.

Broadly speaking. , most of them are supposed to study all phases of the company’s marketing operations in the area of their specialization; keep the Marketing Vice President closely posted on trends and developments in their areas; check performance efficiency; and recommend policy or procedure changes when they seem needed. Thus, the Product Manager for a particular product keeps closely informed on all competitive conditions affecting his product, observes regional and district sales performance on the product, notes obstacles to sales success, and proposes means of overcoming them. The Operations Manager concerns imself with the supply, maintenance, and efficient performance of all physical facilities, stores, warehouses, delivery systems, etc. As a superior specialist in this area, he advises the Marketing Vice President on ways to improve efficiency and service, and to cut operating costs. The same kind of work is done by the Credit Manager, the Marketing Accounting and Personnel Managers, and the Advertising and Sales Promotion Manager. Collectively, the staff managers cover all the difiierent functions in marketing. When these Departments were set up, it was natural, of course, to staff them with young men ho had proved themselves successful in the company’s marketing activities. So, they were drawn from the ranks of the administrators. Generally this is still true, for this is the logical source of men and these jobs are still not clearly enough defined to suggest the need to look elsewhere. But this will change, indeed is in the process of change. It is not enough for the Product Manager or Operations Manager to serve as an observer of operations, to be an administrative second-guesser in a particular area of specialty. This would be a most routine approach to a job, unworthy of senior personnel.

Rather, the staff Manager and his assistants must use their advantageous positions to acquire all relevant information affecting their functions. They must assimilate, analyze, and evaluate these data constructively. They must add to this, the stimulus of wide-ranging contact and observation of their industry and of many others. They must cultivate a flexibility of mind inviting new ideas. They must become creative—considering all manner of policies, procedures, activities which can add to marketing opportunities or improve service and increase efficiency. They must develop and explore their creative deas, testing mentally or in the market place those which seem most promising. In handling such tasks, they develop habits of thoroughness and objectivity, making scores of decisions on the basis of a scientific approach. They are truly staff experts— observing, creating, testing, recommending ways of doing their part of the marketing job better than it has been done before. This is the basic job of the Product Manager. Concentrating all energies on the one product or product line for which he bears responsibility, it is his job to conceive new and better ways to market it. His work may lead to recommended product odifications, package changes, price or distribution revisions. He may study advertising, promotion, guarantees, and service, and come up with new recommendations. He is the innovator, the preliminary decision maker, working from intimate knowledge of all relevant facts. The same is true of the Marketing Operations Manager. He is studying the nature and design of his retail outlets, the number and location of warehouses, the packing and order-filling system, the volume and distribution of inventories. He has scores of subjects to study, each offering opportunities for significant improvement. If he can nly conceive a better type of retailing equipment for his stores, a better system of truck scheduling, a finer system of production-distribution coordination, he can strengthen his company’s competitive position and add to its profits, just as can the Research and Development Manager or the Production Manager. What is true of Product and Operations Managers is just as true of the Advertising, Sales Promotion, and Public Relations Managers. It is just as true of the Marketing Personnel Manager. By use of cost analysis, the Marketing Accounting Manager can make significant contributions to policy on reas of operation, channels of distribution, a quantity discount system, and a hundred other things. We need an explicit, articulated understanding that this is the job of the Staff Manager. We need The Role of the Marketing Staff 33 to recognize formally, and afiirmatively that innovation and scientific decision making is the particular province of these men . . . that collectively they represent a kind of R and D for Marketing. The Staff as Professionals When this is done, we will have a very different set of specifications for men to fill these jobs. They must possess keenly analytical but highly fiexible minds.

