Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Definition And Conditions Of Decision Making Tourism Essay

Definition And Conditions Of Decision Making Tourism Essay As managers and entrepreneurs, we should have confidence in our decisions, but can we? Discuss with regard to your ability as a decision maker and the tools and methods available to assist decision making. Entrepreneur and managers are no longer able to have confidence in their decision. Because even good managers make mistakes in their decision making process. Therefore, there are many of the business organisations trying to find out the best method of decision making process. Nevertheless, many of them experience end in failure or sink in the business world. Because, decision making of organisation, as it operates with in the organisation, implies that increasing unexpected complexity in environment uncertainty. And this uncertainty means that decision makers do not have sufficient information about environmental factors, and they have a difficult time predicting internal or external changes. So, uncertainty increases the risk of failure for organisational responses and makes it difficult to compute costs and probabilities associated with decision alternatives. Therefore, any organisations want to success in their business, it is essential to use suitable decision making tools and me thods. To understand this essay better, defining the term of decision making is necessary. According to Fitzgerald, decision making involves the choice of an alternative from among a series of competing alternatives (2002, p. 8). And theories of decision making are concerned with how such choices are made. This essay will explain nature of decision making, tools and methods of decision making process and steps in decision making to assist decision makers. Finally, availability of those tools and methods by managers and entrepreneurs will be discussed to assist their decision making process. First of all, nature of decision making should be identified before it discusses about its tools and methods. The definition of decision making is explained in introduction. However, decision making conditions are should be concerned before the actual decisions have been made because the decisions are not always made under same amount of available information (Rue Byars, 2007, p. 76). The conditions which give influence to decision making process are: certainty, risk and uncertainty. Situation of certainty means that decision maker knows every alternative outcome from the decision so he/she can make decision precisely. For example, if manager have to make decision on which transport service he/she will use between by air or by train to deliver their product or service, it is obvious that air will take relatively shorter time but higher cost than train, and train will take longer time but lower cost than airplane. Unfortunately, each alternative brings different outcomes and this is not always known in advance. Therefore, decision makers are only able to estimate their relative probabilities of outcomes. According to Williams, perception of risk means the amount of uncertainty or lack of predictability concerning the outcome of a decision (2002, p. 86). This is called a situation of risk. Generally, exact prediction about probabilities of various outcomes is impossible. Thus, managers may make their decision based on past experience and historical data. However, Russo and Schoemarker said people do not learn easily from experience because is requires pro-found skills (1990, p. 174). Although, risk can never be eliminated from decision making process, decision makers can attempt to minimize its impact on their outcome with technique of learning from experience and forecasting from historical data. When there is very little or no reliable information to estimate the variety of possible outcomes fro decision maker, this is called situation of uncertainty. Moreover, this means that the decision maker does not have any knowledge that concerns the possibilities related with different outcomes. In this circumstance, decision maker may take one of several approaches. First approach is the maximax approach. Rue Byars selecting the alternative whose best possible outcomes is the best of all possible outcomes for all alternatives (2007, p. 77). In the second approach, the maximin approach refers comparing the worst possible outcomes for each alternative and selecting the one that is least undesirable (Rue Byars, 2007, p. 77). And the last approach is the risk-averting approach. This approach can be resulted in more effective planning because it is chosen by the alternative with the least fluctuation among its possible outcomes (2007, p. 78). The conditions for decision making occupy important position in decision making process by guiding decision makers which decision making model they should use. Therefore, decision makers should keep in mind those conditions before they make actual decision for organisations. Decision making tools and methods in decision process support decision makers to understand complex phenomena in managerial activities. Those tools and methods are able to maximise managerial options within decision making process specifically and describe its situations clearly. The tools are for fostering making creative decision. And the methods have rational and intuitive methods for effective decision making. By using these tools and methods, the triple bottom line and managers corporate social responsibility should be concerned together. According to Williams, creative problem solving is not easy and applying the tools requires time, resources, and effort (2002, p. 149). However, to improve the quality of organisations important decision making process, creative decision making techniques are essential. These techniques are such as brainstorming, Gordon technique, nominal group technique, and