Overview Of Ethical Dimension In Decision Making Process Commerce Essay

Overview Of Ethical Dimension In Decision Making Process Commerce Essay This piece of work explores the ethical dimension in decision making process and factors that influences managers behavior. It also explore conditions at which managers make decisions, how they access opportunities and why the needs to maintain sensitivity and be guided by their moral compass in reaching high ethical values in all their activities. The short fall of ethical issues shall also be address. Ethical misconduct has become a major issue in recent time that has led to the collapse of hitherto successful companies. Accounting fraud, inside trading of stock and bonds information, falsifying document, bribery, deceptive advertising, defective products employee theft, non punishable gross ethical misconducts, lack of proper governance are all problems cited as evidence of the decline ethical standards. Respectable business men and women, politicians have to resign disgracefully or imprisons for ethical indiscretions. Ethics in business has now taken a new centre stage in the cor porate world as Global businesses are now working closely together to establish standards of acceptable behavior. The benefit of ethics cannot be overemphasize, many organizations who uphold ethics are reaping its benefit such as employee commitment, customer satisfactions, investor loyalty and above all soaring profit. INTRODUCTION It is perceived that a cultural diversity in work place arises from upholding ethical values, which is linked to morals which in it self is linked to performance. One cannot talk about ethics without mentioning values, morals and principles. They are all interlinked and one explains the other. For example, Ethics- a moral principle or set of moral values held by an individual. Morals principles of behavior in accordance with standards of right and wrong. Values moral principles or accepted standards of a person or a group. Principles a standard or rule of personal conduct. Thus Business ethics is a set of moral principles for arriving at a decision within the values of the organization. Ethics is very controversial because of its discretional nature of it makes it open to different interpretations and applications, for this reason it can be manipulated to suit certain situations and many employees and managers have gone unscratched. For example an employee, who produces the best s ales results but continues to be racist after several warnings do you dismiss him and lose your best sales personnel? This situation does not only require honesty and courtesy. As controversial ethics may be, its importance has risen in modern times. So why is ethics so important? They are because, they are very the foundations on which a civilized society is base on and without them civilization may collapse; its purpose in business is to direct employees to abide by a code of conduct that maintains discipline and facilitates public confidence in that business. Ethics ought to be and must be taught, its values cannot be managed; its a personal thing and is about standards. Ethical values translated into management behaviors can make the difference between employee satisfaction and frustration. Making good ethical decisions requires sensitivity to ethical issues and a practiced method for exploring the ethical aspects of a decision and weighing the considerations that should impact on course of action. Having a method for ethical decision making is absolutely essential. It is only by carefully exploring a problem, aided by the insights, intuition and different perspectives, can managers make good ethical choices in pressing needs. Minor moral behavior is usually an outcome of a decision process Moral and ethical behaviors are used interchangeably; this is because ethical behaviors are usually base on morals. Morality is usually used to refer to a code of conduct put forward by any actual group. Ethical behavior is acting in ways that is consistent with one personal values and the commonly held values of the organization and society Naran (1992) .Aristotles view of some of the key elements of a moral character includes Courage, which allows managers to assume reasonable risks when in dilemma, its demonstrate initiative but are not foolhardy. Temperance, which allows managers to channel their drives and ambitions in creative ways without being excessive. Justice, which is associated with trying to find a balance between competing forces, and which is essential in balancing stakeholders claims in addition to honesty, integrity etc. Managers are perceived to be morally upright whose responsibility is to make decisions that seek common good. Even though they are perceived this way, yet they have a choice to follow either their own values or the company values enshrine in CSR, which according to Institute of Business Ethics is the core values and codes of ethical behaviors that underpin everything that the business does and how a company chooses to interact with its global and local communities in the light of its values and ethics. It is also the area where the agency problem arises (i.e. the conflict of interest between managers and owners, where managers could forgo the interest of shareholders and work in their own self fish interest). For example Enrons Kenneth Lay had the choice between honoring shareholders or himself