The Impact Of Leadership On Innovation Management Essay

The Impact Of Leadership On Innovation Management Essay This paper details the nature and roles of leadership in the field of management innovation. Leadership broadens the organizational levels and initiates the innovation activity through motivating the employees and defining an effective structure for the proper functioning. Use of the concept could be done in a wide range of markets and at the degree of the novelty required. The innovation to make it happen within an organization, a link between the leadership systems and innovation strategies has been introduced. The policy implications recognizes the need for the different stages of the innovation process at different levels of the organizational structure , from which a stepping stone at every level can be achieved which will be followed by the Organizational implication which identifies a proper leader for different hierarchy levels and allows to perform according to the stages of innovation process. In total it clearly gives an idea about the ongoing activities in any organizatio n where an innovative activity occurs with the quality leadership in it and the levels of performance in any sector. Table of Contents 1. INNOVATION 8 1.1. Innovation Vs. Improvement 8 1.2. Innovation Vs. Invention 9 2. Elements for innovation: 10 3. Changing nature of the innovation process 11 3.1. Types of innovation 13 3.2. Innovation implementing methodology 14 4. Degree of Novelty in Innovation 16 5. Leadership Quantities for Innovation 17 6. Definition and Explanation of Leadership Skills 18 6.1. Communication 18 6.2. Integrity 20 6.3. Visions and Goal Statements 21 6.4. Teamwork 22 6.5. Relationships 23 6.6. Persuasion 24 6.7. Adaptability and Flexibility 25 6.8. Coaching and Development 26 6.9. Decision Making 27 6.10. 8.10. Planning 28 6.11. 8.11. Taking Risks 28 6.12. 8.12. Optimism and Motivation 29 7. Innovative Leadership Style and its Impact 31 8. Charismatic Leadership Style 32 8.1. Impact of Charismatic leadership style 32 8.1.1. Communicating with vision:- 32 8.1.2. Accelerating Innovation process:- 33 8.1.3. Leaders can become addicted to charisma:- 33 8.1.4. Organizations can become addicted to the charismatic leader:- 33 8.1.5. Charisma grows for its own sake and forgets its purpose:- 33 8.2. Case Study 34 9. Instrumental Leadership Style 36 9.1. Impact of Instrumental leadership style 36 9.1.1. Structures a innovation process:- 36 9.1.2. Controls a process:- 37 9.1.3. Rewards the innovators:- 37 9.1.4. Constrain to maintain high motive level:- 37 10. STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP STYLE: 38 10.1. STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP PRESUMES: 38 10.2. The strategic leader use different hierarchical position to create innovation structures and processes in the organization such as, 39 10.3. FUNCTIONS OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN INNOVATION. 40 10.4. A CASE STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN A HIGH-WAY ROAD PROJECT. 40 11. INTERACTIVE INNOVATION LEADERSHIP : 42 11.1. THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO EXERCISE INTERACTIVE LEADERSHIP TOWARDS ACCELERATING CHANGE AND INNOVATION IS TO: 42 11.2. THE INTERACTIVE LEADER CO-INNOVATES WITH OTHER MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES AND SUBORDINATES BY, 42 11.3. Interactive leadership pathway: 43 11.4.   Effective leaders usually practice the following techniques: 43 11.4.1. Sell the Vision of the organization 43 11.4.2. Walk the Talk with the employees. 43 11.4.3. Empower and Delegate 44 11.4.4. Create Urgency in the process 44 11.4.5. Openly Communicating with everyone in the organization. 44 11.4.6. Removing Obstacles/barriers. 44 11.4.7. Celebrate the Little Successes 44 11.5. THE IMPACT OF INTERACTIVE LEADERSHIP IN AN INNOVATIVE PROJECT 45 List of Figures: INNOVATION Innovation is a key word probably being used more than ever by any type of individuals, groups or organizations; from scientist to artists, from engineers to craftsmen. Whether it is the business surroundings or non-profit organizations, political or educational associations, whether it is a developed or a developing market, whether a product or service offering, with high technology or mass production;  the word of innovation is word being recognized as one of the most credible one and term of being innovative sounds as the ultimate path to success in any changing environments especially in terms of globalization. In order to use the terms of innovation one should understand what really innovation is, in order to understand what is in the core of innovation and the description of it one should most likely distinguish the term innovation from the terms and definitions that are considered as synonyms or to have very similar meanings and practices. Although these terms could be inter -related or connected to Innovation in somehow in some phases, they cannot be considered as Innovation itself. These misunderstood terms are Invention, Improvement, Being Innovative is also a term most of the time described as being creative, entrepreneur or just able to handle complexity, therefore after distinguishing the term of innovation, the term of being innovative should be described considering these influencing characteristics. Finally Innovation is a important dimension of the change process therefore the importance of innovation in change process should be identified in order lead reasonable descriptions and definitions of Innovation. After this we can discuss the generation of innovation, types of innovation, methodology of it and finally carry on to the impact of leadership on Innovation (Mintzberg 2003) Innovation Vs. Improvement Although Continuous improvement may end up with an innovation most of the time, defining innovation with a series of incremental changes as a result of continuous improvements would be an insufficient explanation of innovation. The reason is that incremental changes depends on the lessons learnt and follows a horizontal path throughout the idea processing and knowledge creation, in the case of an innovative idea, a leap in the idea processing is observed, a vertical step in time where the track of previous improvement cant be followed or even found irrelevant to the idea discovered. As