Kaleidoscopes of Light: Reflecting on Namibian Faith and Culture :: Essays Papers

Kaleidoscopes of Light: Reflecting on Namibian Faith and Culture In this illuminating semester in Southern Africa, my Christian beliefs have been colored with light from kaleidoscopes of cultures and people. I have been heavily challenged, strengthened anew, and turned on my head more than once. Perhaps most explicitly, I have learned about the role of religion in social change in Namibia, from study in this course, in visiting eight different churches over the course of three months, and in building relationships with inspiring Namibians. As I prepare to make my return journey home, I wonder if I will be prepared to share and describe what religious frustrations and exaltations of faith have filled my days. I wonder if my spiritual curiosity will continue to refine and deepen my appreciation for the meaning of Christianity in my life, especially as I return to work in a Christian summer camp in Montana. I wish I could say that the message of unconditional love cradled in the scripture of my faith has struck me anew during my time here. But my experiences have filled me with more spiritual questions and concerns than answers of affirmation. This is adventuresome and stimulating, to say the least, and I am glad for the challenge provided here; faith should never be a docile and lame journey of life. Throughout our religious classes this semester, meeting religious leaders and human rights activists has fueled my understanding of the meaning of Christianity. In lectures from community leaders, pastors and counselors, our class discussions bore witness to Christianity’s original context in Southern Africa, its profound role in the liberation struggle and its potential in continuing processes of reconciliation in Namibia. Reading historical reviews and articles of colonialism and apartheid exposed me to the heart-rending effects of religion in this country. What still strikes me to the core about what I’ve learned is the good religious communities can offer this nation. As our articulate speaker Rev. Nangula Kathindi, President of the Namibian Council of Churches, demonstrates with her words and her work, church involvement in breaking the wall of silence surrounding SWAPO atrocities and human rights violations is for the empowerment of Namibians everywhere. Her posit ion of authority within the church gives a fresh perspective on the role of the church playing into everyday life in Namibia, and how its influence can be used for progressive change today. The words of Kathindi fill me with hope for the future generations of Namibia; she is a living testament to the power of churches reshaping the race-war worn lives of Namibians today.

Developing Manager Essay

Introduction There are certain skills that need to be learned in order to assess the potentiality of someone in becoming a manager. This assignment aims to achieve this by understanding principles and practices of management behaviour, reviewing own potentiality as a prospective manager via stimulations and role plays and how to show managerial skills within a business and services context. Then finally, addressing and analysing a real life case study and relating it to the theories learned. PART A-REPORT AND ACTION PLAN: 1.1 (P1) Management theories are an assortment of ideas and rules which aims to present how a business or organization should be managed. Therefore it focuses on how managers and supervisors centre their attention on their goal by ensuring that they accomplish all the business goals and the motivation of employees to carry out their work at a high standard. There are numerous different types of management styles that are implemented when figuring out how their business or organization should be led. It is vitally important to choose the right type for the business as it can have a big impact on the staff’s motivation and what they produce. On the basis of the individualities of the staff can help in coming to the decision of what management style is best for the business. Firstly, one type of management style is autocratic management style. An autocratic manager is one who enjoys the fact that they are in control hence they prefer that they made all decisions of the business on their o wn without any sort of discussion with anyone else in the business. A benefit of this type of management is that it is not time-consuming as work can be done on time with decisions being made at a speedier rate where less people are having to be involved. However, a disadvantage of this type of management style is that is can lead to a fall in motivation in the staff. As they feel that in such an environment, they do not have much say nor any impact on any decisions made  within the business therefore they choose to shift to another workplace, in search of a better opportunity where they can portray a better influence on the business and its decisions. This type of management proves to be best in circumstances where decisions are needed to be made on spot whereas if an autocratic style of management continues for a long period of time, it can result in a great headache for all those involved. Therefore it can be effectively used in settings including prisons or military. Secondly, another type of management style is democratic management style. In comparison to an autocratic manager, a democratic manager enjoys to share the work with staff and depends on their co-operation to get the work completed on time and correctly. This type of management is where employees feel more valued by their manager and more involved in the business process. This can be very beneficial for the business as it can result it an increase in motivation where the staff’s job performance is much better than in an autocratic environment. In contrast to this, a disadvantage of this type of management is that the staff may feel that the manager is putting too much work on them and pushing them to work hard as he does not feel like doing it himself. Furthermore, it can be very time consuming in terms of decisions being made too slow or the staff are having to wait for confirmation by the manager until the next step can be proceeded which can delay the speed of the completion of the work. Also for the manager as they are having to continuously stop their concentration on their own work in order to answer the team’s question. Moreover, another type of management style is participative management style. This type involves the manager gaining feedback from all the staff before reaching any decision. The advantage of this type of management is that by getting an agreement on a major decision may mean that those