and he chose the latter over the former. Albert Carr in 1968 referred a decision maker as game player who cannot be trusted to accommodate all stakeholders in his decision. Because a business should not seek to satisfy goals other than seeking profit by legal and acceptable means Friedman (1790). What is acceptable means is where ethical behaviors are traded off. For instance, will a shareholder prefer to have more profit unethically? Are they just interested in returns which most of them do or seek the good for all? E.g. Cadbury was taken over by Kraft, the shareholder knew there would be jobs losses yet because of returns, they went ahead, were they seeking good for many or themselves?). Both Carr and Friedman appear to support aggressive profit chasing style of management but differ in the approaches. Carr is of the view that, the morality of the poker player is what counts which means that, the morality of the company should be burnt to favor that game player. But the question is how moral can a manger be trusted to be? WorldComs Bernie Ebbers was trusted for that, occupying a reputable position in a reputable company but what did he do? This is where Friedman assert ion that profit should be chased within the parameters of decency and legality is of great value in business ethics, which is the application of ethical values to business behavior and applies to any and all aspects of business conduct, from boardroom strategies to treatment of suppliers to sales techniques and accounting practices. Ethics goes beyond the legal requirements for a company and is, therefore, discretionary. Business ethics applies to the conduct of individuals and to the conduct of the organization as a whole. It is about how a company does its business, how it behaves intrinsically. Most companies seek to do business ethically in order to make profit but an ethical business, on the other hand has a much broader agenda and focuses on making a positive contribution to the community. For example a mainstream bank may take ethics seriously by taking responsibility for its negative impacts on society and the environment and seeking to minimize those impacts. An ethical ban k, such as The Co-operative Bank, states that it seeks to make the world a better place by taking a different approach to banking. In the case of this type of business, ethics becomes at least as high a priority as profitability. Decision makers are constantly tested with a host of ethical issues such as bribery, conflicts of interest environmental protection, fairness, fraud, honesty in research and testing, public safety, utilitarianism etc. BAE systems recently pleaded guilty to bribery allegations. Where was their ethical code? It appears to suggest that, these companies have persuasive ethical codes but fall short of reflecting on their day to day activities and a deterrent to such unethical practices. The lack of legal enforcement of these ethical codes is belittling its impacts. Let consider the words of Kenneth Lay July 1 2000 As officers and Enron Corp, its subsidiaries, and its affiliated companies, we are responsible for conducting the business affairs of the companies in accordance with all applicable laws and in a moral and honest mannerWe want to be proud of Enron and to know that it enjoys a reputation for fairness and honesty and that it is respected. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Compliance with the law and ethical standards are conditions of employment and violations will result in disciplinary action, which may include terminationin addition to responding to the Act, we are adopting this Policy Statement to avoid even the appearance of improper conduct on the part of anyone employed by or associated with the CompanyWe have all worked hard over the years to establish our reputation for integrity and ethical conductà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ We cannot afford to have it damaged. Those were the words of Kenneth Lay yet he damaged and collapsed Enron and never obeyed any single word from the code of ethics he wrote. Ethical codes are increasingly becoming a norm for businesses and will soon become a white elephant except some actions be taken to address its lack of enfor cement and proper oversight. The absence of punishment essentially provides an opportunity for unethical behaviors. Managers may not be taught to have good morals but can be force to follow ethical codes. Corporate governance was created as a accountability, oversight and control with accountability referring to how closely the workplace decisions are aligned with the firms stated strategic direction and its compliance with ethical and legal considerations and oversight as a check and balances that limit an employees and managers opportunities to deviate from policies and strategies that prevent unethical and illegal activities and control to take charge of auditing and improvement. This was a brilliant idea with the board of directors as the officers in charge. These board of directors who have legal responsibility for the firms resources and decisions, appoint executives and assume fiduciary duties have used such positions to enrich themselves according to Ferrell, (2005) most boa rd of directors meet irregularly and spent less time to take the most complex decisions but spend more time in executive compensations. Most respondents in his survey agree that directors