They must be imaginative, creative. They must be objective, thorough, trained in the scientific approach to problems. They must know the rudiments of collection, assimilation, and evaluation of data. They must be well informed, with wide contacts in industry and education. In a word, they must be professionals. Broadly speaking, this is the kind of background and training we find most often today in marketingresearch men and consultants. This implies that in time most senior staff positions in marketing will be research positions. After all, research, viewed broadly, is nothing more than the systematic, horough, objective examination of a problem; the orderly acquisition of all relevant data bearing upon it; and the meaningful, creative evaluation of the data in terms of conclusions and recommendations. This is, indeed, what is expected of Marketing Staff Managers. With further passage of time, however, the specific functions of marketing research will be narrowed. Today anyone engaged in simple fact gathering may be called a research man. Ten years from now, however, the term prohably will be reserved largely for those who by long, and specialized training have mastered the more complex and intricate echniques of research. They will be the specialists in sampling, in operations research, in projective techniques. The Marketing Research Department will not be large, and it will carry out its work on a service basis for all the Marketing Staff Managers. The changes ahead are already very much in the process of being made. Product Managers, Advertising Managers, staff men of every kind are addressing themselves ever more seriously to their Jobs, going farther and farther beyond routine, specialized, administrative observation and suggestion. They are getting into their jobs more deeply han ever, and so they feel impelled to creative and decision making roles. And more and more such jobs are going to research men and to men whose training and temperament commend them for a research approach to business. The trend will quicken as there is more widespread specific recognition and articulation of the ultimate character of staff work. MARKETING MEMO We Are Already Living in the Future . . . ^ Are you enjoying your life in 1985? Through no time machine, via no crystal ball, we are, today, living lives accurately predicted by early science forecasters and science fictioneers—but predicted for about 1985.

Our age is a good quarter of a century ahead of its time, thanks to developments that would have waited many more years—except for urgent military necessity. Many of us resent defense spending. We begrudge its existence as a necessary waste that helps insure freedom, but yields no tangible return. How wrong we are! Our defense research dollars, aimed at strengthening our military muscle, are pushing civilians toward richer, healthier, safer, more convenient living. It was military money that led to the development of the safety door lock and the low-profile anti-skid tires now on many new automobiles.

Military necessity mothered rainwear that remains indefinitely repellent to water, oil. and grease despite repeated laundering and dry cleaning. ^John G. Hubbell, “Life in 11)85 Today,” reprinted by permission of Quest . . . for tomorrow Magazine, Vol. 2 (Summer, 1961), p. 14. Copyright of Journal of Marketing is the property of American Marketing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

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Conflicts in Work Place

Conflicts management in work place OVERVIEW The purpose of this assignment is to critically analyze the conflicts in working place and try to understand organization behavior with respect to conflict effect. I also try to focus whether conflict is necessary or not by using range of theoretical perspectives and ideologies of conflict. INTRODUCTION: Conflicts are unpleasant, but it is a kind of force that ruling almost every aspect of our life.

As time passes in every working relationship it is common to produce conflict (John Newstrom 2007, p. 253). Conflict can arise from various sources and directions but it can emerge in short duration of time among people of any level, and it may require proper management. Conflict can be constructive or destructive depending on ability of management. Hence managers should be aware of it and must know when and how to stimulate conflict in better way to resolve from it in time. Conflict is defined as “[.. a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about” (Huczynski & Buchanan 2007, p. 661). Every organization has some sets of rules for its existence and to stay competent in the market and its survival as they desired. For this organization should be stable, always integrated, well coordinated, order and unanimity. As we know that organization is a place where people work together to achieve a common goal.

But to attain the goal everyone has to struggle, cooperate, obey rules, and always communicate with each other to complete the given task in time. But history shows that many organization fallen because of these interpersonal relationships of the people are not productive, cooperative, and satisfying which directly effects the reputation of the organization and creates a big problem for its growth. Many people believe that organization is interfered with conflicts and many other factors such as disintegration, antagonism, frequent changes, and divided loyalties.

But it is also seen that people believe conflicts are necessary to perform organization effectively. Let have a close look on conflict in organization and people point of view: WHY CONFLICT ARISE? In any situation conflict can arise between two or more parties when they think opposite and feel themselves in opposition. Conflict can arise due to many factors. For example: To achieve the goal in time different people apply different methods and techniques, but some time because of disagreement among the people due to different experience can produce the conflict.

