Sunday, October 6, 2019
Paper #4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1
Paper #4 - Essay Example He deplores the fact that his mother should have remarried barely two months after the death of her first husband. This soliloquy also shows Hamlet’s meditative nature. It also reveals his filial attachment to his dead father to whom he speaks highly, and his scorn of his uncle to whom he refers in disparaging terms. His references to Hyperion, Niobe and Hercules show him to be well versed in classical literature. His generalizing tendency is also explicable when he says, By the above mentioned quote, Hamlet also blames his mother to be frail and not loyal to his father as she marries with his uncle with haste. The soliloquy as a whole also reveals that Hamlet presented an artificial dialogue before the court and his uncle when he was in the court as the soliloquy is contrasted to his words. Hamlet through this soliloquy expresses his grief and sadness over the demise of his father whom he regards as an appreciative and amicable personality. He also shows in depth love for his father. Hamlet regards that his mother has not felt any pain and torment because of her husband’s demise and has married as soon as she could. He thinks that her tears were â€Å"unrighteous†. Hamlet not only regards his mother’s marriage as a sign of her fragility and weakness but also considers it as incest as he says:  This soliloquy and the feelings expressed in it are indicative of Hamlet’s sorrow and depression that are there because of his mother’s marriage with Claudius. Hamlet also expresses profound love and respect for his father but his mother has degraded herself in the eyes of his son by her act of marriage. Hamlet’s shown sorrow and attitude can be applied on general human feelings and attitudes. Anyone can be sorrowful and sad on such state of affairs. For example, there is a child whose father is dead and his mother marries another man only after a short time of her husband’s death, the child would be badly depressed because of her mother’s act.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Management planning and control system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Management planning and control system - Essay Example So as to avert the frauds and errors, the modern business world has developed some potential tools. These tools include accounting techniques and control systems such as internal check system. According to Macintosh â€Å"accounting and control systems can and do play a critical role in defining the moral constitution of an organisation†(1994, p.174). In order to better understand this statement, it is essential to evaluate control systems and accounting techniques separately. This paper will evaluate the efficacy of such tools in defining the ethical status of an organization. Impacts of control systems on organization In the opinion of Basu (2009, p. 4.13), internal check can be defined as an arrangement of staff duties whereby no person is allowed to deal with the entire process of a transaction. As a result of this practice, every record is checked by several persons so as to ensure the accuracy of the book of accounts. This method would also assist the organisation to de tect errors and frauds that already committed by accounting clerks. Since employees are not permitted to deal with a transaction from beginning to end, their unfair practices would be detected in subsequent checks if they have committed any. When such a practice is being exercised in an organisation, the employees will be very cautious about the fair maintenance of accounts. This careful account preparation minimises the elements of errors to a large extent. At the same time, the fear about detection of frauds and thereby compulsory job termination would persuade employees to treat organisational documents genuinely. Nowadays, majority organisations practice this type of internal control system in order to increase the reliability of their financial information. In short, control systems and thereby the feeling of being discovered would aid the organisation to exercise moral pressure over its employees. Impacts of accounting on organization If control systems are employed to put a c heck to errors and frauds, the accounting procedures mainly propose to identify elements have already been committed. At the same time, it must be noted that control techniques are part of a well formulated accounting system. According to American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), accounting is defined as â€Å"the art of recording, classifying, and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are, in part at least, of financial character, and interpreting the results thereof†(as cited in Jon, 2008). Although, the basic components of accounting such as journalising and posting are carried out in a day to day manner, the final accounts are prepared at the end of the financial year. The final financial statement provides the state of affairs of the business, and on the strength of this report; it is possible to verify the book balances with actual business status. If any difference is identified between book value an d actual value, the concerned accounting clerks are held liable to compensate the detected damages. This procedure also puts some moral pressure over employees to keep the accounts accurately and sincerely. In the opinion of Roy (n.d.), forensic accounting is the recently introduced branch of accounting that can be effectively employed to deal with errors and frauds. Under this system, the firms treat all
Friday, October 4, 2019
Leadership Communication Styles Inventory Essay Example for Free
Leadership Communication Styles Inventory Essay As a manager or leader of an organization of any kind, the power and ability to effectively lead others are in the choices made to build a healthy, motivational, and productive relationship with people on your team. We all influence others in some way, its Just that we seldom realize that we do or how we do it. Power in the workplace has traditionally been defined as force, dominance, assertiveness, strength, invincibility, and authority. In forward thinking corporations, power requires a commitment and a plan of action (Hale, 2010). Power and influence are somewhat interchangeable. Power is the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others. Power is not the act of changing someonws attitudes or behavior; it is only the potential to do so. You might feel powerful or think you have power over someone else, but this is not power unless you truly have the capacity to influence that person (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). One of the hardest lessons of management is that practically everything that has to be done must be done by others. Manager ¤Ã‚ ¬ws duties not only include directing employees ut controlling the budget, assets, and other Jobs within the organization as well. Leadership is the ability to get people to do what they don ¬wt want to do and