Challenges Faced by Managers in the Public Sector

Challenges Faced by Managers in the Public Sector There are different levels of management in the three different sectors of the economy. There are non-managerial employees, first-line managers, middle managers and the top managers. Robbins et al ;( 2009). This essay will critically evaluate the challenges faced by managers in the public sector organisations. The essay will assess the roles of the manager in this sector and the difficulties managers encounter whilst carrying out their duties. The challenges posed by organisational structure and design with an example from the Northampton Borough Council, the issues due to the organisational culture, privatisation of some of the public sector services, the strategic management of the public sector and the complexities due to the constant changing environment in which these organisations operate, and the challenges to managers of the most recent comprehensive budget cuts, will be evaluated in this essay. The typical roles of a manager in any organisation is to organise, lead, plan and control the activities of the people and other resources within it towards achieving the objectives of that organisation; Naylor (2004). The role a manager plays is dependent on the level of management position although each level has its challenges. At the senior level, the managers role is much broader and in depth and it requires creativity and innovativeness; Robbins et al (2009). The senior manager is involved in decision making, strategic management planning and control, the manager, at this level of management is expected to have an understanding of all areas of the organisation to enable sensible handling of any given situation Hanagan;(2008). The role of the manager did not change in the 21st century rather the method of carrying out the above mentioned roles are different, for instance the manager has to organise work differently, communication is more sophisticated such as, the use of internet, mobile telephones and e-mail. In recent times, the management of change is considered as the most important skill of management due to the pace of change in the 21st century Hanagan, (2008).The rapid changes in technology, enormous improvements in communication, the increase in focus on global economy, and the environment are issues to the modern day manager. In addition to the above, the role of the manager in the public sector is challenged by the constant changes in legislation and political policies subject to government in power Hanagan (2008). An organisation is an arrangement which has been set up for a particular purpose. Robbins et al (2009). Different organisations belong to different sectors of the economy. There are three sectors; the public, the private and the third sector such as social enterprises. This three sectors have some common characteristics which are: they all have distinct purpose, each organisation is made up of people, and all create a structure within which the people could carry out their duties Robbins et al(2009). Organisations are grouped as public sector depending on certain factors such as; how much the organisation competes with similar organisations, goods and services are charged indirectly and how much it allows itself to be influenced by demand and supply of goods and services. The less such organisations are influenced by the above factors the more the organisations are considered as public sector organisations Hanagan (2008). Instances of these organisations are; Local Government council, Libraries, the National Police Force, the Defence Ministry, Colleges and Universities. The common features of these organisations are; they are set up to fulfil specific purposes, they are service motivated, they are accountable to many stakeholders and the public, they carry out their duties for the good of the people and they are funded through the use of taxpayers money. Avery important challenge to a manager whether in the public sector or in the private sector is to be aware of their relevant s takeholders and operate the organisation in ways which will yield maximum returns to each stakeholder group Bloisi et al (2007). The public sector organisation has a centralised organisational structure whereby authority and decision making is made at the senior managerial level. Organisational structure is a connected arrangement of positions and work units through which the important tasks of an organisation are subdivided and categorised to form decision centres from where the strategic plans of the organisation are carried out Bloisi et al (2007). Most of these organisations have a Matrix design structure which enables double responsibility and reporting roles with particular projects. Bloisi et al (2007). The managers in the matrix organisation are challenged by the constant need to resolve conflicts due to differences in perspectives and priority Bloisi et al (2007). For instance, the organisational structure of the Northampton Borough Council has over five managerial levels of management. According to Nicole Macdonald, a HR Manager Strategy with the council, one of the challenges they have is getting approval to carry out plans as quickly as possible. The council has about forty-seven councillors through whom decisions are made. These councillors represent different political fronts. Sometimes it is difficult to reach a consensus on certain issues and therefore arriving at a decision is elongated said, Cassie Triggs, a Democratic Chief Executive Services Manager at the Northampton Borough Council. The manager in the private sector will in relation to their organisational structure which is much flatter be able to arrive at a decision much quicker. Private sector organisational structures are designed to embrace the pace of changes in technology and also to survive. Flatter structure allows for incorporation of ideas from almost every employee in the organisation Bloisi et al (2007). The manager in the private sector will be challenged by how to control an employee wh o is working from home and coming to the place of work only one day in a working week Naylor (2004). Included in the challenges encountered by managers in the public sector are challenges due to the cultural beliefs of the organisation. Organisational culture is the way we do things around here Robbins et al (2009). According to Meek (1988), organisational culture could be used as a means to find out how people behave in a complex setting Hanagan, (2008). Organisational culture can be something abstract or peoples perception and experience within an organised setting. According to Stacey, the culture of any group of people is that set of beliefs, customs, practices and ways of thinking that