compensations are too. Unfortunately the people or the bodies who suppose to regulate, stress and point out unethical issues have become accomplices. For example Former head of Royal Bank of Scotland was accused of a host of wrong doings when he never acted alone. And most of his decisions were approved by the board of directors. As if that was not enough his successor defended feverishly the roar of the bonuses has brought huge debate in the public including a parliamentary committee. Arthur Andersen supposes to haven been the Accountants Accountant (Auditors) who suppose to have been the eyes for Enron and WorldCom shareholders, but what did they do? Were they honest and fair? Did they protect the shareholders and investors? Were they not partners in crime to immoral Kenneth lay and his allies to defraud the general public? So who can the public trust on ethical issues and utilitarianism, the very people who suppose to know better are worse off. To sum up: Ethics is not the same as feelings. But good morals triggers intuition which needs to be trusted sometimes in complex decisions making which help to steer moral compass. Ethics is not religion. Many people are not religious, but ethics applies to everyone. Most religions do advocate high ethical standards but sometimes do not address all the types of problems we face. Yet where ethics are tied to religious belief there has been less misconduct. Ethics is not following the law. A good system of law does incorporate many ethical standards, but law can deviate from what is ethical. Law can become ethically corrupt, as some totalitarian regimes have made it. Law can be a function of power alone and designed to serve the interests of narrow groups. But if only ethics can be enforced most of the corrupt practices shall reduce. Ethics is not following culturally accepted norms but where ethics becomes a way of life there has been much result. A decision is usually a choice among alternatives (McManus, 2009). It is the study of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. It is a cognitive process which consists of finding the best option from a feasible set. Many decision making processes, in the real world, take place in an environment of uncertainty in which managers some time rely on probabilities and gut feeling(intuition) beside rational to make decisions. Thus every decision involves certain amount of risk. Where there is no uncertainty, there is no risk and where there is certainty there is no decisions to be made. There are different types and levels of decisions with different input and outcome but whatever the decision might be the processes are the same though it differs in substance and in content. For example strategic decisions are long term heuristic control from board and top management is usually associated with high risk because of the uncertain future. Tactical decisions, medium term and qualitative with moderate risk for middle and functional management and operational which is short term, day to day quantitative activities with l ow risk for lower management. These levels and types of decisions usually involve 6 main steps from identification of a need or problem which involves defining the underlying problem to be solved with clearly stated desired outcome or the goal, to developing alternatives which is exploring other ways or possible solution to achieve the stated goal, to evaluating alternative which is analyzing each alternative and its includes comparing alternative, weighting, rating and ranking alternatives to find out the best feasible option then selection which could be more than one option, to implementation which is a very crucial step because all the people involved in the implementation of a solution should know about the implications of making the decisions are, this is very essential to successful results and then monitoring which is watching over to make sure it reaches the goal. But there are various obstacles to good decisions, because the manager has to rely on others to input, it can s low decisions down or tilt it wrongly such as lack of information and the too much of it, lack of technical expertise, lack of constructive criticisms, noncommittal, over confidence, prejudgment, reliance of past experience, supply of wrong information, dominance individuals etc. In all of these processes managers are expected to behave in a certain way (ethically). Because a company cannot be a moral agent but they are however held to the same standard as individuals, a manager personal morality should not be separated from business morality. As the impact of a companys actions on society requires them to consider the whole social system in making a decision, as business doesnt operate in a vacuum. Whether a decision is reach base on rational or probability, the intuition (gut feeling) factor will always have the final say. Most managers make decisions that reflect on their persona, thus a morally corrupt mangers like WorldComs Bernie Ebbers, Adelphias John Rigas, Tycos Dennis Kozl owski, Livedoors Takafumi Horie, Samsung Group Lee Kun-hee, Daewoos Kim Woo-chaas etc made decisions that reflected on their morality. Ethical managers often back down on a decision when it doesnt feel right. Thus indeed a decision process is an outcome of moral behavior. A business situation occurs with a variety of threats and opportunities to goals and success Every problem or a need