like it. In other words, the core problem for leaders in any organization involves getting others to do what is required to accomplish the organization ¤es goals (Michelson). The concept of power and its application to leadership and management has gotten a bad reputation. Terms such as power hungry, abuse of power and corrupted by power have diluted powerws real use and meaning and deprived some leaders f the opportunity to understand and use various forms of power to good purposes (Wood, 2010). I like to believe people misuse their power simply because they have it and are unaware of it. When used in a positive, moral, and ethical manner, power is an excellent resource. It requires the perception of dependence, so people might gain power by convincing others that they have something of value, whether or not they actually control that resource. Consequently power exists when others believe that you control resources they want (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 010). People rely on their emotion more frequently than they realize to make decisions, so to become a more powerful influencer, it is wise to consider othews values, personality, and intelligence and express confidence in the personws ability to accomplish the Job. The type of power applied affects the type of influence the power holder has over the other person or work unit. Everyone has power and I d believe that to be a bad thing. The issue becomes what kind of power a person has and how it is used. The most powerful source is based on one osition within an organization and the authority given in that position (Wood, 2010). An abusive boss can lose respect and influence from their team members. As a leader, your influence and power are not only about getting the Job done, itws about the relationships you develop in the workplace. A supervisor on my Job is retiring in a couple ot months and it seems ner whole attitude and demeanor nas changed. She seems to be on a quest to get all the people she wants out of the company and all that she wants promoted before she leaves. The influence and respect that she once possessed is no longer apparent or given to her and the orale in the office is very low. Her tactics to get the Job done are threatening, humiliating, and demeaning for some of the employees. They are afraid to go above her for the fear of retaliation, so they wait and hope that their Jobs are safe until she retires. French and Raven, social psychologists, identified five sources of power legitimate, coercive, reward, expert, and referent that help the dependent person directly or indirectly achieve his or her goals. Legitimate, reward and coercive are sources of power granted formally by the organization and informally by co-workers; hey are positional powers (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). Legitimate power is an agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request certain behaviors of others. It depends on mutual agreement from those expected to abide by this authority (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). True and lasting power comes from being a leader worthy of respect and admiration. If you treat people with dignity and respect, you will build a trusting relationship and people will look up to you, listen to what you say, and want to be like you. Reward power derived from the person ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions. Managers have power over the distribution of organizational rewards such as pay, promotions, time off, vacation schedules, and work assignments (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). This power comes with the position and can be taken away if the position is removed. Coercive power is the ability to apply punishment. Employees also have coercive power to ensure that co-workers conform to team norms (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). You have this kind of power when youwre in a position to punish others if they don ¬wt do what you want. People fear the consequences of not doing what has been asked of them. Expert and referent powers are based on an individuws personal power. These powers are based on charisma, likeability, and positive feelings the leader generates among subordinates (Wood, 2010). There is research suggesting that charismatic leadership is negatively related to harmful behaviors in the workplace. For example, transformational leadership was negatively associated with safety accidents which harisma is a large component of (Hale, 2010). These powers originate from the power holders characteristics and are power bases brought to the organization. Expert power is an individualws or work uws capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills that others value (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). This power is based on what you know and will quickly gain you respect and influence in the workplace. It is all about knowing your Job and doing it well and not being afraid in learning all that you can. It could potentially be the basis for a managerial role for an employee. Referent power is a function ofa perso ¬ws interpersonal skills which allows others to identify with them, like them, or respect them and is associated with charismatic leadership (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). People are well liked and are considered role models because of their connection and concern for other people. People who are well-liked and respected nave a tremendous amount ot reterent power. A wise leader knows now and when to apply the right amount of power to influence an individual, group, or situation to move an agenda forward (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). In order to be an effective leader, a person cannot rely solely on either of these positions of power. Leading by example, offering rewards, or threatening punishments all can be used as power tools to accomplish goals, however more power can be gained by sharing it among the team in a more subtle and counterintuitive way (Wood, 2010). If you want your team to be ethical and respectful of each other, I believe the example should start from the top. Using influence tactics well requires a healthy combination of interpersonal, communication, presentation, and assertiveness techniques, verbal skills such as asserting, probing, ersisting, speaking conversationally, and willingness to ask for favors ( (Selling and Persuaion Techniques ). Influence refers to any behavior that attempts to alter someonws attitudes or behaviors (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). You may try to exert your influence through coercion and manipulation and you might even get things done but that isn ¬wt really influencing. Thatws forcing people to do what you want them to do and often against their will. Effective leaders use combinations of various strategies for different purposes under different onditions which can be classified under three categories: retribution, reciprocation, and reason (Michelson).
