After his sudden, untimely death I was thrown in at the deep end.  My mother worried about me as she felt sure that fathers heart attack was brought on by stress.

After going through the accounts and balance sheets for the last seven years, I understood why my father was so stressed.  The business was going downhill.  On further investigation I discovered why.  We had been unable to meet our orders, and eventually the clients went elsewhere.  I should not have been surprised, as our machinery was always breaking down – especially our conveyor belts.  We always seemed to have maintenance men all over the place. Sometimes it would take days before the machinery was up and running. When I used to mention to my father that we should think of updating it, he simply replied that what was good enough for his father, was good enough for him.

They say a new broom sweeps, and that is what I intended doing, as no way was I prepared to lose what my father and grandfather had built up.  My first job was to get in touch with Engineering Company, and ask for their advice.  They were excellent, and when they showed me how efficient their conveyor belts were, how they took health and safety very seriously, I knew I had to replace our old existing ones.  They explained to me how their bucket elevators work, and I could see  how I could save money and man-hours by having one installed.  What fascinated me most were the vibrating sieves – the different kinds of materials they were used for, from bulky heavy materials, to fine powder materials.

We had always supplied pet bird feed, (as well as the conventional pet foods)  but I realised that there was a growing market for wild bird food, so I soon had a vibrating sieve installed.  In fact, more bazaar pets (which seem to becoming more popular) would need even more special foods, and I was ready for them!

It took a couple of years to win our old clients back, and soon the business was doing well again.  Luckily I have not had to lose any workers, as demands for orders are growing steadily.  In less then four years I have got the business back on its feet, and if current trends continue, and the business keeps growing, I may well have to look for new premises.  It is all thanks to my decision to update all the equipment.  I think my father would approve, and my mother said he would be proud of me.  Now I have a successful business to pass on to my son (mind you – he is only six!). aidim.

The reason for the speech should also be a factor in choosing the right keynote speaker. Some may want a speech to be given to educate the people, while others may want a motivational speech, still others might want a shift in the behavior of the audience, so that a change is initiated.  There are groups who might want to raise funds for the organization or promote a particular cause of the organization. There might also be events where the need might just be simply entertain the audience. Whatever the need, the speaker should be hired for his expertise in that particular field.

You should make an assessment and find out which speaker has made an impact on the target audience earlier. If you have not invited the speaker before, you should find out if he has addressed similar groups before, and how they have liked his speech. You could also ask your fiends and acquaintances about available speakers and how they liked them. This reference will help you to narrow down your search, because you will be getting first hand information.

The target audience is a very important factor. You should consider the demographics of the audience. It might be a general audience, or a specific audience made up of all women’s group, only school children or working people. The speaker should be able to provide the needs of the audience.

You should also find out who are the core decision makers with regard to hiring the keynote speaker and look at things from their point of view. This will enable you to choose the right keynote speaker.

The best place to choose the right keynote speaker would be the internet. You can find out many sites that give you the required information about the available speakers, their expertise and their experience. Depending on your needs, whether you want the people to be trained, whether for you consulting needs or for simply giving the keynote address you can hire the best keynote speaker. So go ahead and choose the right keynote speaker according to your requirements. drrt-bourgogne.

Planning the event is very important. You should fix the date, the location and the budget allotted for the event. With this information you should start hunting for the right keynote speaker. The speaker should be available at a reasonable distance and should be available on that date. The budget also plays an important part, as you should be able to afford to pay the speaker. If the speaker stays very far away, you might want to find out if someone is available, closer. europa2004.

In the Fixed Income course the basics of short and long term securities, bond pricing, bond yield calculation, duration and convexity, and the Treasury bond auction process, discount and coupon instruments, the spot pricing model and extracting default probability from credit spreads. If you wish to keep your focus on Corporate Finance, our course teaches capital budgeting and the cost of capital, the Capital Asset Pricing Model and beta, return on capital, net present value and internal rate of return. A learner would do well to take this course in tandem with Derivative Products – Options, Forwards, Futures & Swaps. In this course definitions of option terminology, basic hedging and trading strategies, the binomial model, Black-Scholes and model inputs, intrinsic and time value and the Greeks. Futures and forwards, over-the-counter and exchange products, term structure model and forward rates, swap definitions, features and pricing. pangee.