creates business opportunity with it associated risk. Managers ought to be sensitive to the dynamics of business environment with its rapid technological changes. Managers always scan their environment to spot opportunities, situations that they can take advantage of. They explore new ways of doing things, look to keep competitors at arms length, try to strengthen their competitive advantage and increase market share. They monitor their position and their products in the market place and also take advantage of a new market. Sometimes they diversify their portfolio to take a situational advantage. For example virgin airline spotted a business opportunity for space tourism because they saw a need which they thought they could provide. That was a massive ambition with huge risks and rewards, the aim is to provide tourist with an unforgettable experience in space flight, with the objective of provide sightseeing in aerospace. When its succeeds the benefit are very huge but the risk /threat of massive losses could scare them from such an adventure. This is where sound managers are called into action. First series of questions needs to be answered such as, is there a need for space tourism, what is the market size for such segment, who will be our primary targets, do we have the capacity in terms of funding and expertise, then a cost benefit analysis has to be done to ascertains the viability of it, A survey will be carried out as part of the strategies to test the market readiness for such adventure and when the space craft is ready a test flight has to carried out. In all of these, managers have to take a calculated risk not to overexpose the company. The threat of failure, being the first of its kind, safety and accidents issues will be a major concern. The target market would be the very elite the rich class. This could pave way to charging exorbitant prices that may lead to exploitation of such people, as a monopoly in the market. This is where mangers need to be guided by their moral fiber, to address the safety issues and setting fair prices to avoid exploitation. Opportunities do not come all the time and a proactive manager creates opportunities, but not all opportunities are advantageous. For example every business has its own risk threshold beyond it will be a disaster. There are some risk that can be passed on or diversify others can not be they are called systematic and non systematic risk. Some greedy managers would want to grab every opportunity and loose sight of systematic risk that cannot be mitigated by diversification such risk could collapse businesses. In accessing opportunities both risk takers and risk averse managers needs to take some level of risk (a calculated risk). Most managers access opportunities in light of PEST and SWOT especially if the opportunity is in abroad as these two analysis helps to uncover any hidden threat or risk. Political factors such as the type of government and its stability, the rule of law and levels of bureaucracy and corruption, Tax policy, and trade and tariff controls, environmental and consu mer-protection legislation. Economic factors such as stage of business cycle, economic growth, inflation and interest rates, unemployment , labor supply and cost, levels of disposable income and income distribution, the likely changes in the economic environment Socio-Cultural factors such as population growth rate and age profile, level of education and social mobility, employment patterns, job market freedom and attitudes to work. Technological Environment: Impact of emerging technologies, impact of internet, reduction in communications costs and increased remote working, research and development activity and impact of technology transfer. The effective use of PEST Analysis ensures that the business is aligned positively with the powerful forces of change that are affecting the business world. By taking advantage of change, the company is more likely to be successful than if its activities oppose it. PEST Analysis helps to avoid taking action that is doomed to failure from the outset, for reasons beyond the control of the manager and it also useful when the opportunity is in different country or region. This analysis should be done in conjunction with SWOT analysis STRENGHT WEAKNESS OPPORTUNITIES THREAT By access the internal factors (strength and weakness) such as the capacity expertise, funding etc some of the inherit risk or failure could be avoided before it takes off. Opportunities and threats are external factors such as new market, new product line diversification joint venture and acquisition, and threat such as new competitor, new taxation and tariffs. At the end of such analyses the manager would have all the options available to him to inform good choice or alternative move. But some times manager needs to acts quickly and cannot wait for these analyses, on that ground he must be guided by his expertise and his intuition to take a calculated risk to cease the opportunity if suit fit. A need to decide is recognized and alternatives must be evaluated and selected A need precede a decision. For a quality decision to be made, an unambiguous need must be identifies and recognized in the mind of the decision maker The decision maker has to understand the problem, the need and purpose of the decision, the criteria of the decision, subcriteria and who the stakeholders are. Quality decisions are mostly