Monday, January 27, 2020

Fayols 4 Functions of Management

Fayols 4 Functions of Management Henri Fayol (1841-1925), praised as father of modern administrative management, focused on general and attitudes theories of managers practice. Fayol was the first to discover the specific managerial functions of planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling (Davidson et al, 2009 p.42). However, it has comprised of only four functions nowadays (planning, coordinating, leading and controlling). These functions have become the solid foundation and core management process, playing important roles in diverse organisations. Accordingly, this essay will further elaborates the Fayols functions and convince of its great influence within the contemporary management practices. However, errors and biases decision making such as overconfidence and sink costs might cause corporate crisis and scandal (Robbins et al, 2009 p.232). Port Klang Free Zone project (PKFZ) in Malaysia, has bring on a failure planning. Advisory firm Pricewaterhousecoopers (2009 p.11) has revealed PKFZ project actual cost had rose up from RM1,957 billion, predict to reach RM12,453 billion cumulative deficits in over time. Report further indicated that failure planning included weak governance and project management, lands purchased exceed market value, low project actual occupancy and so on. It is apparent that the management team are holding unrealistically positive view, tend to obtain reward and to avoid immediate costs. PKFZ project also failure to adjust adequately for subsequent information. Thereby, decision-makers ought to not be heuristics thus simplify. Fayols coordinating function still emphasises in current management practice. Coordinating linking and allocating the organisational activities and resources to ensure efforts are effectively (Davidson et al, 2009 p.280). Coordinating approaches consist of job specialisation, departmentalisation, allocating authority and also organising activities. These purposes are to maximising performance practices, and establish sustainable competitive advantages. For this example, Malaysia former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has a great effort on coordinated civil servants. He initiated civil service reform in his governance time, suggested paradigm shift needed from the civil servants in their attitude and approach towards their duties. Hereby in Mahathir theory, stated that civil service should more customers focused, responsive, results and performance oriented, accountable and innovative, with the capacity and capability of providing quality services (Ho and Chin, 2001 p.22). As a result, reform has increased the efficiency and effectiveness in the civil service administration and management. Besides, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) was another example to demonstrate the important of coordinating. Reformation MAS adopt to join global airline alliance to cut short their deficit flight lines and feed to alliance airline (Sia, 2007). Simultaneously, collaborate airlines would also allocate the regional flights to MAS. Therefore, both have equal advantages, despite MAS flights reduced but made more money. Leading is another element of Fayols function. Organisational manager should have leadership skills to lead employee. Robbins (2009 p.577) stated that a good leader should have clear goals, relevant skills, mutual trust and support, negotiating skills and unified commitment. Furthermore, effective communication increase productivity and avoid distrust between employees. As Mahathir (2004 p.118) outlined that explanations is one of the important jobs of a leader, because leader (manager) have to sell the idea to people (subordinates). Thereby, good communication should a leader have. However, Milne and Mauzy (1999 p.3) argued that the most important leadership traits are not discernible by looking at the leader alone but by looking at interactive leader-follower relations. It makes clear that leader should also be sensitive to what followers think. For instance, Asia leading low-cost carrier, Air Asia, has an extraordinary leading style. The management prefers casual and team-work approach, with less authority symbolises and allows employees to share opinion (AFP, 2004). The crew members clean the plane without regard for rank, and the top manager frequent get down operations with subordinates. CEO Tony Fernandes has further explained this is a way to motivate his staff (Kang, 2003). The forth Fayols functions are controlling. Controlling means restricting organizational activities to same targeted element of performance remain within acceptable limits (Davidson et al, 2009 p.318). Controlling is an indicator and it helps to ensure the process of implementing goal was in right direction, with comparing and evaluating its performance. In reality, due to goal perform is an ongoing process, contingency are often surround and occur during process, therefore, controlling provide the critical link back to planning. Well controlling will make productivity efficiency and achieve effectiveness goal. Air Asia as a low-cost airline has to constant looking of their cost and expenses. For example, Air Asia decides buying single type aircraft, which is Airbus A320. CEO Tony Fernandes (2007) make clear that Airbus A320 is cost economics than others aircraft, superior reliability and fuel efficient. Due to this, keeping single aircraft type reduces maintenance fees and staff training expenses. It is apparent that Air Asia has made effective control through cost-efficient. On the other hand, organisation without control managing ignoring of the target and what future happens to take, lastly cause failure management. Port Klang Free Zone project (PKFZ) as stated above, was also result in weak finance controlling. The report (2009 p.40) has illustrated PKFZ purchased land with exceeds market value, and twice to accept higher interest rates loan than originally contracted without reason, despite management team discovered financial statement facing deficit. In sum, overwhelming evidences make clear that Fayols functions involve great influence to contemporary organisational management practice. Planning, coordinating, leading and controlling are incurred reciprocal condition, interdependent and interaction. Managers have to engage in different activities and different management process well simultaneously. Without Fayols functions nowadays, Malaysia Airlines might be termination, dissolution or take over by others. Also, entirely low-cost airlines organisations even many low-cost industries cannot survive. PKFZ project is not without planning, but a weakness planning and controlling. If plans and controls in satisfactory, it might be a flourish regional trade, distribution and procurement centres. Hence, it could therefore be concluded with practice well of Fayols functions, although goal cannot assure be success but can minimise the challenges and drawbacks among the approach.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

