Monday, December 30, 2019

The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration And Colorblindness

Legal inequality is an injustice that people of color have been subject to for years. In the US, racial discrimination against people of color in the justice system such as mass incarceration and racial profiling generates a wide variety of public issues that influence the life possibilities of the Latino and Black communities. Laws were created in an effort to ensure the safety and stability of everyone everywhere. With that being said, however, the laws did and do not always have the best interest of certain races in mind. In the book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration and Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander discusses legal inequality in relation to race by asserting that the legal system discriminates against people of color, specifically African Americans, just like they were treated during the Jim Crow era. Legal Equality can be defined as individuals having the same resources and rights available to them equally and on the same level, regardless of race. This paper will argue that the U.S. legal system targets people of color through incarceration, the War on Drugs, and racial segregation. According to Alexander, the concept of depriving people of color has been modified over the years. During the slavery age, people of color, mainly African Americans, had limited rights and abilities that prohibited them from basic rights such as voting, owning property, and the ability to get a decent job. Obstacles such as literacy tests, intimidation by groups such as the KluShow MoreRelated The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander1182 Words   |  5 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) argues that despite the old Jim Crow is death, does not necessarily means the end of racial caste (p.21). In her book â€Å"The New Jim Crow†, Alexander describes a set of practices and soci al discourses that serve toRead MoreThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander657 Words   |  3 Pages The book â€Å"The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness† (â€Å"The New Jim Crow†) hits on many significant points concerning the criminal justice system and the systemically racial elements that have been perpetuated through various laws. As argued in the book, the â€Å"War on Drugs† has been used to perpetuate racial discrimination against African Americans since the 1980s and the Reagan Administration. My personal reflection on the book comes from a legal perspective. Within theRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration On The Age Colorblindness Written By Legal Scholar1197 Words   |  5 Pages Summary The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration on the Age Colorblindness written by legal scholar, Michelle Alexander, explores a new caste system that targets black or brown men across improvised communities in the United States. According to Alexander, The New Jim Crow laws were created to hinder the growth of black or brown men by using the criminal justice system to enslave them into a vicious cycle of oppression. The Jim Crow laws that relished our nation’s history so many years earlier hasRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration During The Age Of Colorblindness By Michelle Alexander1665 Words   |  7 PagesIn the new proactive book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander dives into the not so complicated racial issues that plague this country that we tend to ignore. In all of history, African Americans have had to constantly fight for their freedoms and the right to be considered a human being in this society. It’s ve ry troubling looking back and seeing where we have failed people in this country. At the turn of the century, when people began to thinkRead MoreResponse Paper to Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness743 Words   |  3 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness was written by Michelle Alexander to expose the truth of racial injustice in the system of mass incarceration through the comparison of the racial control during the Jim Crow Era. She reveals how race plays an important role in the American Justice System. Alexander argues about the racial bias, particularly towards African-Americans, immanent in the war on drugs as a result of their lack of political power and how the Supreme CourtRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration During The Age Of Colorblindness By Michelle Alexander3956 Words   |  16 PagesAbstract The history of Jim Crow is a story of white power, but it is also a story of black survival and resilience. The Jim Crow era lasted nearly a century because of the federal government and there is still work to be done today. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander, is a book about the discrimination of African Americans in today s society. One of Alexander s main points is the War on Drugs and how young African American males are targetedRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration During The Age Of Colorblindness By Michelle Alexander1854 Words   |  8 PagesI read The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander published in 2012. The non-fiction book is 331 pages and features a forward by esteemed civil rights activist Dr. Cornel West. Alexander is civil rights lawyer who decided to write this book after dealing with young black felons restricted by the prison system. The book was a fasci nating glimpse into the biases of the criminal justice system. The book is split into six riveting chapters. The initial chapterRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1361 Words   |  6 PagesBook Review Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness The premise of the ‘The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness’ by Michelle Alexander, is to refute claims that racism is dead and argue that the War on Drugs and the federal drug policy unfairly targets communities of color, keeping a large majority of black men of varying ages in a cycle of poverty and behind bars. The author proves that racism thrives by highlighting theRead MoreThe Everlasting Jim Crow System973 Words   |  4 Pages The everlasting Jim Crow system According to The New Jim Crow (Alexander, 2010), today s society in the United States endured totally three major periods of racial regulation system: The Slavery, The Jim Crow and The Mass Incarceration. The latter still dominates, and it perpetuates racial caste system in a way which is legalized and normalized under the sugarcoating of colorblindness. According to the author, the mass incarceration eventually becomes the new Jim Crow System, and it representsRead MoreConsequences Of The New Jim Crow866 Words   |  4 PagesLane The New Jim Crow 11/3/17 Please answer each essay in approximately 450 to 500 words. 1. The Old Jim Crow was color-minded. The New Jim Crow claims itself as colorblinded. Show how the New Jim Crow is color-minded and leads to greater unjust consequences. Include in your answer how the New Jim Crow is more dangerous than the Old Jim Crow. In The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, author Michelle Alexander claims that the new racial caste system (New Jim Crow) in the

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Immanuel Kants Age Of Enlightenment - 746 Words

Immanuel Kant remains to this day as one of the most influential philosophes in the history of Western philosophy. In his essay writing â€Å"What is Enlightenment?† he defines enlightenment as â€Å"man’s release from his self-incurred tutelage†[1]. In order to understand Kant’s line of thinking we must understand what he meant by â€Å"tutelage†. He describes tutelage or immaturity or incompetence - â€Å"the inability to use one’s understanding without direction from another†[1]. According to Kant, immaturity is self-imposed due to laziness and cowardice where therefor does not allow independent thinking and reason for oneself but instead continues to allow others to dictate, think and understand for them. In his essay he asks â€Å"Do we presently live in†¦show more content†¦He used the example of a military officer or soldier. The point he is making is that it would be disruptive or dangerous even if a soldier refus ed to follow a command given to them by his superior. He may question the value or appropriateness of the orders they receive, but in their functions as military officers it is their duty to obey. Once away from his post he should be free to voice his concerns to the public, where his views would be open to debate. In turn, possible beneficial solutions and improvements to the system could be enacted by society as a whole. This means that he will follow the commands as his private use of reasoning and then will speak out his complaints as his public use of reasoning. Kant points out that one cannot achieve enlightenment without following the laws of the society, he has to obey the laws but at the same time he should have the courage to criticize what he thinks is wrong or should be changed as his. To him any society that does not obey the laws cannot achieve enlightenment. I think one of the strengths in Kant’s argument is that he draws a clear distinction between duty and preference. It makes clear that morality is doing ones duty and not just following feelings. We cannot assume what is good for us is good forShow MoreRelatedKant : The Father Of Enlightenment1071 Words   |  5 PagesStanford Marquis Essay 2 Kant: The Father of Enlightenment The 18th Century is referred to as the Age of Reason or Enlightenment as it was during this period that reason and individualism was advocated as a means of power. Science and reason were revolutionizing society by challenging the facts deeply rooted in tradition. This new rational way of thinking used logic to arrive at conclusions. Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, was one of the primary figures of this era that cultivated reason andRead MoreEssay on Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)1093 Words   |  5 PagesImmanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) Author of Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785). The Enlightenment was a desire for human affairs to be guided by rationality than by faith, superstition, or revelation; a belief in the power of human reason to change society and liberate the individual from the restraints of custom or arbitrary authority; all backed up by a world view increasingly validated by science rather than by religion or tradition. (Outram 1995) In the eighteenth centuryRead MoreThe Nature of Existence and the Existence of Nature Essay examples1643 Words   |  7 Pagesunderstand why and not just what? This concept stemmed mainly from philosophers during the Enlightenment. Learning something for the first time that is accepted to be true, for example mathematics and various proofs, usually ends with us adding that to our plethora of knowledge to ace the next test. However, before the Enlightenment many people believed that through learning, or experience, something comes to exist. Immanuel Kant ended up to be the most influential philosopher of the 17th and 18th centuriesRead More Was The Enlightenment Really The Age of Reason? Essay1569 Words   |  7 Pagesof insight to another† Immanuel Kant. Kant’s opinion of reason is that it is a force, which is ever-evolving and constantly building on previous insights. The Enlightenment is a historical period referring to the intellectual movement that swept across E urope in the 18th century. To tackle this question, I will be looking at two texts. The essays, ‘An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment’ by Immanuel Kant, an 18th century philosopher, and ‘What is Enlightenment’ by Michel Foucault, a 20thRead MoreEnlightenment Essay example532 Words   |  3 PagesEnlightenment Do we at present live in enlightened age? What is enlightenment? Immanuel Kant attempts to clarify the meaning of enlightenment while composing the essay, What is Enlightenment?. The goal of Kants essay was to discuss what the nature of enlightenment was. It also taught one how enlightenment can be brought about in the general public. Kant explains that, enlightenment is mans release from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is mans incompetence to have directionRead MoreSummary of Immanuel Kants Life Essay1100 Words   |  5 PagesSummary of Immanuel Kants Life Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) spent all of his life in Kà ¶nigsberg, a small German town on the Baltic Sea in East Prussia. (After World War II, Germanys border was pushed west, so Kà ¶nigsberg is now called Kaliningrad and is part of Russia.) At the age of fifty-five, Kant appeared to be a washout. He had taught at Kà ¶nigsberg University for over twenty years, yet had not published any works of significance. During the last twenty-five years ofRead MoreKant s Categorical Imperative And Morality1297 Words   |  6 PagesKant: The Categorical Imperative and Morality Immanuel Kant, a Prussian philosopher, was a leader in the rationalization of society and morality. His revolutionary law, known as the categorical imperative, was a major step toward freeing morality, and people in general, from the bounds of a religious authority or moral absolute to judge them. Working during the Enlightenment, he contributed to the flow of similarly progressive ideas during this pivotal era in human development and knowledge. BroughtRead MoreWhat Is Enlightenment1028 Words   |  5 PagesWhat is Enlightenment?, an explication that was written in 1784 in Prussia by the philosopher Immanuel Kant, discusses the principles that he deems to be truths surrounding significant topics such as freedom, reason, and an individual’s and/or societal necessity to be fully mature, in terms that he described as being scholar. Here, what is most evident is the reality that while he perceived the society as being unprepared to be fully mature, he nevertheless held faith o n his belief that an age is fastRead MoreThe Opening Sentence Of Immanuel Kant s Essay1060 Words   |  5 PagesIn the opening sentence of Immanuel Kant’s essay, â€Å"What Is Enlightenment?† he answers the question quite succinctly. In brief, Kant believed that â€Å"enlightenment is man s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.† Furthermore, he added that â€Å"Immaturity is the inability to use one s understanding without guidance from another.† I considerably agree with his definitions, yet his annotations on immaturity in relation towards religion, the government, and the way people should live their lives areRead MoreKantian Enlightenment through Kafkas Colony1461 Words   |  6 Pagesintellectuals who have offered answers to questions of morality, freewill, and enlightenment, Immanuel Kant is one of the most challenging and intriguing. His writings have been used as the basis for analysis of contemporary writings of every age since first they were conceived and published. Benjamins views on law, the ethics of J. K. Rowling, race studies, and basic modern morality have all been discussed through the use of Kants philosophical framework. (Gray, Mack, Newton, Wolosky) Through Franz Kafkas