It is an interpersonal process; “conflicts also arise due to tack inter-dependence, policies, ambiguity of roles and rules, personality differences, ineffective communication, the competition over scarce resources, and underlying differences in attitudes, beliefs, and experiences” (Huczynski & Buchanan 2007, p. 661). Conflict can be functional or dysfunctional; we can consider it constructive or destructive depending on its management. But important question is whether conflict is necessary or not for any organization?

Levels of Conflict: In any working place conflict can be possible to occur within an employee, between individuals or groups, and across organizations as they compete. Sources of Conflict: Organizational change, Different sets of values, Threats to status, Contrasting perceptions, Lack of trust, personality clashes, and personality differences. IS CONFLICT NECESSARY EVIL OR NOT: From many decades, there has much debate that concerning whether conflict within the organization is necessary or not. Dean Tjosvold (2008) argued that conflict was inevitable aspect of all organizations; that properly conducted; it lead to a better understanding between individuals, as well as to better ways of working. Since conflict was essential to successful teamwork and organizational effectiveness, it should be welcomed and managed appropriately. In contrast, Carten De Dreu (2008) stated that conflict was always detrimental, and that the research support for the beneficial aspects of workplace conflict was weak.

He said that conflict was beneficial in only a very few, specific situations; and that even in thes, it had negative consequences which outweighted the positive ones. He felt that organizations had to make efforts to manage conflict, not because it had positive effects but so as to minimize its negative ones” (BUCHANAN AND HUCZYNSKI, 2010). THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF CONFLICT: According to traditional perceptive conflicts are negative and indicates something is wrong. It must be avoided or eliminate.

The contemporary perspective describes conflict as inevitable. It describes that if conflicts are very high or low they have negative consequences which affect the performance of the organization. CONTRASTING VIEWS OF CONFLICT: It is found that there are three views of conflict: positive, negative and ‘balanced’. Positive view: This view consider conflict are positive in organizations, but if it is managed and Considered can be positive and they believe that if the conflict managed and resolution effectively many time we can see constructive outcomes.

This helps them to think how they can adopt different process to do things and conflict resolution process is many time seen a stimulus for positive change in the organization. This view tells resolving conflict also help to adapt to changes and it is seen more acceptable (Coiser & Dalton, 1990). Conflict help in decision making process; because it is nature and people have different opinions, thoughts, attitudes and values for any given situation which can be beneficial in making and choosing better idea and decision. ositive view of conflict help us to encourage to work in difference and it tell positive outcomes of conflicts are very beneficial to the organization, it may increase quality of work and personal satisfaction and also increases commitment and motivation to complete the task in time. Negative view: This view considers conflict as negative, it tells that conflict is dangerous and have serious negative effects and may diverts organization goals to achieve and also effect on out psychological wellbeing. This view express that conflict also affect ideas, created tension, increases stress and anxiety.

And conflict may be detrimental to individual and group development over period of time. (Baron, R. A. and Richardson, S. R. , Human Aggression, 2nd edition (Plenum Press, New York, 1991). ) ‘Balanced’ view: This view of conflict some time preferable from a managerial perspective. In this approach sometime conflict are destructive and some time they are highly desirable and constructive. But managing conflict is essential for attaining the goal for any manager. TRANSITIONS IN CONFLICT THOUGHT: Organization conflict has different definitions and perspectives from many years.

One thought of school argued that, conflict must be avoided in order to run the organization effectively, without any malfunctioning within it. This thought called traditional view. Another thought of school argued that conflicts in any organization are natural and inevitable. According to this view conflict is not a evil, but it tells that management should have the ability for improving organizational effectiveness and efficiency. We called this thought behavioral view. Third thought is interactionist approach and it is most recent perspective. This thought of school argues that conflicts are positive and important for any organization.

It tells that conflicts are absolutely necessary for improving organization effectiveness and efficiency. (Adapted from: Stephen R. Robbins, Managing Organization Conflict: A Nontraditional Approach (Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : Prentice-Hall, 1974). ) THE TRADITIONAL VIEW: In this view, it is assumed that conflict is natural and very bad, it should be avoided and eliminate immediately. There will be always negative impact on organizational performance. And it is believed that organization cannot perform effectively, if the conflicts are not eliminated in time.