A Civil Action: Witness Evaluation

In the book, A Civil Action, by Jonathan Harr, a plaintiff’s attorney is called upon to prove that a cluster of cancer deaths in a town called Woburn were caused by the pollution of city water wells by factories owed by two corporate entities, Beatrice, and Grace.The liability phase of the trial, separate from the proximate cause trial entailed testimony presented to prove or disprove that the factories in question were responsible for the presence of carcinogenic chemicals in the city’s well water. Thus, the witnesses were all presented to prove or disprove this allegation.The tannery owned by Beatrice and the factory owned by Grace both were in proximity to the wells, and both are alleged to have illegally and irresponsibly dumped a dangerous chemical, TCE on the premises, leading to the contamination of the wells.While the plaintiff’s witnesses were not entirely convincing, they, along with the cross-examination of the defendants witnesses, provided sufficient proof by preponderance of the evidence to find both companies liable.  The plaintiff began by establishing the fact of illegal dumping on both sites. He called numerous long-time residents of Woburn, who testified to witnessing the dumping or venting of whitish-grey powder, barrels, and foul-smelling sludge on the grounds around the city by the factories.(305) Coupled with photographs of abandoned barrels and waste piles on the land in question, the plaintiff established to a reasonable degree of certainty that the tannery was dumping chemicals on the land. As a hostile witness, the plaintiff also called John Reiley, the manager of the Tannery.(306)He vehemently denied any dumping, but was unable to explain the destruction of records for a 10-year period relevant to the case.(313) Despite documentation that proved otherwise, he denied being warned about dumping by the state health agent, A.C. Bolde. (306).Riley’s demeanor and denial of evidence before him made him extremel y hard to believe. It was his testimony, in the manner rendered, that most hurt Beatrice.The Plaintiff also called several experts on soil and groundwater behavior. The first of these was a soil expert named Mr. Drobinski. (303)   He testified to the presence of the TCE in the soil.The defense established on cross-examination that Drobinski had misreported the date his Masters Degree was conferred. (304)Since they did not attack the substance of his testimony, only his credibility in an oblique manner, his word that the TCE did enter the soil stood undisputed.The second expert that the plaintiff called, a hydrologist named Dr. Pinder (325) fared less well in the area of credibility. He did testify to the manner in which the toxins got from the factories’ property to the city’s wells, but was caught out as incorrect on his theory as to why the Aberjona River did not cause the contamination.The substance of his testimony was rendered neutral by the constant back-and-fo rth on cross examination. (327-337) Only his testimony that the contamination could have reached the wells from   the factory properties survived intact. Given what the other witnesses had to say, this assertion went largely unchallenged in any case.In their case against Grace in particular, the plaintiff called Frank McCann, an employee who admitted that the Grace factory used TCE in quantities of about a half-gallon a day. (317) Though he vehemently denied dumping the waste, he could provide no alternative explanation for its disappearance.Tom Barbas, another Grace employee, admitted to â€Å"placing† waste on the ground outside the factory (318). He further admitted witnessing other employees dumping buckets of unknown material on the land. These witnesses effectively established that Grace was dumping waste on the land, and that it was probable that TCE was part of that waste.Despite the plaintiff’s witnesses, they were still left with a weak case in terms of con necting the poisoned well water to the factories in question. Having established that both companies dumped the waste, the plaintiffs did not satisfactorily explain the transfer of the toxins from the land to the City’s wells.Cross-examination of the defenses witnesses brought that issue to light, and strengthened the Plaintiff’s case more than that of the defendants. Beatrice called Thomas Mernin, the Wobern City engineer, to dispute the presence of toxins in the wells. (342)He ended up convincing the jury that he had incompetently left the wells open despite their danger, and even recommending a new well in the same area. His testimony did nothing to ease the allegation that the wells were poisoned. (343)

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Into the Wild Blue Yonder Essay