they have come to share with each other through being and working together. Hanagan (2008). According to Handy, there are four major types of organisational cultures; the power culture in which the power and authority is from one person in a central position, the role culture which is labelled as a bureaucracy where the role of the individual specialists are more important than position and power , the task culture is about the activity which is being carried out and lastly the person culture which focuses more on what individuals do in a particular setting Mullins (2005). The challenge of managing cultural change in a public sector organisation will depend on how strong the existing culture is and the weight of the proposed change Hanagan (2008).The difficulty is in bringing about the change. For instance the Further and Higher Education Act which made colleges and higher education in England to become Corporate Bodies Limited by Guarantee indicates that organisational culture can be overtaken by accountability to more prominent stakeholders as the organisation would want to survive Hanagan (2008). The challenge is even more where there is existence of subcultures within the organisation. For decades, Public organisations have been managed by people who have been raised into managerial positions through years of service to the organisation, for instance; football clubs were managed by ex-footballers, and schools were managed by former teachers, local government council by people who were promoted through long years of service Hanagan (2008). There are difficulties faced by managers moving from the private sector to the public sector. The manager from the private sector is more focused on profits and accounting to shareholders, decision making is simplified, there is much flexibility and autonomy, there is power and authority attached therefore, the challenge to the private sector manager moving into the public sector will be changing the profit making, quick decision making mindset, there is less power and authority, no flexibility and autonomy Hanagan (2008). These challenges are not without approaches with which the managers could use to minimise them. For instance, the managers could use the recruitment process to recruit people who will fit into the existing culture, by the method of questioning they are made aware of what is important in the organisation, the induction process, promotion policy, training and development Hanagan (2008). Following the challenges posed by organisational structure, design and culture, are the challenges which managers face with the move of the UK government in the 1980s to privatise some of the services of the public sector when they realised that the costs of providing services were becoming too much, costs were weighing much on National budgets and the motive to make public sector organisations to work more effectively and efficiently Hanagan (2008). The move gave rise to such contractual arrangements as the Public Private Partnership (PPP) and the London underground contractual arrangement which came from a simpler Private Finance Initiative (PFI) which was set up to establish contracts between the local authority controlled London Underground and Tubelines and Metronet Hanagan (2008). Privatisation as defined by Bryan Hurl (1992), is the sale of government owned equity in nationalised industries or other commercial enterprises, to private investors with or without the loss of government control of the organisation. There are three methods which have been used by the government, these are; denationalisation which is the sale of public sector assets, deregulation which is removal of barriers to entry to a previously protected market to allow private enterprises to compete and franchising whereby the public sector provides the finance and the private sector provide the services Hurl (1992). One of the key principles of managing resources to deliver better services is by setting up strong partnerships which means that various departments of the public sector are relying on other public, private and third sector to deliver public services, these organisations, most of the time may have better expertise and better understanding of the needs of the citizens Bourn (2003, p26). The increasing difficulty with which public services are delivered is a challenge. According to the National Audit Office, delivery of public services are no longer the duty of a single department for instance, different organisations are involved in provision of criminal justice such as the police, the crown prosecution service, the forensic Science service and the courts. Changes in economic conditions and unforeseen circumstances could place much demand for public services, for instance, the sudden rise in unemployment during the most recent inflationary period. The volume and value of benefits payment made by the job centre plus or the unexpected foot and mouth disease and its effect to the public requires a good resource management Bourn (2003 p18). Some of the services provided by the public sector organisations are; Defence by the Army, Public Health by the NHS, Direct service delivery agencies which handle payments of benefits, issuing of prescriptions and National insurance numbers, processing of student loans, access to heritage, museums and galleries, developing frameworks for other service providers such as regulation of educational standards, teacher training and social housing, promotion of business opportunities abroad, transport integration, purchasing information technology systems and professional services and others. The challenge to the manager is the ability to coordinate and monitor the different service chains involved in the delivery of public services and also the difficulty in ensuring that resources are channelled appropriately to the provision of the most required service Bourn (2003 p.20) . Strategic thinking, planning and continuous are important in every organisation Bloisi et al (2007). Strategic thinking means being able as a manager to device ways to balance both the human, technical and the limited resources of the organisation and the environmental forces Bloisi et al (2007). The public sector manager has no power and authority, no autonomy and flexibility and therefore may not have as much influence in the decision making as their counterpart in the private sector Hanagan (2008). Strategic management is used in the public sector to find out schedules of activities in the sector which fit into the political agendas taking into consideration the politicians who might be looking for quick returns which they can point to as their successes and achievements Hanagan (2008). This means that the strategic planning has to be short