synectics. Brainstorming can be explained as producing a large quantity of solution on a problem to find out its solution among them. By using this tool, there is initially no criticism and question of idea should be allowed. Then combinations of solutions can be used as decision making tool for improvement of organisation. Gordon technique is similar with brainstorming but it can be differ from that group leader knows the exact nature of the real problem under consideration (Rue Byars, 2007, p. 84). Nominal group technique is involving few steps as highly structured technique. The order of steps is listening recording voting-discussion final voting. This technique minimizes personal interactions to maximize their activity and reduce pressure from conformity with group decision. The synectics is a relatively new technique used in creative decision making process. This technique uses metaphorical thinking to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar (Rue Byars, 2007, p. 85). None of those techniques is a perfect tool for assisting decision makers activity. Each technique should be considered as a just tool that can facilitate proper decision making process by decision makers. Rational decision making method is the most pervasive and influential and to use rational decision making effectively, this includes the following steps: recognising and defining the situation, developing alternatives, evaluating alternatives, selecting the best alternative, implementation, and follow-up and evaluation (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2006, p. 208-212). First, when problem exist, it is necessary to find out what kind of problem it is including organisations current situation. The gap between the current situation and existing problem can be identified in this step. Second, developing alternatives is for finding a cause of problem in the situation and gathering information concerning the current state of affairs. Third, evaluating alternatives has a role for helping decision maker to evaluate a solution from among the available alternatives. Forth, selecting the best alternatives is choosing the best option from among the evaluated alternatives. Fifth, implementati on refers that decision maker is putting the decision he/she chosen into actual organisational activities. Sixth, the last step is evaluating the effectiveness of the implemented decision by decision maker. These steps assist decision maker to optimize organisations outcome. Fitzgerald believes that embedded within the rational model is the belief that managers actually optimize their decision making behaviour by deliberately choosing and implementing the best alternatives (2002, p.13). On the other hand there are similar but slightly different approach is included in rational method. That is satisficing approach. The difference between optimizing approach and satisficing approach in rational method is satisficing is selecting the first alternative that meets the decision makers minimum standard of satisfaction instead of selecting the best possible alternative from among every possible alternative (Rue Byars, 2007, p. 74). Intuitive decision making method is used when decision maker decide organisational decision bases on hunches and intuition (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2006, p. 216). Moreover, Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter defined intuitive decision making as a subconscious process of making decisions on basis of experience and accumulated judgement (2006, p. 216). That means an emotional decision is put into action by decision maker from their mind in decision making process. The emotional attachment can lead manager to poor decisions or can be very real especially who are living in the past. However, the key is manager should not ignore when the available information exist. Intuition plays an important role in decision making process. Consequently, it can be said managers experience and judgement is important when he/she faces the decision making situation. Learning from the past is not easy but once it has become your knowledge, it can be important resource for decision making as a dec ision maker (Williams, 2002, p. 153). In conclusion, this essay discussed about definition and conditions of decision making. The different conditions such as certainty, risk and uncertainty give different influence on decision making process. And the tools and methods have been identified as that can promote improvement of organisation by decision making and several steps in decision making methods to assist decision managers and entrepreneurs. The tools in decision making process allow improving the quality of organisations important decision. Then the methods in decision making are more related to assist decision makers to put one of the possible alternatives on actual action. Decision making process can be improved by recognising conditions of decision making and applying appropriate tools and methods to problems decision maker is faced. To be effective and efficient in decision making process, managers need to be open to new information and others opinion. If managers and entrepreneurs apply creative and sufficient decision making skills in their decision making process, there are various solutions to achieve their goal or overcome their problem will be allowed without failure in decision making.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Death Penalty Essay -- essays research papers