Most people will never get the chance to fly an airplane. They will never get to experience the thrill of soloing for the first time or the terror of dodging crows at 100 mph. Most people will be familiar with the sensation of your stomach settling somewhere around your knees or your throat while on a roller coaster, well, flying an airplane makes that feel like walking down a flight of stairs. First off, I have to begin by describing to you just what an airplane looks like, in and out. Well, on the outside most small general aviation aircraft have a thin, cloth skin stretched over an aluminum skeleton for strength. The aircraft has four surfaces that control how the pilot can manipulate the plane in flight. On the outside trailing edge of the wings are the ailerons, they control how much the airplane rolls when the pilot turns the yoke (similar to a steering wheel in a vehicle) either right or left. On the inside of the wings, close to the body of the plane, are the flaps. They are used to produce extra lifting force at slower speeds, they are controlled by a handle in between the pilot and co-pilot seats. At the rear of the airplane on a flat surface parallel to the wings is the elevator, the pilot can move the yoke in or out to move the elevator either up or down, thus either lifting the tail for the plane to dive, or lowering the tail for the plane to climb. Above the elevator is a vertical control surface called the rudder, which the pilot controls with foot pedals to turn the plane left or right. Now a plane can be either high- or low-wing. Most of the aircraft at Henderson State University are high-wing, which means the wings are at the top of the body of the aircraft and not at the bottom. Our airplanes have what is known as tricycle gear, which means there are two wheels beneath the body of the plane where the wings are, and one beneath the nose of the airplane. Most planes have between six and nine lights, two on the rudder, two on either wing tip, one or two on the leading edge of either wing close to the body, and sometimes one beneath the propeller. Now onto the inside of the aircraft. It is a complete mystery the first time someone looks into an aircraft. No one knows what button, knob, or switch does what. Just off the top of my head, I can count over five multi-colored knobs, seventeen switches, and at least forty buttons. The seats in our aircraft at HSU are simple, uncomfortable, but functional grey sliding seats. I just wish the engineer that designed our aircraft had actually been forced to use the seats. You can barely see out of the windshield in them, they are so low the seatbelt practically saws your neck in half by the time you get out at the end of your flight. That’s about it for looks, lets check in on how it sounds. Each airplane has its own personality, so each noise is different, however they are all much the same. Here are a few of my favorites. As you tow the monstrously heavy plane out of the hangar onto the ramp, the sticking brakes squeal like scared mice, the low pressure tires slap on the tarry pavement like a seal clapping for his ball, the nose gear whines like a five year old wanting a cookie, and the unlatched doors slam open and shut like car doors on Black Friday. Some of the planes are worse than others though. One of the planes when it starts, you automatically know that someone is flying this certain plane, it sounds closer to a rocket about to takeoff as opposed to a car without a muffler accelerating. When you are in the plane about to start it up, the low hum of conversation fills the cabin. As the pilot makes a few last adjustments to the throttle, primer, and mixture knobs, the conversation ceases and the all important call of â€Å"CLEAR PROP!† breaks the silence. When the pilot turns the ignition, the engine coughs and wheezes into life, as it slowly comes to speed with a roar that would put a lion to shame. How does an airplane feel you might ask? Well, each control is different to help you learn which is which during a night flight or an emergency situation. For example, the primer is ridged with a diamond pattern, similar to what would be on a trucks toolbox, while the only thing that is smooth for the pilot is the yoke. Another example would be the throttle control knob, it is ridged except it has small dots on it instead of a diamond pattern. Everything in the cabin is learned by muscle memory, a pilot has to get out and fly, or he can not be the best pilot possible. Flying an airplane is a tiring task, not just mentally, but physically. The pilot has to constantly hold pressure on the yoke, either backward or forward to keep the craft flying like he or she wants it to fly. Well, with that all said, those are the best ways to describe an aircraft that I know how. Out of the five senses, those are the ones best suited to describing a plane, sight, sound, and touch. I would not want to taste an airplane and they really do not have a noticeable smell, to me anyway.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

The Monarch Era Of Britain - 1311 Words

Since confederation in 1867, more than 17 million immigrants have landed in Canada. Immigration policy back then was very different from now, of course. But all of them have one thing in common. In order for them to become Canadian citizen they must have swear an oath to Queen. I believe it is time for a change in the system as Canada is completely different from back then. Using Canada itself as the figure is more appropriate than the Queen, fit the constitution better, and supported by our society structure. New citizen should swear a pledge to Canada, instead of an oath to Queen. In our current system, potential citizens are required to swear an oath to the Queen under the Oaths of Allegiance Act, rewritten in 1985, required in the Citizenship Act. This law roots back to the monarch era of the Great Empire of Britain, specifically 1689 by King William II and III and Queen Mary II. Its purpose was to secure the supremacy of the reigning monarch and in its colony, including Canada. 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