Friday, December 13, 2019

Eefects of Leadership Styles on Employee Prformance Free Essays

string(63) " group members and are personal in their criticism and praise\." CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1. 0OVERVIEW This chapter covers the background information of the study, statement of the problem by the researcher and objectives of the study to be attained. It also covers the research questions, significant of the study as well as the scope of the study and its limitations. We will write a custom essay sample on Eefects of Leadership Styles on Employee Prformance or any similar topic only for you Order Now 1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION There is an ongoing problem about leadership styles and its impact on various aspects of employee performance and their work-related health. It has been suggested that leadership factors had an influence on the employee performance, although relationship between leaders and subordinates has gradually been more focused; but it is still scientifically unclear as to what extent and in what ways leaders influence the employee’s performance. The leader can be described as a possessor of the tools to create and change the structure and culture within an organization. The structural changes have led to new demands on employees’ flexibility and ability to handle changes, which is referred to as a heath risk (Aronson Sjogren, 1994). With the ever changing business landscape of more and innovative competitors, most service firms recognize the need to introduce innovations and new technologies within their organizational processes to stay in the market, or retain their competitive advantage compared to their rivals. An attempt was made to find out the correlation between leadership style of mangers and performance and satisfaction of managers and followers. Democratic/participative leadership style involves employees in decision making process (determining what to do and how to do it) to attain the organization goals. Using this style is not a sign of weakness, rather is a sign of strength that our employees will respect. This is normally used when you have part of information, and your employees have other parts. Note that a leader is not expected to know everything. This is why you employ knowledgeable and skilful employees. Using this style is of mutual benefit. It allows them to become part of the team and allows you to make better decisions. A democratic leadership style will lead to the use of non-controlling tactics of influence in which managers and employees discuss work-related issues. It is also effective for the performance evaluation as illustrated below:- 1. 1. 1 Diagram showing performance evaluation. 1. 2STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The relationship between leadership style and employee performance has been a subject controversy by researchers (Nwadian 1998 and Adeyeni 2006). The controversy was centered on whether or not the leadership style influences the level of job performance among employees. Common observation shows that leadership style could perhaps have serious impact on human relationship hence affected the employee performance. For the purpose of high performance of employees and subordinates there was the need of using effective leadership style and also important. Research also described that effective leadership styles can enhance the employee performance and commitment with their job. So the execution of leadership styles is one way that with use of different leadership styles, leaders can construct commitment and job satisfaction of employees that increase their performance. 1. 3RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The general purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between employee’s performance and leadership style. The specific objectives of the study were: i) To identify the extent of democratic leadership style used in the organization. ii) To determine the indicators of employee performance. iii) To establish the relationship between democratic leadership style and employee performance. 1. 4RESEARCH QUESTIONS The study covers the questions which are from the objectives so that it answers them appropriately. i) To what extent does democratic leadership style improve employee’s performance? ii) What are the indicators of employee’s performance? iii) Is there good relationship between democratic leadership style and employee’ performance? . 5SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The study intends to bridge the gap between the researcher and other previous researchers who undertook a similar case study. This study will benefit other researchers in learning instruction such as universities to make reference from. It shall also benefit companies in the way that they will have knowledge ab out the use of democratic leadership style and employee performance. Employers will generally have an overview of how workable and effective democratic leadership style should be handled through the project. It is hoped that as a result of the study, employees at the middle management and lower level will benefit from more productive and efficiencies in performing their duties. 1. 6SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study was conducted in Mombasa Municipal Council in Coast Province Mombasa District at Mwembe Tayari. 1. 7LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 1. Time limitation 2. Lack of funds to facilitate and complete the study 3. Lack of material for reference 4. Disclosure of information by the population. 1. 8DEFINITION OF TERMINOLOGIES 1. 8. 1LEADERSHIP STYLE Leadership style is the behaviour of leader that has expressed ability to influence the subordinates toward the achievement of goals (Armandi Oppedisans Sherman 2003). Leadership style has been classified in different ways in prior researches. Some of them are as follows:- 1. Participative Leadership Style Is defined as a leader who shares decision making with group members or subordinates (Dubrin, 1995). The leader will identify the problem, generate solutions and evaluate the alternatives together with subordinates. The decision-making of participative leadership style is decentralized authority throughout the organization (Steers, 1977). 2. Democratic Leadership Style Is defined as a friendly, helpful leader who encourages participation. A leader with a democratic leadership style shares his or her power with subordinates and decisions are made by consensus or majority vote (Seidenberg Snadowsky, 1976). Democratic leaders encourage subordinates to discuss and make decisions as a group on the policy and steps towards achieving goals. 3. Autocratic Leadership Style Is defined as a directive leader, controlling, discouraging or suppressing participation. An autocratic leader centralizes power with little or no room for subordinates to participate in decision-making process (Seidenberg Snadowsky 1976). Autocratic leader determine all policies, dictate techniques and activities, assign tasks and work partners to group members and are personal in their criticism and praise. You read "Eefects of Leadership Styles on Employee Prformance" in category "Essay examples" 1. 8. 2INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE This can be stated as the product of ability multiplied by motivation it gives performance. Furthermore it can be the belief that performance is ultimately an individual phenomenon with environmental factors influencing performance primarily through their effort on the individual determinants of performance. Despite the motivation to perform, it is necessary to briefly highlight the barriers that might affect the performance of employees. 1. 8. 3INFORMATION This is the processed data which was collected, interpreted and analyzed to give a meaning. 1. 8. 5POPULATION It refers to the entire group of individuals having a common characteristic. . 8. 6SAMPLE This is a small group obtained from the accessible population. 1. 8. 7SAMPLING It is the process of selecting a number of individuals for a study in such a way that the individual selected represent the population. 1. 8. 8STATISTICS This is the science of organizing, describing and analyzing data. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 0OVERVIEW This chapter covers all the literature review from different authors of different text books, Journals, newspapers, magazines and any other related source of obtaining information. 2. 1. 1PURPOSE The purpose of the research was placed on managerial initiative, the technique had been applied to solve the following problems:- – Lack of operating flexibility – Low morale – Poor work quality – High labour turnover – High absenteeism 2. 1. 2DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP BENEFITS This brings about the following:- – Improvement of productivity – Improvement in quality of a product/service delivered – It reduces labour turnovers – It reduces need for direct supervision – Reduction in idle time – Increase of good communication which brings about feedbacks. 2. 2INFLUENCES OF PERFORMANCE Nevertheless, the principle influence on the organization performance is the quality of the workforce at all levels of the organization. The function that human resources can play in gaining a competitive advantage for an organization is empirically well documented (Brewster, Carey Dowling, Grobler, Holland and Warnich, 2003). For organizations to accomplish their goals, they must continually look for better ways to organize and manage their work. There is a growing recognition that the primary source of competitive advantage is derived from an organization’s human resource. This was not always the case, as human resources were traditionally seen as a cost (Brewster, et al, 2003). Due to the realization that people are the most valuable assets in an organization, the importance of performance management has been pushed to the fore (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1995). The complexity of managing organizations today requires managers to view performance in several areas simultaneously. The performance measurement system employed in an organizational must therefore measure the performance of all assets including the human ones. The Balance scorecard of Kaplan and Norton (1996) is a mechanism which provides a holistic measure of organizational performance. It is a set of measures that provide mangers a fast but comprehensive view of the business. The Balanced scorecard is not only a measurement system but also a management system, which enables organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action (Kaplan ad Norton, 1996). It provides feedback around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results. When fully deployed, the Balance Scorecard transforms strategic planning from an academic exercise into the nerve centre of an enterprise (Norton, 1999). The Balance scorecard includes both financial measures that tell the results of actions already taken, and operational measures that are the drivers of future financial performance (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). It can be seen that the individual’s performance has an impact on the organization’s wider objectives, and it is thus imperative that every employee’s performance should be managed. This process of performance management includes group assessments and peer reviews, as well as written reports (Hellriegel et al, 2004). In recent years performance management system have become more important because managers are under constant pressure to improve the performance of their organizations (Holloway, Francis Hinton, 1999). As the performance of organizations influence the organization’s continued existence, it is therefore necessary to discuss the notion of managing this performance. 