it can be understood from the term itself improvements follow a continuous path, but innovations are better described as in continuous breakthroughs from the formal horizontal path. The underlying principle with the innovation is that it deserves not only certain amount of time which can be illustrated by the continuous improvements accomplished through lessons learnt and analysiss but also depends upo n certain amount of space which can be explained by the occurrence of some events and situations that triggers this leap in the understanding and level of cognition. To enable a qualified process to overcome sophisticated needs of innovation, continuously improvement is necessary but not sufficient. (Mintzberg 2003) Innovation Vs. Invention Invention is another term being considered with Innovation most of time. What leads to an invention is the orientation of both horizontal and vertical changes, in other words continuous improvements harmonized with innovations. Several Innovations turn into an invention which deserves relatively more time and effort. Some descriptions distinguish innovation as a integrating activity of different disciplines, technologies, approaches, understandings or perspectives whereas claiming invention as of a specific level of change made on a certain study field for long periods. Actually what differs invention from innovation is that invention includes several innovations which lead to a more horizontal and vertical change that makes it even harder to track the continues and integrated improve (Eversheim 2009) Elements for innovation: 1.Basic needs for innovation (Park 2005) Changing nature of the innovation process The change of innovation is completely based on the generations and its requirements. Till now there is five generation of innovations First generation (1950-1960): (Research push) Science and technology Market Research Manufacture Development Marketing Sales Figure:2 First generation innovation process (Dodgson et al. 2008) Second generation (1965-1975): (Demand pull) Science and technology Market Manufacture Sales Research development Market and demand Figure 2: Second generation innovation process (Dodgson et al. 2008) Third generation (1980-1986): Research , Development, Design, Prototyping, Testing, Operations, Marketing, Sales, Service. (Coupling) Science and technology Market Market Communication and feedback loops Figure 3: Third generation innovation process (Dodgson et al. 2008) Fourth generation (1986-2000): (Collaborative) Suppliers Cross functional teams, process based organization Research, Development, Design, Prototyping, Testing, Operations, Marketing, Sales, Service Horizontal research Alliance Science and technology Market Customers Figure 4: Fourth generation innovation process (Dodgson et al. 2008) Fifth generation (2005-2010): Process driven by: Innovative strategy High level organizational and technological integration (Strategic and integrated) Strategic and technological integration with customers, Suppliers, Innovation communities and networks Figure 5: Fifth generation innovation process (Dodgson et al. 2008) Types of innovation The six focus areas for innovation are: Product What we produce and sell Process Continuous improvement of how we do that Marketing Exceeding customer expectations Organization Business strategies, systems and structures Open Working beyond boundaries and collaborating globally Value Creating unique value that eliminates the cost to compete Among these six major four types of innovation in practice are as follows:- Product innovation: Product innovations can be based on new uses or combinations of existing knowledge or technologies. The term product is used to cover both goods and services are referred as product innovation.(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 2005) Process innovations : Production methods involve the techniques, equipment and software used to produce goods or services are referred as process innovation.(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 2005) Marketing innovation: Marketing innovations includes changes in product design that are part of a new marketing concept. Product design changes refer in product form and appearance that do not alter the products or characteristics. They also include changes in the packaging of products, where packaging is the main determinant of the products appearance. Innovations in product design can also include the introduction of significant changes in the form, appearance or taste of food or beverage products, such as the introduction of new flavors for a food product in order to target a new customer segment.(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 2005) Organizational innovation This kind of innovation can be intended to increase a firms performance by reducing administrative costs, transaction costs, improving workplace satisfaction or cost for supplies.(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 2005) Innovation implementing methodology The planning phases of the Innovation Roadmap methodology are as follows Goal setting Future analysis Idea generation Idea evaluation Idea detailing Concept evaluation Implementation planning Controlling.(Eversheim 2009) The below figure illustrates the common innovative and Triz methodological thinking for a new innovation. Figure 6: Innovation methodology (Gao Changqing 2005) Degree of Novelty in Innovation Three concepts for the novelty of innovations are discussed below: new to the firm, new to the market, and new to the world. New to the firm: A product, process, marketing method or organizational method may already have been implemented by other firms, but if it is new to the firm then it is an innovation for that firm. New to the market: Innovations are new to the market when the firm is the first to introduce the innovation on its market. The market is simply defined as the firm and its competitors and it can include a geographic region or product line. New to the world: Innovations are new to the world when the firm is the first to introduce the Innovation for all markets and industries, domestic and international. New to the world therefore implies a qualitatively greater degree of novelty than new to the market(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 2005) Leadership Quantities for Innovation This text is based on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Concepts of Leadership by Donald Clark. http://management.