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Literature Review on Metamaterial
Literature Review on Metamaterial LITERATURE REVIEW ON METAMATERIAL The Left-Handed Metamaterial (LHM) has a few unique properties such as negative refraction and backward wave. In this chapter, the basic theories behind their unique properties are presented and some applications of LHM toward the antenna application are discussed. DEFINITION BACKGROUND OF LEFT-HANDED METAMATERIAL Electromagnetic Metamaterial can be defined as artificial effective homogenous electromagnetic structures with unusual properties not readily found in nature . A Left-Handed Metamaterial (LHM) [17][18]or Double Negative Metamaterial (DNG) is an electromagnetic Metamaterial that exhibit negative permittivity and permeability. This phenomenon can be characterized by the negative refraction index and the anti-parallel phase velocity which is also known as backward wave. HISTORY OF LEFT-HANDED METAMATERIAL (LHM) The initial work on LHM was started by V. G. Veselago from the Lebedjev Physical Institute in Moscow when he made a theoretical speculation of this artificial material that exhibit negative permittivity and negative permeability. Veselago speculation remain silent for 29 years until 1996, J. B. Pendry from Imperial College London and his co-author form GEC-Marconi published a paper about artificial metallic construction which exhibit negative permittivity and negative permeability. Following this interesting discovery, in 2001, the first experimental verification was made by Shelby, Smith and Schultz at the University of California. The left handed material structure consists of split ring resonator and thin wire inspired by J. B. Pendry as shown in figure 3.1. Figure 3.1: First experimental LHM structure Since the introduction of LHM twelve years ago, many researchers were interested in investigating this artificial material and several of them was using LHM to improve the properties of the microwave devices such as antennas and filters. Many papers have been published regarding the LHM integrated with antennas and their properties have been analyzed. The focusing affect of LHM has made a low gain antenna becomes directive and have an increment of gain. FEATURES OF METAMATERIAL Improvement in the performance of a small monopole antenna, realized via the use of an ENG envelope that compensates for its high capacitive reactance. Lens effect produced by DNG slabs that are useful for enhancing the directivities of a small antennas, e.g. dipole and Microstrip patches, by collimating the cylindrical waves emanating from these antennas and focusing them at infinity. Creation of super lenses which can have a spatial resolution below that of the wavelength. UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF LEFT-HANDED METAMATERIALS Negative Refractive Index: For conventional material with à °Ã‚ Å“â‚ ¬r > 0 and à °Ã‚ Ϡ¡r > 0, the refractive index is givenà °Ã‚ ‘†º=√à °Ã‚ Ϡ¡Ãƒ °Ã‚ ‘Å ¸Ãƒ °Ã‚ Å“â‚ ¬Ãƒ °Ã‚ ‘Å ¸, so that the conventional material possesses a positive refractive index. Yet, Left-handed Meta-material has both negative permittivity (à °Ã‚ Å“â‚ ¬r à °Ã‚ Ϡr à °Ã‚ ϠThe Snells law is described as ..3.3.1(a) Where à °Ã‚ Å“Æ’2 the incident is angle and à °Ã‚ Å“Æ’1 is the refraction angle. Supposing medium I and medium II are conventional materials with à °Ã‚ ‘†º1>0 and à °Ã‚ ‘†º2>0 respectively, them refracted light will be bent with positive ÃŽ ¼ with the normal line OO as indicated by the 4th light ray in figure3.2. If medium II is a left-handed meta-material with à °Ã‚ ‘†º2 Figure 3.2 Passage of a light ray through the boundary between medium I with positive refractive index à °Ã‚ ’ à °Ã‚ Ã… ¸Ã‚ >0 and medium II with refractive index à °Ã‚ ’ à °Ã‚ Ã… ¸Ã‚ . The phase velocity expression à °Ã‚ Å“-à °Ã‚ ‘ =à °Ã‚ ‘ à °Ã‚ ‘†º à °Ã‚ Ϡshows that the phase velocity à °Ã‚ Å“-à °Ã‚ ‘ is related to the index of refraction , here c denotes the speed of light in a vacuum. For LHM has negative refractive index (à °Ã‚ ‘†º à °Ã‚ ϠFigure 3.3: The energy flow and group velocity propagate forward in LHMs but the phase velocity is backward Veselago also predicted that the Doppler and Cerenkov effects will be reversed in LHM. An approaching source will appear to radiate at a lower frequency and charged particles moving faster than the speed of light in the medium will radiate in a backward cone, not a forward cone. These two exotic properties are not employed in this Dissertation, however details about them can be found in. LEFT-HANDED METAMATERIAL STRUCTURE The first LHM structure consists of split ring resonator (SRR) and thin wire (TW) or capacitance loaded strip (CLS)[19]. The SRR exhibits the negative value of permeability and the CLS and TW exhibit the negative value of permittivity in a certain range of frequency. Split Ring Resonator (SRR) (b) Figure 3.4: (a) Circular split ring resonator and (b) Square split ring resonator A split ring resonator (SRR) as shown in figure3.4 is part of the LHM structure that