term. There is lack of clarity in relation to what the manager is trying to achieve. There is the constant challenge to the manager in the public sector as to whether you are trying to fulfil your statutory obligation, please the politicians, follow the directions of the board or the people for whom the services were meant for. The manager in the public sector is challenged as he cannot change or alter the system. There are too many stakeholders, interest groups to satisfy in the public sector therefore the manager in this sector has to device different kinds of ways to deliver information to the different groups in the public who believes they have a stake in the public sector, such methods are through, governing bodies, advisory committees, taskforces, public meetings and public announcements Hanagan (2008). The manager in the private sector uses strategic management to review actions, slow down processes and hence make changes where necessary, the manager in the private sector has a profit making mindset and therefore considers product viability, the private secto r manager has power and authority, flexibility and autonomy and therefore decision making is quicker. The private sector manager is accountable to shareholders Bloisi et al (2007). The public sector is funded by the government and the managers are accountable to whichever ruling political party at any given time. According to the National Audit Office, before the 1998 public service agreements, different departments were funded annually with some exception such as the Department of Health, so there was uncertainty as to whether funding will be the same as the previous year or reduced or increased. This was a challenge to managers as there was no certainty with the flow of funds to make long term plans as the private sector with assurance of long term financing. The agreement was set out with the awareness of the aims, ideals and targets of the various departments Bourn (2003 p.20). Assessed so far are internal factors which challenge managers in the public sector however there are certain external factors which managers have to contend with as well. Some of these are; the speed of technology which has affected every process in organisations irrespective of sector, the force of competing interests who are not ordinary rivals to gain customers but those seeking for resources and those trying to make their points to be heard and the fluctuations in social behaviour which starts with movements in peoples expectations and values Bloisi et al (2007). Finally, managers are currently facing challenges due to the recent comprehensive budget cut. There is greater demand for services however there are fewer resources to meet demand. It is morally challenging to managers to prioritize who to help and who not to In conclusion, Suggested approaches from management science which could alleviate some of the challenges are; the systems approach and contingency approach. With systems approach, managers could discuss their departmental needs in terms of the general organisational requirement. The use of this approach requires open communication and the removal of barriers between the individual departments, also the approach shows management consideration of all the systems involved, synergy that is the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, open and closed systems, limits, movements of information, materials and feedback through which the manager could monitor and evaluate progress reports Hanagan (2008). The second recommended approach is the contingency approach. This approach says that different problems requires different ways of solving them it all depends on how much experience the manager has because what might work well in one situation may not work well in another situation Hanagan (2008). Applica tion of this approach requires that the manager recognises several view points, one of which is the pragmatic view point. Pragmatic viewpoint says that no approach is generally acceptable which means that the manager has to check the motives for every action taken for instance, the services being delivered, the availability of equipment required and also the internal and external environment Hanagan (2008).

Research Paper: Elections 2008 - Barack Obama -- American Politics

Currently, America is facing various hardships such as struggling economy, poor health care, two wars, pollution, excessive relying on exported oil and illegal immigration. Both Barack Obama and John McCain expressed in the campaigns their points of views and possible solutions for these problems. Obama, the candidate from the Democratic Party, proposed answers on improvements on situation in the United States. One of the major issues nowadays is the health care. There are many reasons why it is so controversial and needs a lot of attention from the future president. In the past eight years, health insurance prices have grown 3.7 times faster than wages. Many insurance plans do not cover a number of doctor’s visits. In addition to that, over forty-five million Americans don’t have any health insurance at all. Most of these people just cannot afford their medical bills. Dramatically rising health care costs are also making it increasingly difficult for small businesses and other employers to provide insurance to their employees. (â€Å"Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s Plan to Lower Health Care Costs and Ensure Affordable, Accessible Health Coverage for All,† par 1) Barack Obama believes that government-run health care or insurances supplied by government are wrong. He proposes a plan that combines the two types of health care system into one. The plan would â€Å"strengthen employer coverage, make insurance companies accountable and ensure patient choice of doctor and care without government interference.† (â€Å"Plan for a Healthy America,† par 1, 2) Under Obama’s plan, everyone can keep his or her current health insurance and all the insurances will cost about $2,500 per year. Those who don’t have insurance would have many affordable options to ... ...9/opinion/19tue1.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=in%20search%2 0of%20 a%20real%20urban%20policy&st=cse&oref=slogin.>. Ivanovich, David. â€Å"Obama Likely to Tackle Energy Early on.† Chron.com 8 Nov. 2008. 11 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"New Energy for America.† Obama ‘08 08 11Nov. 2008 . â€Å"Obama-Biden vs. McCain-Palin: Record on Women.† Obama ‘08 11 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"Plan for a Healthy America.† Obama ‘08 11 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"Plan for Ending the War in Iraq.† Obama ‘08 11 Nov. 2008 . â€Å"Plan to Stimulate Urban Prosperity.† Obama ‘08 11 Nov. 2008 .