2. 3IMPORTANCE OF PERFORMANCE Performance is important to us as a people and organizations. In fact, most of us believe that we can, and will, improve at what we do, and we expect others to improve over time as (Temple, 2002). People are an organization’s greatest assets individuals and organizations have learned about the importance of the role of people in an organization depends on its people (Barlett and Ghoshal, 1995). According to (Armstrong and Baron, 1998) states that the role of human resources is absolutely critical in raising performance in an organization. Ultimately it is the performance of many individuals which culminates in the performance of an organization context. According to (Hellriegel, et al 2004) states that performance management is an integral part of effective human resource management and development strategy. Performance management is an ongoing and joint process where the employee, with the assistance of the employer, â€Å"strives to improve the employee’s individual performance and his contribution to the organization’s wider objectives† (Hellriegel, et al 2004). According to Amos, et al (2004) defined performance management as â€Å"the process that begins with translating the overall strategic objectives of the organization into clear objectives for each individual employee†. Performance Management can also be seen to incorporate all of these aspects of human resource management that are designed to progress and/or develop the effectiveness and efficiency of both the individual and the organization (Amos, et at. , 2004). First-class performance management begins and develops with the employee’s understanding of the organization’s expectations (Hendrey, 1995). To elevate and sustain the level of work performance, managers must look past individual or team performance to a larger arena of play: the performance management system (Campbell, McCloy, Oppler and Sagar, 1993). The success of a performance management system is reliant on the commitment/support of an organization’s management. Performance Management Systems must be seen to reward personal development and achievement (Hendrey, 1995). Within the performance management field itself, it is important that targets are viewed to be fair and equitable across all groups. It is imperative that employees have confidence in their work and recognize that management supports them (Cherrington, 1994; Baird 1996). A good performance management system motivates employees to better their own performance, promotes self-motivation, and builds and strengthens relationships via open communication between employees and managers (Baird, 1986). 2. 4EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE According to Amos, et al. (2004) states that â€Å"the effective management of individual performance is critical to the execution of strategy and the organization achieving its strategic objectives†. Performance cannot be left in anticipation that it will develop naturally, despite the employee’s natural desire to perform and be rewarded for it. This desire needs to be accommodated, facilitated and cultivated (Amos, et al 2004). In return for this performance, organizations extend themselves in various forms of acknowledgement (Foot and Hook, 1999). Individual performance has become a topical issue in today’s business environment, so much so that organizations go to great lengths to appraise and manage it (Armstrong and Baron, 1998). Whetten and Cameron (1998) states that individual performance is the product of ability multiplied by motivation. Furthermore, Cummings and Schwab (1973) concur with the belief that performance is ultimately an individual phenomenon with environmental factors influencing performance primarily through their effect on the individual determinants of performance-ability and motivation. Organizational leadership can be described as the leadership present within the organization, having a direct and indirect effect on individual employee performance – ability and motivation. According to Cummings and Schwab (1973) describe the need for at least minimal ability before an employee can carry out a task, regardless how motivated he may be. Similarly, an abundance of ability will riot result in successful performance if the employee is completely unwilling to perform adequately. This view is supported by Vroom (1964) who indicates that factors influencing individual performance within the organization are factors such as the ability of the willingness of the person to exert effort (motivation). 2. 4. 1LEADERSHIP Finally, organizational leadership can be described as the leadership present within the organization, having a direct and indirect effect on individual employee performance. This role of organizational leadership is further substantial in Hall’s (1996) Competence process, which depicts performance as a dependent collective competence. The competence process is a three-dimensional approach consisting of collaboration, commitment and creativity. The message conveyed by an organization’s leaders may be one that encourages and enables competence and, in turn, performance. 2. 4. 2FACTORS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE Despite the motivation to perform, it is necessary to briefly highlight the barriers that might affect the performance of employees. For organizations purposes factors affecting overall employee performance may be separated into two groups: Internal and external. Internal factors are those factors over which the organization ha influence and control, such a job descriptions and employee selection. External factors are those factors over which the organization has little or no control, such as demands for jobs grading systems (Hellriegel, et al. , 1999). Having outlined and defined individual performance, it is now necessary for this research, to review the relationship between performance and leadership. . 5PERFORMANCE AND LEADERSHIP Ultimately is the individual employee either performs, or fails to perform, a task. In order for an organization to perform, an individual must set aside his personal goals, at least in part, to strive for the collective goals of the organization. Thus, effective leadership enables greater participation of the entire workforce, and can also influence both individual and organizational performance (Bass, 1997; Mullins, 1999). The success of an organization is reliant on the leader’s ability to optimize human resources. A good leader understands the importance of employees in achieving the goals of the organization and that motivating these employees is of paramount importance in achieving these goals. To have an effective organization, the people within the organization need to be inspired to invest themselves in the organization’s mission. The employees need to be stimulated so that they can be effective; hence effective organizations required effective leadership. To have an effective organization, there must be effective and stimulating relation between the people involved in the organization (Paulus, Seta and Baron, 1996). It is generally accepted that the effectiveness of any set of people is largely dependent on the quality of its leadership. Effective leader behaviour facilitates the attainment, of the followers desires, which then results in effective performance (Martiz, 1995; Ristow, et al. , 1999). Preliminary research undertaken by (Swanepoel et al. , 2000) found that outstanding leaders, in terms of effectiveness, are perceived to show a strong and direct, but democratic and participative leadership style, and are seen as agents of change and visionaries who increase organizational performance. According to (Botha, 2001) concludes that the need of firms to flourish in the world of escalating competitiveness, of technological advances, of altering government regulations and of changing employee attitudes, requires an advanced level of leadership more than ever before. His views further demonstrate the importance of leadership in the business arena. Research data (Brand, et al. , 2000) has clearly shown that transformational leaders are more effective than transactional leaders regardless of how â€Å"effectiveness† has been defined. This can be further supported by research conducted by Ristow, et al. 1999), which concluded that there was a positive relationship between certain styles of leadership and organizational effectiveness within the administration of East Africa. 2. 5. 1CHANGES AFFECTING LEADERSHIP Leadership is a dynamic process, influenced by changing requirements of the task, the group itself and the individual members. The implication o this is that there is no â€Å"one best way† of leading, and leaders need to be able to exercise a range of behaviour to maintain their role effectively (G. A Cole 2002). Cole said that the leader’s principal role is to influence the group towards the achievement of group goals. In an official group, such as a production team, goals are set mainly, if not exclusively, by senior management. In an informal (unofficial) group, composed of people who have got together as friends and workmates, group goals are much more likely to be agreed on a consensus basis. Either way, the leader’s task is to gain the group’s commitment to these goals. Research studies conducted over the last thirty (30) years have suggested that there are at least four key variables which are crucial in any analysis of leadership. These are: 1. the attributes (knowledge, skills, attitude) of the leader 2. he nature of the task of goal 3. the nature of the group or team 4. the climate, or culture, of the organization. The most recent researches suggest that a contingency approach to leadership is likely to achieve the most productive balance between the need of the team, the requirements of the task, the nature of the organization climate and the pressures exerted by the situati on or context. According to (G. A Cole 2002) elaborated that a contingency approach is one where the leader adopts his or her behaviour to suit the needs of the situation. Clearly, such a view makes leadership somewhat problematic in practice. 2. 6LEADER ATTRIBUTES The earliest studies of leadership focused on the personal qualities, or traits, of leaders. The thinking behind this approach was that the secret of leadership lies in some innate â€Å"qualities of leadership possessed by selected member of society†. Indeed, since most of the leading early exponents of management such as Henri Fayol and Frederick Taylor were themselves lively personalities as well as successful entrepreneurs, it is not surprising that personal qualities were the focus of attention. It is true that personal qualities – or charisma – can play a part in the exercise of leadership. Nevertheless, the so-called â€Å"trait theories† of leadership produced such varied accounts of the key characteristics that Handy (2976) mentions that by 1950 over 100 studies into leadership qualities could only find common features in about 5% of the cases studies. Although trait theories are largely discredited as an instrument of leadership theory, the qualities approach can have some useful applications in management training and development. . 7LEADERSHIP STYLE THEORIES Since the 1950s much of the study of leadership has centered on the behaviour, or style of the leader. If leadership is not much about personal attributes, the argument goes, then perhaps it is about the way in which the leader exercise leadership? The ‘style theorists’; as they have been called, were influenced by an earlier study by Lewin, Lippitt White (1939) in which the effe cts of three different styles of leadership on the performance of groups in camp were studied. It was found that in terms of both goals achieved and member’s satisfaction, a democratic style was preferred to automatic or Laissez-faire styles. The style theorists have taken dimensions such autocratic-democratic and employee centre-task-centred in order to test ideas about leadership style and leadership effectiveness. Leadership effectiveness, or success, refers to performance that leads to: 1. the achievement of organizational goals 2. a high degree of commitments to those goals by the group 3. a high level of group member satisfaction. Reddin (1970), in a discussion on managerial effectiveness distinguishes three types of effectiveness. 1. Apparent effectiveness – the extent to which the manager gives the appearance of being effective by maintaining a high input into the job, but where in reality, his or her achievements are disappointing. 2. Personal effectiveness – The extent to which the manager achieves his or her own objectives, as opposed to those of the organization. 