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJzTi=1sdn=managementcdn=moneytm=6f=00tt=14bt=0bts=0zu=http%3A//www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leader.html An organization needs to remain competitive a vision. That vision can be reflected in for example new products, services or a reorganization of the organizations structure. The assignment of the leading staff is, to accomplish those visions by leading the employees. Leading in that case means to influence the employees to accomplish the goals and objectives. Leadership is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾The activity of leading a group of people or an organisation, or the ability to do this. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/leadership.html To lead other people, for a leader it is necessary to be familiar with important leadership knowledge and leadership skills. Leader`s attributes or traits like beliefs, values, ethics and character will influence directly the leadership skills and the leadership style. Additional to some of the leadership skills, which will be short presented and explained during the next pages, there are some principles of leadership which help to become a better leader. Know yourself and seek self-improvement Be technically proficient Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions Make sound and timely decisions Set the example Know your people and look out for their well-being Keep your workers informed Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished Train as a team Use the full capabilities of your organization Definition and Explanation of Leadership Skills Communication Definition: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾ Two- way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information but also create and share meaning. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/communication.html This text is based on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Communication and Leadership by Donald Clark. http://management.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJzTi=1sdn=managementcdn=moneytm=4f=00tt=14bt=0bts=0zu=http%3A//www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leader.html Most problems and failed projects in an organization are the results of a wrong communication process or lower communication skills. A failed communication occurs, if the receiver does not understand exactly the information, order or idea which the sender tried to transmit. To prevent confusions and misunderstandings during a communication, a good leader has to know the basics of an effective communication and has to train his communication skills. To get an idea how a communication process is constructed, the communication process can divide into three steps: Thought The message which can be an idea, a concept, informations or feelings will be formed in the mind of the sender. Encording The message, which is formed in the mind of the sender, will be send verbal, nonverbal or with symbols. Decording To understand the meaning of the message, the receiver translates the information with procedures he understands. During a communication the message of the sender will include two elements. These two elements are related to each other. The right interpretation of the elements on both sides (sender and receiver) is very important for an effective communication. The first element is the content. The content includes the verbal information. Verbal informations like spoken words or symbols can be combined to phrases, which then make sense. The verbal content in a message is around 38%. The sender has to be sure that the receiver understands the verbal informations in the right way, otherwise there will be a possibility for misunderstandings and confusions on the receiver side. Many words have different meanings and also the interpretation of the meanings of words can be different. A big possibility for misunderstandings and confusion could also be the circumstance, if one of the participants does not speak the same language or is not a native speaker. The language content in a message is around 7%. A good leader has to train his verbal skills to deliver his message correct to the employees. The second element of a message is the context. The context describes the nonverbal elements. Nonverbal elements include all elements which describe the way how the message was delivered. The nonverbal communication is very important in the communication style. The nonverbal content of a message is around 55%. It delivers feelings to the receiver. The possibility for misunderstandings and confusions on the receiver s side is extremely high, if the nonverbal elements do not fit to the verbal elements. Examples for nonverbal elements are: The body language Examples are the body posture, eye contact and movements. Hand gestures Hand gestures are used to underline words or phrases. The state of emotion States of anger, fear or uncertainty are mostly negative emotions. Elements in speech The tone of the voice. A good leader has to train, in addition to his verbal skills, also his nonverbal skills to deliver his message correct to the employees. Behaviors like eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, posture and body orientation, proximity and vocal techniques shall be a part of the communication. A second important case of communication is the listening part. It can be distinguished between active listening and passive listening. Passive listening means, if the receiver just listens to the senders message. Much informations get lost, because the receiver does not listen carefully. Active listening is the opposite of passive listening. The receiver spends attention to the senders speech to understand the words and feelings. For a good leader it is important to spend more time on active listening than on talking in meetings and other conversations. A possibility to be sure that the receiver understood the message in the right way is the feedback. In a feedback, the receiver tells the sender in his own words, how he understood the message verbal and nonverbal. An advantage is that the sender has the chance to explain the message with other words directly, if the receiver understood the message in a wrong way. Fails or problems can be prevented. Also there is the chance to get into a discussion which could affect the message and communication in a positive way. A feedback is absolutely a benefit for an effective communication. A leader should be familiar with presentation techniques and tools. They are very helpful for highlighting messages, informations, facts and data and make sure for a better understanding. Also it is easier to reach more people in a shorter time. Integrity Definition: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Strict adherence to a moral code, reflected in transparent honesty and complete harmony in that one thinks, says, and does. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/integrity.html This text is based on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾The importance of integrity to leadership by Siti Ibrahim. http://www.helium.com/items/1495580-the-importance-of-integrity-to-leadership Integrity has a big influence on the organization`s structure, the staff and the organization`s publicity. Integrity includes honesty, reliability and trustability and is a part of a positive trait. An integrity based leadership is an interaction between the leader and the employees which benefits the trust, acceptance and respect for each other. Also the communication will have a benefit of integrating an integrity based leadership style. The staff will be more open to accept mistakes, critics and will not be afraid of receiving any negative feedback. This will decrease stress and anxiety. The behavior of the leaders will influence the employees. If an organization has many integrity leaders and employees, individuals with a flawed character will not last long in the organization. Integrity prevents negative actions like corruption or mobbing. From the economical point of view, it is for an organization very important to have many integrity leaders, because the prestige in public will increase. Visions and Goal Statements Definition: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾ An aspirational description of what an organization would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future. It is intended to serves as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/vision-statement.html This text is based on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Leading and Leadership by Donald Clark. http://management.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJzTi=1sdn=managementcdn=moneytm=5f=00tt=14bt=1bts=1zu=http%3A//www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leader.html A leader needs a strong vision where to go to. Employees want a vision for what they are working for. The leaders assignment is to give the employees a vision. The factors which let employees follow are clearly defined goals and trust. The leader has to set goals to realize the visions. These goals should be: Realistic Attainable Improve the organization All employees should be involved in the goal setting process A program should be developed to achieve the goals Inspiration helps to induce employees to do something, because the task will get a purpose. Also motivation has a big influence to the implementation of a task.(Gao Changqing 2005) Teamwork Definition: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾ The process of working collaboratively with a group of people in order to achieve a goal. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/teamwork.html In addition to be able to work as a leader in a team, it is for a leader even more important to be able to form a team and stick it together. This ability is based on the knowledge of: The employees To know the strengths and weaknesses in the technical- , social- and creative-abilities of each employee. Group dynamics To know the coherent of behaviors and psychological processes in a group. Psychology To appreciate charakters of individuals correctly. Team communication To know the rules of communication and to be able to communicate with more people simultaneous. The leader has to get also into the role as a moderator. A usual mistake of leaders is that they form their team out of employees which are too similar. A better output of teamwork will be achieved the more diverse the team members are. The diversity resultates out of: Opinions Backgrounds Capabilities Relationships Definition: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾A connection between variables, such as a correlation, or between people, such as a marriage. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/relationship.html Relationships are for an organization very important. It helps to increase the loyalty of the employees to the organization, products and participants. There can also be relationships to suppliers, customers and other organizations or departments. Some benefits for the organization are: Loyal customers, suppliers, employees It will increase sales and market share Exchange of information Increasing the communication in a positive way Increasing the motivation Decreasing the sickness absence rate Increasing the workflow because of better connections Relationship is based on respect, trust, acceptance, support, understanding, share and celebrating and freedom. For a leader it is important to care for the employees and the organization. A leader should be able for building relationships and networks with and between employees and other contacts. (Dodgson et al. 2008) Persuasion Definition: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾ Process aimed at changing a persons (or a groups) attitude or behavior toward some event, idea, object, or other person(s), by using written or spoken words to convey information, feelings, or reasoning, or a combination of them. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/persuasion.html This text is based on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Leadership by Persuasion Four Steps to Success by Patsi Krakoff,Psy.D..http://ezinearticles.com/?Leadership-by-PersuasionFour-Steps-to-Successid=118428 One of the most important leadership skills which a leader should have is the ability to persuade. Persuasion is related to trust, relationship and communication. By persuasion, people can be influenced to do something voluntary. The benefit is that the people act without coercion, because they are convinced to do something which makes sense in their minds.The leader must only give a reasonable reason. The success of a leader to realize the visions and goals depends on the persuasion skill. The four steps to a successful persuasion are: Establish credibility Expertise and relationships are the sources which develop credibility.Necessary is active listening to other peoples suggestions. Their opinions should be valued. Data and informations should be collected to support the own arguments. Understand the audience Identify benefits to which the audience relates. Identify the interests of important people in the group like decision makers or stakeholders. Reinforce position Arguments should be logical and have consistent facs and experience, should be addressed to audiences interests and neutralize alternatives. Connect Emotionally The communication to the audience should be a mix of intellectual and emotional commitment.(Mintzberg 2003) Adaptability and Flexibility Definition: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Ability of an entity or organism to alter itself or its responses to the changed circumstances or environment. Adaptability shows the ability to learn from experience, and improves the fitness of the learner as a competitor. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/adaptability.html Flexibility and adaptability are necessary for innovations. Without flexibility and adaptability an organization will become inflexible and will not be able to react on intern or extern changes. The business of a leader is to realize the visions and goals with the help of the staff. Problems have to be solved. Solution orientated working will be more effective, if a leader is flexible and adaptable in mind. The ability on changing strategy, plans or programs to unforeseen events will be easier and more successful, because the motivation to change old practices will be higher. With a flexible and adaptable thinking, a leader will be able to find more solutions for a problem and the chance to project similar situations from the past to current situations to find solutions or strategies will increase. A flexible and adaptable leader sees innovations and changes as an opportunity for improvement. Coaching and Development A leader has to be able to coach and develop employees. It is very important to have the focus on coaching and developing young and upcoming employees. These employees often do not have much experience but if they have just finished the university they have a current status of know-how. The benefits are that these employees are motivated and learn in a correct way the skills they really need for the job. Also they bring new influences into the team and gain greater competence. Coaching helps to overcome barriers and to improve job performance. Decision Making Definition: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾The thought process of selecting a logical choice from the available options. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/decision-making.html This text is based on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Decision Making Skills by mindtools. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_00.htm Every day a leader has to make decisions. Those decisions have to be timely and well considered, otherwise projects can fail or problems will occur. Decisions can be separate to long term decisions like program activities in two years and short decisions like program activities in the next week. Typically involved issues in long term or short term decision are still the same. Unknowing facts, many interrelated factors, high risk consequences, alternatives and interpersonal issues will make to find the best decision for a leader even harder. To be able to make better decisions, a leader should use a logical, organized and systematic decision making process. It helps to find critical elements and important factors. A decision making process can base on six steps: Creating a constructive environment By establishing the obje

The Great Wall of China Essay examples -- History Historical China Chi

The Great Wall of China To the northwest and north of Beijing, a huge, serrated wall zigzags it's way to the east and west along the undulating mountains. This is the Great Wall, which is said to be visible from the moon. This massive wall has not only been one of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World, but it has also been inspiration for many artists, and writers. The building of the Great Wall is one of the biggest tragedies, but through this tragedy arose triumph with the wall, being so much to so many people. The Great Wall of China is much more than a wall, and was built for many reasons that are hidden to most. Construction of the Great Wall started in the 7th century B.C. The wall states that under the Zhou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country each built their own walls for defense purposes. After the state of Qin unified China in 221 B.C., it joined the walls to hold off the invaders from the Xiongnu tribes in the north and extended them to more than 10,000 li or 5,000 kilometers. This is the origin of the name of the "10,000-li Great Wall". (Karls, Robert 10,000-li Great Wall) To understand everything about the Great Wall it is necessary to know the many components of the wall, and their purposes. The Great Wall was renovated from time to time after the Qin Dynasty. A major renovation started with the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368, and took 200 years to complete. The wall we see today is almost exactly the result of this effort. With a total length of over 6,000 kilometers, it extends to the jiayu Pass in Gansu Province in the west and to the mouth of the Yalu River in Liaoning Province in the east. What lies north of Beijing is but a small section of it. (Karls) The Badaling section of the Great Wall snaking along the mountains northwest of Beijing was built at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century. Being 7.8 meters high and 5.8 meters wide at the top on the average, it has battle forts at important points, including the corners. (Karls) Located 10 kilometers south of the Badaling section of the Great Wall and built in an 18.5-kilometre-long valley, the pass has always been an important gateway northwest of Beijing. The name is believed to have its origin in the workers and slaves conscripted to build the Great Wall in ancient times. Cloud Terrace, built in 1345, was originally the base of a pagoda over... ...arwick Press, 1986 4. Kalman, Bobbie. China the Land. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company, 1989 5. Kan, Lao Po. The Ancient Chinese. London: Macdonald Educational   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Holywell House, 1981 6. Nancarrow, Peter. Early China and the Wall. Minneapolis: Lerner   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Publications Company, 1980 7. Overbeck, Cynthia. Thompson, Brenda. The Great Wall Of China.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1977 8. Toy, Sydney. A History of Fortification. London: William Heinemann,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1955 9. Karls, Robert. 10,000-li Great Wall. New York, Crabtree Publishing Company, 1958 10. Forbes, Geraldine. Asian Studies. New York, Mifflin Company, 1993 11. China, A Country Study. United States Government, Federal Research Division, 1988; 11-15. 12. Twitchett, Denis and Loewe, Michael. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, England, 1986; 61- 63. 13. Twitchett, Denis. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 3. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, England, 1979; 56-59. 14. Ledoux, Trish. Ancient Civilizations: Sanfrancisco, Mixx publishers, 1984 15. Muyaka, Ho Chin, Huang River: New York, Penguin Publishers, 1994

Cabaret :: essays research papers

Cabaret Cabaret provides for its audience an animated and a uniquely exciting dramatization of Berlin, Germany just before the Second World War. The story of many Germans living in an uncertain world is shown through just a few characters. Life is a cabaret, or so the famed song goes. After watching "Cabaret," you'll agree to an extent, but also realize how unsettling the assertion is. Taking place in the early 1930s, a portrait of life in decadent Berlin, is both uplifting and grim. Not your typical musical, it is comedic and dramatic, realistic, very tasteful, and ultimately thought provoking. An American named Cliff is traveling by train to Berlin Germany and seems to be quite weary and tired. He meets a German man named Ernst who seems to be quite pleasant and yet just a tad mysterious in his ways. By a stroke of luck Ernst offers him a good name and a place to stay. He even invites Cliff to take in the scene and enjoy himself at a Kit Kat club in the heart of Berlin. Cliff being a somewhat reserved man he is a little reluctant to accept the offerings of his new friend, but realizes he has nowhere else to go, and accepts kindly. Cliff asserts himself as being a struggling writer, along with being an English tutor. Not only struggling financially but creatively. He seems to have lived a sheltered life, even though it being quite evident that he is a well-traveled man. His goal in going to Berlin is to find some inspiration, to find something worth writing about. He is quite distraught with knowing he is stuck in a situation that isn’t getting better at all. He finds himself living in a one-room apartment in the home of Heir Schneider, who rents out a few rooms to make ends meet. As Cliff walks into the Kit Kat club he enters the world of promiscuous uninhibited dancers, and people of the like. Men approach him to dance, and women entice him with their charms. He obviously wasn’t all that accustomed to this kind of happening, but he didn’t shy away from it. The first night he lived this almost unreal experience, he met a woman. Sally was a one of a kind woman of her time, being on her own, making her own living, whether that living be on stage or with a man who suits her interest for a while.

George Washington :: essays research papers

Washington was born in Westmore County, Virginia, on February 22, 1732. He is the son of the late Augustine Washington and Mary Ball Washington. Augustine was a tobacco farmer and a stock raiser. Washington spent most of his early childhood on the Ferry Farm in Fredricksburg, Virginia. He attended school up until his fifteenth year. Washington married Martha Dandridge on January 6,1759. Washington spent his early adult years as a farmer and as a surveyor until he was appointed adjutant for the southern district of Virginia by Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddle. The next year he became the adjutant of the Northern Neck and Eastern Shore. In 1753, Dinwiddle warned the French to stop their infringements on the Ohio Valley land that was claimed by the king. Dinwiddle sent one messenger, but he failed. He gave Washington the order to warn the French on October 31, 1753. His party consisted of an interpreter, a guide, two men that were experienced traders with the Native Americans, and two others. Washington left in November from Cumberland, Maryland, and traveled to Fort-Le Boeuf. When he arrived, he discovered that the French would fight for their land. The party nearly escaped from the French. Washington was next appointed lieutenant colonel to an expedition to the Ohio Valley. In April, 1754, he set out from Alexandria with 160 men to reinforce a fort in southwestern Pennsylvania, only to find that the French took control of the fort and renamed it Fort-Duquesne. Washington then cautiously set up his own post within 40 miles of the French position. He attacked the French post on May 28,1754. He managed to kill the commander and nine others. They then took the rest prisoners. Washington immediently received a promotion to a full colonelcy. On July 3, 1754, the French drove him and 350 men into Fort Necessity. The French then took controlled of it with 700, men and forced Washington to surrender. They sent the unarmed colonials back to Virginia with honours of war. He had to then sign paper saying that he would not build a fort on the Ohio Valley for one year. In that same year he resigned his commission. Washington was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1758 and served for seventeen years. He was elected to the First Continental Congress in 1774 and to the Second Continental Congress in 1775 because of his service in the House of Burgesses and his response to the British policies.