The Book Of Sand Essay examples -- essays research papers

Jorge Luis Borges is a famous Spanish author, known best for his short stories. In this paper, I will discuss several short stories written by Mr. Borges, what influenced him in his writings, and a brief history of his place of origin, Argentina. Borges' The Book of Sand is the story of a man who is visited by a stranger trying to sell a "holy book" called the Book of Sand. The narrator looks at the book and is unable to see the first or last pages of it because, as the stranger explains, the number of pages is infinite. The narrator is fascinated by the book and buys it, only to become obsessed with it, until the point that it is all he thinks about. He eventually gets rid of it by mixing it up in a pile of many other books in his basement. As will be discussed in this paper, Borges wrote philosophy in a lot of his works. In The Book of Sand, infinity is depicted in the form of a mysterious book. It symbolizes man's constant search for the world's existence. Borges is saying that it is an endless search and therefore pointless. The Other is the story of Borges sitting on a bench, as he feels as though he had lived that moment already. He begins to speak to the man seated besides him, and finds out the stranger has the same name, and the same address as he does. When Borges asks the man what year it is, the man answers 1918, even though it is 1969. It is then that the narrator figures out he is talking to the person whom he was fifty-one years earlier. He then tells "the other" him of the future, after which they part, knowing they will never meet like this again. This story deals with time. The author is very nostalgic and lives for his memories. It also is a philosophical story where Borges expresses his doubt that we all may "just be an image of a greater being". The Mirror and the Mask is the story of an Irish king who tells a poet to write a poem describing his power. The poet wrote a praise of his fighting success, and in reward for the excellent poem, the king gives the poet a beautiful mirror and tells him to write another poem. In reward for his next work, the king gives the poet a mask. The king then asks for a third poem and receives a one line poem of perfection and in return gives him an elaborate dagger. The poet feels it to be a sin to hear such perfection and so he stabs himself with the dagger. The king ... ...s for his interest in eternity and his desire for control of time. He admits in his poems that time moves on, the world changes, that he will grow old, and that the past is gone forever. He says that one can only rely on their memories (as he expresses in The Other). In his fifties, Borges becomes blind, but continues to lecture in colleges and conferences around the world. During his lifetime, Borges was nominated several times for the Noble Prize in Literature. He wrote alot of short stories, literary reviews (based on books that never existed), poems and more. Although he passed away on June 14, 1986, his writings live on to be shared with all generations. When Borges was born, Hipolito Yrigoyen headed the Radical Civic Union. General Roca was president at that time and he defended the middle class (which was what Borges was). Argentina had alot of trade with Britain and helped the economy to flourish. The people became more educated. As you can see, Borges' greatest influences were his childhood, familial background, and people he met while starting to write. Borges writings are enjoyable and thought provoking. I definitely recommend it to people interested in philosophy.

