Ethical Dilemma in ICT Improved Equipments and System

Question: Describe about the Ethical Dilemma in ICT for Improved Equipments and System. Answer: Introduction The information system and technology has been in a state of development since the introduction of improved equipments and system. The growth of technology has also made the development of ICT evitable for the growing companies and organizations (Vaishnavi Kuechler, 2015). The ethical issues and flaws have also grown with the increase of uses of technology and information system. The developed technology has been misused by many people for their personal gain and for harming others. The following assignment has been made on the application of Doing Ethics Technique on a selected article for addressing and understanding the ethical issues of cyber crimes on others. Application of Doing Ethics Technique (DET) Selected article- Smaller firms set to 'face 52bn in fines' for security breaches as cyber-crime skyrockets by OWEN (2017). Step 1: Short Summary of the ethical scenario According to Owen (2017), the British Firms have become a subject to 230,000 attacks by cyber criminals in the year 2016. The total amount of loss tolled to be approximately 52 billion pounds (83.87 billion Australian dollars). The study has shown that the cyber attack had an average frequency of over 1000 on a daily basis in UK. It is an alarming situation for the business organizations as the firewall security is not enough to resist the attack and protect their data from external influence. The chairman of internet service provider Beaming has warned people for not taking these attacks lightly. The current rate of attack on cyber structure can rise to 122 billion pounds in the year 2018, if proper strategies are not applied and implemented (Jacobo, 2016). The development and increase in the issues of National Cyber Security have risen to the loss of 5.26 billion in a year. Step 2: List of stakeholders The stakeholders are very important for any business organization as they form the base for supporting the business organizations with financial support and resources (Moore, 2012). The ethical dilemma has shown that the cyber criminals have harmed the business organizations with the loss of financial resources. The primary stakeholders that have to face negative consequence due to the unethical cyber criminal issues are the organization owners and stakeholders (CEO, Managers, Directors, Investors, Customers, and sponsors). The cyber criminals are the stakeholders that have been benefitted from the cyber criminal activities. They have used the technical knowledge and advancement for getting personal gain by attacking the privacy of information. The non human stakeholders include the computer technology ethics and legal rights to privacy that have been violated in the scenario. Step 3: Ideals and Rights. The ethical issue has given rise to financial loss for the business organization and the involved individuals with the organization. The legal right to privacy and confidentiality of information has also been violated in the ethical dilemma (Melden, 2013). The cyber criminals have used the technology of hacking for getting into the secured system of the business organization and extract the information from the system without any consent of the owner. It has shown the unethical use of technology and equipments for personal gain. The unethical hacking and getting into someone elses data base has shown the non abidance of the computer technology ethics and rights. The personal information of the stakeholders and business organizations data are extracted in the above ethical dilemma. Step 4: Obligations and Laws The cyber criminals have deified the computer technological ethics and given rise to ethical dilemma for the small business organizations and the individuals connected to the organizations (Moore, 2012). The legal obligations included in the ethical dilemma are loss of information authenticity due to misuse by the cyber criminals. The cyber criminals have targeted small business organizations to make money out of the attack. The attackers have used ransom ware for hindering the process of business organizations and access to the information. The owners of the business organization would have to pay a considerable amount to the attackers for letting them use the system for their processes and access the files from the system. According to Kim (2015), the ACS has formed the laws that abide the improper use of technology for harassing the people. Step 5: Consequences for Each Stakeholders The ethical dilemma has resulted in harming the operations of business organizations and the individuals involved in the project. The development of the hacking tools has been deployed for bypassing the security of the information system and extracting the information from the system (Hansson, 2016). The involved stakeholders in the project are organization owners and stakeholders (CEO, Managers, Directors, Investors, Customers, and sponsors), cyber criminals, computer technology ethics, and legal rights to privacy. The human stakeholders that have been negatively affected from the ethical dilemma are the organizations stakeholders and other involved persons. They have to face loss of financial resources due to the mentioned ethical dilemma. The cyber criminals are another stakeholder involved in the scenario. However, they have been positively affected from the issue as they are the initiators of the attack and they gain benefits from the other parties. The non human stakeholders are the computer technology ethics and legal rights to privacy. The unethical use of computer technology has resulted in harming the computer ethics. The rights to privacy of information have also been violated in the scenario. Step 6: Ethical Theories Act Utilitarianism: The ethical dilemma has resulted in decreasing the overall happiness of organization owners and stakeholders (CEO, Managers, Directors, Investors, Customers, and sponsors) by harming the financial stability of the organization (Vaishnavi Kuechler, 2015). Hence, the Utilitarianism would help in modification of the thinking of the cyber criminals and prevent them from misusing the technology. Act Kantianism: The Kantianism theory is helpful for rectification of moral contradictions and logical reasoning that results in solving the unethical issues. According to Hay (2013), the Kantianism theory has the possibility for providing moral lifting of the hackers and cyber criminals to rise above their personal benefits and avoid the unethical practices. Rule Utilitarianism: The rule utilitarianism has been used for solving the issues related with hacking and uplifting of the overall happiness. Social contract theory: The social contract theory applies for supporting the ethical practices in computer technology. Step 7: Solution Summaries The smaller companies should design and implement the process of encryption for their information system storage system. The use of secured design would allow the users for the protecting the information from wireless hackers. Windows firewall is useful for protecting