Death Penalty The death penalty, outlawed in most of Europe, Canada, Australia and most other countries in the world, is still practiced in almost 40 states in the U.S. Today, there are more than 3,000 people on death row waiting the day of their execution. They are put to death by methods such as hanging, electrocution, lethal injection and by firing squad. Since the death penalty was reinstated bye the supreme court in 1976, by the Gregg v. Georgia decision, more than 525 people have been put to death. Today there are many people for the death penalty and see nothing wrong with it but there are many people who feel hat it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The 8th amendment of the U.S. protects its citizens from cruel and unusual punishment but the death penalty hasn’t fell under the amendment yet. Nobody on either side of the death penalty debate wants to see an innocent person put to death, and yet studies have found that one in seven people sent to death row are later proven innocent. Still more innocent people are being sent to death row each year. In one case a prisoner was two days away from being executed when he was proven innocent. That means that many people reach death before they are proven innocent. In the last twenty-four years eighty-five innocent people have been released from death row, and will never get back the years of their lives they missed but just escaped a murder of themselves. In Illinois the governor has blocked executions to find out why more death row inmates have been found innocent and released than executed. The governor of Illinois is not the only one examing the death penalty but many others are looking further into the capital punishment. New technologies, like DNA testing, have made it possible to definitely prove or disapprove innocence in hundreds of cases where genetic evidence has been preserved. In many cases DNA evidence has been a troublesome effort, requiring lots of resources and sometimes taking years of effort to work. Many people, regardless of their viewpoint about the constitutionality of the death penalty, would agree that if a person was going to trial and could be executed, he would be represented fairly. However there are factors unrelated to the crime that have been committed that determines who gets executed and who doesn’t. Those factors are poverty, race, and geography. It has been pr... ...egulations concerning the death penalty. Something so important as a person living or put to death should be a nation wide regulated act not for each state to have its own standards and rules. The death penalty should be banned because of many reasons, which make it unfair. In order to live if you are innocent and convicted of a crime and receive the death penalty you have to be white, very wealthy to provide a good representation and have to live in a state, which doesn’t strongly use the capital punishment for sentencing. Many studies show that a majority of people favor alternatives to the death penalty such as life in prison without parole plus restitution to the victim’s family. Out of three hundred and fifty convictions in which a person was given the death penalty and proven that they didn’t commit the crime, twenty-three were executed before they could be released. This means all of the years they sat in jail knowing their innocence they didn’t get to find out that they were proven not guilty by the system. I don’t think anyone would want to be in their position so the death penalty should be abolished for many reasons until it is fair and 100 % right in its convictions.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Modern Virtue Ethics Essay

To what extent do modern virtue ethics address the weaknesses of Aristotle’s teaching on virtues? (35) Virtue Ethics looks at a person’s good traits, known as ‘virtues’ and negative traits, known as ‘vices’; a person is considered to be a good person if they are virtuous and a morally bad person if they have developed lots of vices. Deontological and teleological ethicists argue that good or bad behaviour is far more important than a person’s good or bad characteristics whereas Virtue Theory argues it is only by becoming a better person that we will engage in the ‘right’ behaviour; Virtue Theory looks at the agent in itself and rather than the action. The key concepts of Virtue Ethics were first penned by the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle and in more recent times have been adapted and added to by Alasdair MacIntyre. Aristotle’s theory is made up of many key features, including Moral Virtues, The Doctrine of the Mean, Eudaimonia, and Friendship and the Community. According to Aristotle, everything has a purpose, for example, pens, their purpose is to write, if the pen fulfils its purpose and writes well, it is a good pen. In the same way, if we equate Eudaimonia to the pen, Eudaimonia is the supreme goal of human life, if a person reaches Eudaimonia, they are a considered a good person as the purpose was to be happy, therefore they have reached their purpose, just as the pen reaches its own. He also argued that every action comes down to this aim, every human being desires to be as happy as possible. An example of this is to ask a Doctor or a Lawyer why they chose such professions, the majority would answer that they chose this profession because it pays well and they believed that being paid well would lead to an easier and happy life, or Eudaimonia. Aristotle’s theory also says that relationships and friendships play a very important role in how we behave as people and how our actions are determined; we should all aim to individually achieve Eudaimonia, which would therefore achieve the greatest good for society as a whole as everyone would be happier; Aristotle sees our communal friendships and relationships as a vital part of our moral code and flourishing as a virtuous being. As previously mentioned, a good life involves developing a good character and these are known as moral virtues which are cultivated by habit; one must practice these good virtues in order to adopt them. Some of the key virtues Aristotle spoke of include modesty, generosity, patience, truthfulness and friendliness. Aristotle also spoke of Intellectual Virtues and Cardinal Virtues. Aristotle believed that we should aim to be