Beowulf Movie Critic

Beowulf Movie Critic Do you envision a strong female role or a male role as your hero? In my opinion the Beowulf movie was a thumbs up, due to Angelina Jolie’s use of seduction and female wiles. Angelina is a critical character who drives the plot. In the movie, her character of Grendel’s mother overshadows Beowulf‘s character as a hero. This is in drastic contrast to the original poem ‘Beowulf’ because in the original, women were not valued and they had no important role. Grendel’s mother differs from the original, in three aspects; character, plot and theme.The difference between the characters from the original Beowulf poem to the movie is vast. Grendel’s mother in the movie was beautiful, for example ‘Beowulf’ Movie Review says, â€Å"The link between the early battles of a young hero and his fatal confrontation with the dragon as an aging king is his temptation by the monster’s mother who dangles wealth, power a nd sexual favors before his bedazzled eyes,† the writer reminds us of the beauty she portrays. In the poem readers are led to believe she looks monstrous; it is said that the warriors from Herot thought she looked like Grendel and also Beowulf is not one bit attracted to her.In the poem Grendel’s mother is a violent being who creates conflicts to avenge her son; she eats people and kills many of Hrothgar’s men. In the movie Angelina Jolie lures Beowulf with her sexuality and beauty; her strategy is seduction, as for in the poem Grendel’s mother is a monster who attacks Beowulf and drags him into the cave where they engage in combat; her strategy is direct attack. In my opinion the movie Beowulf was successful, whereas the poem was not. The role played as Grendel’s mother was more thought out.Her strategy was a wise one because not only did she live, but she is free to lure more men into her cave, where she will pursue to seduce and sin. Grendel†™s mother changes the plot from beginning to end. If she had never seduced the king in the movie, then there would have never been the character Grendel. Without Grendel, Beowulf would have no reason to travel to Denmark on behalf of King Hrothgar’s request. King Hrothgar was sick and tired of Grendel savaging at night; he surmised Beowulf would save his kingdom.Grendel’s mother creates all conflict, for example she allures Beowulf knowing that lust was his weakness; where in the original ‘Beowulf’ she is an ugly lake monster with dragon claws, a long snout, yellow feathers, red eyes, a pale face and since Beowulf is not attracted, he defeats her. In the movie Grendel’s mother gives birth to a dragon, but this monster is also son of Beowulf. The plot was changed once again because in the poem the dragon was not Beowulf’s son and if it weren’t for Grendel’s mother’s promise to Beowulf, he would have not become king of He rot and would have not fallen in love with the queen.He chose to kill his evil son to save his love, the queen and his mistress. In the movie every victory was glorious. Each battle won is sung and celebrated. People remember you from your battles. In ‘Beowulf’ the poem, the theme is complete opposite. Christian element is used; battle is bad, and one was not known for battles, but how honest and faithful you were throughout your life. Beowulf’s morals were very different in the movie, because he was not using the Christian element, but was deceitful and unfaithful; for example, he lies about his battles and betrays the kingdom by fornicating with Grendel’s mother.Whereas in the poem he never did such thing. Contrary to the original Beowulf, the new film wants us to understand and humanize our monster. The changes of theme from story to movie give Beowulf a more modern feel. The movie was a real life depiction of the poem, which was a fantasy. In real life there is reality like sin. The movie is like a metaphor to the poem; we picture Grendel’s mother as an ugly creature, but she was not ugly; she was a monster within but not on the outside. ?