base on the quality of information available to the manager. Though more information doesnt guarantee better result and sometimes is as bad as little. Not all information is useful therefore; the manager will need to filter out which ones are necessary for the situation at hand. Alternatives must be carefully and objectively evaluated, prioritized, weighed, rated and ranked, their factual consequences explicitly determined and combined according to some predetermined utility function a choice is finally made to maximize utility. Harrison (1987) suggested five components in the decision-making function of comparing and evaluating alternatives: Analysis of the anticipated benefits and costs for each alternative. Estimation of the risk and uncertainties related to the like hood that given alternative will result in an outcome. Make closure on some one alternative i.e. eliminating or, probably some mixture of accessible alternatives Give reason for the choice of given alternative by fixed further on its attributes for attaining the objectives Determine and evaluate the outcomes expected to result from implementing the chosen alternative and where these are not feasible, the decision maker has to use his judgment. This is necessary because it is his responsibility to makes decision to salvage a situation or take advantage of, in all of these he must be guided by his personal values and the ethical code of the company, he will need to maintain his composure and allow his moral compass to guide him. A virtuous behavior usually extends from personal life into his business life. He will need to be sensitive to the environment and all the stakeholders. But sometimes they could be under pressure to take a stance or make a hasty move. For example President Bush went to war in Iraq when the September 11th was so fresh in the minds of Americans. The need to retaliate was so strong and the president was under enormous pressure to act and he acted under false pretence of weapons of mass destruction. Today many Americans wish they had not gone to war. Dialogue, sanctions and international pressure were options that he could have exercise, weighted ranked, instead he used his judgment which is usually base on feeling or an idea .Even though it came to light that the intelligent report on which he based his decisions on was wrong. This is how manger could make a bad decision with wrong information or little. Manager are tested every day with decision, they are being pressured all over because of the changing business environment, they have to think on their feet to make decisions with very little information, sometime they even have to gamble and hope that all goes well. This is where they have to trust their gut feeling to move forward. Time is generally short and at a premium. At this point, it is very easy for alternatives to be offered that require marginal moral behavior. This is when sensitivity to the moral compass is most needed. This is when objectionable moral behaviors can best be exposed and discarded. The right time is very important because businesses do not have much time to wait for a decision which is generally time consuming and uncomfortable and because of limitation in information collection and cumbersome processes, decision makers tends to settle for the first satisfactory solution which may be less than the ideal. Available time to business is determined by the gap between when a decision is to be made and when is actually made business. Between thos period profit can be made as losses. Businesses have strict times table some time and deadline must be met or never. For example, a competitive tender require specific date and time, if management are to make a bid they must meet it or loose the opportunity. Trading on the stock exchange is time bound; prices keep changing in a matter of seconds, a stock broker must make a move at the right time or loose out . Philip Kotler a marking authority believes the right product at the right time in the right place at the right price is very crucial to a successful business. Competitors could take advantage with the slighter delay. Businesses must strike at the right time or risk failure. Time value of money state that, money at the present time is worth more than the same amount in the future due to its potential earning capacity. Investment decision ought to be made at the right time if good returns are expected How can they adhere to personal and ethical values and their moral compass under these decision pressures? Strategic decisions set the tone for managerial decision making for all functional unit and individuals organization. If the decision making at the top of the organization is unproductive then the choices made at subordinate levels of management will be the similar. Likewise if top managements strategic choices tend to be successful, it permeates positively on choices made in other parts of the organization (Harrison 1987). According to Harrison (1987) argues that values are normative principles by which human beings are influenced by in their choices amongst alternative route of action. Values initiate principally at the level of the individual. It is also true, however, that groups have values, known as norms and organizations have values implied in their goals, objectives and their ethical codes. As a manager, decisions made should reflect the values of the whole organization REFRENCES Harrison E. (1987) the Managerial Decision-Making Process (3rd Edition) McManus J.(2010) Lecture 5, Managerial Decision Modelling, available Naran, F Your Role in Shaping Ethics, Executive Excellence, 9 (1992), 11 12 Ferrell,O.C Houghton Mifflin Company, USA 6th edition Carr A 1968. is business bluffing ethical Harvard Business review Friedman M. 1970 the social responsibility of business is to increase profit N.Y Time magazine John I have run out of time