people agree that would not have in the first place hence instead of being opposed to the changes that are being made, they agree to it. Nevertheless, a downside of this type of management is that it can take longer than usual as everyone’s opinion is having to be heard before forwarding to the next step. Additionally, if despite listening to the employees perspective on the change; the manager still decides to listen to their own opinion without integrating the feedback may mean that the staff feel that the manager does not value their opinion enough consequently he is choosing to ignore it instead. Comparing this to autocratic and  democratic management, this type of management style is bes t in making the team feel more involved and making it easier for the staff to implement towards all the changes coming down. It also works well in situations where the business may need to brainstorm ideas where teamwork can be convenient in coming up with new product ideas or marketing promotions. Lastly, one last type is laissez faire management style. In this leadership management style, the team are free to complete the job or task in any way they wish. But the manager is still there to provide any guidance or answer to any questions the team may have. This is beneficial in allowing the individual to build up leadership skills which they can apply in future careers. On the other hand, this can prove to create conflict amongst the employees as one may feel that they can dictate over others and make the assumption that they know only how the work should be done. Reference – Study Manual, HND Hospitality Management, page 236-238 1.2 (P2) Leadership characteristics are what defines how a leader should be and what characteristics they should consist of in order to prove that they are a good enough to play the role as a leader. Also, a set of skills are also needed to help build the characteristics of a leader. Firstly, interpersonal skills are needed to build trust and respect of their groups which enables the progression of work towards the achievements of its goals. By having these set of skills, the leader is able to work through any difficult relationship, maintaining peace throughout the business environment along the way. Furthermore, they have to hold good listening skills and have the ability to provide constructive feedback. Secondly, communication skills is where through speaking, leaders are able to demonstrate the correct capability of keeping their staff motivated and dedicated. By listening, they can then ask appropriate questions in order to assess the staff’s understanding of what they are convey ing. Thirdly, values is vitally important as it portrays how the leader accepts the diversity of the workforce and how this helps to bring a wider perspective to the organization and making vast improvements in every aspect. By respecting the staff and preventing favouritism will express the leader with a high level of morals resulting in being a role model for others to follow and the birth of better leaders. Moreover, leaders must also have  organisational consciousness or knowledge therefore they understand what the organisation is aiming to achieve and know all the objectives behind these aims. They are skilful and intelligent in creating schemes within the organisation to guarantee the completion of work by the groups and that all barriers are broken to allow progression within the business. Confidence is also very important for a leader to have in order to successfully take both popular and unpopular decisions without any fear or distress. The confidence will allow them to learn from their criticisms to support them make improvement and progression in all fields of their career. Furthermore, they are able to then persistently maintain a calm manner during emergencies and busy times which can be effective in terms of helping motivation for others around them too. Additionally, flexibility is another significant characteristic that every leader should have, to allow adaptations or al terations of their leadership style to be made. This will help to meet the needs and requirements of the present work setting. They must then be able to work with different types of people in a team to help come up with objectives to the organisation’s goals, even if a change of focus in needed. Creativity skills can be useful for a leader in many ways including coming up with unique solutions to problems and comprehensive answers to routine questions. A creative leader can have a significant impact on the organisation through developing innovative suggestions and improvements in all aspects. Then they can also consist of the capability to interpret technical information into simpler form which is understandable to everyone. Finally, all their characteristics have a great impact on achieving results. Their deep understanding and knowledge helps to build objectives of the organisation and then successfully apply them to the goals which can then be accomplished. Their performan ce is at very high standard which is beneficial for both the organisation and the employee’s motivation. Employee’s motivation is very important for all reasons as this will then result in them having the ability to tackle even the most impossible situations. Reference – Study Manual, HND Hospitality Management, page 239-241 1.3 (P3) Communication processes is the sharing of meaningful information between two or more people where the sender who initiates a message to the receiver to whom the message is directed to. The key elements involved in this process  are the sender, receiver, message, context, noise and feedback. Effective communication is when goal of the receiver understanding the sender’s intended message is accomplished. The sender is the source who initiates the communication process and the receiver is the other person involved. In dyadic communication or public speaking, the channel which is the medium by which the message is delivered or received, is both verbal and non-verbal speaking. Verbal is when his/her voice is used to communicate-the spoken word and non-verbal being the use of gestures and one’s appearance. Interaction is then how one party or person therefore the sender and receiver can affect each other. Therefore the participants that are involved in the process take turns either sending or receiving. Context refers to the idea that all communication process take place in some sort of surrounding. This could be in your living room, bedroom or somewhere outside which is the physical context. The event or people involved is the social context – group of friends in a club. Then the wider set of situations and beliefs comes under the