Boud and Walker Essay

For the future, learning methods should be developed and applied that help reach the same learning goals in a target group specific way in the sense of diversity management for learning activities. Previously it has been recognized that experienced (older) employees learn differently than young employees but a distinction between previous education and school education of young woman and men is just as important. Finally, experiential learning as Kolb (1984) conceptualized it, does not consider different cognitive styles shaped by cultural systems and their pattern of beliefs and values â€Å"that defines a way of life and the world in which people act, judge, decide, and solve problems† (Anderson, 1988, p. 3). Different cultural backgrounds may influence learning styles as well as subtler aspects of perception and cognitive behavior. In that respect, Boud and Walker (1993) distinguish between external impositions und internal barriers to experiential learning. External barriers can come from other people, the learning environment, the broader personal situation and the context of the learner, and social forces as stereotyping, cultural expectations, classism, etc. Internal barriers on the other side are based on the unique personal experience of the learner. In addition to these social foundations of obstacles to experiential learning, representatives from Instructional Psychology stress that experiential learning might be hampered by the difficulty to draw â€Å"correct† conclusions from one’s own experiences. Some of these difficulties are introduced in the following section and serve as a foundation to develop the research questions. Finally, unsystematic working-methods and lack of planning and monitoring, are detrimental to the regulation of discovery learning. REFERENCES Anderson, J. A. (1988). Cognitive styles and multicultural populations. Journal of Teacher Education, 39, 2-9. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy. The exercise of control. New York: Freeman and Company. Bandura, A. , & Wood, R. E. (1989). Effect of perceived controllability and performance standards on self-regulation of complex decision making. Journal of Applied Psychology, 56, 805-814. Bandura, A. , Debowski, S. , & Wood, R. E. (2001). Impact of guided exploration and enactive exploration on self-regulatory mechanisms and information acquisition through electronic search. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 1129-1141. Beard, C. , & Wilson, J. P. (2002). The power of experiential learning. A handbook for trainers and educators. London: Kogan Page. Boud, D. , & Walker, D. (1993). Barriers to reflection on experience. In D. Boud, R. Cohen, & D. Walker (Eds. ), Using experience for learning (pp. 73-87). Oxfordshire: The Society for Research into Higher Education.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and New Stadium Essay

Tottenham Hotspurs, Plc. This certain case has many different possibilities for evaluation which gives it much complexity and much liberty while evaluating it. The soccer business sure has a certain relation with the performance and their revenues which makes it highly unstable when speaking of forecasted income of the club. We must first value the firm at its current position in order to be able to value as compared to acquiring the new stadium and obtaining a new goal scorer. In order to do so we must evaluate the company by creating a Discounted Cash Flow analysis projecting the expected future revenues in the same current strategy which they are in. We would then lay out the future expected cash inflows with no initial cash out flow laid out due to the fact that they have already covered their initial expenses. We must take into account the growth rates that are expected for our liabilities such as capital expenditures, player salaries, depreciation, and such. We must then evaluate the growth rates for the cash inflows for the revenues expected due from increased ticket prices, product sales, sponsorship and televising their games. We must then implement these rates and growth in numbers to evaluate the future position a number of years down the line. We could then evaluate the current capital structure and their cost of capital in order to determine whether they are fairly valued and obtain a second analysis to compare with. We have sufficient data such as their beta and stock returns in the market in order for us to evaluate these numbers. The case also contains the current risk free rate which is needed when using the Capital Asset Pricing Model in order to obtain the cost of equity of the firm. After performing a multiples analysis we can then compare the two analyses and determined whether the firm is fairly valued. If it is then great, but if not then we have an even greater reason for Tottenham to look into the building of a new stadium. Now that we have their current position we must conduct an analysis regarding the â€Å"what if† the company obtained the new stadium and invested in a new striker. In order to do the following we must take into consideration the initial cash out flow of the new stadium and the two years that the company has to pay it given the current financial situation and their cash excess which is mentioned in the case. Once we have this we can then forecast a pessimistic, a mediocre, and a pessimistic evaluation of their ticket sales and create multiple cash flows which consider the growth rates of all of the costs and revenues that the company will incur given this following move. Once we have this analysis we can then create the same analysis given that we stay in the same stadium, but we invest in a new striker (optimistic, mediocre, pessimistic). Once we obtain the cash flows from the two options mentioned before, we can then infuse both cash flows and compare the position of the company if they were to take the options which they have available to them. We must also play into consideration that the competition of the league has a huge impact on the results of Tottenham as they can have a huge influence on them. For example, Manchester United invests in the so called next big thing in football or one team is on the rise.