According to this approach conflicts are harmful and must be avoided. Conflicts can cause violence, destruction, and some time irrationality problems. It is manager responsibility to identify the conflicts if any and try to eliminate it to get rid of problems. This traditional perspective prevailed the management and organizational lit during the late nineteenth century and continued to be mid – 1940s. The Behavioral View: In this behavioral view traditional approach was followed and it is argued that occurrence of conflicts are natural in organizations.

But behavioralists argued that conflicts are inevitable they advocated accepting the conflict. The behavioral view explains that conflict cannot be eliminated and they believe that conflict may benefit organization performance. They believe conflicts are inevitable and must resolve in time. The view prevailed management and organization from the late 1940s through the mid-1970s. The Interactionist View: It is the current theoretical perspective on conflict, this approach encourages conflict and they believe that conflict is positive for any organization.

In interactionists approach believe that conflict can help to make new ideas, improve intra group cohesiveness, because of different opinion and different experience it help in making better decision in time, and many benefits to the organization. Interactionists perspective encourage functional opposition and necessity of conflict for the effectiveness of the organization. In this view it not only focuses of conflict stimulation but also choose appropriate conflict resolution process by the management. And explains conflict management are the major responsibility for the managers.

It is seen that many evidence suggests conflict is necessary and important in organization because it improves the quality of decision making. (Coiser & Schwenk, 1990). Thus I think the major problem is not conflict itself, but the problem is how to manage the conflict in the organization. So we can expect conflict may be result functional or dysfunctional and any one of them have serious effect to achieve the goal in time of any organization. This functional conflict is helpful to nurture the individuals in the working place to improve the creativity, adaption and innovation of the organization. (Thomas, K. W. ‘Conflict and conflict management’, in Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, ed. M. D. Dunnette (Rand McNally, Chicago, 1976). ) Because of complacency some organizations are failure, but can be traced back to too much harmony. (Robbins, S. P. , Essentials of Organizational Behavior (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1992). ) But in reality most organization try to eliminate any type of conflict because they think elimination of conflict solve the problem and perform organization effectively. But now we can see and argue that functional conflict should be encouraged and dysfunctional conflict should be discouraged.

It has spent more than three decades by many researchers, scholar and behavioural scientist to analyze the affects of dysfunctional intergroup conflict in the people who experiences it(Sherif and Sherif, Groups in Harmony and Tension (Harper and Row, New York, 1953). ) -Within groups: it increases the group cohesiveness, able to emphasis on loyalty, rise in desired autocratic leadership and focus on activity; -Between groups: there will be distorted in perceptions, communication is not effective and some time negative stereotyping.

View of Conflict can be better understood by different frame of references. Frame of reference: ”It is describe as, a person’s perceptions and interpretations of events, and involve assumptions about reality, attitudes towards what is possible, and conventions regarding correct behavior” (Huczynski & Buchanan 2007, p. 661). Contrasting frames of reference: It is seen that literature distinguishes four different frames of reference for conflict, based on differentiation made by Alan Fox. They are unitarist, pluralist, interactionist and radical (Fox, 1966, 1973).

All these frames are different from each other but important thing is that none of these are right or wrong. Unitarist: In unitarist frame conflict is seen badly and they think that organizations should be essentially harmonious. Pluralist: In pluralist frame sees that groups in organization have their own interests and organization is collection of groups. Interactionist: This interactionist frame sees conflict as a positive, necessary force for effective performance of any organization; Radical: In radical frame sees conflict as an inevitable outcome of capitalism in any organization.

To better understand conflict one should view it as dynamic rather than a static concept and the sequence of conflict stages can be seen as latent, perceived, felt, manifest and after math. (Pondy, L. R. , ‘Organizational conflict: concept and models’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 12 (1967). ) Conflict is inevitable in organizational life and its results can be constructive rather than destructive depending up on how it is managed. If negative effects controlled and can be minimized then positive outcomes may result.