3. Leader effectiveness – The extent to which the leader influences his or her followers to achieve group objectives. The concepts of leadership that we are concerned with in this are associated with leader effectives. That is to say, they are concerned with the results of leadership rather than the inputs they are concerned with the achievement of organizational rather than personal goals, and they are intimately concerned with the relationship between the leader ad his or her group. The way in which the leader approaches the task and people needs of the situation is commonly referred to as leadership style. There have been several well-known studies into styles of leadership and these are summarized brief below. 2. 7. 1THE MICHIGAN STUDIES In a series of studies carried out in early 1950, Rensis Likert and his colleagues studies that behaviour of supervisor of both high-and low- producing groups. The researchers observed that supervisors of high-producing groups tended to be employee-centered in their approach. That is they paid attention to relationships within the group, exercised less direct supervision, and encouraged participation in decision-making. By comparison, supervisors of the low-producing groups tended to be more directive in their behaviour and appeared to be more concerned with the demands of the task than the needs of people in their groups. High-producing groupsLow producing groups Employee-centered approachTask-centered approach 2. 7. 2THE OHIO STUDIES These were also conducted in the early 1950, but from a slightly different perspective from the Michigan studies. The basis of the Ohio researches (Stogdill and Coons, 1957) was a leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire of some 150 items. The analysis suggested that unlike the Michigan conclusions, the two approaches represented separate dimensions. That is to say, people could be scored on consideration and on initiating structures. High Consideration Low LowHigh Figure 2. 7. 2: Initiating structure The researches found that employee satisfaction was greatest under leaders who were rated high on consideration. However, the context had a bearing on responses, since military groups tended to discount consideration in favour of initiating structure. 2. 7. 3MOGREGOR AND LEADERSHIP Douglas McGregor (1960), reflecting on leadership and motivation at work, took the available literature on organizations and examined contemporary managerial policy and practice. Leadership style may affect either positive or negative performance of employees. Leaders who practice democratic style do motivate their employees hence performance increases. When an employee is recognized as part and parcel of the organizational contributors then he/she tend to work hard towards the achievement of the set organizational goals. 2. EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION AND LEADERSHIP STYLE According to Mosadegh Rad and Yarmohammadian (2006), employee job satisfaction refer to the attitude of employees towards their jobs and the organization which employees them. The researchers pointed out that job satisfaction is influenced by many organizational contextual factors ranging from salaries, job autonomy, job security, workplace flexibility to relationship. In particular, leaders within organizations can adopt appropriate leadership styles to affect employee job satisfaction, commitment and productivity. Previous studies have examined the relationship between employee job satisfaction and leadership behaviour in various settings such as healthcare, military education and business organizations (Chenand Silversthorne, 2005). These studies generally indicate that employee job satisfaction in the public sector is just as important as it is in the private sector. Consistent with this, the present study intends to examine the relationship between leadership style and job satisfaction in the public sector. Leadership is a process of interaction between leaders and followers where the leader attempts to influence followers to achieve a common goal (Northhouse, 2010; Yuki, 2005). According to Chen and Chen (2008), previous studies on leadership have identified different types of leadership styles which leaders adopt in managing organization (e. g. Davis 2003; Spears and Lawerence, 2003, Dorfman and Gupta, 2004; Murray, and Riordam 2007). Among the more prominent leadership styles are burns (1978) transactional and transformational leadership styles. Transformational leaders emphasize followers’ intrinsic motivation and personal development. They seek to align followers’ aspirations and needs with desired organizational outcomes. In so doing, transformational leaders are able to foster followers’ commitment to the organizations and inspire them to exceed their expected performance (Silvanathan and Fekken, 2002, Jaokko and Ali 2006). With regard to day’s complex organizations and dynamic business environment, transformational leader are often seen as ideal agents of change who could lead followers in times of uncertainties and high to risk-taking. In contrast, transactional leaders gain legitimacy through the use of rewards, praise and promises that would satisfy followers’ immediate needs (Northhouse 2010). They engage followers by offering rewards in exchange for the achievement of desired goals. 2. 9LEADERSHIP STYLES AND CONCEPTS Leadership styles range widely from a job-or task-centered orientation to a people or relationship-centered one, with many other combinations. A participative style has special merit for consideration. A supervisor uses in trying to direct, activate or otherwise provide a motivational atmosphere for employees. It includes leadership traits skills attitudes and behaviour that employees perceive their supervisor to have and consistently use. According to John W. Newstorm (2001) study guide stated that leadership is one in which the leader sets goals, makes decisions, gives orders and demands obedience, autocratic style of leadership. A democratic or consultative style is one in which the leader presents problems, consults with relevant individuals or solicits ideas from those with expertise and interest before making decisions. It is highly consistent with the need to employees and assumptions of Theory Y. True participation gives one or more employees the right to explore problems, gather information, make decisions, and implement them. The positive results is employees are mentally and emotionally to its success. Conditions that should be in place to assist in having the participative approach succeed include:- 1. Adequate time to consult with employees. 2. The benefits of allowing participation must exceed the cost. 3. The issue must be sufficiently interesting to engage the workers’ mind and imaginations. 4. The problem must be within the supervisors area of job freedom. . Not all problems lead themselves to the participative approach and the supervisor and employees must understand this. Examples of formal programs that encourage employee participation include:- a) Suggestion systems, which invite individual employees to submit recommendations for work improvements. b) Quality circles and total quality programs which involve formal training and problem solving, group decisi on making, and statistical techniques to encourage employee to continuously search for improvements in their operations. ) Employee ownership plans, also called employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) which allow employees to purchase shares of common stock in the company, thereby becoming art owners. When participate leadership fails its often because:- a) It is uncomfortable to change old habits. b) It is attempted in a insincere fashion. c) Supervisors fail to follow through on employee input and decisions. d) Performance pressures produce fear and insecurity. e) Supervisors fear it could result in a loss of personal power. 2. 10SELECTING AN APPROPRIATE LEADERSHIP STYLE Leadership styles should be selected with a keen sensitivity to individuals and circumstances involved. An autocratic, authoritative task centered style workers best in situations where the supervisor has lots of real power, the process requires strong control and rapport is good and in situations where just the opposite conditions prevail. A participative/democratic people centered style is best where the supervisor’s authority hasn’t been clearly spelled out or acknowledged, where the process and procedure are somewhat flexible, and where rapport is only average. For good performance in production or service delivery and contain style of leadership should be put in consideration as that employees are at easy and free from stress caused by bad leadership practices. When selecting an appropriate style one has to bear in mind that employees are people who have differences in both attitude likes and dislikes, so they should be all involved when coming 2. 11INTERVENING VARIABLES To understand how a leader can influence the performance of a group or individual employee or organizational subunit, it is helpful to examine intervening variables that determine employee performance. The six intervening variables in the model are based on earlier research and theory on determinants of individual and group performance (Hackman, Brousseau Weiss, 1976). Unlike most other situations theories, the intervening variables are defined primarily. 1. Task Commitment – The extent to which unit member strive to attain a high level of performance and show a high degree of personal commitment to unit t ask objectives. 2. Ability and role clarity – The extent, to which unit members understand their individual job responsibilities, know what to do, and have the skills to do it. 3. Organization of the work – The extent to which effective performance strategies are used to attain unit task objectives and the work is organized to ensure efficient utilization of personnel, equipment, and facilities. 4. Cooperation and Mutual trust – The extent to which group members trust each other, share information and ideas, help each other and identify ;with ;the work unit. 5. Resource and Support – The extent to which the group has the budgetary funds, tools, equipment, supplies, personnel and facilities needed to do the work, and necessary information or assistance from other units. . External coordination – The extent to which activities of the work unit are synchronized with the interdependent activities in other parts of organization and other organizations (e. g. suppliers, clients, joint venture partners). The intervening variables interact with each other to determine the effectiveness of a group or organizational subunit. A seriously defic iency in one intervening variable may lower group effectiveness. The greater the relative importance of a particular intervening variables the more employee performance will be reduced by a deficiency in this variable. The relative importance of the intervening variables depends on the type of work unit and other aspects of the situation. 2. 12SITUATIONAL INFLUENCE ON INTERVENING VARIABLES The situational can influence the intervening variables independently of anything done by the leader. There are two situational variables that influence task commitments are the formal reward system and the motivating properties of the work itself. Member commitment to perform the task effectively will be greater if the organization has a reward system that provides attractive rewards contingent on performance. Motivation is likely to be high for subordinates if work requires varied skills, is interesting and challenging, and provides automatic feedback about performance. Role clarity is affected by task structure, prior member’s experience, and external dependencies. Conditions that increase role ambiguity are as follows: 1. the task has multiple performance criteria that are somewhat incompatible with each other and priorities are unclear. 2. the task requires continuous coordination and mutual adjustment among members. 3. he nature of the work or technological is changing requiring new skills and procedures. 4. a crisis or emergency creates confusion and 5. work unit operations are frequently affected by changes in policies, plans or priorities determined by higher management or clients. 2. 13DETERMINANTS OF TEAM PERFORMANCE 1. Commitment to shared objectives Employee performance will be higher when they are highly motivated to attain shared objectives (Mackenzie and Ahearne 1997) Task commitment is higher when the team considers the objectives worthwhile and the strategy for attaining them appropriate. Leadership behaviours that are especially relevant for increasing members commitment to shared objectives include articulating an appealing vision of what can be accomplished by the team, describing the task in a way that links it to member values and ideals, explaining why a project or task is important, involving members in planning strategies for attaining the objectives and empowering members to find creative solution to problem. 2. Member skills and Role clarity Team performance will be higher when members have the knowledge and skills necessary to do the work and they understand what to do, how to do it, and when it must be done. In a newly formed team, or when the team has a new type of task to perform, leader can clearly explain member responsibilities and relevant procures for performing specific types f activities (Marks, Zaccaro Mathieu, 2000). 