James Joyce and the advent of Viagra Essay -- Sports, Olympics, Sex Ve

The Olympics are an international competition event for summer sports and winter sports that happen every 2 years. It was originally an event created for men to compete in various sports. However, women were allow to participate in the early 1900s due to the increasing number of female athletes. After female athletes started to participate in the Olympic games, the question of gender identification arose. People fear that males may masquerade as females and have an unfair advantage over other participants in women-only events. To prevent this from happening, the International Olympic Commitee (IOC) started sex verification to test the participant’s sex. The question of sex verification in women’s sports started in 1936, when a Polish journalist accused the American gold medallist in 100m track and field of being a man. Helen Stephen, the gold medallist who broke the 100m record of track legend Stella Walsh was a 6 foot tall female athlete.(Carlson, 2005). Her size brought up the questions about the definition of femininity. Ironically, when Stella Walsh was found dead in an accident it was discovered that she had ambiguous genitalia and abnormal sex chromosomes. Another stunning case which prompted developing the sex verification protocol involved an athlete named Hermann Ratjen in the mid 1950s (Carlson, 2005). Ratjen admitted that he was persuaded to masquerade as a female in an Olympic event in 1936. He hid his genitals and used a fake name, â€Å"Dora,† to compete in the women high jump event. Although he set a world record in 1938 and definitely had some advantages over other female participants, he only came in at fourth place in 1936. This case made a lot of people question the sexuality of some Eastern Bloc competitors. ... ...discriminating. Due to all the human right issues and Semenya’s privacy, her test result was never released to the public and she is able to continue her sports career (Swarr,Gross & Theron, 2009). After all, sex testing is not a reasonable way to identify masquerading men, it only puts female athletes in trouble. The only case of masquerading is Hermann Ratjen, and apparently he did not even win the competition. Sex testing is discriminatory and inaccurate while it is time and money consuming. It puts a number of female athletes with genetic disorders in a nightmare situation. Luckily, Maria Patino and Caster Semenya were re-qualified in the end. We can only conclude that sex testing is simply a black and white method to categorize male and female, but this world has more than male and female. Sex testing underestimates the complexity of the human structure. James Joyce and the advent of Viagra Essay -- Sports, Olympics, Sex Ve The Olympics are an international competition event for summer sports and winter sports that happen every 2 years. It was originally an event created for men to compete in various sports. However, women were allow to participate in the early 1900s due to the increasing number of female athletes. After female athletes started to participate in the Olympic games, the question of gender identification arose. People fear that males may masquerade as females and have an unfair advantage over other participants in women-only events. To prevent this from happening, the International Olympic Commitee (IOC) started sex verification to test the participant’s sex. The question of sex verification in women’s sports started in 1936, when a Polish journalist accused the American gold medallist in 100m track and field of being a man. Helen Stephen, the gold medallist who broke the 100m record of track legend Stella Walsh was a 6 foot tall female athlete.(Carlson, 2005). Her size brought up the questions about the definition of femininity. Ironically, when Stella Walsh was found dead in an accident it was discovered that she had ambiguous genitalia and abnormal sex chromosomes. Another stunning case which prompted developing the sex verification protocol involved an athlete named Hermann Ratjen in the mid 1950s (Carlson, 2005). Ratjen admitted that he was persuaded to masquerade as a female in an Olympic event in 1936. He hid his genitals and used a fake name, â€Å"Dora,† to compete in the women high jump event. Although he set a world record in 1938 and definitely had some advantages over other female participants, he only came in at fourth place in 1936. This case made a lot of people question the sexuality of some Eastern Bloc competitors. ... ...discriminating. Due to all the human right issues and Semenya’s privacy, her test result was never released to the public and she is able to continue her sports career (Swarr,Gross & Theron, 2009). After all, sex testing is not a reasonable way to identify masquerading men, it only puts female athletes in trouble. The only case of masquerading is Hermann Ratjen, and apparently he did not even win the competition. Sex testing is discriminatory and inaccurate while it is time and money consuming. It puts a number of female athletes with genetic disorders in a nightmare situation. Luckily, Maria Patino and Caster Semenya were re-qualified in the end. We can only conclude that sex testing is simply a black and white method to categorize male and female, but this world has more than male and female. Sex testing underestimates the complexity of the human structure.

Corruption in Lord of the Flies

Corruption William Gilding's book, The Lord of the Flies, shows us how seclusion from society can lead to changes in behavior and create savages out of us. For example, in the book, British school boys get trapped on a deserted island and have to fight tort their survival. The boys become corrupt due to the lack of leadership and lack of a rule system. Conflict arises over who will be proclaimed chief, the boy's priorities get mixed up, and the thirst to kill comes alive inside of them.In the beginning of the book, when Ralph gets elected leader, it becomes obvious that there Is going to be conflict between Ralph and Jack throughout the story. After Ralph gets crowned chief. Jack shows humiliation and anger towards everyone because he feels as though he should have been named leader due to the fact that he is the choir leader. He tells Ralph, â€Å"I ought to be chief because I'm chapter chorister and head boy†(22). At one point in the story, a meeting Is called on the island because Jack is starting his own group.He tells the kids, â€Å"my hunters will protect you from the beast, who will Join me†(1 50)? Jack wants to create a separate tribe and have fun, where as Ralph wants to devote his time and energy to being rescued. The lack of adult leadership allows the boys on the island to make their own decisions and their priorities are get messed up, Ralph is very focused on getting rescued and Jack Just wants to have fun. Ralph carefully instructs Jack to keep the signal fire going so that a rescue ship might see It. When a ship finally passes by,Ralph looks up to see that the signal fire is completely out and there Isn't any smoke for the boat to see, He tells Jack, â€Å"They mightn't seen us. We mightn't gone home†(70). Ralph is furious with Jack because he left the fire to go and hunt for wild pegs. Jack doesn't see any problem with letting the fire go out. In Rally's mind, one of the top priorities is getting shelter. He gets furious w hen Jack's choir boys go swimming instead of helping build cover for them. â€Å"We want shelters. The rest of your hunters came back hours ago.They've been Jack doesn't understand the concept to priorities and it shows when he allows his boys to do whatever they please. During the story, the boys begin thirsting for blood after they find hunting wild boars on the island to be exhilarating. At first, the boys just attack a pig, then they progress to kill a boar, and they Just want to kill and kill. They take it so far, that they decapitate a pig's head and skewer It with a sharpened suck. The boys proclaim that it Is â€Å"for the beast. It's a Eventually, one of the boys falls victim to the ailing spree after he is mistaken as a wild pig.The hunters start chanting, â€Å"Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood†(69). They mercilessly murder Simon. The lack of structure that the Island kids have leads them to become crazy, unethical murderers. The Lord of the Flies sho ws us that to keep us from becoming wild, crazed savages. We need to have structure, whether from adult supervision or a set of laws. The fight for survival can lead us to do things that we never thought we would see, such as ‘Off anger, thirst tort power, and translation.