Cancer Genesis and Cancer Treatments: an Overview Essay -- Health, Dis

The human body is made up of trillions of living cells all working together. Normally, these cells grow, divide, and die. However, sometimes the process is mismanaged; and during this time, uncontrolled cellular growth and division occurs. The uncontrolled growth and division lead to tumors, which usually leads to cancer. However, not all tumors lead to cancer. In addition, the word cancer is a general name given to over 100 diseases, which begin with uncontrolled cellular growth. If these growths are left untreated, they can cause severe illness and even death. In the United States, half of all men and one-third of all women will develop cancer sometime during their lifetimes. The threat of developing cancer can be reduced by changing one’s lifestyle. A better diet (Ames, 2001; Bergstrà ¶m et al., 2001), daily physical activity( Kampert et al., 1996), limiting sun exposure (Elwood et al., 1997), quitting smoking (Peto et al., 2000), and reducing excessive alcohol consumption (Tsugane et al., 1999); all add up to a reduced the probability of developing cancer. In addition, the earlier a cancer is diagnosed and treated, the less likely that that individual will die of it. Therefore, the combination of early diagnosis, therapies and lifestyle changes can beat the occurrence of cancer. Cancer Genesis Cancer begins when a cell starts to grow out of control. All cancers begin with out-of-control growth due to damaged DNA. DNA is the genetic material found in every cell, it contains instruction and blue prints for cellular growth, division, and death. Normally, when DNA damage occurs the cell has mechanism to either repair the damage or initiate its own death. However in cancer cells, the DNA damage is not repaired nor does the cell com... ...l activity involving regulatory, metabolic and healing processes. Electrical currents that occur at the site of injuries such as bone fractures are considered a sign of healing energy. In salamanders this contributes to the processes involved in limb regeneration† (O’Clock, 1999). Another type of energy medicine is Ayurveda, which is an ancient Indian medicine system .The therapy re-establishes harmony between the body, mind, and forces of nature to cure cancers and other illness. The therapy requires exercise, herbal remedies, lifestyle changes, and meditation. Practitioners of Ayurveda strengthen and purify their bodies and mind and increase their spiritual awareness. A recent clinical study, by the National Institutes of Health, showed that in 79% of cases, patients with chronic disease had significant improvements after Ayurvedic treatment (Treatments, 2011).

Negative Leadership Behavior Essay

Negative Leadership Behavior Bad leadership experiences can be both a bad experience and a learning experience. We have all had bad experiences with leaders and we should use these experiences to help us grow and become good leaders. Poor leaders tend to be focused more on themselves than on their employees and this will cause employees to lose trust in their leader and to disregard their leader’s guidance and advice. A lot of companies suffer because of poor leadership and leaders not utilizing their employees properly. A company can still be successful even if it has poor leadership from what I have experienced, but the success is usually short lived. A company will not reach its goals or stay on top with poor leadership. My personal experience with poor leadership would be when leaders fail to recognize their team member’s individual talents and give the right assignments to the right people (Simonton). I was working at Staples as their Easy Tech Associate and the leadership there was terrible. The mangers were lazy and one had just turned 21 years old with the mind of a 13 year old. They would assign people tasks and walk away without explaining anything or showing them what they wanted done. My boss was terrible at his job and couldn’t fix a computer to save his life. There were several times where he made customers promises that he couldn’t deliver on and I would have to come in and save him. He was very unorganized and every time I came into work I had to hunt things down that I needed and play find the paperwork for computers that were there for repair. It made my job harder having to clean up after him and kept me from getting things done that I needed to do. It seemed like I had to go behind everyone that worked there because nobody seemed to know what they were doing. This is why I eventually quit. My poor leadership experience at Staples really addressed several poor leadership characteristics. The management team showing a lack of energy and desire by not caring if anything got done right or got done at all. They set low goals for themselves so that they could feel like they were accomplishing something, but would try to pawn off the real work onto their employees. They wouldn’t