3. Internal Organization and Coordination The performance of a team depends not only on the motivation and skills of members, but also on how members are organized to use their skills. The design of work roles and the assignment of people to them determine how efficiently the team has talented people but they are given tasks for which their skills are irrelevant, or if the team uses a performance strategy that is not consistent with members skills. 4. External Coordination The performance of a team also depends upon adjusting their activities to be consistent with the activities of interdependent units inside or outside the organization (include suppliers), and the need of clients who must be accommodated (Ancona 1990). Many specific types of leadership behaviours are relevant for improving external coordination. These include maintaining a network of contacts who can provide relevant information, monitoring external events to identify threat and opportunities for the team, meeting with clients o users to lean more about their needs, consulting with other units of the organization abut plans and decisions that affect them, and facilitating shared mental models that accurately describe the relationship between the team and its environment. 5. Resources and Political Support Team or group performance also depends on getting information, resources and political support needed to do the work (Druskat and Wheeler, 2003) Relevant resources such as budgetary funds, tools and equipment, supplies and materials and facilities. A production team cannot maintain a high level of output without a dependable supply of materials. Leadership behaviours that are relevant for obtaining necessary resources from outside include planning the resources required for a special project or activity. 6. Mutual Trust and Cooperation Even a talented, well-organized team may fail in carrying out its mission unless there is a high level of cooperation and mutual trust among the members. Cooperation is more likely when members identify with the team, value their membership in it and are intrinsically motivated to support it. 7. Collective Efficacy and potency. Member/employee commitment depends in part on the shared belief of members that the team is capable of successfully carrying out it mission and achieving specific task objectives (Bandura 2000, Gallagher and Ensley 2002). This shared belief is called collective efficacy or potency. A highly confident team is also likely to have a more positive mood (Mannand Hirst 2002) Collective efficacy is likely to be higher for a team with strong member skills, a high level of mutual trust and cooperation, ample resources and a relevant performance strategy. Prior success can increase collective efficacy, which in turn can enhance a team of subsequent performance. 2. 14ADVANTAGES OF USING DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHP STYLE The participant can result in high motivation of group members, the knowledge and experience of group members can be used in decision making. Employees may feel more committed to goals and less resistant to managerial actions. Individual abilities can be developed through participation; they may be better informed as a result of two way communication that is from the employee to the leader and also from the leader to the employee. 2. 15DISADVANTAGES OF USING DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE As discussed earlier this style of leadership can also have a few drawbacks to the leader and also to the organizations set goals. Some of them are; individuals may dominate the participation or make disruptive contribution, this approach can be very time consuming for the leader because of the use of two-way communication compromise can result in actions that are not the most effective. Conflict may be resolved by making the least offensive decision not the most effective; situation can develop where responsibilities are not clear cut. Participation may be viewed as a sign of inefficiency on part of a leader; subordinates may view leaders as incompetent to handle the job responsibilities. Employee performance will mostly depend on the leadership style used by the management; if it is favourable to be adapted then high productivity shall be experienced. So far the production to be maintained in employee some methods should be practiced that is manager may adopt to use a combination of two leadership style so as to balance both the employee and organization goals. 2. 16OTHER MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES Other companies tend to use other styles of gathering information from their employees, such as management by walking around (MBWA) is a classic technique used by manages who are proactive listeners managers using this styles gather as much information as possible so that a challenging situation does not turn into a bigger problem. Listening carefully to employees’ suggestions and concerns with help evade potential crises, management by walking around benefits managers by providing unfiltered, real-time information about processes and policies that is often left out of formal communication channels. By walking around, management get an idea of the level of morale in the organization and offer help if there is trouble. A potential concern of MBWA is the manager will second-guess employees’ decisions. The manager must maintain his or her role as coach and counselor, not director. By leading decision-making responsibilities with the employee, manager can be assured of the fastest possible response time. Competence (or competency) to the ability of a individual to perform a job properly. A competency is a set of defined behaviours that provide a structured guide enabling the identification, evaluation and development of the behaviours in individual employees. Some scholars see â€Å"competence† as a combination of knowledge, skills and behaviour used to improve performance or as state or quality of being adequately or well qualified, having the ability to perform a specific role. For instance management competency might include systems thinking and emotional intelligence and skills in influence and negotiation. 2. 7BENEFITS OF GOOD LEADERSHIP STYLE Managing employee co-system performance facilitates the effective delivery of strategic and operational goals. There is a clear and immediate correlation between using performance management programs or software and improved business and organizational results. It benefits the organization direct financial gain in sales gain, reduce costs in the organizational also decreases the time it takes to create strategic or operational changes by communicating the changes through a new set of goal. (Business Journal 2002). Good leadership style brings about motivated workforce which optimizes incentive plans to specific goals for over achievement, not just business as usual, improves employee engagement because everyone understands how they are directly contributing to the organizations high level goals. It also improved management control, flexible responsible to management needs displays data relationships, provides well documented and communicated process documentation; organization development, performance can be thought of as Actual Results Vs Desired Results. Any discrepancy, where Actual is less than Desired, could constitute the performance improvement zone. (Business Journal 4th edition 2004) Performance Management and improvement can be thought of as a cycle. 1. Performance planning – where goals and objectives are established. 2. Performance coaching – where managers intervenes to give feedback and adjust performance. 3. Performance appraisal – where individual performance is formally documented and feedback delivered. A performance problem is any gap between Desired Results and actual Results. Performance improvement is any effort target at closing the gap between Actual Results and Desired Results. 2. 18CONCLUSION In summary, an overview of organizational performance was presented highlighting the need for organizations to deliver results in the competitive business environment of today. As employees play a pivotal role in organizational performance, individual performance has become a topic issue, so much so that organizations go to great lengths to develop, manage and appraise it. In light of this, performance management and individual performance was discussed. Finally, the relationship between performance and leadership was discussed, demonstrating the relationship between them. It is clear that there is definitely a need to identify and implement leadership that enables East Africa Organization to become globally competitive. It has generally been acknowledged that organizational performance requires effective leadership and performance will suffer in direct proportion to the neglect of this. A broad overview of performance has been presented with some reference to its relationship with leadership. It is now important to discuss leadership in detail. CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY . 0OVERVIEW This chapter covers the research design, population of the study, sample design/procedure, data collection instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis techniques. 3. 1STUDY AREA The research design is a case study which involves one single company where the research is to be undertaken. For this case the selected company is Mombasa Municipal Council of Mombasa. 3. 2POPULATION OF THE STUDY The targeted population of the research is the employees of Mombasa Municipal Council. Mombasa MunicipalNumber of employees Percentage Council targeted Top Management612% Middle level employee1836% Lower level employee2652% Total50100% 3. 3SAMPLE DESIGN/PROCEDURE The sampling method employed in undertaking this research was randomly sampling; where the population i. e employees were subdivided into three levels; top management, middle and lower level of employees. 3. 4DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS In getting the relevant data for the research study, the following instruments were used; a) Interview This involves interaction with the respondent. Direct interview of the top management and some few middle level employees was undertaken in an effort to get more necessary data relevant for this research. This method is of good advantage in the way that it is easier and clear to get feedback from the questions asked, more elaboration is given by the respondent. b) Questionnaire This is a set of questions properly designed in advance related to the subject of the interview. The questionnaire comprising of precise, short and logically segmental and concise questions calculated to retrieve the appropriate data that enabled the researcher make data based conclusions and recommendations, in reflection of the objective and fulfillment of the general purpose of the study. This method is of a good advantage in the way that:- . 5DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE The event was carefully scheduled in a way that there was time for interview and for submitting of the questionnaires to the intended respondents. The questionnaires were then collected after three days after having conducted the interviews. 3. 6DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES Charts i. e pie charts, tables, bar graphs, bar charts were used to analyz e the collected data. These illustrations were used to represent and interpret the collected data to meaningful and useful information. More clarification was carried in chapter four of the study. CHAPTER FOUR 4. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS This chapter covers various findings collected from the field of study by the use of questionnaires and interview. In the analysis, the study simplifies the raw data collected in relation to the objectives of the study. The data was presented in the use of tables, charts and graphs to interpret the findings. 4. 1FINDINGS The targeted population were issued with questionnaires in various departments and collected as shown below in the table. Table 4. 1. 1 showing respondent rate |Employee |Questionnaires |Questionnaires ollected |Percentage | | |distributed | | | |Top managers |6 |6 |15% | |Middle level |18 |12 |30% | |Lower level |26 |22 |55% | |TOTAL |40 |40 |100% | The response shows that the company uses more than one leadership style. Some of the manager responded well. Figure 4. 1. 1 showing the employee response KEY: [pic] 4. 2LEADERSHIP STYLES USED IN THE ORGANIZATION The leadership style used based on the various department. The council used a combination of Autocratic and democratic style of leadership. Table 4. 2. 1 showing respondent on leadership styles |Leadership Style |Respondents |Percentage | |Autocratic |1 |2. % | |Participation |5 |12. 5% | |Combination of Autocratic Participation |20 |50% | |Democratic | | | |Combination of Autocratic and Democratic |6 |15% | | 8 |20% | |TOTAL |40 |100% | Figure 4. 2. 1 showing leadership style in the organization. KEY [pic] In fig. 4. 2. 1, 50% of the respondent pointed out the leadership style used by the manager was a combination of Autocratic and Participation, 20% pointed Autocratic and democratic, 15% pointed participation, 12. 5% pointed Democratic and 2. 5% pointed autocratic leaders hip style. 4. 3EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE DETERMINANTS The table below shows response on the determinants of employee performance. Table 4. 3. 1 showing determinant of employee performance |Employee levels |Respondent |Percentage | |Top managers |4 |10% | |Middle level |16 |40% | |Lower level |20 |50% | |TOTAL |40 |100% | Figure 4. 3. 1 showing the level of employees who are motivated. KEY: [pic] From the Pie Chart above the percentages of the respondent was 50% of the lower level employee, 40% from the middle level and 10% from the top management. This shows that most of the employees performed better when motivated financial than the non finance which was from the top senior managers. 4. 4DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE AND GOOD EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE The table below shows employee response on democratic leadership style and employee performance. Table 4. 4. 1 showing democratic leadership style and good employee performance |Good Employee levels |Respondent |Percentage | |Agree |18 |45% | |Strongly agree |22 |52. 5% | |Disagree |1 |2. % | |Strongly disagree |Nil |0% | |TOTAL |40 |100% | Figure 4. 4. 1 showing democratic leadership style and good employee performance KEY: [pic] From the figures the biggest percentage 52. 2% strongly greeted that democratic leadership style brings about good employee performance in the organization, 45% also agreed and the smallest percentage of 2. % disagreed. 4. 5ADVANTAGES OF DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE Employees are more productive when motivated by their leaders hence democratic style is best. It reduces employees’ conflict and stress caused by dictatorship style of leadership. It builds employee confidence, morale hence perform the best. 4. 6DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE REDUCES EMPLOYEE CONFLICT AT THE WORK PLACE The table below shows the respondent to the democratic leadership style conflict reduction at the work place. Democratic leadership style reduces |Respondent |Percentage | |employee conflict | | | |Strongly agree |28 |70% | |Agree |10 |25% | |Disagree |1 |2. % | |Strongly disagree |1 |2. 5% | |TOTAL |40 |100% | Table 4. 6. 1 showing respondent to the democratic leadership style. 70% of the respondent pointed out that they strongly agreed on the fact that democratic leadership style reduces employee conflict hence increase productivity. 25% agreed and 2. 5% were not to agreeing to that. CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION . 0DISCUSSIONS This chapter covers the conclusion and recommendations. It also fills the gap in between. From the study it was found that the company used more than one leadership style so that it may fit with their employees. The top managers used such different style to be compatible to their employee as a means of motivation so that they perform better. 5. 1CONCLUSIONS It was conducted that for employees to perform better some rules must be applied that is, good working tools, conducive environment, good employee relations, motivation, training of employee on relevant fields. Most of the respondent from the company pointed out that good leadership style may bring about good employee performance. Apart from that age also matters in the way that middle employee tend to be more active hence perform better than those in mid 50’s and above. 5. 2RECOMMENDATIONS In view of the findings the researcher recommendations were, that the company has to put in place good understanding of employees, on matters affecting them and their work. It was suggested that the management should put in place a good communication channel though which employee shall follow when in problem. The management should encourage employees to work as a team, share tasks to avoid overloading employees, share profit of the company, motivate the employees to even work extra harder in doing their jobs hence increase productivity. It is also very important to consider employees in formulation of policies and procedures of the organization; consult the employee so that they express their views on matters affecting them. It was recommended that employees to be given good working tools, share tasks, ideas and also given an opportunity to acting positions of managers so that they have experience as well as motivating them to perform better. Employees will be more committed if the roles and tasks are well defined to reduce role conflict as who is to do what and where or when at the work place. Doing so shall build the employees morale to work hard and gives them confidence to work towards the set goals an objectives of the organization. 5. 3GAPS TO BE FILLED There was a gap to be filled by other researchers. It was not clear whether the leadership style affected the employee’s performance or there’re were other factors affecting them to perform poorly. REFERENCES . Armstrong and Baron (1998) Performance Management – The New Realities 2. Brewster Cobbler Holland and Warnich, 2003. Contemporary issues in Human Resource 3. Bartlett and Ghoshal (1995) – Harvard Bus Review 4. Norton (1999) The balanced scorecard: Participant’s Workbook 5. Hellriegel et al (2000) Management Second South Africa Edition 6. Hallaway, Francis Hinton (1999) The International Journal of Public Sector Management 7. Amos et al 2004 Human Resource Management 2nd Edition 8. Cherrington 1994, Baird (1986) Organization Behaviour 9. Foor and Hook (1999) Introduction to Human Resource Management 10. Cummings and Schwab (1973) Performance in Organizations determinants and appraisal 11. Bass 1997; Mullins 1999 Leadership and Performance beyond expectations 12. Brand, et al, (2000) Organizational development and transformation 13. Leadership in Organization by Gary Yuki 14. Supervisory Management by P. W. Betts (Seventh Edition) 15. Study Guide Supervision 8th edition by John W. Newstorm APPENDICES APPENDIX I WORK PLAN OF THE PROJECT Activity |Schedule | |Proposal writing |October 2011 | |Proposal submission |October 2011 | |Data collection |October 2011 | |Data Analysis Presentation |November 2011 | |Typing setting, editing and printing |November 2011 | |Submission |December 2011 | APPENDICES APPENDIX II FINANCIAL BUDGET |Item |Quantity |Price (Ksh. ) |Amount | | | | |(Ksh. | |Stationary | | | | |Fullscapes |1 ream |@500/= |500. 00 | |Printing papers |1 ream |@500/= |500. 00 | |Typese tting Printing |50 pages |@20/= |1,000. 00 | |Photocopy |50 pages |@3/= |150. 00 | |Binding |2 copies |@50/= x2 |100. 0 | |Transport |- |- |800. 00 | |Tools | | | | |Pen |2 pieces |@20/= x 2 |40. 00 | |Pencil |1 piece |@10/= |10. 00 | |Ruler |1 piece |@20/= |20. 00 | |Other expenses |- | |200. 0 | |Total | | |3,320. 00 | ———————– DEMOCRATIC+IMPROVED+FAVOURABLE LEADERSHIPPERFORMANCEEMPLOYEE STYLEEVALUATION Low structure/ High Structure/ High consideration High consideration Low structure/ High Structure/ Low consideration Low consideration Lower level employee Line manager Middle staff Autocratic Participation Autocratic Democratic Participation Democratic Autocratic Lower level employee Middle level Top level Strongly agree Agree Disagree How to cite Eefects of Leadership Styles on Employee Prformance, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Strategic Plan for CenITex Samples for Students †MyAssignmenthelp.co

Question: Discuss about the Strategic Plan for CenITex. Answer: Introduction CenITex is a shared services agency for Information and Communications Technology (ICT). This agency was set up by the Government of Victoria which is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian Victoria state. CenITex was established as a body of the Victorian state in the month of July of the year 2008. This step was taken in order to centralize the support of Information and Communications Technology to the departments and agencies of the government. Formerly known as the Office of Shared Services, it was renamed CenITex signifying IT to be the center of excellence. Today, CenITex provides these ICT solutions and services to six departments of the Victorian Government and the associated agencies and entities of the government. CenITex was created for the purpose of centralizing the ICT support to the agencies and departments of the Victorian Government on 16th July 2008. It is a state owned enterprise that provides services like application hosting, desktop services and the infrastructure required for the same (Jim Rouse, 1999). They are serving 32,000 people presently with their services for ICT in six departments of the Victorian Government as well as the associated portfolio agencies. They are also providing their services to the Public Transport Services of Victoria, the VicForests, Environment protection Authority of Victoria, The Victorian Taxi Service Commission and the Victorian Ombudsman (Raman, 2012). Honorable Robin Scott MLA who is the Minister of Finance of Victoria takes care of the operations of CenITex. At CenITex, the corporate reporting requirements of the Department of Treasury and Finance are handled and taken care of. They provide complete ICT services for professional setups, workplaces and the hosting services. Their workplace solutions include personal productivity applications, services for desktops, file and printing, diary and email and internet access. The hosting services provided by CenITex include storage and back-up services, disaster recovery and restoration services, application hosting and database and application management for the server. The professional services offered by them are usually the projects funded by the customers (Dix Lee, 2002). These include project management and building and designing the solutions. Along with these, CenITex also provides services for identity and access management, services for security, directory, and on-boarding an d off-boarding services for the directories. The organizational structure of CenITex is very simple with a panel of the Board of Directors and a CEO who reports to the CenITex board. The present CEO of CenITex is Michael Vanderheide. Existing strategies As mentioned on the organizations website, the goal of CenITex aims at providing the services for the Information and Communications Technology to promote an agile, modern and productive public service. CenITex has adopted a few strategies to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Their primary strategy is to be a low cost provider with an emphasis on cost-based advantage over competitors. For this they have been providing services at the lowest possible costs without compromising on the quality of service being provided.In addition to this, the organization has also adopted A focused low cost strategy. This is done by concentrating on a narrow consumer segment and offering lower price. The price of their service has been already set to a very competitive scale and they have narrowed their focus to the public sector organizations to create a niche market. Thus the two main strategies adopted by the organization are cost leadership and focused low cost strategy. They are making us e of their competitive capability to stay ahead in the game and also taking an advantage of their core competence and distinctive competence to emerge as a market leader. They provide an assortment of ICT services to the various departments of the Victorian Government. Their aim is to provide their customers with reliable, easy to use, contemporary technology and to enable them to deliver the services expected and needed by the Victorian Community. The two primary strategies used by CenITex are cost leadership by providing best possible services at a low cost and a focused differentiation strategy where they target a specific segment of the customers and provide a variety of specialized services to that particular customer segment. Thus, they aspire to provide their customers with quality services delivered on time that meets all their needs. They wish to keep their customers up to date with the latest technology and resolving any issue that may arise while doing that. They focus on responding to the needs of their customers in an efficient and time bound manner. They have a team of IT experts that aims at providing a resolution to all the IT woes of their customers to their satisfaction by taking ownership of the problem and getting it resolved. They also provide a platform that is absolutely secure and dependable so that the government agencies can do their work in a better way and deliver great services to their people. Their technology is reliable and secure and can be used for working on and storing the confidential and sensitive information available with the government departments and agencies. They also assure their customers of providing services that are cost effective and matching their needs to the t. They proclaim themselves to be a part of the Victorian Government and they focus on delivering the best value for the cost that the government bears for their services. They aim to serve the public sector of Victoria through their cost effective and s ecure technology solutions. The organizational structure of CenITex is headed by the Chief Executive Offices Michael Vanderheide. He reports to the Board of Directors of CenITex. The organization is split into four branches namely Strategy and Governance, Customer Engagement, Service Operations and Human Resources. These