Effective conflict management is based in part, on a solid understanding of the different ways that conflict emerges and can be resolved. (Anderson, H. and Kyprianou. 1994. Effective Organizational Behaviour. edn. Oxford: Blackwell ) EFFECTS OF CONFLICT IN ORGANIZATION Conflict in organization has some advantages and few disadvantages if it is not managed. In organization many participants think conflict should be avoided and they often see conflicts are always destructive and it should be eliminated.

But in reality it is a limited view, because it is seen that all type of conflict are not destructive, some may result productive and some may nonproductive outcomes. But some participant views on conflicts is positive, they think conflict should be manage effectively and need to search the different ways to results the constructive outcome. Advantage: Conflict produces many benefits; first one, because of it people emotionally aroused with full potential to search and to find better approaches by comparing different approaches which may be useful for get better and desired results.

It helps them to boost their creativity and improves their ability for developing new ideas. Thus helps them to experiment different way to achieve the goal. And second benefit is problem can be confronted and solved, so that conflict can be brought to the surface. Disadvantages: Conflict also produces disadvantages if it is not manages properly in time, and many leads to bad results. It also raises many problems like, people may focus on personal issues, they may not cooperate properly which increases stress and people may feel fear of defeating this directly reduces their confidence and motivation level.

So it is very important to manage conflict in time. Manager should be aware of conflict and its outcomes and he should apply appropriate conflict resolution strategies, when they found conflict affecting to achieve the goal. Let us see some positive and negative outcome of conflict in working place: According to a survey, many practicing managers spend approximately 20 percent of their time to deal with conflict situation in working environment. Schmidt records some positive and negative outcomes of conflict. (NEWSTROM, W. 2007. Organizational Behaviour: Human Behavior at Work. 2Th edn. Singapore: McGraw-Hill/Irwin) Positive outcome include: ?Good generation of new ideas ?People try for different and new approaches ?Long-standing problems in any matter can be resolve ?Opportunities for individual views clarification ?It improves creativity and interest of participates ?It gives opportunities for individuals to test their abilities and capacities. Negative outcomes include: ?People feel fear of defeating and demeaned manner ?Ineffective communication increases the distance between people ? Mistrust and suspicion among the people People concentrate on own interest rather than organization goal ? Reduction in cooperation which effect the teamwork ?And employee turnover increases. CONFLICT OUTCOMES: Conflict in organization may produce four possible outcomes depending on approaches chosen by participates involved. They are as follows: 1. lose-lose 2. Lose-win 3. Win-lose 4. Win-win Participant’s intentions and chosen strategies are the result of conflict outcomes. There are many different conflict resolution strategies developed in the history, but this different strategies designed for participate ntention. CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES: There are five possible conflict resolution strategies available, participant can select any strategy as he need and apply them to reduce/remove the conflict. By using appropriate strategy it is possible to achieve predictable outcome. These strategies are different from each other, they are basically representing different concerns for one’s own desired outcome and for another’s result. These five strategies are as follows:

Avoiding- In this conflict is avoided physically and mentally, this approach expects less positive outcome and hence reflects a low concern for either party’s outcomes. Thus it results in lose – lose situation. Smoothing- In this strategy depending on the other party’s interests problems are accommodate. This strategy approach focuses on one’s own detriment by emphasizing on concerns for others which resulting in a lose-win outcome. Forcing- This strategy is depends on using power tactics to achieve the desired goal to win.

It depends on authority and aggressiveness in order to attain personal goals at the expense of the concern for the other party. This type of strategy result in a win-lose situation. Compromising- This strategy help to compromise own desires and thought by giving up something to gain something else willingly. It results with no clear-cut outcome. Confronting- This is one kind of strategy which helps to focus conflict directly and solve it by mutual understanding to work it through to a satisfactory resolution. This strategy helps to maximize the chances of achieving both party goals which resulting in a win-win outcome.