There are three main types of management style present in business today; autocratic, democratic and laissez faire. Each different management style relates to levels of control, whether this is how much control managers have over their employees and how much control is given to the workforce.

If you adopt an autocratic or authoritarian management style then authority is 100% in the hands of management and the chain of command is emphasised.

This high control approach can help to forge an environment of discipline though can sometimes cause dissatisfaction amongst employees as they may not get an opportunity to input their thoughts and ideas, especially as communication tends to be top-down.

A democratic management style focuses on involving the employees more and staff opinion is encouraged, respected and taken into consideration when business decisions are being made.

An open door policy is typical in a democratic management environment, also known as participative management, and emphasis is placed on management and employees communicating freely with each other.

Laissez-faire is another one of the main types of management style where communication is free flowing between all employees and managers. Laissez-faire is a liberal style of management so responsibility can sometimes be unclear and this type of management tends to only work well amongst a highly trained and motivated workforce.

When considering which type of management will work best for your organisation it is important to remember you do not have to adopt only one style; you can fuse together different styles of management to get the best results for the organisation and its employees.

Whether you work in office space in New York City or operate from a factory in China, there is sometimes no one best style for the situation and leaders must adjust their leadership style to the situation as well as to the people being led. sante.

Management styles are simply concepts and theories that influence the general work environment of an organisation and over the years, economists and business gurus have fostered and developed several management styles, each surfacing from a different school of thought.

Different organisational situations call for different styles of management and regardless of the organisation and management style in question, the objective of profitability always remains the bottom line of any business.

If you want to find out what kind of manager you are then you could carry out a personality test, many of which can be completed for free online. Your personality coupled with organisational culture and requirements are the key determinants in what sort of management style you follow. sfp2007.

When Jet Blue Airline entered the US market, most critics and traditional Airlines thought that it would not last. They asserted that such carriers can only offer passengers low cost tickets but they could never match the quality of service that older carriers offered. However, Jet Blue proved its critics wrong. The company is able to offer some of the best in-flight services yet still tops the list as one of the most competitively priced Airlines in the industry. (Schienberg, 2006)

The company ‘adaptively innovates’ by ensuring that they stay ahead of the rest. This has been seen in the Airline’s service offering. In the year 2006, Jet Blue was rated as one of the most successful Airlines in terms of customer satisfaction. The survey was conducted by Aviation magazine; it rated Airlines based on the following; cost, courtesy, foods and beverages, check in and check out procedures, aircraft features, baggage handling and others. It was found that Jet Blue has consistently improved its ‘process’ factors over the years. The process factors include check in times and baggage handling. It has also been improving its customer service through its courteous and professional cabin crew. The factors were associated with traditional carriers but Jet Blue can proudly assert that it also offers the same.

Question 3

Schools of a social behavioral approach to strategy

The first school of a social behavioral approach to learning is based on societal norms within the business environment. Managers who adhere to this school of thought regard the issue of conformity as their most important factor. Another school revolves around the fact that behavior stimulates rewards. Consequently, if an organization and its employees perform a certain activity and realize that there are rewards for it, then they should adopt that activity. Another school of thought involves the individuals. Organizations are largely made up of specific individuals who may act according to their value systems. This eventually affects the image they portray of the company. Consequently, care should be taken when recruiting personnel in order to select the best representatives of the company. (Benfari, 1995)

Tools of strategy used in these schools

In the first school (i.e. the one involving the social dimension) utilizes issues such as supplier and customer relationships. The second aspect which revolves around behavior and rewards normally utilizes salary increments to motivate employees. The last school of thought normally involves the use of sound training and recruitment practices in order to ensure that the organization’s teams stays ahead of its competitors.

Differences between cultural and positioning schools

The cultural approach tends to encourage conformity while the positioning approach encourages innovation. Also, the cultural approach entails changing business processes to suit existing cultural processes. On the other hand, the positioning school involves implementation of good strategies regardless of prevailing business preferences.

Question 4

A contrast of the planning school’s approach and the entrepreneurial school’s approach

An entrepreneurial approach to strategy entails the employment of risk taking, innovation and proactive stances in business. On the other hand the planning school advocates for a more calculated approach. Entrepreneurs always want to introduce new products and be the first to engage in risky ventures. On the other hand, the planning school is more conservative in nature opting to follow earlier predictions made.