the network security of the information system (Biham Shamir, 2012). However, it has flaws that have been utilized by hackers for getting into the system. Hence, the use of IDS/IPS would be helpful for protecting the network from unauthorized access. The system development of the wireless information system should have integrated and password protection for dealing with the cyber criminals. The lack of self realization among the users has resulted in increasing the occurrence of unethical hacking issues. Conclusion Doing ethics can be defined as the process of analyzing the issues and evaluating methods of their solutions for any specific ethical problem related to technology. The assignment had evaluated the various stakeholders for the small business organization and it has shown the affect of the ethical dilemma on these stakeholders. The various theories of Ethical Science like, Utilitarianism, Kantianism theory, rule utilitarianism, and Social contract theory has been analyzed in the assignment above. The solution summarizes the various methods for dealing with the ethical issues. The solutions are designing and implementing the process of encryption, using secured design for information system, windows firewall, and IDS/IPS technique. The overall analysis of the assignment has shown the development of optimized solution for the ethical issue of hacking into the system. References Biham, E., Shamir, A. (2012).Differential cryptanalysis of the data encryption standard. Springer Science Business Media. Hansson, S. O. (2016). The Ethics of Doing Ethics.Science and engineering ethics, 1-16. Hay, C. (2013).Kantianism, Liberalism, and Feminism: Resisting Oppression. Springer. Jacobo, J. (2016).More Than 100 Cars Stolen by High-Tech Thieves: Police.ABC News. Retrieved 9 August 2016, from https://abcnews.go.com/US/houston-police-100-cars-stolen-high-tech-thieves/story?id=41124433 Kim, J. (2015). A Study on the Development of the Emergent System Recovery in an Effective Way from Hacking Attacks or Security Incidents.International Journal of Security and Its Applications,9(8), 187-194. Melden, A. (2013).Ethical theories. Read Books Ltd. Moore, A. D. (2012). Owning genetic information and gene enhancement techniques: why privacy and property rights may undermine social control of the human genome.Bioethics,14(2). OWEN, V. (2017).Smaller firms set to 'face 52bn in fines' for security breaches as cyber-crime skyrockets.www.dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2017, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/smallbusiness/article-4120352/Smaller-firms-set-face-52bn-fines-security-breaches-cyber-crime-skyrockets.html?ITO=1490 Vaishnavi, V. K., Kuechler, W. (2015).Design science research methods and patterns: innovating information and communication technology. Crc Press.

Book Summary - Management Teams free essay sample

The scientific research that gave birth to the Belbin Team Role theory started in the 70’s when funds were assigned to researchers from Cambridge and College of Henley to study the use of computer in management. The research started from a recurring phenomenon observed at Henley College that some teams performed better than others despite their homogeneity in terms of qualifications and experience. The problem related was that there seemed not to be a straightforward way to forecast which combinations of managers yielded the best results. A management exercise was created in a controlled research environment where teams entered a competition under the observation of researchers. There were two innovative points about this approach that were that (1) the outcomes of the exercise, namely the teams performances, could be measured and compared on a single axis of success; in this case it was the amount of financial assets1 gathered by each team; and (2) that the ‘input’ of this process was quantitatively measured based on the observation of researchers and on psychological tests that members of the teams had to take beforehand. In this way they could form different combinations of members based on the tests; check their performance and find causal links between input and output. The research went through five stages in which each member that wished to participate took the tests voluntarily and the financial outcomes were measured as an indicator of success. The stages evolved from observation and learning from the exercises to forming different combinations of teams; from which they could build and test hypothesis and start making forecasts. Later on team members were allowed to orm their own combinations, which led to further learning and to more sophisticated forecasts. Nine years of research concluded with a very close prediction in a final exercise and a sound and compelling model that could be used in the consultancy world. The Apollo syndrome The first hypothesis to be tested was based purely on mental ability; the starting point was that cleverest people tend to get the best results when solving prob lems individually, therefore it was reasonable to think that a team formed by highly clever members would obtain better results than a team with a lower average intelligence. The Critical Thinking Appraisal2 (CTA) was used to measure mental ability and members with the highest CTA scores were grouped together in teams called Apollo teams. The outcomes of the experimentation were quite revealing and contrary to the expected results. The Apollo companies turned out to be a big disappointment; out of twenty-five companies that competed in different exercises, only three came in the first place (i. e. 12%) and the rest felt out of the podium. Only a small percentage were indeed effective teams, which clearly indicates that collective cleverness on its own was not a sufficient ingredient for success and definitely not an accurate predictive criterion. The results were useful to analyze the flaws in Apollo teams and to draw useful principles in building effective teams. Members of these companies engaged in abortive debate trying to convince other members of their point of view. Apollo companies usually got involved in open confrontations of ideas and strategies; they tended to act on personal beliefs and maintain their opinions without consideration of what others were doing or thinking. As a result there was a limited constructive debate and teamwork, which neutralized every potential individual contribution. Managers are expected to produce results, and a reasonable way to measure results in companies is in terms of financial outcomes. That’s why financial assets were chosen as the criterion to evaluate team effectiveness. CTA or Critical Thinking Appraisal measures the mental ability of a person in five areas: inference, assumptions’ recognition, deduction, interpretation and evaluation of arguments. Page 1 of 10 2 1 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 Successful Apollo teams. Occasionally Apollo teams did excel in the exercises. In these cases the Chairman played a decisive role, either by exerting a dominant influence over the rest or by having a special character. Why? A possible explanation of why these