branches are headed by Paul Cooper, who is also the Acting Director of the Board, Nigel Cadywould, Scott Ayer and Catherine Proud respectively. Nigel, Scott and Catherine are also the Directors of the Board. Another person holding a position of responsibility in CenITex is Catherine Ho who is the Chief Financial Officer of CenITex. CenITex follows the accountability framework of the Victorian Government. This framework provides guidance during the decision making process of CenITex. Their primary goal is to provide services that are reliable, secure and at the best possible price. Their relationship with their customers is based on the organizations commercially oriented arrangements. These inc lude their service level agreements and the memorandum of understanding. Their services are commercially oriented and the accountability framework provides further clarity for decision making in the organization. The CenITex Board takes care of the governance and is the formal governing body for the organization. The Executive leadership team is assigned the operational responsibility and thus it takes care of the day to day functioning of the organization. Apart from this, there are two additional committees that are independent standing committees that report directly to the CenITex board. These are the Audit and Risk Committee and the Remuneration Committee. While the Audit and Risk Committee ensures integrity in work practices, quality of work and financial reporting, disclosures, internal control framework, annual audit of financial statements, legal compliance and the regulatory risks, the Remuneration Committee is a standing committee that presides the annual remuneration rev iew, employment policies, compliance and appointment of the Chief Executive (eStrategyPartners, 2010) Strategy evaluation The year 2012 was a year of turbulence for the organization CenITex as the Victorian Ombudsman study found out the conduct of the organization improper and there were numerous breaches of the policies and guidelines for procurement laid down by the CenITex board. The organization has however come a long way from that and redeemed the lost trust and image as the ICT service provider for the Victorian Government. This is even evident from the financial performance of CenITex that had observed a big drop in 2012 (State Government of Victoria, 2017). The organization had accounted for a loss of $25 million in 2010 and a loss of $37 million in 2011. They then went through an overhaul of not just the board and the members, but also the organizational policies. The cost leadership and focused differentiation strategy for CenITex seems to be working in favor of the organization. The organization in the year 2016 turned a surplus of $8 million and it is expected to increase further during thi s year. The board has decided to reinvest the surplus from the funds in the expansion of the existing operations. In addition to the surplus, the organization has further allocated an amount of $2 million to fund or co-fund the projects undertaken by other departments. This is named the innovation fund (Cowan, 2015). The major transformations that happened in the organization include application shifting for a department in the organization to Azure and introduction of Mobile Access Gateway. The focus has also shifted to cloud technologies which are predicted to be the future of storage technologies. This significantly reduced the operational cost of providing the same services and helped the organization in making profits even when the cost of the service remains the same or drops down. They have restructured the strategies, but the primary strategy of providing services at the lowest possible cost persists. They aim at providing the best possible services to their customers at the lowest possible cost. The overall operational environment of the organization has become much more reliable and the organization is slowly and steadily gaining back the trust lost. The organization that was once in the headlines and front pages for the infamous outages and discrepancies is has now reduced the outage o f serious levels by about 40%. It is difficult to imagine that this organization was a few years back about to get replaced by the former state government. The number of clients of the organization has also increased from 6 in 2014 to 20 presently in the public sector of the Victorian Government however their focused differentiation strategy remains and the public sector is still their preferred customer segment. They have increased their on-site support and made the access to the IT service center even simpler with the help of a voice response menu. They remodeled and, modernized and standardized their infrastructure on the Government Shared Platform, which resulted in cost effective and more productive functioning. In January 2016, CenITex appointed four new members to its board of directors who are very high ranking public servants. The strategy restructuring has also impacted the employee turnover for the organization which is at an all time low of mere 6 percent (Coyne, 2015). The organization is accounted for being a troublemaker since its inception in the year 2008. It has seen failure in operations, blow outs of the defined budget, poor strategic plan and weak implementation of the policies, but the good thing is that the organization has placed it all in the past now. It has been finally able to deliver what it was formed for and has been able to put the failures and letdowns in the past. The troubles for the organization had stemmed from poor planning and strategic thinking. This resulted in missed opportunities and tarnished image. However, the organization that was once on the brink of outsourcing is now standing tall with the improved performance and superior work environment. This has only been accomplished due to the changes made in the strategic plan at the time when it was needed the most (CenITex, 2015). PESTEL Analysis On conduction of a PESTEL analysis for CenITex, we have come across the following information that might help the organization in designing new strategies and implementing them to make the organizational functions even better. The PESTEL analysis of any organization helps us in studying their external environment and the contributing factors in the working of the organization that are beyond their control. For CenITex, the external environment comprises of the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, ecological and legal environment. The political environment for CenITex is currently in favor of the organization. The people in power have extended full support and even given the organization additional responsibilities which indicated increased trust of the government on the organization. The political situation of the nation is currently very stable and that is an added benefit for CenITex. The economic position of Australia is very stable and the country also has a very s table financial system. The organization can contribute its bit in the low employment rates of the country and the economic growth of the nation is only going to help them in the long run. The socio-cultural factors include the social customs, beliefs and traditions belonging to the area being studied. The cultural environment of Australia is very diverse and the education level of the nation is continuously on a rise. This is going to benefit CenITex as it indicates an added flow of talent for the organization (Chirgwin, 2013). The technological environment of CenITex is a crucial contributor in the organizations growth. Being an organization functioning in the IT industry, they must keep up with the rapidly evolving technologies and adapt them to stay ahead in the game. Ecological environment of an organization comprises of all the living and nonliving things that impact the working of the organization. The ecological environment of CenITex is made up of the organizations it works with, the technologies, its employees and the public that receives the services of their customers. CenITex has been providing quality services and has redeemed its status in the Australian market. The organization must now work towards maintaining this and improving their operations even more. The legal environment for CenITex is favorable till now. Although the organization has gone through a troubled past, the present is over that and the future looks promising for CenITex. The legal issues arising must be handled quickly and discretely in order to prevent them from tarnishing the image of the organization. Recommendations The cost leadership and focused differentiation strategies of CenITex have made them emerge as a leader in the market. The organization has been able to make the most out of their core competencies and this has resulted in economies of scale for CenITex. Mistakes are made by all but the ability or inability to learn and improve from their mistakes makes them successful or a failure, whatever they wish to be. The Victorian Government at the lowest point of operations of CenITex made them objectively assess the real reason and factors responsible for the poor performance of the organization. Although the organization has risen from the ashes and made a mark, it is important that the mistakes once made are not repeated. The organization needs to regularly monitor and audit the performance and strategic plan to ensure compliance (Fyfe, 2012). This will also make sure that the organization is headed in the right direction. The organization definitely has the drive and passion to make thin gs happen and push the boundaries further, this has been proved by their current performance. There is a big responsibility on the shoulders of the organization and its management now to not just maintain the performance to its current level, but also take it a notch further. The organization must not waver from its drive to provide cost attractive services without compromising on the quality of the work. The government shared services organization has transformed itself and emerged as a success after struggling with accusations and allegations since it began the operations in 2008. The biggest and most commendable step taken by the organization was to accept the mistakes. The management accepted what was wrong with the organization and made efforts to improve them. This has made them come really far and emerge as a delayed but undisputed success (LeMay, 2012). Since the operations of the organization depend on technology and technology is one sector that is very dynamic and evolves continuously, the organization needs to be on their toes all the time. They need to constantly adapt and evolve with the changing technologies and also change their operations accordingly. Cloud technology is the future of storage, thus more efforts must be done to shift to the cloud based servers and technologies that enable them(LeMay, 2013). The surplus funds must be further invested for the betterment of the organization and its operations and the risk factors like outages and breakdowns must be minimized by making the technologies more robust and reliable. The organizational environment must be maintained to be positive at all times and the employees must be respected and treated fairly. This will instill their trust in the organization and consequently make the organization stronger and better (Pearce, 2016). The corporate strategy of CenITex is well defined and they are perfectly aligned right now to be the top provider of ICT services. The high industry attractiveness is going to work in favor of the organization and they are going to benefit from the extremely competitive market if they continue to follow their cost leadership and focused low cost strategy and provide the services at the best cost in the market. The strategy and structure of the organization are explained in the report. The organization must work towards building a better mechanism for strategy implementation and strategy execution The competitive capabilities of the organization are in full bloom presently and are expected to improve even more in the coming times. The only target now is to make the most out of and continue their best practices and not sit on the accomplishments, but aim for continuous improvement. Some recommendations for briging about this change are implementing management by walking around, encouraging employee, customer and public feedback and making the feedback meachnism more robust. They already are making use of the first mover advantage as they are the sole provider of these services in the Australian public sector. They can improve even more if they start customization of their services and service attributes attributes that meet customers needs and are provided at an affordable cost. This strateg y will make CenITex attract even more customers from not just the public sector of Australia, but also the private entities and independent users. Summary and conclusion In this report, we have studied and conducted a detailed analysis on the strategic plan of CenITex. It is a shared services agency for Information and Communications Technology (ICT). This agency was set up by the Government of Victoria which is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian Victoria state. Formerly known as the Office of Shared