virtuous people and avoid vices. Aristotle’s theory is centered around the concept of The Doctrine of the Mean; this states that there are two different vices that accompany every virtue- the Vice of Deficiency and the Vice of Excess. The Vice of Deficiency refers to a distinct lack of virtues, whereas the Vice of Excess refers to too much of the virtue being present. For example, modesty, if there is a distinct lack of this virtue, it may result in shamelessness and if there is too much of this virtue, it may result in shyness. Aristotle argued that the ‘Golden (or Virtuous) Mean’ is the middle of these to extremes and that is what people should aim to have. Aristotle’s theory is very logical and encourages people to adopt good characteristics which in an ideal world would result in every individual being as happy as possible; however there are many criticisms of this theory. For example, it is somewhat unclear of what is considered a virtue and what is considered a vice and it is also unclear of who is responsible for deciding these; as well as this, it could be argued that it is not possible to measure these virtues. It could also be argued that if every individual had exactly the same characteristics, everyone would be the same and the world be become mundane and monotonous. Virtue Ethics also does not provide clear guidelines or rules of how to act in specific circumstances and is vague and subjective. Alasdair Macintyre is a Scottish philosopher, whose writing dates to the 20th Century CE. He made an attempt to alter Aristotle’s theory in order to make it more relative and contexualise the ideas. Macintyre felt that morality had become lax and felt that they had become far hypothetical. He felt that people focused more on how an ethical theory would hold up under uncommon and unrealistic circumstances rather than situations where morality counts. He believed that we should understand the context of ethics before attempting to fix modern moral dilemmas. Macintyre’s belief in context as the central part to ethical decision making shows us that he is relative in his ideology. He believed that virtues would change over time naturally, for example, bravery for us is a person that confronts a gang of youths, throwing rocks at windows, or a police tackling a burglar, however 2000 years ago, bravery was considered as a man dying in battle, for his country. This is an attempt at addressing a weakness of Aristotelian Virtue Ethics, as it would encourage the person to look at the time and place before deciding whether the character traits are good or not. It has to be said that what may be considered good in the Congo may not necessarily be considered good in Brixton, London. Finally Macintyre addresses the issue of External and Internal goods. Internal Goods are what he calls, the qualities of a person’s character. The External Goods are the things that a person relies on, for example,food or a decent living arrangement. He states that although these are valuable to the human nature, they can be considered good or bad. However the Internal Goods are the most important. This gives more relativism than Aristotelian Virtue Ethics which can be considered an improvement. In conclusion I feel that Alasdair Macintyre has made a good attempt to improve and change Aristotle’s version of Virtue Ethics, however we can still see some weaknesses. For example, it is even more relative than Aristotle’s version and this can lead to ambiguity when facing a moral dilemma. This has not been addressed, in the modern version by Macintyre. It also does not eliminate the idea of universal virtues to achieve Eudaimonia. This is problematic. So, I feel that his attempt must be congratulated but I do not feel that it has been entirely successful as there are still elements which could be improved further.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Factors Of Production To Carry Out Business Activity Business Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1459 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? A business employs factors of production to carry out its business activity. It is very important for a business to be sure that all its resources are allocated efficiently in order to be profitable. The most important, vital and significant resource of a company is the people it employs. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Factors Of Production To Carry Out Business Activity Business Essay" essay for you Create order Due to increasing globalization and competition, the productivity of labour has become increasingly important for the companies in determining its efficiency. Businesses, like those in service sector, whose staff deal directly with its consumers need to be very conscious about he motivation level of their employees. Motivation has become important for the business to gain competitive edge by attracting the best recruits. They must be aware that to win completion, it is important for them to attract and retain the best labour possible. Motivation is a set of various activities that determined a person to engage in particular behaviour. A motivated labour force helps business to achieve its goals profitably. An unmotivated labour may not work quickly, efficiently and provides the minimum of what is expected of them. Motivation for work is one of the elementary determinants of organizational and individual performance. Motivated labour is the cornerstone of all organizations and this holds true in, non-profit sectors, the public and the private. many of the studies( Eskildsen Dahlgaad 2000) show that a happy labour force is highly motivated work more efficiently and effective, have good spirit at work ,have good morale at work and work more effectively and efficiently and hence worker satisfaction, therefore, directly impacts process quality. Process quality then determines customer satisfaction and quality