seemingly promising teams were so ineffective is linked with the selection criterion that is the high score in CTA. The word critical has two meanings associated, one is linked to mental acumen and analytical ability, and the other is related to expression of adverse and disapproving judgement. From the PPQ3 it was found that people with high CTA also had high negative constructs ratios, which are related to the second meaning of the word critical; that is clever people expressed more negative comments and opinions about the world around them, making them appear as having a negative perspective. Creating high negative constructs is usually detrimental for the social interactions and teamwork. Conclusions. People with high analytical abilities are not necessarily creative. Good ideas need time and especially favourable conditions to develop; which was not the case of Apollo teams. Destructive tendencies would dominate and any potential talent would be brought down, making Apollo teams fail to be creative and effective. Apollo companies usually had all the talent, at least in a technical sense, that was needed if only they knew how to use it. Similar Personality Teams The Personality factor was generally difficult to assess per se and it was even more difficult to link with team effectiveness, but still it emerged as being more important as a decisive advantage than pure mental ability. Therefore the next stage in the research study was to form teams with similar personalities. The teams were composed using two scales of personality, that is introversion/extroversion and anxiety/stability; which allowed to create four broad types. Stable Extroverts. As a team they create bonds, enjoy the teamwork using resources well. Performance was overall good, but dependency among members was at times too strong. Anxious Extroverts. They are good at working under pressure and at a high pace. As a team they were entrepreneurial, with a good eye for opportunities and likely to end up in constructive disagreements. They were good for periods of change but unreliable and distractible otherwise. Stable Introverts. As a team they were strongly organized but very s low to make progress and displayed a rigid mind to take in new information. Anxious Introverts. As a team they could produce good ideas, but the lack of cohesion and a tendency for worrying resulted in poor performance. Lessons    learned from Stable Extrovert Teams. Extrovert teams tended to perform better than introverts, and overall Stable Extrovert teams performed better than all the other types, being Anxious Introvert teams usually the last ones. The behaviour of Stable Extrovert teams showed more proposing and less opposing than other companies, with commenting at a high level. Three patterns of effectiveness were devised: (1) good collective work, which allowed individual expression and important issues to be treated by discussions; (2) good internal ommunication, which was achieved by giving direct responsibility in pairs, so no major decisions were left to one member; and (3) excellent use of external resources, establishing good relations with external individuals that would later on turn into their advantage. Company    Worker. There was a team member common to all successful teams. Based on the 16PF4 test scores, differentiators were identified and grouped into a cluster of factors. This team member was called Company Worker (CW) and was the first team role to be identified. This member had the following characteristics: disciplined individual, conscientious and aware of PPQ is a test that stands for Personal Preference Questionnaire, it gives leads on personality and outlook. In other words how people see the world around or construct their image of the world and how they are seen by others. 16PF is known as Cattell Personality Inventory and its a self-reporting questionnaire which comprises sixteen personality factors, each one described by two opposite words that form a scale; e. g. reserved/outgoing. Page 2 of 10 4 3 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 external obligations and a sense of self-image with good internal control. Tough-minded, practical, trusting, tolerant towards others and conservative. Validation experiments for CW were conducted during two years. Using both companies high in pure CW and low in CW. The results revealed strong limitations for pure CW companies; even with high mental ability they performed worse than average. Overall   lessons. Each combination had certain advantages but faced particular weaknesses. The main, and probably only, advantage of pure teams is that its easier to find a style of operation that fits everyone. Nevertheless pure teams are, in general, not an effective combination of people. The cases of Apollo teams, similar personality and pure CW show and support the fact that lack of diversity and a spreading of characteristics are detrimental for team performance. Creativity in the Team The capacity to innovate and to come up with creative solutions is important for virtually every company and it can be a source of competitive advantage. Therefore companies have long been interested in how to foster new ideas from their employees. The methods used in those days can be grouped in two types. The first approach was to turn an already established team into an ideamaking team; i. e. everyone becomes creative and contributes with ideas. The problem is that most people are not gifted with highly creative minds; therefore this approach becomes a waste of manpower. The other method was to create two teams; one to generate a large number of ideas, the other to evaluate and select the best ideas. This is advantageous for a limited number of applications, but in most teams that work with everyday tasks this approach is impractical. The alternative approach proposed and tested by Belbin was to Induce a team to understand and to make better use of the individual talents of its members. Identifying inside the team individual(s) that have the potential to contribute with ideas and establishing favourable conditions for them to use their creative minds. In order to identify those individuals with potential for creativity, the Cattell’s formula for Creative Disposition (CD)5 was used together with the CTA. High scores on both scales indicated individuals with the most potentially creative profile, which was called the Plant6. The results after 38 cases supported the predictions. In 25 companies (out of 38) the predicted ‘Plant’ was identified by observers and other members as the first or second idea-maker inside the team. While conducting the exercises, a new group emerged with different attributes from the ones that Plants (PL) possessed, yet they were seen as idea-makers. While PL had average in negative constructs, with high value given to Brain and Originality; the new group showed instead high scores in Versatility. PLs had a tendency towards introversion, while this group preferred extroversion and showed high sociability and enthusiasm, and low anxiety. Ideas were still a focus of interest, but they would rather pick up fragments of ideas from others and develop them; at the same time that they were astute at exploring resources outside the group. This new profile was given the name Resource Investigator (RI). Both are seen as innovators in a team. They contribute to the effectiveness of a company in similar yet different and complementary ways. Leadership in the team Leadership is vital for any organization and team leadership is no exception. To change the direction or even to guarantee survival of a troubled company, the most common strategy is change the head of the firm. This leads to the reflection about the profile of an effective leader in a company or in a team, which this section seeks to answer based on Belbins research. According to Cattells formula: a creative individual has a distinctive set of personal qualities that lie embedded in his character and which do not depend on intelligence. 