cultural context hence it would matter if the funeral that we were attending was in a Hindu or Muslim context. The noise in the communication process is what disrupts and interferes the communication between the sender and the receiver. This can be physical or psychological. The feedback is the last part of the communication process in which the receiver responds to the sender’s message in the format of a spoken word, sigh, written message, smile or some other action. Without feedback, the sender will be unable to know whether or not the recei ver has correctly understood the intended message therefore the feedback also confirms whether effective communication has been carried out. Lastly, the co-orientation of the communication process explains how similar perceptions and interpretations of the same object will mean that the flow of communication is much more efficient. This in turn increases the co-orientation. McDonald’s communication process involves running different advertising campaigns to ensure that customers are accessible to all the great offers and products that come available and other information such as training and education opportunities. They also have a media team that deals with the press. Another hospitality organisation is Hilton Hotel. Their communication process is where ownership, the Management Company, GM and key designees get a login and password to Hilton OnQ Insider. Important brand communications are sent via the Hilton News newsletter. References – Study Manual, HND Hospitality Management, page 242-245 http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/whatmakesmcdonalds/questions/running-the-business/marketing/how-do-mcdonalds-communicate-internally-externally-and-to-its-customers.html http://www.hiltonworldwide.com/assets/pdfs/brands/Hilton_BecomingAHilton.pdf 1.4 (P4) Due to the 21st century having brought constant change, increasing technological complexity, rapidly escalating levels of competition, heightened stakeholder expectations and the rise of knowledge workers has meant that companies are having to adapt to this in order to continue. They have had to reassess their objectives, operations and leadership views and what makes an organization effective is also being re-examined. Now, leaders are required to have a different perspective and are expected to focus on factors such as psychological commitment, communication, empowerment, teamwork, trust, participation and flexibility compared to the past who were only under the expectations to produce and make profit. Those companies that have thrived in the 21st century are those that have been able to adjust to the change and manage it effectively enough. There are particular actions that need to be carried out to reach objectives. This includes power concentration where power is not concentrate d, includes focus on knowledge and performance. Personalism is using their speech and power to build relationships with other influential people in the company. Paternalism is when the leader and employees relationship is not based on dependence therefore all interactions are carried out with pure independence. Expectant posture is where the leaders and assistants negotiate leaving little space of responsibilities for difficulties from assistants to leaders. Formalism; produce norms and values that everyone needs to follow to avoid nepotism, favouritism, corruption and impunity. Personal loyalty is where the leader’s need are of less priority to the whole of the company’s needs. Conflict avoidance where empowerment, independence and autonomy is leader is enforced to create a more motivated and initiated environment. Flexibility, where organisations are able to adapt their environment both internally and  externally for more equal opportunities amongst all individuals. This will allow more room for effective improve ments including efficiency, effectiveness and competitiveness increasing the probability of the business being successful. In addition, currently, people’s motivation is now entirely based on personal purpose and meaning at work. Mitroff and Denton (1999) argued that ‘what gives employees meaning and purpose at work is: the ability to realize their potential; being associated with good or ethical organization; interesting work; making money; having good colleagues; believing they are of service to others; believing they are of service to future generations and believing they are of service to their community.’ The purpose is to observe how organisational culture influences the possibility of change schemes to succeed and to offer tools that the reader can use to apply to their organization. If the organization’s culture is linked to the mission and goals of the company, employees are more motivated to change. A cultural analysis is carried out to enable th e planning and implementation of organizational change. There are two ways in which culture can be understood-cultural insight is the degree that organization members are prepared to accept change and cultural assessment is the first cause of the problems that delay stronger performance. Barros and Prates (2006) carried out a study on the main cultural traits present in Brazilian organizations which showed that managers bought a management style that imitated the characteristics of Brazilian culture into their organizations. Hilton Hotel’s organizational structure is called the formal organization. It is flexible where personal and social relations are not required. Each distinct area, division or branch of the organisation is powered by a certain manager who directs all activities occurring there. It involves two spans of management-wide and narrow span. Due to the highly competitive market after the 9/11, the Executive Board of Hilton UK and Ireland recognised that they nee ded to invest more time in development where they then introduced the talent development. This was given great importance on the Board’s Three Year Strategic Plan where they intended to make people feel more valued and provide them with the opportunity to work and achieve their best potential. They also used coaching in order to help them achieve their HR programmes which included Hilton’s New Leadership Styles Programme and Hilton’s Personal Development Plans for employees. References – Study  Manual, HND Hospitality Management, page 246-251. http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/human-resources-management-h-r/214926-organisational-structure-hilton-hotels-corporation.html http://www.fullpotentialgroup.co.uk/Page.php?ID=FPG_Case_Study_Hilton 3.1 (P8) I would motivate my team to achieve the goals and objectives of the company if I am unable to increase their payment by the