listen to any ideas from their employees because they felt like they knew it all. This one was very hard for me because I can’t stand working for someone that I am smarter than, but they think they are smarter than me. The leaders there also lacked any type of true leadership skills or any real skills at all (AG Careers). I couldn’t sell anything unless I would be there to do the work. Almost every time I came to work I had to deal with an irate customer because my manager failed to do what he had promised them. Poor leadership not only makes the employees suffer, but the company suffers as well. To fix this problem, Staples should pay more attention to who they put in leadership roles and what assignments that they give to employees. They could listen to their employees more and do a better job at addressing their employees concerns an suggestions. The management team should take more time to show employees how to properly do things so that they are done right the first time and no one has to go after them and fix it. The management team could also do a better job at leading by example. If the managers did their part, this would entice the employees to work harder and the store would be in so much better shape (Simonton). Staples could also provide extra training for their managers to help point out their poor leadership qualities and show them ways to address them to turn them into good leadership qualities. Conclusion The poor leadership that I experienced at Staples didn’t make me think badly of the people I worked with, but it did make Staples as a company look poorly organized. Bad leaders don’t just make themselves look bad, they make the company look bad as well. It is just as important for a company to address bad leadership qualities as it is good leadership qualities. When good leadership practices are exercised, employees will take pride in their work and whatever the leaders put into it will be multiplied by how many employees that they have. In order for a company to be successful and stay successful, they have to have a good strong leadership team. Without good leadership, they are like a ship at sea with no paddles or motor, they will just drift around or sink instead of getting to their destination. References: AG Careers. (n.d.). The traits of good and bad leaders. Retrieved from http://www.agcareers.com/newsletters/the_traits.htm Dodd, D. (2004, January 1). On the road of experience: Seven observations on leadership. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/road-experience-seven-observations-leadership Goodell, R. (2012, October). Characteristics of a poor leader. Retrieved from http://www.wjmassoc.com/insight/characteristics-of-a-poor-leader/ Simonton, B. (n.d.). Good leadership vs. bad leadership. Retrieved from http://www.bensimonton.com/good-vs-bad-leadership.html

Essay on Comparison between Female Characters in Beowulf

Comparison between Female Characters in Beowulf Beowulf, the Old English epic tells the story of one brave hero and his battles against evil monsters. The poem deals with mostly masculine elements like fight descriptions, depictions of armor and long inspiring speeches. However, the women characters in the epic also have important roles and they are far from being superficial, as it may seem at first. There are several female figures in Beowulf; this paper will focus on three of them- queen Wealhtheow of the Danes, queen Hygd of the Geats and Grendel?s mother. These characters have many parallels between them but in a way some are the ?alter-ego? of the others. Wealhtheow is the perfect hostess and devoted queen and wife.†¦show more content†¦One can claim that Hrotgar?s generosity and prosperity are defined through Wealhtheow?s actions: when Beowulf first arrives at Heorot he receives his cup of mead from the queen only after many other men in the hall, however, when he defeats Grendel Beowulf receives his mead right after the king. This act emphasizes the fact that Beowulf has become an important and highly respected person in king Hrotgar?s eyes. Then again, when Beowulf arrives home, to king Hygelac?s hall his queen Hygd:? ?Moved about with the mead-jag in her hand, filling the cups that the warriors held out? (lines 1981-1983). There are no details of the order of mead pouring and that is because Beowulf is home; the king does not need to present his power or his respect towards him, these are common knowledge. We find that Hygd?s actions are not specified here because the king?s intentions are not specified- they are cle ar to the present company. This motive of a woman who cannot separate her identity from the male figure in her life can be seen also in Grendel?s mother. This character does not even have a name; she is only the mother of the monstrous being that attacked the Danes. Her only motivation is to avenge her son?s death: ?But now his mother had sallied forth on a savage journey, grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge? (lines 1276-1278). Grendel?s mother described as aShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Beowulf And Modern Days 918 Words   |  4 PagesDaryn Viser Women’s Roles in Beowulf and Modern Days There exists between the Anglo-Saxons and modern days a stereotype about women and their lack of being treated as equals in comparison to men. It is assumed that while the male characters were out battling monsters in return for honor and glory, the