Extent of rule 9 recognition

The entrepreneurial approach adheres to this principle by constantly thinking outside the box. Entrepreneurs constantly want to outperform their competitors and they usually do this against the backdrop of a dynamic market. In order to achieve the latter targets, this school of thought requires that managers know where they are going. No business person can claim to be an entrepreneur when they do no have a clear vision of where they are going or how to get there. On the other hand, the planning school is quite exemplary in this regard. This approach employs a well laid out plan of action based on predicted factors about the future. The plan normally considers the long term goals and objectives of the organization and how to achieve them. Therefore, the planning school is exemplary when it comes to rule nine. (Brown & Weiner, 1995)

How each school prepares managers to deal with change at the business level

Entrepreneurial approach to strategy is quite appropriate when dealing with change. This because it is scenario based and decisions are made from the top down. Such a school of thought is highly applicable in a dynamic business environment because lower level management have direct contact with external business factors. Therefore, they are more equipped to handle change or pressure. On the other hand, the planning approach to strategy is suitable for stable environments. However, this approach also leaves some room for changing the business approach. This is because it entails measuring and evaluating changes. If results do not fall within the required standards, then the process is repeated.

Conclusion

Strategic management may be scenario based or plan based. The latter is more appropriate for stable environments while the entrepreneurial approach is more appropriate for dynamic business environments.

Reference:

Schienberg, J. (2006): Jet Blue continental tops in airline satisfaction, retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=JBLU accessed on 25th June 2008

Brown, A. & Weiner, E. (1995); Supermanaging: How to harness change for personal and organizational success; New York: Mentor

Benfari, R.  (1995): Changing Management Styles; Lexington Books

Aguilar, F. (1997): Scanning business environments; Macmillan.

Strategic management is an essential part of any successful business. However, the type of approach chosen depends on prevailing internal and external factors. Consequently, the essay will examine some these factors in relation to the strategic approach chosen.

Question 1

Description of Jet Blue Airline’s business model

Jet Blue’s Business model is a combination of two aspects. The first is that the company continually improves its product offering i.e. it is dynamic. At first, it marketed itself as a low cost Airline. However, with time, the company realized it could improve its image through good customer service and this has been a propelling factor for the Airline. The second aspect of Jet Blue’s business model is to operate with a lean staff base. They only have a small number of employees as they direct customers to deal with flight issues online. This lean business model has been the most important contributor to the company’s profitability. (Schienberg, 2006)

How the concept of improvisation is important to the Airline’s ability to compete

Jet Blue is a low cost Airline and cannot afford an extra team of in-flight kitchen employees. The company realized that offering food is an important segment of customer service. It improvised by substituting food with friendly attendants, personalized television sets and very comfortable seats. Besides this, the Airline’s leg space is adequate enough for it passengers.

Improvisation can also be seen by the fact that company conducts all its booking online. There is no need to employ extra staff to deal with the large numbers directly thus minimizing operating expenses. Additionally, the company deals with the extra workload by offering training and development. Therefore the company equips its staff members to deal with extra tasks and duties. This is also another form of improvisation. (Aguilar, 1997). universite.

Since negativity is only a symptom, we have to dig within ourselves for its root causes. This means we we’ll want to search out the feelings that are contributing to our negativity. For many of us, dealing with emotional topics is uncomfortable, but we’re deceiving ourselves if we think we can permanently ignore our inner feelings because they will always surface in some form, usually as inappropriate negative actions, judgmental assumptions, and mood swings.

All feelings, even unhappy ones, have positive value, so instead of hiding from our feelings we need to become emotionally intelligent by improving our ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply emotions as a source of personal energy, information, and influence (5).
Reduce negative phrasing

When we overuse negative phrasing, it hurts our relationships with others on both conscious and unconscious levels. It can also lead others to view us as bureaucratic and inflexible. Negative phrases include words like don’t, can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, and usually always, never, and but. Even if it isn’t our intent, negative phrasing implies blame or limits the options of the recipients, leaving them feeling as though they have no control of the situation, whereas positive phrasing gives suggestions and options, is encouraging, and stresses positive actions and consequences.

Negative phrasing: We can’t start until we receive your report.
Positive phrasing: Please give us your report so we can start.