6 5 The name Plant was given because this individual was planted in the company for experimental purposes. Page 3 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 Through observation of the members acting as Chairmen in the exercises, it was possible to identify a cluster that belonged to the most effective chairmen and it was shown that the outcomes of companies depended to a certain degree on the personality attributes of the team member in the Chair. After mapping the CTA scores of different chairmen, one interesting result appeared: cleverest chairmen were less successful than less clever chairmen. The average CTA of all members participating in the exercises was 74 (in a scale of 100). The most successful chairmen were between 75 and 80, i. e. slightly above average. Less successful Chairmen, yet effective, were between 80 and 85; and all the rest yielded in general poor team performance. Besides being clever slightly above average, successful Chairman (CH) displayed characteristics such as trusting by nature and accepting people; they exerted a basic dominance and commitment to external goals; they were calm and unflappable before controversy; they showed practical realism and were self-discipline; they were enthusiastic towards others and rather extrovert. From the PPQ tests, the CH appeared as a person who thinks in very positive terms; showing approval for those who accomplish their goals and engage in struggle and effort. Other    leadership qualities. From consultancy in industry, significant differences appeared between the profile of successful senior executives and the Chairman formula, which led to identifying the next Belbin team role. From the tests profiles and the behaviour observed, this new type of leaders was extroverts abounding in nervous energy that actuated by the need for achievement. They challenged, they disagreed, they argued. They were impatient and easily frustrated and their main focus was on winning. Their capacity to dominate, to shape the way team effort is applied and to impose a course of action, gave them the name of Shapers (SH). Behaviour. In a team SHs can have opposite effects. On the one hand they can galvanize the group into action, any passivity and slow-pace signals would be pushed towards activity. On the other hand they represented a disruptive force in well-balanced teams; especially if the team was led by an effective CH. As final considerations we can say that the two distinctive approaches to leadership are useful for different teams with different purposes and member composition. SHs are well suited for teams susceptible to stagnation, while CHs is better for well-integrated teams. Key Team Roles Belbin defines functional role as the role that a member of a team performs in terms of the specifically technical demands placed upon him. This is determined by the job demands that a member has to fulfil by supplying the requisite technical skills and operational knowledge. On the other hand team role is defined as a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others inside a team in certain distinctive ways. It describes a pattern of behaviour characteristic of the way in which one team member interacts with another where his performance serves to facilitate the progress of the team as a whole. Each team role is associated with characteristic types of personality measured by psychometric tests. Summary   of Key Team roles7 Company Worker (CW). He is conservative, dutiful and predictable. He possesses great organizing ability, practical common sense, hardworking nature and hes self-discipline. At times he lacks flexibility and can be rigid towards new ideas. Chairman (CH). A calm, controlled and self-confident individual. They have the ability to welcome all potential contributors on their merits and without prejudice. They display strong sense of objectives, but rather limited in their intellectual and creative abilities. Some names were modified later on to better fit the description of the role. This summary uses the original names. The changes are: Company Worker (CW) became the Implementer (IM), Chairman became the Coordinator (CO) Page 4 of 10 7 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 Shaper (SH). They are highly strung, dynamic and outgoing. They challenge the inertia, ineffectiveness and complacency of the group by exerting a relentless driving force. They tend to be impatient and easily irritable causing provocation. Plant (PL). They are unorthodox, serious minded and rather individualistic. Their strengths include their genius, knowledge, imagination and intellect. Usually up in the clouds with a tendency to ignore practical details and protocols. Resource-Investigator (RI). They are extroverted, enthusiastic, curious and communicative. Great capacity to deal with an extensive network of contacts, to explore new things and to respond to challenges. They are prone to lose interest once the initial fascination has passed. Monitor-Evaluator (ME). They are sober, prudent and unemotional. They have good sense of judgment and discretion, and the ability to spot controversial points in arguments. They may show a lack of inspiration and the incapacity to motivate others. Team Worker (TW). They have social skills and are mild and sensitive. They stand out for their ability to deal with conflictive characters and promote team spirits. Their main weakness is indecisiveness in moments of crisis. Completer-Finisher (CF). They are painstaking, anxious, and conscientious about every task presented. They posses the ability to follow through and finalize tasks, they are perfectionists. They have a tendency to worry too much about small things and to be reluctant to delegate. Specialist (SP). Knowledgeable and technically skilful, usually experienced member. Contributes highly on his area of expertise, and may turn out to be indispensable for certain projects. He doesnt possess the qualities of other team roles so he contributes on a limited front. Principle   of Balance - ­ Team Roles in Pairs Specific pairs of team roles provide balance to the performance of the team from different viewpoints. They contribute with behaviours that may appear to be complete opposites but that are complementary at the same time, and therefore balancing, if