exhibit negative value of permeability. If the excitation of the magnetic field is perpendicular to plane of the structure, this will generate the magnetic dipole moment. The SRR is a highly conductive structure in which the capacitance between the two rings balances its inductance . The SRR induces high current density structure which creates a large magnetic moment. Capacitance Loaded Strip (CLS) and Thin Wire (TW) (a) (b) Figure 3.5: (a) Capacitance loaded strip (CLS) and (b) Thin wire (TW) figure 3.5(a) shows the capacitance loaded strip (CLS) and figure 3.5(b) shows the thin wire (TW). CLS and TW would produce strong dielectric like response. As electric field propagates parallel through the TW or CLS, it will induce a current along them. This will generate an electric dipole moment to the structure and exhibit a plasmonic-type of permittivity frequency . CST SOFTWARE CST was founded in 1992 byThomas Weiland. The main product of CST is CST STUDIO SUITE,which comprises A various modules dedicated to specific application areas. There are modules for microwave RF applications, summarized in CST MICROWAVE STUDIO, low frequency (CST EM STUDIO), PCBs and packages (CST PCB STUDIO), cable harnesses (CST CABLE STUDIO), temperature and mechanical stress (CST MPHYSICS STUDIO) and for the simulation of the interaction of charged particles and electromagnetic fields (CST PARTICLE STUDIO). All modules are integrated with a system and circuit simulator (CST DESIGN STUDIO). The version is CST Microwave Studio 2010. Figure 3.6 CST Microwave Studio In next chapter, the design of the LHM is discussed and the procedure in the simulation of the LHM using CST software is elaborated thoroughly. Besides that, the design of the Metamaterial structures, patch Microstrip antennas are also elaborated. CST Microwave Studio is a fully featured software package for electromagnetic analysis and design in the high frequency range. It simplifies the process of inputting the structure by providing a powerful solid modeling front-end which is based on the ACIS modeling kernel. Strong graphic feedback simplifies the definition of Your device even further. After the component has been modeled, a fully automatic meshing procedure (based on an expert system) is applied before the simulation engine is started. The simulators feature the Perfect Boundary Approximation (PBAâ„ ¢ method) and its Thin Sheet Technique (TSTâ„ ¢) extension, which increases the accuracy of the simulation by an order of magnitude in comparison to conventional simulators. Since no method works equally well in all application domains, the software contains four different simulation techniques (Transient solver, Frequency domain solver, Eigenmode solver, Modal analysis solver) which best fit their particular applicat ions. The most flexible tool is the transient solver, which can obtain the entire broadband frequency behavior of the simulated device from only one calculation run (in contrast to the frequency stepping approach of many other simulators). This solver is very efficient for most kinds of high frequency applications such as connectors, transmission lines, filters, antennas and many more.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Unferth in Beowulf and Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey :: comparison compare contrast essays
Unferth in Beowulf and Odysseus in the Odyssey          Kemp Malone in his essay â€Å"Beowulf†comments that the hero’s swimming match with Breca, an episode of more than 100 lines, is â€Å"not told as such,†but set in a frame: â€Å"the flitting between Unferth and Beowulf†(Malone 144). This contention or challenge between the hero and a rude challenger appears not only in Beowulf but in other heroic poetry like the Odyssey.  When Beowulf and his crew of brave Geat warriors arrive to the court of King Hrothgar of Denmark, one of the king’s retainers, Unferth by name, has been drinking too heavily of the mead. This puts him into a drunken state of mind wherein he unwisely and rudely challenges the hero regarding a swimming contest sometime earlier:  Unferth, Ecglaf’s son,               rose to speak, who sat at the fee                     of the lord of the Scyldings; he unbound a battle-rune -       the journey of Beowulf, the brave seafarer,                   caused him chagrin, for he would not grant  that any other man under the heavens                    might ever care more for famous deeds                     than he himself: â€Å"Are you the same Beowulf      who challenged Breca to a swimming match                on the open sea? There out of pride                    you both tested sea-ways, through foolish boasting risked lives on the deep. None could dissuade you,        friend or foe, keep either of you                    from that hapless trip, when you went swimming         out of the bay, your arms embracing                the crests, sea-currents, flung out your hands                 to measure the sea-roads, the ocean of wind.                   