This strategies are effective can be chosen to win or lose by the participants. It helps to control the conflict and save the time to achieve the goal by reducing adverse harmful effects of conflicts. Avoiding and smoothing approaches are help to manage the conflict and the use of forcing approach may achieve short term goal but fail to achieve stated goal. Compromising approach help to solve conflict but always desired goals cannot be achieved. Confronting approach is the effective strategy which solve conflict problem by facing directly by mutual understanding, hence chance of win-win outcome is more when compare to any other strategy.

CONCLUSION: Organization are dynamic entities, which is continously changing its internal and external environments, to develop congruousness among the people, process and structure. As discussed contemporary perspectives on conflict, tell that conflict cannot be put on end to a state in organizational life. Conflict is dynamic activity that help us to emphasize on process, meaning, and variety of procedures and relationships. I think understanding conflict help us to better understanding about organization if it is in.

If there is a Conflict in any organization it help scholars and reasearchers to give insight understanding more about culture, power, change, development and other significant phenomenon in organization. Conflict may help to see the things in a new way, it help to promote different analysis, clarification in goals, increases energies, give chance for alternatives and changes, and complex problem can be solved. If conflict manage effectively it protect the organisation. Conflict enlighten the concept of rationality, which help better understanding and analyzing of organizational behavior.

Organizational conflict are not evil, and in fact there is no need to eliminate it, but it should be manage properly for enhancing individuals, groups, and organizational effectiveness. It is a phenomenon, just it can be constructive or destructive effects on organization, but it completely depends on how it is managed by the management. Conflicts can be dysfunctional when people are not able to tolerate it, and the reason may be rigidity of the organization structure which gives fewer opportunities to changes. This may be because of ignorance of the participants who not give importance and ready to change any time when required.

So we can say that organization conflict may be because of ignorance, intolerance, vested interests, intolerant and rigidity. As discussed earlier conflict is not necessarily a bad thing, it is can be seen as a ‘constructive’ force and in certain circumstances and it can be welcomed or even encouraged. It helps improving organization design and functioning and to the decision-making process which help to adapt internal and external changes. If conflict identified and managed properly, it can help reduce the destructive influences in the organization. Organization ducation in subjects like Human Relation, Human Resource Management or Development, and Industrial Relations tell that conflict can be managed and its management is very important. And literature tells that how acknowledgement of conflict and its significant in the organization. So we can say that all type of conflicts are not bad, and it is always not necessary to remove, left, or ignore the conflict in the organizational life but it should be manage properly so that it help for survival of the organization without any effect on organization goals.

Now I can say that conflict leads to change, change leads to adaptation, and adaptation leads to survival. REFERENCES: 1. ANDERSON & KYPRIANOU. 1994. Effective Organizational Behaviour. edn. Oxford: Blackwell 2. BUCHANAN & HUCZYNSKI. 2010. Organizational Behaviour. 7th edn. England: Pearson Education Ltd 3. BUTLER & ROSE. 2011. Introduction to Organisational Behaviour. edn. London: CIPD House 4. CLEGG & HARDY. 1999. Studying Organization: Theory & method. 1st edn. London: SAGE 5. FINCHAM & RHODES, 2005. Principles of Organizational Behaviour. 4th edn.

Oxford: Oxford University Press Inc. , New York 6. KATZ & KAHN. 1966. The Social Psychology of Organizations. edn. USA: John Wiley & Sons 7. MULLINS, J. 2010. Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9th edn. England: Pearson Education Ltd 8. NEWSTROM & DAVIS. 2002. Organizational Behaviour: Human Behavior At Work . 11th edn. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin 9. NEWSTROM, W. 2007. Organizational Behaviour: Human Behavior at Work. 12Th edn. Singapore: McGraw-Hill/Irwin 10. ROBBINS, P. 1983. Organization Theory: The Structure and Design of Organisations. edn. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall

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Importance of Financial Decision-Making in the Business World

In the business world, financial decision-making is important. Some organizations have trouble with accounting and the financial decision-making process in today’s diverse organizational ethics. In this world’s current economy, the expectation for organizations is to behave in an ethical manner. The business world consists of people with different ethical belief systems, which makes it difficult to define ethics (The Journal of Accountancy, 2007). Organizations that do enforce a code of ethics can create unwanted behaviors within the organizations. These unethical behaviors can affect every individual associated with the organization.