used effectively (e. g. the contrasting leadership styles of CH and SH). This principle of balance is also common in nature and for almost every team role theres a corresponding counter-balancing role that pushes towards stability. These are examples of the need for complementary behaviours in a team: (1) Providing the team with ideas and resources internally and externally. This is the case of the PL and the RI in which both provide the group with a considerable flux of ideas. One retrieves to his own thoughts and reflections while the other makes external resources available to the group. (2) Leading the team by coordination against provoking disturbance to defeat stagnation. Both the CH and the SH type of leader offer complementary ways of bringing coherence to the functioning of the team. The CH pulls the group together towards a common goal while the SH pushes the team out of its point of equilibrium challenging them and putting them back to action. Other cases worth mentioning are: (3) Creation (PL/RI) vs. evaluation of ideas (ME); (4) enthusiasm to jump into action (RI/PL/SH) against the ability to thoroughly finalize anything that was started (CF); (5) behaviour that affects team spirit negatively (SHs) vs. the ability to avert potential frictions and enable conflicting member to work cooperatively (TW/CH). Unsuccessful Teams Teams that performed poorly in the management exercises provided very useful lessons on what to avoid when designing effective teams. These lessons helped to established basic principles as well as to gather valuable information about what can go wrong if teams are badly composed. As it was found from the experimental exercises; morale is just a marginal factor for team performance, there was few evidence that linked them in a cause effect fashion. On the other hand the mental ability can be considered a critical factor. Every team needs at least one member Page 5 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 with high mental ability in a creative or analytical sense (i. . PL or ME). If this condition is not met, chances are that the team will have serious problems to perform. As previously discussed in the case of the Apollo team, if all members are clever the team will also perform poorly. Unfortunate combination of characters. The drawback of this case is that members are hindered from using their preferred team role. Individuals that have the potential to make a valuable contribution to the team are blocked and the group is deprived of benefiting from them. The following table summarizes poor design combinations for each Belbin team role. Belbin Role Chairman (CH) Plant (PL) MonitorEvaluator (ME) Company Worker (CW) Team Worker (TW) Shaper (SH) Resource Investigator (RI) CompleterFinisher (CF) In combination with: Two dominant SHs, both above average in mental ability Another PL (more dominant but less creative), and no candidate to take the chair. No PL and many TWs and CWs of high mental ability and stable disposition. With other CWs and no PL and no RI. With other TWs, CWs and CFs, but no RI, PL, SH or CH. Another SH (highly dominant but less clever), a super PL and two or more CWs With other RIs and PLs but no TWs, CFs, MEs or CHs With MEs and CWs but no RIs, PL or SH. Consequence CH will most likely fail to get his job leading the team. PL will be inhibited and his creative contribution reduced or nullified Solid orderly working climate but will fail to consider alternative strategies and ideas. Team will lack direction, and the organisers (CWs) will not have much to organise. Over-conscientious and happy team anxious to reach agreement disregarding critical points. Unbalanced team where any action of the SH will meet provocation and aggravation, disturbing further the group. An overly talkative group where no one listens, follows up points, or makes decisions. Slow-moving team where any intervention from the CF will further hinder progress. Winning Teams After nine years of extensive study of management teams, the research unit was able to make important discoveries and to make an accurate forecast of the performance of each team in a final management exercise. Probably the most remarkable outcome of this study was that the theory was validated by successful prediction; a quality that is seldom seen in social pursuit science. These are the characteristics that are often seen in winning teams. The leader (person in the Chair). The person leading a winning team has to meet the attributes and characteristics of the CH profile as identified by the study. A patient yet commanding leader who is skilled to identify and foster the potential abilities of members. One strong Plant in the team. A winning team needs a very creative and clever member; creativity being an essential factor that has to be accompanied by high cleverness in a single person to yield a great advantage for the team. High creativity with just average cleverness was however not a sufficient condition since the PL tended to lack credibility and respect in the team. A fair spread in mental abilities. As a general rule of thumb its a smart decision to avoid intellectually homogeneous combinations and to give priority to a wide spread of scores in mental ability. Best results were seen in teams composed by one very clever PL, another clever member, one CH with slightly above average mental ability and the rest of members with slightly below average cleverness. Wide team-role spread. Winning teams had members that covered most or all of the Belbin team roles. There were differences between the EME and teamopoly in terms of combinations, but in general terms as expressed by Belbin a winning company has a wider range of team-roles strengths on which to draw than less successful companies. Good match between attributes of members and their responsibilities. A winning team has to allow its members to undertake functional roles that match their team role and personal characteristics and abilities (which is not often the case). An example of this is that the person Page 6 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 leading a project should have a team role preference for either CH or SH depending on the specific project. Most winning teams were seen to adopt a flexible pairing system, that is a pair of members would take care of specific functions. Thus mismatching was minimized or easily modifiable; allowing members to switch functional roles. Adjustment to the realization of imbalance. Probably the most important feature of winning teams is their ability to compensate weaknesses and to stimulate their strengths by adaptive pursuit. They consciously take account of their potential team-role strengths, as well as compensate for their team-role weaknesses. These teams are able to see the important tasks, responsibilities and functions in terms of underlying team roles. Firstly they identify areas of weakness team-role-wise and then search for a member to be appointed to cover this area; someone who would represent the closest match for the missing team role. In this way theres always someone suitable for any job and a fair coverage of team-roles is