following steps. Firstly, I believe in my team’s objectives therefore they will then sense this through your dedication and will respond to this. Secondly, I model the behaviour I want from the team hence communicate and interact with others in a professional manner and set aside some time by putting extra hours into your job as a leader beside your team. Thirdly, I keep a positive attitude thus ensuring that every project succeeds by resolving every issue related to it without giving up. The team will pick up and respond to this positive attitude accordingly. Moreover, be clear on my goals, this will ensure that the team are aware and know what all the goals are and what their leaders expectations are of them and therefore this will result in them knowing what they need to do as a team member to ensure all the goals are accomplished. Additionally, I get feedback from the team members by listening to them and separating the message and issue from the person. This will lead to the team being less hesitant in coming to me in the future. In addition, set expectations so even that I may or may not adopt their suggestions, leaving them to be less disappointed and surprised with the outcome. Furthermore, I try to avoid mixed messages like for example, when a parent says to their child ‘Any time you have a problem, you can talk to Mommy or Daddy?’ but when they do come to you, you become all irritated and scream at them telling them to come back later. If you send these type of mixed messages to your staff, this can result in things becoming harder that they already were in the case of getting them to act the way you want them to. Also, know the difference between exhorting and belittling hence bring out the difference between making my team do better rather than telling them that they aren’t there right now. For exampl e, if after a rehearsal of choir, I say ‘I want to see confidence in your eyes when you’re singing’ is better than ‘you idiots, you don’t even know the music’. Likewise, I be correct in private,  if I see some fault in one of my team member whether it is to do with attendance, punctuality, dress or general professionalism, I consult them about it in private rather than in public where I will only just end up embarrassing them. Furthermore, I praise them in public so they look good in the eyes of others and this can also result in others being motivated to improve their own performance. Lastly, I believe in my team. Reference – Study Manual, HND Hospitality Management, page 292-295 3.2 (P9) The team turnover can be kept low by developing and describing the mission, policies, objectives of the organisation. Secondly, establish formal and informal organizational structures to give authority and share responsibility. Thirdly, set priorities, review and revise objectives. Moreover, communicate effectively with the team, other groups and community. Furthermore, select, motivate, train and appraise staff. In addition, secure funds, manage budgets and evaluate accomplishments. Finally, be responsible to staff, the larger enterprise and the larger community. Reference – Study Manual, HND Hospitality Management, page 296-298 4.1 (P10) The managerial and personal skills that will support career development are being able to identify, organize, plan and allocate resources including time, money, material and facilities and human resources. Secondly, being interpersonal therefore working with others-participates was a member of a team, teaches others new skills, services clients/customers, exercises leadership, negotiates and works with diversity. Thirdly, ability to – acquire and evaluate information, organize and evaluate information, interpret and communicate information and use computers to process information. Also, work with systems hence understand complex interrelationships. They will then understand the systems, monitor and correct performance and improve or design systems. Moreover, can work with a variety of technologies, this includes – selecting technology, applying it and maintaining and troubleshooting equipment. Furthermore, they also consist of the basic skills such reading, writing, per forming arithmetic and mathematical operations, listening and speaking. They have the thinking skills so can think creatively, make fast decisions, solve problems effectively, visualize and know how to learn and reason. Lastly, they have

World War I Research Paper Assignment - 1395 Words

World War I Research Paper Assignment World War I Research Paper Assignment IAH 202, Section 733 Joshua Bloom 6/30/2016 One shot, that is all it took. Nobody could have anticipated that pulling a trigger would create years of distress, pain, and suffering. That is all it took, a man with a gun killing Arc Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914. This one event triggered World War I, almost 17 million deaths, damage that could not be repaid, and years of suffering. However, not everyone can agree that one event was behind a war of such magnitude even though it was the trigger to the start of the war. What prolonged and evolved the war were the following three factors: the belief of nationalism of one’s country and desire to†¦show more content†¦Nationalism started with the revolution of France and England with the Enlightenment principle after the defeat of Napoleon. This created a ripple down effect on the people of Germany, Italy, and other eastern European countries to gains its independence who were groups of people unified by a common language. Both Germany and Italy wanted to embrace N ationalist ideals to strive for European power like England, France, Russia, Austrian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. But in order to gain European power, Germany and Italy had to build industrially and expand territorially. Germany expanded territorially by taking land from Denmark while Italy took land Austria. Now that self-determined countries were rising it created a sense of tension throughout all of Europe between the countries. Not only was there tension between Germany and Italy but many other wars were resulting in the quest to conquer new land. One example of this is the Balkans Nations Independence resulting from the fall of the Ottoman Empire. With the escalation of tension and fear it hit a turning point causing countries to recognize they needed to make treaties to secure the countries safety and fight together. This realization created two man powers being the Allies (England, France, Russia, Italy) and the Central Powers (Germany, Ottoman Empire, Austrian Empire). While nationalism was the fuel to the fire, industrialization was behind the combat of the war and had a big impact on how the war