Thinking about qualitative data collection & analysis for grounded theory Essay

Communication Strategies Introduction Research Design                   Creswell, John. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 3rd . New York: SAGE Publications, 2011.                   The research will incorporate a well-crafted research design to enhance an effective data collection. The design describes how data collection will be done, the relevant participantsto involvein the study, and the materials or instruments that will be used for data collection. This is done with considerations of the objective of the study. The research main aim is to evaluate The Relationship between Social Media and Effective Publicity in Organizations.                   Due to the nature and the phenomenon of the study, a qualitative research design is selected. This is because the design will employ a multi-method approach which is comprehensive in data collection and it ensures a qualitative data interpretation.                   Festinger, David. Essentials of Research Design and Methodology . New York: SAGE publishers, 2013. Participants                   The study targets a population with the relevant information that will lead to approximately accurate findings. The participants will involve customers, employees, and suppliers of selected organizations. These individualsshould have knowledge of social media, its application in business and they have an experience of the new technology in their daily business and organizational activities. A sample of 10 respondents will be selected randomly from the targeted population. This will involve different people using the social media platforms in their daily lives. The study assumes that all the data collected from the respondents is representative of the prevalentstate to usage of social media in publicity of firms.                   Vogt, Paul. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.                   The study will employ a simple random technique in sampling the population. This is technique is selected because it is easy to use and manageable. It also minimizes bias in sample determination because the sample is selected randomly. The technique will enable the research get information from respondents selected randomly. This is important because sample will cover different people in different organizations at unique situations hence a comprehensive data collected.                   Stephene. Thinking about qualitative data collection & analysis for grounded theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Data Collection                   Validity of data collected defines the success of a conducted research. To achieve this goal, the study intends to utilize both secondary and primary sources of data. The primary sources data will be collected fromthe targeted respondent to the investigation. The secondary sources will include reports published by the selected organization giving the correlation between social media and the publicity of organizations.                   Patton, Michael. Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice. New York: SAGE Publications, 2011.                   The materials that will be used for data collection are observation, interview schedules, and questionnaires. This instruments of data collection were selected due to the qualitative nature of the research. Well-structured questionnaires with both closed and open ended questions were administered to the targeted participant to the study.                   Maxwel, Joseph. Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach (Applied Social Research Methods). New York: SAGE Publications Inc, 2012.                   Open-ended questions will give the respondents an opportunity to give their opinion on the relationship between social media and publicity of organizations. This aims at gathering any other additional information relevant to the study. Furthermore, the closed ended questions in the questionnaires will collect specific data from the respondents. The closed ended questions are important because they give a certain uniformity in responses and makes it easy for analysis. Before sending the questionnaires to the participants, all the vague questions will be eliminated to make the eventual data collected relevant and easy to analyze. The questionnaires will be sent to the respondents through their emails. Interviews will be done on phone where the sample population will be contacted and asked relevant questions that will address the research objectives. Conclusion                   A research design is one of the important elements that makes any study complete and successful. Due to the topic under investigation, a qualitative approach is taken. The study targets a sample of 10 participants from the targeted population and it will use a simple random technique to arrive at the sample. Data will be collected through interview schedules and administering of questionnaires. References Creswell, John. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 3rd . New York: SAGE Publications, 2011. Festinger, David. Essentials of Research Design and Methodology . New York: SAGE publishers, 2013. Maxwel, Joseph. Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach (Applied Social Research Methods). New York: SAGE Publications Inc, 2012. Patton, Michael. Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice. New York: SAGE Publications, 2011. Stephene. Thinking about qualitative data collection & analysis for grounded theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Vogt, Paul. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012. Source document

Women’s Roles in Leadership Positions