The steep seas boiled in winter’s pourings.                 You both toiled seven nights driven by the waves,                and in that swimming he overcame you,                    had greater strength.(499ff.)  So far Unferth, a proud warrior himself, tells Beowulf that the hero is foolish and that he has been bested in this sea-competition by his opponent – both of which are big, embarrassing putdowns. Unferth continues to rub it in:  The sea cast him up                 on the Heatho-Raems’ shore; from there at daybreak he sought his homeland, beloved by his people,             came back to the Brondings, fair peace-fort                          where he had subjects, stronghold, and treasures.        The good son of Beanstan had truly fulfilled                       his whole boast against you(519ff.)  Nothing like siding 100% with the foe! Before even hearing both sides of the story! Finally, in concluding, Unferth states his minimal expectations of Beowulf considering the latter’s utter failure against Breca:
Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Essay
Control is the social construction constituting exercising authority over other beings. It can take many forms, the most prominent of which between Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer being physical, psychological, capitalist and patriarchal. Both novels are of the Bildungsroman genre, however whilst Jean-Baptiste Grenouille has a predatory and psychotic personality, this is something to which Tess Durbeyfield is subject without reciprocity until the end of the novel, and it is ultimately this hamartia which leads to her oppression. Physical Under the historical influence of Darwin’s natural selection, Hardy attempts to highlight the physical control that Alec has over Tess through an animalistic comparison. In a reference to the rape of Lucrece, and thus to Tess’ rape, he states ‘the serpent hisses where the sweet bird sings’. This imagery highlights the sly, predatory tendancies of Alec, and diametrically opposes them to Tess’ delicate predispositions. Later, Hardy implies that she is raped. ‘Feminine tissue, sensitive as gossamer’ displays Alec’s unconscious urges to control such a virgo intacta. The sibilance in this phrase contributes to Alec's presentation as a predator she is also described as ‘blank as snow’, a tabula rasa, a form of innocence Alec physically destroys. These factors, along with the traditional norms of wedding days, culminate to create a grotesque parody of a wedding night. The moon’s later description as ‘tarnished’ is symbolic of how Tess’ has been physically abused by Alec, although it also exposes a disrupted parallel between the moon’s 28–day cycle, and Tess’ menstrual cycle due to the development and birth of Sorrow. Lucrece, just like Tess is described as if she wer... ... of the works of D.H. Lawrence Study of Thomas Hardy and Other Essays, D. H. Lawrence, page 99, Cambridge University Press, 25 Jul 1985 [2] Barron’s Book Notes Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, page 114 – Douglas Brown: Social and Individual Fate in Tess from Thomas Hardy, 1961 [3] John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Chapter 1, The social presence of men and women, page 5, 1972 [4] "Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy." 123HelpMe.com. 04 Jan 2014 . [5] Sin, Society, and the Double Standard, Male and Female Transgressions in Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Scott Fowler [6] Twentieth Century Interpretations of Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Albert J. LaValley, 1969 [7] Kristen Brady, Tess and Alec: Rape or Seduction? 1986 [8] Cruel Persuasion: Seduction, Temptation and Agency in Hardy’s Tess, James A. W. Heffernan
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Leadership: Bases of Power Essay
Who would want to work for a weak manager? Managers need power to do their jobs, because their jobs require them to influence others. Consequently, managers who feel powerless to influence others experience a tremendous amount of frustration and stress. Their staff members tend to feel frustrated too. Power means many different things to different people. For some, power is seen as corrupt. For others, the more power they have, the more successful they feel. For even others, power is of no interest at all. Positions of authority confer power to the people who hold managerial positions. However, managers who rely solely on their formal authority to influence others will find that it doesn’t inspire their staff, and can even demoralize them. Hence, it helps to also derive power from other sources. Charisma and having personal appeal are sources of power too. Power can also be developed by becoming and expert or by performing critical role for the firm. Bases of Social Power Bases of power refer to the methods that managers and leaders utilize to influence their employees. When examining bases of power, the concept of authority must also be considered. These two are interconnected attributes tied to the behavior of superiors over subordinates. In their article, â€Å"Are There No Limits To Authority?