Negative phrasing: You did that wrong.
Positive phrasing: Here’s another way to do that.

Negative phrasing: That won’t work in our company.
Positive phrasing: Here are some obstacles you’ll likely have to overcome if you proceed in that manner.

Negative phrasing: You didn’t fill in all the required information, so I’m returning your request form back to you.
Positive phrasing: If you’ll provide the information in the highlighted fields and resubmit the form, I’ll get it processed for you.
Eliminate negative self-talk

Negativity can also creep into our psyche through the silent messages we tell ourselves. Many of us do this so often and on such an unconscious level that we may not realize it, but our mind is aware of it, and much of our negative self-talk is self-reinforcing. It causes us to perceive ourselves or situations negatively, and that perception becomes our reality, which in turn further reinforces our negative perception.

There is truth behind the phrase “we are who we think we are,” so we should work on giving ourselves affirming yet realistic self-talk. The point of positive affirmations isn’t to tell ourselves rosy lies, which actually do more harm than good (6). But we can instead transform our negative thoughts into positive phrases; for example, instead of saying “I’ll never get this report done on time” we should tell ourselves “It may be tough, but I’ll get this report done on time.”
Change it, accept it, or leave it

We all have demands on us and situations that we can’t fully control. It is pointless, wasted energy letting these things draw us into negativity. But even when we think we don’t have any control, there’s often ways we can minimize the situation, so if we find ourselves saying “that’s just the way it is,” we should stop and make sure we’re not overlooking something that can be done. And even for situations that appear completely out of our control, we actually have the final say because we have three options in any situation; we can change it, we can accept it; or we can leave it. Regardless of which decision we choose, it helps us to remember that we’re in complete control of this choice.
2. Eliminating Negativity in our Teams

To keep our team functioning as a cohesive, efficient unit, we have to quickly deal with negativity as soon as it appears. Since negativity is the result of people losing their self-confidence, sense of control, or community spirit, we should first make sure that our management style isn’t contributing to the problem:

Are we leading by a positive example?
Our team members get their cues for acceptable behavior from us, so our behavior should be impeccable and our attitude be sanguine.

Are we keeping the promises we made, and are we following up on things when we said we would?
Keeping our word builds trust while distrust leads to negativity.

Are we giving effective recognition?
Team members need to know that their efforts are valued by us and by our organization.

Are we keeping team members challenged?
Boredom and lack of new opportunities contribute to people feeling underutilized and undervalued.

Are we giving our team members a chance to participate in governance issues and decisions?
It helps provide a sense of control if we give people a chance to participate in setting rules and consequences.

Are we sharing information equally and in an open, honest, and direct manner?
Information and access to it are power, and if we’re not providing relevant information equally to everyone we risk feelings of elitism between team members.

Are we establishing clear and achievable visions?
Goals are important motivators. They give our team something to strive for and something positive that they can believe in.

Are we letting people get by with complaining?
Complaining is a form of helplessness; we want to teach the person to take complaints and turn them into a solution-oriented actions.

Are we creating too many rules for everyone when only a few people are at fault?
Excessive rules give the impression to our team members that they are children and incapable of self- and peer-accountability.

Are we applying policies and rules equally and fairly to everyone?
When policies and rules aren’t applied equally, we contribute to cliques and exclusivity within team members.

Negativity also stems from organizational factors. A 2002 study of 1,400 employees and human resource executives found workplace negativity to be caused by five major situations (7):

Excessive workload
Lack of recognition
Lack of challenging opportunities
Anxiety over financial security
Concern over the company’s future

These are problems that usually don’t have quick and easy answers, but there are concrete steps we can take to address many of them. For example, even if we can’t permanently reduce someone’s workload, we can certainly do some juggling, even if only temporarily, to help out a stressed team mate. If organizational change is causing worry, the best thing we can do is communicate frequently with our team and be an empathetic listener.

When we have negative team members, we should talk to them in private about their negative behavior and set clear expectations for improvement. Beyond the destructive effects of negativity, there’s a legal risk to us and our company because negative people are more likely to harbor bitterness and seek retaliation when they feel they’ve been wronged.

If the person’s negativity is rooted in problems outside of work, we can’t take on a role as counselor. It’s our duty to be empathetic and point out resources the person can turn to, such as an employee assistance program, but we shouldn’t let ourselves become therapists, and the person’s negative behavior in the workplace still needs to be corrected.