The Dynamics of Women’s Roles in Leadership Delora Murphy Wingate University Abstract The roles of women have been evolving for the last 100 years. Many women have shattered the stereotype that a women’s role is to be in charge of the family and have become leaders in a walks of life. Women have proved that they can be effective as business and government leaders. Although there are still gender biases that can exist, it is much move covert then it was 40 years ago.Oddly enough, some of the characteristics that have been viewed as the most necessary for leadership in roles of men, those same traits were viewed as negative characteristics of women in leadership roles. The role of the women has been evolving for many decades. In times, way before my own, a woman’s role was to be the caregiver for her family. Although women, many have sought out an education, their main lifetime focus to be to support her husband and raise her children.Many women still choose this r ole today, but the point is that now they are allowed to choose a specific pathway in life rather than being forced to carry out established roles. This change of women’s roles has been occurring in the United States for the last hundred years. Although this may seem like a long period of time, it is not. When roles are changed or reversed, this does not necessarily mean that everyone instantly converts to the new ideas and philosophies demonstrated by a group.Often times, there is a great deal of protest both within the changing group as well as those outside of the group. Despite the evolved roles of women in society, women still face many challenges in leadership positions. There are qualities that women possess that seem to help them rise to the top echelon of leadership positions, but there are still biases that exist that may inhibit women from reaching their goals. Women won the right to vote in the 1920’s; however, it wasn’t until the 1960’s that the â€Å"Women’s Movement† began.Granted women’s roles had been changing for 40 years prior to the Women’s Movement, it was clear that this was not a natural evolution. Many people, both men and women, challenged the idea of a woman as an independent, productive citizen. Many women were ready to be seen and valued differently, but just because a group wants to be seen differently, does not mean that that is going to happen. This is usually the pivotal moment for most movements in History. A group seeks changes that others are adverse to seeing happen. The women’s movement called for fundamental changes in the roles of women.No longer did women want to be seen as the caregiver of the home, they wanted to be seen as independent people who could make important decisions and choose their educational and professional pathways. Today, in the United States of America, women are on a more equal footing with men in most cases: often by necessity, where wom en cannot complete in the workplace for jobs that were one traditionally held my men, also in light of two –parent working households. Although most career and professional opportunities are open to women in this country, there are still major discrepancies in the leadership positions that women hold.Among the US population 25 and above, 34 percent of women have obtained a Bachelor’s degree compared with 30 percent of men. Of Graduate degree’s held, women dominate that group with 39 percent of Graduate Degrees being held by men. Versus 21% percent, which are held by men. It would be appropriate after viewing these statistics, that one could assume that women hold the same, if not more, of the top leadership positions in business and politics, but this, in fact, is not the case. Forbes Magazine (2011) created and published a study with an emphasis breakdown on women’s roles in top leadership positions. Only 6 percent of Fortune 100 CEO’s are women à ¢â‚¬ ¢ Only 8 percent of technology startup companies are lead by women †¢ Only 9 percent of contributors on Wikipedia are women †¢ Women account for only a tenth of the voting power on the words’ key interest rates †¢ Only 13 percent of the top 100 billionaires worldwide are women †¢ Only 15 percent of senior industry management positions belong to women. †¢ Less than 18 percent of Congressional seats are held by women. Clearly, this poses a question about why women are still not sharing equal roles with men in the top leadership positions in this country.There are many different reasons for these statistics. One reason for this â€Å"leadership gap† is that women just don’t ask. This idea is explored by Babcock and Laschever (2007) in the book Women Don’t Ask by Babcock and Laschever. When Babcock questioned many graduate male students were teaching their own course while women were taking on the roles of assistants, her dean st ated, † More men ask. The women just don’t ask. † It turns out, that women are just more likely than men to ask for promotions or raises. This may be due to the facts that some women aren’t aware they should be asking and other women are fearful or damaging relationships.One interesting point to note is that a leadership characteristic that is identified differently in men and women is aggression. Many people positively define aggression as a positive leadership trait in men, but that exact same trait is viewed as negative in a women. Therefore, a women many sense that being aggressive may cause more harm than good when trying to obtain a high level position. Research published by Northhouse in his book Leadership, has also shown that women are more likely to take a passive role in obtaining leadership positions.They are more reluctant to be assertive in asking for positions, and try to obtain those roles through relationships and opportunity. (p. 357) In e ssence, it is a â€Å"double edged