†, David Knights and Darren McCabe explain that â€Å"power should be understood to be a condition of social relations. Thus, it is erroneous to ask who has power. Instead, it is necessary to explore how power is exercised.†In turn, the nature of how power is exercised is a workable definition for authority. In short, authority and power are intertwined, with power being the ability to do things or have others do what one has ordered while authority is the foundation on which that power is built. The bases of social power are very diverse, and no list is ever complete. Nonetheless, the commonly identified bases of power fit pretty well into two categories; position-related factors and personal factors. Position-related factors. Position power comes from the legitimacy inherent in many positions, the ability to provide rewards, the ability to coerce, access to valuable information and performing a critical function. These position-related factors are: Legitimate power allows leaders to motivate others simply because they hold the leadership position. Sometimes we comply with the wishes of a leader just because of the societal expectations for us to do so. For instance, if Colin Powell shows up at your club’s luncheon and wants to say a few words, you let him. Why do you give him that privilege? Stupid question. He’s the Secretary of State! You just do that sort of thing for someone in his position. That’s legitimate power. That kind of legitimacy isn’t always very strong for managers who are promoted to a position in which they must supervise their former peers. If the former peers have any difficulty adjusting to their managers’ new positions, legitimacy will be kind of weak. Legitimate power comes from having a position of power in an organization, such as being the boss or a key member of a leadership team. This power comes when employees in the organization recognize the authority of the individual. For example, the CEO who determines the overall direction of the company and the resource needs of the company. Legitimate power rests in the belief among employees that their manager has the right to give orders based on his or her position. For example, at the scene of a crime, people usually comply with the orders of a uniformed police officer based simply on their shared belief that he or she has the predetermined authority to give such orders. In a corporate setting, employees comply with the orders of a manager who relies on legitimate power based on the position in the organizational hierarchy that the manager holds. Yet, although employees may comply based on legitimate power, they may not feel a sense of commitment or cooperation. Reward power is the ability to provide incentives to others if they will cooperate with you. Managers who can affect their direct reports’ income, perks, job assignments, etc. are able to offer rewards in exchange for compliance. Having a high degree of reward power really helps a manager influence others. Reward power is conveyed through rewarding individuals for compliance with one’s wishes. This may be done through given bonuses, raises, a promotion, extra time off from work, etc. For example, the supervisor who provides employees comp time when they meet an objective she sets for a project. Reward power, as the name implies, rests on the ability of a manager to give some sort of reward to employees. These rewards can range from monetary compensation to improved work schedules. Reward power often does not need monetary or other tangible compensation to work when managers can convey various intangible benefits as rewards. Huey describes Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., as an active user of reward power. Walton relies heavily on these intangible awards, indicating that â€Å"nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They are absolutely free-and worth a fortune†. When reward power is used in a flexible manner, it can prove to be a strong motivator, as Crosby, Deming, and others have shown. Still, when organizations rely too rigidly on rewards, the system can backfire. Employees may be tempted to unethically or even illegally meet the quotas to which overly rigid reward systems may be tied. Another problem associated with rewards as a base for power is the possibility that the rewards will divert employees’ attention from their jobs and focus their attention instead on the rewards da ngled before them. Coercive power is the ability to punish or intimidate. It’s often said that unions eliminate management’s ability to sanction uncooperative employees. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but when collective bargaining agreements state that management can only terminate employees with cause, management does have restricted ability to coerce cooperation. Managers should use coercion with great care anyway. Coercion only motivates minimal cooperation and breeds resentment. Coercive power is conveyed through fear of losing one’s job, being demoted, receiving a poor performance review, having prime projects taken away, etc. This power is gotten through threatening others. For example, the VP of Sales who threatens sales folks to meet their goals or get replaced. Coercive power rests in the ability of a manager to force an employee to comply with an order through the threat of punishment. Coercive power typically leads to short-term compliance, but in the long-run produces dysfunctional behavior. Coercion reduces employees’ satisfaction with their jobs, leading to lack of commitment and general employee withdrawal. In the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, coercive power has seen a decline in the last 50 years. Several reasons contribute to this, ranging from the legal erosion of employment-at-will and the awareness of employee violence or other forms of retaliatory behavior. Equally important as an effect on the receding popularity of coercion as a basis of power has been the influence of quality management theorists, such as Philip Crosby and W. Edwards Deming. They suggested that there is a decline in productivity and creativity when coercive power is employed. The use of coercive power results in an atmosphere of insecurity or fear. In spite of this insight, coercion as a base of power continues to play a role even in those organizations influenced by theories of quality management. In times of economic crisis or threats to the survival of the organization at large, coercion may come to the forefront. Coercive power may also materialize as organizations attempt to streamline their operations for maximum efficiency. If employees must be fired, those who fail to conform to the organizational goals for survival will be the most likely candidates for termination. The threat of termination for failure to comply, in turn, is coercive power. Access to valuable information produces power because valuable information is a resource that can be exchanged. Back in the days when managers had secretaries do all their typing and schedule their meetings, some secretaries had access to a lot of important information. Consequently, people who were nice to secretaries were able to get information and access to key personnel that jerks couldn’t get. Even without having formal authority, the secretaries did have power, and shrewd business people treated secretaries with respect. Performing a critical function confers power, but only to the extent that the individual or group performing the function is irreplaceable. One of my favorite examples of criticality and irreplaceability as they pertain to power comes from NBC’s television show, West Wing. At the end of the first season, the producers were expecting to have to renegotiate a lot of the actors’ contracts. The producers wanted to bring the whole cast back because audiences don’t react well to new actors playing established roles or to roles that are clumsily dropped from the story. Thus, each actor was critical and irreplaceable. Of course, producers don’t have to replace an actor whose character died. So, the writers arranged to have the West Wing season finale end with a gunshot that could have killed any of the critical actors. It wasn’t until the second season that we found out who got hit. By making the actors less critical, the producers reduced the actors’ negotiating power. Personal factors. A number of personal qualities can also contribute to a person’s power in an organization. Some of these are: Expertise that can be used in exchange for favors is a form of power. For instance, if you’re an expert with PowerPoint you can help colleagues put together their presentations, and you can get favors from them in return. Expert power comes from ones’ experiences, skills or knowledge. As we gain experience in particular areas, and become thought leaders in those areas, we begin to gather expert power that can be utilized to get others to help us meet our goals. For example, the Project Manager who is an expert at solving particularly challenging problems to ensure a project stays on track. Expert power rests on the belief of employees that an individual has a particularly high level of knowledge or highly specialized skill set. Managers may be accorded authority based on the perception of their greater knowledge of the tasks at hand than their employees. Interestingly, in expert power, the superior may not rank higher than the other persons in a formal sense. Thus, when an equipment repair person comes to the CEO’s office to fix a malfunctioning piece of machinery, no question exists that the CEO outranks the repair person; yet regarding the specific task of getting the machine operational, the CEO is likely to follow the orders of the repair person. Expert power has within it a built-in point of weakness: as a point of power, expertise diminishes as knowledge is shared. If a manager shares knowledge or skill instruction with his or her employees, in time they will acquire a similar knowledge