Services, it was renamed CenITex signifying IT to be the center of excellence. Today, CenITex is providing these ICT solutions and services to six departments of the Victorian Government and the associated agencies and entities of the government(Harrowell, 2017). CenITex was created for the purpose of centralizing the ICT support to the agencies and departments of the Victorian Government on 16th July 2008. It is an enterprise owned by the state that provides services like application hosting, desktop services and the infrastructure required for the same. They provide complete ICT services for professional setups, workplaces and th e hosting services. The CenITex as an organization was formed to deliver an assortment of ICT services to the various departments of the Victorian Government (Chirgwin, 2013). Their aim is to provide their customers with reliable, easy to use, contemporary technology and to enable them to deliver the services expected and needed by the Victorian Community. They focus on responding to the needs of their customers in an efficient and time bound manner. They have a team of IT experts that aims at providing a resolution to all the IT woes of their customers to their satisfaction by taking ownership of the problem and getting it resolved. They also provide a platform that is absolutely secure and dependable so that the government agencies can do their work in a better way and deliver great services to their people. They proclaim themselves to be a part of the Victorian Government and they focus on delivering the best value for the cost that the government bears for their services (Bajkow ski, 2016). CenITex was about to go out of business and its operations were about to get outsourced in the year 2012 after it was rated poorly and a number of lags were discovered in their operations. They then went through an overhaul of not just the board and the members, but also the organizational policies. This resulted in the redemption of the organization that accounted for a loss of $25 million and $37 million respectively to accounting for a surplus of $8 million in the year 2016. The organization has come a long way and must continue with its improves strategic planning and service delivery in order to make a mark. References Bajkowski, J., 2016. Renewed CenITex out to sell itself after privatisation averted, Available at: https://www.governmentnews.com.au/2016/03/23370/ CenITex, 2015. Director Strategy and Governance: Position Description, Available at: https://www.cpsuvic.org/public_docs/CeneITex/Director%20Strategy%20and%20Governance.pdf Chirgwin, R., 2013. Beginning of the end for Cenitex, Available at: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/11/beginning_of_the_end_for_cenitex/ Cowan, P., 2015. Inside CenITex's years of tumult, Available at: https://www.itnews.com.au/feature/inside-cenitexs-years-of-tumult-406817 Coyne, A., 2015. Victoria cancels plans to outsource CenITex, Available at: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/victoria-cancels-plans-to-outsource-cenitex-405932 Dix, J. Lee, H., 2002. The process of strategic planning, Available at: https://fisher.osu.edu/supplements/10/1470/All_Articles.pdf eStrategyPartners, 2010. Sample strategic business plan, Available at: https://www.spmvv.ac.in/ecell/docs/business-models/1.pdf Fyfe, M., 2012. CenITex: the background story, Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/cenitex-the-background-story-20121024-285ni.html Harrowell, A., 2017. Opinion: Whats wrong with CenITex?, Available at: https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/599463/opinion-what-wrong-cenitex/ Jim Rouse, P., 1999. Effective Strategic Planning: The Enterprise Foundation, Available at: https://my2.ewb.ca/site_media/static/library/files/403/the-enterprise-foundation-effective-strategic-planning.pdf LeMay, 2013. CenITex has no disaster recovery capacity, Available at: https://delimiter.com.au/2013/12/02/cenitex-disaster-recovery-capacity/ LeMay, R., 2012. Nepotism: Audit blasts CenITex culture, Available at: https://delimiter.com.au/2012/10/24/nepotism-audit-blasts-cenitex-culture/ Pearce, R., 2016. Transformed CenITex delivering wins for its customers, CEO says, Available at: https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/599539/transformed-cenitex-delivering-wins-its-customers-ceo-says/ Raman, S., 2012. How to write a strategic plan, Available at: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/ocpa/cms/files/communications-program/communications-workshops/workshop-handouts/RAMAN_strategic-planning.pdf State Government of Victoria, 2017. CenITex: official website. [Online] Available at: https://www.cenitex.vic.gov.au/

Thursday, November 28, 2019

International Pressure and Sanctions

Introduction The apartheid system, which was in place from the late 1940s to the early 1990s in South Africa, was one of the worse examples of discrimination and racism by a government against its citizens. This system divided South Africans into first class and second-class citizens based on their racial orientation.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International Pressure and Sanctions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The minority white South Africans were afforded all the political privileges and given the status of â€Å"first class citizens† while the other races were treated as inferior. The South African government tried to justify this discriminative system to its citizens and the international community. However, local and international condemnation of the system grew over the 1960s with calls been made for the government to end this oppressive system. The relative importance of the domestic and int ernational in bringing an end to apartheid is debatable with some people arguing that black South Africans political participation in anti-apartheid movements played the biggest role while others argue that actions by the international community where the most significant in dismantling apartheid. This paper will argue that international pressure and sanctions were the most important factors in ending apartheid in South Africa. How International Action Contributed to Ending Apartheid The economic sanctions imposed on the apartheid government led to economic difficulties that made the apartheid system unfavorable. The goal of imposing sanctions against South Africa was to reduce the economic welfare of the rich white minority in the country and hence diminish the willingness of the country to persist in maintaining apartheid. In spite of the country’s mineral wealth and valuable geographic position, the international community was not willing to downplay apartheid (Thomson 114 ). Western powers encouraged their citizens to disinvest in South Africa. This disinvestment by capital by foreigners led to a significant reduction in the wealth of the white minority therefore raising the costs of apartheid for the group that had benefited from the system. Kaempfer and Lowenberg note that the economic sanctions against South Africa resulted in a reduction of the GDP of the country (377). These negative economic outcomes led to a change in the behavior of the South African government in the desired direction. Economic sanctions contributed in the dismantling of apartheid by reducing the economic welfare of the white minority who were the main beneficiaries of the apartheid system. The isolation brought about by international pressure decreased government efficiency and the local support for apartheid. Led by the United Nations, many countries condemned the policy of apartheid and called for its end. Lulat (364) notes that many newly independent African countries pu t pressure on the Western powers to take action against the South African regime.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Efforts by the international community to pressure the South African Government to end apartheid were in play as early as 1963 when the US sort ways to â€Å"induce the South African government to remove the evil business of apartheid from the continent of Africa† (Duncan 38). The US and some European countries restricted the granting of travel visas to high-ranking political and military personnel within the South African government. In 1977, the US government recalled its Ambassador to South Africa and subsequently joined the rest of the world in condemning apartheid (Thomson 113). In addition to the effect that international pressure had on the white South African community, it also raised the expectations of black South Africans. International pressure demonstrated to the black community that the rest of the world supported their efforts towards ending apartheid. It showed that the international community supported the determination of the Africans to win full status and dignity in their country. The government therefore had a harder time maintaining and defending apartheid institutions in light of this anti-apartheid sentiment from the international community. International efforts against the Apartheid regime led to the imposition of an arms embargo that reduce the military capability of the South African government and increased the cost of equipping the military. Due to the perceived injustices of apartheid, the non-White groups in the country founded protest movements to fight for equal rights and freedoms with the whites. The government reacted aggressively to this protests using military force to suppress any opposition. Duncan observed that the growing government oppression in South Africa could only be countered by exter nal pressures (42). The international community therefore intervened to stop the government from getting the arms that it needed to form a well-equipped army to counter this growing African militancy. Its efforts to acquire this arms from the international market where thwarted by a UN Security Council resolution in 1977 that banned the shipment of arms to the South African Government. The United States, which is a major weapons trader in the world, adopted a complete embargo of military equipment to South Africa. Duncan notes that the US stopped supplying the South African government with all lethal goods and even terminated the sale of all military spare parts to South Africa (115). The South African government tried to counter this arms embargo by manufacturing its own arms. However, the locally produced weapons were costly and of a lower quality to those available in the international market. In addition to this, the cost of research and production led to financial strain by the government as funds were diverted from important public institutions. This decreased the popularity of the apartheid policy even within members of the White population.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International Pressure and Sanctions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More International pressure forced the South African government to enter negotiations with the oppositions groups that were demanding political representation and justice. The apartheid policy had denied the non-White population any political power and the white minority were unwilling to reach a compromise. The prominent anti-apartheid South African cleric, Archbishop Desmond Tutu declared that while the objective of the African opposition movements was negotiation, the apartheid regime could not â€Å"get to the table without concerted international pressure† (Lulat 364). Through this pressure, the government was forced to listen to the trou bles of the majority and react to them in a favorable manner. Without the involvement of the international community, the South African government had no incentive to negotiate with its non-White population. Conclusion This paper set out to argue that international pressures and sanctions played the most significant role in ending apartheid in South Africa. To this end, it has highlighted the ways in which the international community contributed to the collapse of apartheid. Through international pressure and the use of punitive measures such as investment sanctions and trade restrictions and embargoes on supply of key goods, the international community was able to accelerate the ending of apartheid in South Africa. If the international community had not involved itself in South Africa’s affairs, the oppressive apartheid system would have continued for longer. Because of this international pressure and sanction, South African abandoned apartheid and adopted a system that ensu red majority rule based on justice and equality. Works Cited Duncan, Patrick. â€Å"Toward a World Policy for South Africa†. Foreign Affairs 42.1 (1963): 38-48. Web.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Kaempfer, William and Lowenberg Anton. â€Å"A Model of the Political Economy of International Investment Sanctions: The Case of South Africa†. KYKLOS Journal 39.3 (1986): 377-397. Web. Lulat, Yuni. United States Relations with South Africa: A Critical Overview from the Colonial Period to the Present. Peter Lang, 2008. Print. Thomson, Alex. â€Å"The Diplomacy of Impasse: the Carter Administration and Apartheid South Africa†. Diplomacy Statecraft 21.1 (2010): 107–124. Web. This essay on International Pressure and Sanctions was written and submitted by user Erika Dotson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.