virtually guaranteed. Team Size In the discussions of teams its worth to consider the implications that the size of the group of members has on the performance of the team. The first consideration to make is that the size of a team will depend on the need of human resources to undertake the workload of a project. Larger projects will naturally require a bigger team and vice versa, however there are limitations to this. The ideal size of a team can be found considering the conflicting forces at stake; the need for more members to keep up the workload against the need to keep the team small to maximize involvement and individual effectiveness. Smaller teams have the advantage of providing more time for personal interactions and this facilitates bonding among members. A group of ten members might seem full of HR resources that the team can draw utility from upon necessity; but it has limited scope. This size is suitable solely as an efficient decisionmaking body in which everyone reports to a leader on top, which gathers essential information, takes decisions, informs and gives instructions to the subordinates. Fruitful and dynamic discussions would be hardly possible since its difficult to allow a fair-share of talking of each member and there would always be a few members that would dominate the discussions. It might be reasonable to think that a team of eight members is the minimum necessary to cover the eight Belbin team roles. This is not necessarily true because a single member can make use of more than one team role; he can contribute with the strengths of two or even three team roles. Therefore smaller teams of up to three members can be large enough for a fair spread in team roles; even though teams of five or six seem to be a good compromise between the conflicting forces. After deciding on the team size, the next step is to guarantee a good design of the team. How to design an Effective Team Designing a well integrated and effective team is not an easy task. Compatibility of members of a team is crucial to its effectiveness, which was often ignored for the lack of assessment tools. After years of research, it was possible to establish five principles to guide the design process of effective teams, as well as to assess team roles and to use this info for the composition of teams. 1 Members can contribute in two ways. Each members has the potential to contribute in his functional role and team role to the achievement of the team goals. He can draw on his technical background to fulfill the needs linked to his specific job requisites; as well as perform the team role(s) that match his preferred Belbin roles. 2 Optimum Balance. A team needs an optimal balance in terms of functional roles and team roles; which depends on the team objectives as illustrated in the example of team composition. 3 Recognition and Adjustment to Strengths. The ability of a team to recognize the relative strengths in technical expertise and team roles, and to adjust accordingly to the needs of the objectives will improve its effectiveness. Page 7 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 4 Personal qualities. They can help a member fit certain team roles while hindering him from adopting effectively other team roles. Seizing Technical Resources. Only a team that has a range of team roles to achieve efficient teamwork can take full advantage of the technical resources that its members possess. Team   composition. Four steps can be followed when composing effective teams. Step 1: Identify projects purpose, demands and needs. The purpose of a project will de termine which type of team roles combination is the most suitable to obtain the best results. At the same time different projects demand different sets of technical skills and knowledge. Step 2: Find the specialist for the project. One distinctive, talented, and experienced employee in the specific field of the project is needed to get the best results, this is the specialist (SP). Step 3: Find a suitable project leader. Find someone that can make a good team leader, who is compatible in terms of team roles, and that has affinity with the specialist. Step 4: Compose the rest of the team. According to the team role of the leader and the needs of the project, different compositions for the rest of the group will be possible. The next design cases illustrate the selection sequence and the importance of considering the purpose of the team. Both teams are composed by five members. One has to design a new model for a prototype; the other one is needed to streamline a production system for that prototype. The focus of Team I is management of innovation. The critical member to find first is a genius designer that has experience in the field and a strong team role as a PL. This member needs someone of similar mental ability that he can respect. This second member should be a clever ME that can bring the ideas of the PL down to Earth. These two members will focus on the mentioned team roles, so they wont have time to coordinate the project. For this a CH of low profile but clever enough to keep up with the discussions would be suitable. In addition, another creative talented member with good external contacts is needed; a RI fits this description. This fourth nominee will have a tendency for weak follow-up, therefore the final member should compensate this weakness; so a CW/CF would be perfect for the job. The purpose of Team II is getting things done and it requires a leadership from the front; a leader who can guarantee results and deliver on time, for this a strong SH that is also a CF is suitable. This team doesnt need a specialist member for the purpose of the project, so the rest of the members can be seen as a support group around the leader. They are more similar to each other from a team role perspective, with a high concentration of TWs to compensate relentless presence of a SH. Assessment    of Belbin team roles in organizations. The approach used by the Belbin research unit and by companies with a well-developed HR system is to use a battery of psychometric tests including the ones developed by Belbin. This method is well suited to design high performance teams as well as to help in career development. Another approach commonly used is through training courses. Participants can take the Belbin assessment test and learn about the principles and lessons of effective management teams. The last approach doesnt require the use of sophisticated methods; many managers have an extensive knowledge of their employees and coworkers, so they can apply the principles and fundaments of this theory to figure out their team roles and to form fairly well-integrated teams. Page 8 of 10

The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov free essay sample