women lay at home anxiously pacing back and forth for their husbands to return. Little worth was assumed about them in accordance to man. While nowadays, no one blinks twice when a woman is offeredRead MoreFemale Characters in Beowulf Essay1278 Words   |  6 PagesComparison between Female Characters in Beowulf Beowulf, the Old English epic tells the story of one brave hero and his battles against evil monsters. The poem deals with mostly masculine elements like fight descriptions, depictions of armor and long inspiring speeches. However, the women characters in the epic also have important roles and they are far from being superficial, as it may seem at first. There are several female figures in Beowulf; this paper will focus on three of them- queen WealhtheowRead MoreBeowulf Is Not Your Average Viking Warrior1498 Words   |  6 Pagesand use of dealing harm by penetrating your foe make it the ultimate allusion to the male anatomy. However, in this battle between Grendel’s mother and Beowulf, our hero’s sword cannot seem to perform its intended function. This failed display of masculinity by Beowulf is only one of many that suggest that he is not your average Viking warrior. The Beowulf poet in, Beowulf, challenges the idea of a womanizing manly Viking warrior with a pro tagonist who exhibits displays of gender non-conformityRead MoreWomen During The Anglo Saxon Time Periods1301 Words   |  6 PagesMarriages back then were seen as business propositions between men or families, where a man â€Å"buys† a wife. Marriages also played an important role regarding the advancement of Christianity to England s irreligious kingdoms, when commonly an aristocratic woman who comes from a Christian household is â€Å"pledged† to an agnostic king on one condition: he must convert, and by that binding both the religious and political parts of this kind of joining between the kingdoms. Married women of high classes were alsoRead MoreBeowulf Gender Roles Essay1212 Words   |  5 Pages The poem ‘Beowulf’ belongs to the genre of epic or heroic poetry, which are poems that typically celebrate the courageous and militaristic acts of their protagonists. It is a genre that is defined by its masculinity, as in the world of men and their fight to defend their honour, the only part that women have to play is that of the child bearer or wife . The position of woman in these poems is that of a ‘peace-weaver’, or of a fair and peaceful queen, like that of Wealtheow in Beowulf. Women whoRead MoreAnalysis of Beowulf Essay1298 Words   |  6 Pages from shields to swords and everything in between. The women are wrapped in chains, fulfilling their only purpose of serving the surrounding men. After observing all of this, it would not be abnormal for you to view these people as barbaric in nature. You might be right, but there’s a good chance you have not observed all this culture has to offer. The above situation is similar in many cases some of the scenes found in the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. While one of the oldest literary works knownRead MoreEssay about The Essential Nature of Each Story in Beowulf by Gummere1877 Words   |  8 PagesEach story in Beowulf, when given more thought and analysis, would be viewed essential to the book itself and the way the issues were seen by the readers. Without the considerations of why these stories were told at their specific times, who narrated the story and to whom they were speaking, what the events would be foretelling or referring back to, and how they applied to the present characters, one would be able to grasp that they set up each possible event in Beowulf and allowed more understandingRead More The Use of Magic in Medieval Literature Essay2847 Words   |  12 Pagesmagic and magical creatures has been around for a long time, however, in the time period ranging from Beowulf to Malorys Arthur, there has been an evolution in attitudes and the consequent treatment of magic in medieval literature. The discussion of magic involves not only the disparity between Christian and pagan tradition but also of gender roles, most notably in the Arthurian mythos. Beowulf, Marie De Frances Bisclavret and Lanval, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Sit Thomas Malorys Le MorteRead More A Comparison of Women in Beowulf, Widsith and Icelandic Sagas4023 Words   |  17 PagesWomen in Beowulf , Widsith and Icelandic Sagas  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Are women in these poems active equals of the men? Or are they passive victims of the men? The roles of the women in Beowulf, Widsith, The Saga of The Volsungs, and the Saga of King Hrolf Kraki are not always stereotyped ones of passive homemaker and childbearer and peaceweaver, but sometimes ones giving freedom of choice, range of activity, and opportunity for personal growth and development.    Let us first ofRead MoreChildrens Literature13219 Words   |  53 Pagescentury when the concept of â€Å"childhood† was philosophically created. Childrens literature comprises those texts that have been written specifically for children and those texts that children have selected to read on their own, and the boundaries between childrens literature and adult literature are surprisingly fluid. John Rowe Townsend once argued that the only practical definition of a childrens book is one that appears on the childrens list by a publisher. Contemporary publishers are not making