As in any employee situation, we’ll want to focus on the behavior and not the person, so we’ll need to discuss how the team member’s negativity affects his or her personal productivity and how it’s a detriment to the team and company. We’ll need to allow the person a full opportunity to discuss the situation from his or her perspective without our interruption. As the person speaks, we’ll want to be an active listener, paying attention for root causes since these will be the items we can suggest action-oriented solutions for.

We’ll also want to listen for perceptions the person has that might be inaccurate, and we can use carefully worded paraphrasing or follow-up questions that might help the person recognize that his perception of the situation might not be as one-sided as he believes.

If all else fails, and our efforts to get the person to change the negative behavior aren’t successful, he or she needs to be removed from the team or let go regardless of his or her skills. No one’s benefits to the organization outweigh the hidden costs and legal risks his or her negativity causes.
3. Addressing negativity from our coworkers

Dealing with negativity from our coworkers is fraught with political difficulties, but we have a duty to maintain a non-hostile work environment. We have to carefully consider the situation, what options are available, what actions we can take, and our willingness to accept the outcome of those actions. Anything we do must always be done with tact and the highest level of professionalism, and within organizational policies and under the guidance of our company’s human resources professionals.

The person may not even realize that his or her words or actions are being perceived negatively. In a casual, private setting, we can tell the person how her actions affected us. In many situations, we might be pleasantly surprised to find that no negativity was intended.

But if the behavior is chronic and intentional, and we’ve allowed ourselves to get caught up in someone else’s sphere of negativity, we’ll want to break that cycle. This includes stopping them when they begin gossiping, offering them different perceptions of the same event, or providing action-oriented solutions to their complaints and redirecting the conversation. For example, “You’ve been complaining about XYZ for three weeks. Have you taken your ideas for a solution to the problem to your manager?”

Finally, there are some people who aren’t willing to break out of their negativity, and if it’s dragging us down along with them, we need to keep those people at a professional, courteous, and impersonal distance. Tactics we can use are to rely on email communication with them as much as possible and practicing emotional detachment when the person is behaving negatively, not letting any of his negative actions or statements get under our skin.

Negativity is destructive to us, our teams, and our companies. When negativity is allowed to fester, productivity is diminished, faith in the organization falters, and innovation will stagnate. In some cases we can influence or mitigate the situations contributing to negativity, but in many cases all we can do is adjust our perception and attitude towards the situation. For the sake of our team, negative behavior from team members can’t be tolerated, so we have to confront the team member about his or her negative behavior. When coworkers can’t overcome their negativity, we may have no choice but to distant ourselves from them.

Copyright 2010, J. Alex Sherrer, Project Management Road Trip

References
1. Topchik, Gary S. (2001). Managing Workplace Negativity. AMACOM – American Management Association: New York. ISBN: 0-8144-0582-7.
2. Gallozzi, Chuck. Negative Thinking. (n.d.). Negative Thinking. Retrieved from http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/negativethinking.htm.
3. Greenberg, Margaret H. and Arakawa, Dana. (2006). Optimistic Managers & Their Influence on Productivity & Employee Engagement in a Technology Organization. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/mapp_capstone/3.
4. Popper, Micha, Amit, Karin, Gal, Reuvan, Mishkal-Sinai, Moran, & Lisak, Alton. (2004). The Capacity to Lead: Major Psychological Differences Between Leaders and Nonleaders. Military Psychology, October 2004, (16)4, pps 245 – 263. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a785378355&db=all.
5. Cooper, Robert K. & Sawaf, Ayman. (1998).Executive EQ: Emotional Intelligence in Leadership and Organizations, page 8. Pedigree Book: New York. ISBN: 0-399-52404-5.
6. Wood, Joanne V., Perunovic, Elaine W. Q., & Lee, John W. (2009). Positive Self-Statements: Power for Some, Peril for Others. Psychological Science, May 21, 2009 (20)7, pps. 860-866. Retrieved from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122399441/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0.
7. Towers Perrin and Gang & Gang. (2003). Working Today: Exploring Employees’ Emotional Connections to Their Jobs. Towers Perrin/Gang & Gang Research, 2003. cmveletrhy.