Tatiana Peltzer Madame Petukhova (Vorobyaninov’s mother-in-law) Victor Proskurin Nicolay Kalachov Mark Prudkin Bartholomew Korobeinikov Michael Svetin Engineer Bruns Nicholay Skorobogatov –Tikhon refuse-collector Oleg Tabakov Alchen blue thief Lydia Fedoseeva-Shukshina Madame Gritsatsuyeva Elena Shanina Ellochka-cannibal The plot: In the Soviet Union in 1927, a former member of the nobility, Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov, works as a desk clerk. His mother-in-law reveals on her deathbed that her family jewelry had been hidden from the Bolsheviks in one of the twelve chairs from the family’s dining room set. Those chairs, along with all other personal property, had been expropriated by the government after the Russian Revolution. He becomes a treasure hunter, and after the â€Å"smooth operator† and con-man Ostap Bender forces Kisa (Pussy, Vorobyaninov’s funny childhood nickname, which Bender prefers) to partner with him, they set off to track down the chairs. This ultimately helps Kisa, who doesn’t possess Bender’s charm and is not as street-smart. We will write a custom essay sample on The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The two comrades find the chair set which is put up for auction, but fail to buy it and afterwards find out that the set has been split up and sold individually. They are not alone in their quest. Father Fyodor took advantage of the deathbed confession, and has also set off to recover the fortune. In this search for Mme Petukhova’s treasure, he becomes Vorobyaninov’s main rival. While in this enterprise Ostap is in his element, Vorobyaninov is not so happy. He’s steadily abandoning his principles and losing self-esteem. Through the process of elimination, the two finally discover the location of the 12th and last chair, the one hopefully containing the treasure. To avoid splitting the loot, Vorobyaninov murders Ostap. He then discovers that the jewels have already been found and that they have been spent on erecting a new public building. The analysis: I was 12 when I had read this book first. It became my favorite novel immediately. Then I interested to watch its screening. To tell the truth, I was sure I would not like this film because usually all the screenings of favorite books seemed miserable. But when I’ve watched 12 chairs I could not say it was good because it was so perfect and so exciting! I could not believe that screening can be as interesting as the book. In my work I’ll try to discover the secret of film’s popularity. I think, Mark Zakharov raised the direction to a new level bringing to it an element of theatricality (Interesting moment with actor’s peeking in the camera). As for me, a theatre is always more interesting than a cinema, so it’s positive side of such vision of the novel. The director tried to be as close as possible to the text of 12 chairs, that’s why he even have put a role of the author in the filmscript. I appreciate it very much because in such way the film does not lose Ilf and Petrov’s particular style. The novel is full of deep psychologism and gentle subtle humor. I am amazed the authors’ ability to write so kind and gentle but in the same time to expose the evils of society. The actors’ play even strengthen its effect. Despite the small size of 12 chairs here we can find a lot of vivid characters of that time: a former nobleman, a romantic swindler, a prist keen on the wealth and many others. The director have brought together the most talented actors of Soviet Union such as A. Mironov, A. Papanov, R. Bykov, G. Vitsin, S. Kramarov, L. Fedoseyeva-Shukshina, A. Abdulov, N. Karachentsov Even the secondary roles were given to famous actors. Everyone plays perfect, everytime during the watching of film it seems like they play their last roles. I suppose, that’s why we can see outstanding representatives of that period of time as large as life. The star of the film is Ostap Bender, certainly. Bender is a complex character: while displaying the traits that would befit a social parasite in Soviet official terms, he frequently seems to adhere to several Marxist tenets, and is clearly an atheist. To put in simple terms, he is a con artist. All of this is especially intriguing, as Benders ideal in life is to quit the Soviet Union for good. Ostap Benders origins are mysterious; he mentions only that his father was a Turkish subjectand that his full name is Ostap-Sulayman-Berta-Maria-Bender-Bey. In the comments to the Complete Works of Ilf and Petrov by M. Odessky and D. Feldman, this phrase is explained as a hint to his Jewish origin from a port city in Novorossiya, most probably Odessa, where many Jews claimed Turkish citizenship to evade discrimination and conscription for military service. While some of them indeed held the Turkish citizenship. Ostap Bender dreams of travelling to Rio de Janeiro, the city of his dreams, while admitting the futility of that obsession. Bender spawned a number of Russian catch phrases, including: The ice has broken, ladies and gentlemen of the jury! , said to declare the onset of a progress in something after a period of deadlock, uncertainty, or stagnation; I will be commanding the parade! , semiformally uttered upon taking charge of something); and Perhaps youd also like the key to the apartment where the money is stashed? , in response to unreasonable requests. Andrey Mironov always played good boys but he was very convincing in this role. He’s so charming when he is confident that  «stealing is sinful », but in the same time he does it in more sophisticated way than his companion in the swindle. First of all Ostap Bender is an actor who is not understood by the public, he is hamstrung with the Soviet system of philosophy. He is so bored with life that he makes his operations under the code name the ice is broken not only to become rich but also to get an excitement of the process. Ostap is the last melancholic romantic swindler of his time because there is no any worthy opponent in talent, intelligence, imagination or flight of ideas. This his feature is implemented excellent by A. Mironov and it is impossible to repeat it. Vorobyaninov is a former marshal of the Nobility. He is not talented, not adapted for independent living, vicious inside. People say about such kind of people  «still waters run deep ». He makes fraud with selfish motives because considers money is the measure of everything. He can be younger, more beautiful and more attractive for women with the help of money. Although, in fact, he was an old man who need to eat good looking for the recipe for eternal youth. He is offended by the Soviet system because of the rule Take away and divide. Papanov showed us this character so bright, his play was very vivid. Theodore prist is a typical example of an opportunist. An ecclesiastical capacity is only a mask for him. Actually he is mercenary and conscienceless person. Rolan Bykov was very talented in this role. I remember his songs in Old Slavonic and his altercation with Vorobyaninov, these two are worthy of each other rivals. The qualities of this screening can be listed endlessly. And despite the fact that this film is criticized for an extreme musicianship, theatricality and low budget the staff of very talented actors could make a masterpiece even with a small amount of money. This screening first comes to mind when we hear the phrase  «12 chairs ». The director really managed to make a good film. I think this film is immortal and even our descendants will be interest to watch it.