When an organization instills good ethical behaviors, its rate of success and longevity is more likely to be high. Organizational ethics are a significant part in financial decision-making and accounting. Ethical principles set the foundation on which a cultured society exists. An exceptional illustration of ethics in accounting and finances is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. After several financial frauds reported in 2001 and 2002, the president signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July 2002. This act established major modifications to the financial practices and corporate governance regulations. According to n. d. 2006), “The given name is after Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley, who were its main architects, and it also set a number of non-negotiable deadlines for all organizations to comply” (para. 1). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, known as the corporate responsibility act, act gives considerable supervision responsibilities and control to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) above organizations external auditors and distribution of financial statements. The SEC must employ a public company accounting oversight board (PCAOB) with the authority to control the public accounting (Albrecht, Stice, Stice, & Swain, 2005, p. 01). This law was put in place because of the involvement of Enron and Tyco International in several accounting scandals. For most organizations, making money is important; money is what makes the business successful. However, a business that becomes greedy and decides to make money illegally will eventually fail. In the article “Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley”, Neil S. Lebovits, advises businesses to ensure their ethical health by doing several things. Lebovits suggests that organizations must employ the following three ethical best practices to be successful: “cultivate ethical role models, demonstrate ethical ecision-making, and encourage pushback” (Lebovits, 2006, para. 5). The Directorate of Planning, Training, Mobilization, and Security (DPTMS) organization that I work for employs these three ethical best practices daily. The management always ensures that workers behave professionally while serving soldiers and making the right decisions that could affect the soldiers training during this time of war. The DPTMS leaders provide explanations on how to make decisions and why the selection of the judgment. The organizational managers have an open-door policy to listen to the workers concerns.

Additionally, managers walk throughout the day asking employees if he or she has any issues that the managers could assist on. These types of actions create a sense of trust in the leadership that everyone worker wants to emulate. Lebovits also proposes that organizations can do more to ensure the organization workers behave ethically at all levels. Lebovits suggests that, first, organizations cultivate ethical role models. These role models structures’ must include natural influencers who exhibit strong ethical behavior in their day-to-day work in the financial departments of the organization.

Organizations must give influencers proper recognition on every occasion possible. By involving influencers in assignments, the individuals can have an encouraging impact in the organization. When an organization rewards its influencers efforts’, the organization can cultivate ethical conduct (2006). Organizational ethical behavior starts at the top of the organization. The leadership must motivate individuals to follow its behavior. Employees watch and listen to their management carefully for signs of how to act. Leaders should behave accordingly and set the example for the workers to follow.

When suitable, leaders must tell workers examples of their business decisions involving their ethics and how they used good judgment. This type of honest conversation provides employees with a quick look on how leaders act and think while representing the organization (2006). Moreover, Lebovits proposes that organizations should also encourage pushback. In other words, companies should encourage their employees to speak up if they question financial actions and decisions that affect them. Ethics hotlines, anonymous e-mails and “approachable” managers are ways for companies to obtain this type of feedback.

Organizations and their key personnel should always conduct themselves ethically and legally. They should promote an environment in which employees can articulate work-related concerns without negative effects and free exchange of information (2006). The organizations that decide to implement and follow good ethical behavior will achieve success and an excellent status as ethical and fair instiution to the clients, employees, and the shareholders. These benefits will assist the organization in the financial phase, and when organizations fail to execute will result in poor financial performance.

References Albrecht, Stice, Stice, & Swain, (2005). Accounting: Concepts and Applications (9th Ed. ). Quebecor World, Versailles, KY: South-Western, Thomson. Lebovits, N. (2006, August, 2006). Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley: Three best practices to adopt in your organization. Retrieved March, 2011, from http://www. aicpa. org/pubs/jofa/aug2006/lebovits. htm N. D. (2006). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Retrieved from http://www. soxlae. com The Journal of Accountancy (2007). Retrieved March, 2011, from http://www. aicpa. org/pubs/jofa/joahome. htm

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