sword for a woman†. There is also no question that gender stereotypes still exist. Oddly enough, these stereotypes may produce more harm in the 21st century because they are more covert and hard to recognize. The show, Mad Men, shows how women were treated in the workplace. The sexual harassment and belittlement of women was obvious and apparent.Women were expected to fill certain roles in the workplace and men had no issues openly expressing their ideas on women’s roles. Now, there is to be no such divide between genders. In fact, gender discrimination is breaking the law, so no longer can discrimination exist in any work place. However, this does not mean that these biases and feelings don’t exist. On the contrary, there may be many people who feel like women are not capable of performing certain tasks, but because gender discrimination is illegal, these ideas are not openly shared, but that certainly doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.Despite these things, many women have found success in the political and work setting. Interestingly, Dominance, aggression and assertiveness are not viewed as positive traits in women leaders, but these are the traits most people would identify with the top echelon leaders of the world, both politically and financially. So, what are some of the attributes that are seen in successful women? Five characteristics that most successful women share are: determination, resourcefulness, ambition, confidence, and the ability to create a maintain relationships. A successful woman is determined to have it all and make things work.At www. Successful Women. com, a guest writer describes the attributes of successful women†¦ determination, resourcefulness, engagement, ambition and confidence. Determination means having a strategic plan to accomplish a goal and now allowing anything or anyone to get in the way of that goal. True leaders know their best resource is in the hearts and minds of the people they are leading. There’s not much more that causes distrust then a leader who claims to know everything about everything. A good leader must be able to be resourceful and find answers and solutions quickly.There is no question that ambition plays a large role in the making of a successful female leader. Women without ambition rarely achieve greatness. Queen Elizabeth I gave up the chance at a family (and had her own sister imprisoned) in order to rule England. Susan B. Anthony and many other suffragettes risked being ostracized and thrown in jail in order to spread the message of women’s equality. Throughout history, the most successful women have been willing to take control of their own lives and do whatever was necessary to reach their goals.Probably the most important character trait of a female leader is confidence. Of course, it is imperative for someone to have the skills, but most people will argue that confidence is the key to becoming a successful leader. Imagine trying to get a group to follow someone who lacks self-confidence and shows fear for a task. A leader with confidence acts with decisiveness and passion, which cause subordinates to feel like they can count on their leader. Another key trait is the ability to create and maintain appropriate professional relationships.Women must show enough empathy so that their subordinates feel supported, but not too much emotion as to get over involved with ones co workers, colleagues or subordinates. This is the â€Å"make it or break it† trait for many female leaders. People seem to be more conscious of the relationship that a women has with her subordinates. If a woman is seen as too empathetic, these may be seen as a weakness. If a women seems void of emotion, people may not feel comfortable or like they are able to â€Å"fit in†. Women’s roles have been evolving for over 100 years.The road has been paved for a woman to make decisio ns about the course she chooses to live her life. The roadblocks for women have been moved out of the way. Regardless of gender biases that may still exist, a woman can be whatever she chooses to be. This does not meet that the leadership role is easy. For men and women alike, begin an effective leader is challenging ad requires special and specific characteristics to be effective. References Deborah Morrehead (2007). 9 Qualities of Smart, Successful Women. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. debramoorhead. com/blog/index. php/9-qualities-of-smart-successful-women/. Last Accessed 15 October 2012]. Denise Trauth (2002). The Changing Roles of Women. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. txstate. edu/news/news_releases/news_archive/2002/10/roleofwomen102102. html. [Last Accessed 8 October 2011]. Guest (2010). Five Characteristics of Successful Women. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. asuccessfulwoman. com/aswblog/five-characteristics-successful-women. [Last Accessed October 15 2012]. Kath erine W Hawkins, (1995). Effects of Gender Communication Content on Leadership Emergence in Small Task-Oriented Groups. Small Group Research. 26 (2), pp. 234-239Leslie Bradshaw (2011). Why Women Having A Seat at the Table is not Enough. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. forbes. com/sites/lesliebradshaw/2011/08/04/why-women-having-a-seat-at-the-table-is-not-enough/. [Last Accessed 15 October 2012]. Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, (2007). Women Don't Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation and Positive Strategies. 1st ed. New York: Bantam. Jossey Bass Publishers, (2007). Educational Leadership. 2nd ed. San Fransisco, California: Jossey Bass. Peter G Northhouse, (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice. 6th ed. Los Angeles: california: Houghton Mifflin.