base or skill set. As the employees grow to equal the manager’s knowledge or skills, their respect for the superiority of his expertise diminishes. The result is either that the manager’s authority diminishes or that the manager intentionally chooses not to share his or her knowledge base or skill set with the employees. The former choice weakens the manager’s authority over time, while the latter weakens the organization’s effectiveness over time. Likeability, or any kind of personal attractiveness, also gives you power. If people like to be around you because you’re witty, friendly, famous or good looking, you’re also likely to be pretty persuasive. We all want to do favors for people we like, up to a limit anyway. Charisma has multiple meanings. A person with charisma has a special interpersonal appeal. Charisma can be viewed as a particularly strong form of likeability or attractiveness. That’s the kind of charisma that Princess Diana had. Charismatic leaders, on the other hand, communicate a vision that’s very appealing and they energize others to pursue it with them. If you want to be a charismatic leader, (a) you have to have an ambitious vision for the group you’re leading, (b) you have to be excited about it, (c) you have to be confident in the group’s ability to achieve that vision, and (d) you have to be able to communicate your vision, excitement, and confidence. That’s the kind of charisma that Winston Churchill had. Persuasive ability, which is clearly associated with the ability to influence others, is another personal source of power. Intellectual problem solving abilities (e.g., rational problem solving ability, creative problem solving ability, inductive reasoning ability) help people influence others. So do interpersonal persuasion skills. On the list of influence tactics, â€Å"reason†is generally considered the best way to influence others. It’s ranked above â€Å"reciprocity,†which draws on reward power (e.g., a bonus in exchange for exceptional performance), and â€Å"retribution†which uses threats and intimidation. To the extent that reason is a great way to influence others, possessing the ability to reason with others is a great power base. Credibility is an important personal base of power. We are more likely to be persuaded by and follow someone with high credibility than we are someone with low or no credibility. Credibility comes from integrity, character, competence, and the ability to lead. Integrity means being open and sharing information that people need and have a right to know. Hidden agendas undermine integrity. So does the unwillingness to provide truthful, well-intentioned, constructive criticism. Honesty also has to be tempered with discretion. Managers need to show discretion and not say negative things about people as gossip or with the intent to hurt, even if those negative things are true. Remember the lesson from the movie, Jerry Maguire, â€Å"brutal truth†can be a bad thing. Character is the strength to do what needs to be done in difficult times. A basketball team has character if it tends to play well at the end of close games. A businessperson demonstrates character by acting in a moral and ethical way despite pressures or self-interests that push them to do otherwise. Competence is one’s knowledge and skills that pertain to a given situation. When someone tries to reason with you and gain your support for a certain course of action, their competence in that area affects their persuasiveness. If they don’t know what they’re talking about, you’re not going to be influenced. Competence contributes to credibility, and credibility allows one person to influence another. Finally, the ability to lead contributes to managers’ credibility. Would you enthusiastically follow a leader who is unable to inspire others, manage conflict, delegate tasks or coordinate activities? No matter how much you respect a leader for her task-related knowledge, integrity and character, you’ll have reservations about working hard for her if she doesn’t demonstrate the ability to lead. In Summary †¦ Managers must have power, and they would do well to develop more than just the ability to reward and punish others. Having resources and information that can be exchanged for cooperation is also helpful. Having personal qualities that inspire confidence and a willingness to follow might be even more useful. Nevertheless, all are sources of power. References: Victor, D. (n.d.). Leadership Styles and Bases of Power. Retrieved February 25,2013, from: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Int-Loc/Leadership-Styles-and-Bases-of-Power.html#ixzz2Lt2Q7QbI Abudi, G. (2011). The 5 Types of Power in Leadership. Retrieved February,from: http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2011/08/26/the-5-types-of-power-in-leadership/ Wiliams, S. (2004). Building Your Power Bases. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from: http://www.wright.edu/~scott.williams/LeaderLetter/power.htm
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