Importance of An Advertising Analysis Essay Sample

Importance of An Advertising Analysis Essay SampleWhen it comes to essay writing, and marketing, most people have no idea how to approach essay writing or an effective advertisement analysis essay sample. That is where the idea of an online editor and message board is the answer. With the help of such a service, you will be able to have someone that specializes in this field to review your paper and provide you with feedback.Of course, having the individual's reviews and opinion on your paper will let you know that not all the general issues are really what you think about when you write. They are going to tell you that the time management, research, and outlining of your essay could use some work. They will also tell you that the title may need to be changed.As you read through the essays, you will see that each is unique. That is because the different writer have different ways of going about writing their essays. Each person will also find their own style of writing and therefore each essay will contain a different tone to the essays.Before you begin to write your essay, you will want to consider the opinions of those that are reading it. This can mean several things. It can mean they like your essay or they don't but you will want to have some kind of opinion on it at least.Many times, a marketing or advertising company will provide the assignment to someone that will take care of the editing for you. That means that when the assignments come in, you won't even have to lift a finger. You won't have to pay someone to do the work for you.One of the biggest benefits of having someone edit your essay is that you will be able to see how a particular essay will turn out before you actually print it up. You can ask them questions as well as give feedback on a given essay. You can then copy and paste your comments into your essay so that you can easily read over it and see if you agree with what they are saying.It is possible that a marketing or advertising company will not provide you with the service of an editor. In that case, you can always get the service of another individual who specializes in these areas. That is something that will allow you to have someone who will review your work and ensure that it is error free.An advertisement analysis essay sample is something that should be looked at in depth before you send it off to a professor or something similar. There may be a lot of errors that you will find in your writing that you didn't notice on your own. With the help of an editor, you will be able to have a paper that is error free and ready to go out into the world.

What Were You Doing ESL Beginner Dialogue

What Were You Doing ESL Beginner Dialogue This dialogue focuses on the use of the both the past continuous and past simple. The past continuous is used to speak about actions that were interrupted in the past such as: I was watching TV when you telephoned. Practice the dialogue with your partner and then practice the use of these two forms on your own beginning with the question What ​where you doing when past simple.   English Dialogue Practice: What Were You Doing? Betsy: I telephoned you yesterday afternoon but you didnt answer? Where were you? Brian: I was in another room when you called. I didnt hear the phone ringing until it was too late. Betsy: What were you working on?​ Brian: I was photocopying a report that I needed to send to a client. What were you doing when you telephoned? Betsy: I was looking for Tom and couldnt find him. Do you know where he was? Brian: Tom was driving to a meeting. Betsy: Oh, I see. What did you do yesterday? Brian: I met the representatives from Drivers in the morning. In the afternoon, I worked on the report and was just finishing when you telephoned. What did you do Betsy: Well, at 9 I had a meeting with Ms. Anderson. After that, I did some research.​ Brian: Sounds like a boring day! Betsy: Yes, I dont really like doing research. But it needs to be done. Brian: I agree with you on that- no research,no business! Betsy: Tell me about the report. What do you think of it? Brian: I think the report is a good. Tom believes its good, too. Betsy: I know that every report you write is excellent. Brian: Thank you Betsy, you are always a good friend!

Answer some question Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer some question - Research Paper Example The annual reports provide a detailed account of the operations of the corporations and disclosure of corporation’s financial position (Sherman 64). Basically, the annual reports contain income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statements and statements of shareholders equity. Financial ratio analysis guides the equity investors in assessing the performance of their investments. It helps them to compare the performance of their companies over time and across the industry. In regard to the short term creditors, financial ratio analysis enables the creditors assess the potential of the company to meet its short term credits obligations (Sherman 82). On the other hand, financial ratio analysis will enable long term creditors to assess the company’s ability to repay the borrowed loans and loan interest within the stipulated time. When making an investment by depositing money in the bank that pays compound interests, it is better to choose an option that results to frequent compounding. Therefore, the best option in this case is the one that pays compound interests on a daily basis (Sherman 109). This is because compounding the interests daily results to additional capital from the interest earned for the next

The Relevance of EDI for e-Business today A critical Evaluation Essay

The Relevance of EDI for e-Business today A critical Evaluation - Essay Example When organizations implement EDI in payment of employees, especially in companies and banks, this institution uses the term FEDI (Financial Electronic Data Interchange) (Schneider 2013, p. 138). For business managers, with the current use of extranets, intranets, digital currency, and electronic catalogues, they should acknowledge EDI’s relevance for e-business today. However, implementation of EDI in business organization not only brings positive impacts, but it also has some negative impacts, which can cause negative effects to users who are using recent versions of documents instead of a business partner (McGrath 2010, p. 76). The aim of this report is to enlighten business owners the relevance of EDI in e-business today. EDI is the electronic communications or exchange of business transactions between business organizations. It entails computer-to-computer communications directly to order systems and vendor databases. In the year 1996, the NIST defined EDI as a computer-to-computer transaction of severely formatted information representing documents rather than financial instruments. It means exchange of a series of messages between two or more parties, whereby one serves as a sender and the one a receiver (Zainol 2009, p. 256). The originator transmits the formatted data that represent a document to the receiver through physical transportation on electronic media storage such as CDs or USB Flash disks or via telecommunication (Zekos 2008, p. 67). Despite the relative advantages of EDI, most business organizations still have challenges in implementing EDIs in their operations. However, the entire process of implementing EDI is complex and this is the reason why there is still a large group of organizations that uses the traditional mode of transmitting transactions (Zainol 2009, p. 259). In addition, the process of