cost. Research shows, in Pakistan, it has become a major challenge for the commercial banks to encourage employees to provide quality services. This is because there is a strong struggle among the banks in Pakistan to assure best quality services to their clientele. The commercial banks have a vital role in the global economy and employees are the major source of delivering goods and services to their clientele. The excellent service offered and provided by the employees has the ability to create a positive and a long lasting image in the eyes of consume rs. Introduction to the company: Company history and background: Habib bank, also commonly known as HBL is headquartered in Habib bank plaza in the city of Karachi, pakisatna.HBL is the largest bank of Pakistan with a huge network of 1425 branches within Pakistan and 55 branches around the world. Habib bank holds a domestic market share of approximately 40% and has continued to dominate the commercial banking sector. Overseas it operates in the following countries: Australia, Afghanistan, Belgium, Bangladesh, china, Canada, France, Iran, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Lebanon, Maldives, Kenya, Nigeria, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Oman, UK, USA, UAE, Turkey, Nepal and Netherlands.(scribd.com) 250px-Location_of_branches_of_Habib_Bank The founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah realized how important was the establishment of financial intermediation as his campaigned for the creating of Pakistan. Jinnah persuaded the Habib family to establish a commercial bank with its headquarters in Mumbai. The efforts resulted in the creation of Habib bank in 1942 with a fixed capital of about 25000 rupees. Habib bank played an important in financing the campaign of all India- Muslim leagues that aimed to establish Pakistan. This bank also played a significant role in channelling relief funds to those people that got hurt in the day to day communal riot that preceded the departure of the British from the land of India After the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, Jinnah urged Habib bank to move its head quarter to Karachi, the first capital of Pakistan. This gave the newly formed state, Islamic republic of Pakistan, its first commercial bank in Karachi. Habib bank limited was incorporated on august 25th 1941 operating in the private sector until in 1974 it was nationalized. Services offered by the company: Habib bank provides the basic range of banking services to its clientele that includes corporate, commercial, retail banking and investment, Islamic banking and treasury. Company description: The banking company, Habib bank limited is engaged in retail and commercial banking and related services in domestic and overseas market. Brand of HBL: HBL states: our brand identity is an expression of what we are standing for as an organization. This is expressed by our mission statement, our vision and all is supported by our values. Vision: Letting people to advance with success and confidence Mission statement and the ultimate mission of HBL : To be Pakistans leading financial institution and largest bank that emerges in the international market, providing its customers with exceptional innovative services while granting superior value to the employees, customers and shareholders of the company. To create a good value for shareholders, let the staff excel and make our customers precious prosper. Values of HBL: Its the companys values that makes it unique and define its excellent culture. It includes: Excellence Customer focus Integrity Meritocracy Progressiveness Research Objectives The purpose of this research is to use the different approaches/methodologies to achieve the objectives of my research. To evaluate the possible effect of motivation on employees work performance. To critically appraise current motivation strategies and their effectiveness in Habib Bank Limited. To make recommendation for the design and implementation of organizational motivational policies in Habib Bank Limited in order to improve productivity. Research Questions What methods does Habib Bank Limited currently use to motivate staff? How can the effectiveness of motivation strategies in Habib Bank Limited be measured How effective are Habib bank motivation strategies and what recommendations can be made for their improvement? Rational: Choosing a research topic is not as easy. It requires extensive study and research before any conclusions can be reached. For my research, the process involves identifying factors that may leave an impact upon motivation level. Next step was to measure the motivation (highly motivating, moderately motivating not motivating) and then measuring he impact on work performance. As employee work performance is an essential element of banking sector, this research will provide me a deeper insight into the complexities and problems that our service sector specially banks encounter. This will also allow me to deeply study Pakistans largest bank which will be add greatly to my knowledge. Personal motivation: I took a keen interest in Human Resources Management during my college days but I took admission in M.Sc (Physics), I completed my Masters ( Physics) in my home country (Pakistan) and started work as a teacher in college. When I came here (UK), most of my colleagues completed their MBAs in their respective fields. I contacted them and enquired about the subject .At last I took admission in Kaplan (London) which is famous for imparting quality education worldwide. After completing my degree ,I will choose Human Resources Management as a field in the future and I hope it will also expand my vision and will impart me the qualities which are important for a Human Resources Manger. It is readily accepted that Human Resources Management is an important branch for any organisation and for its success to achieve the goals. Therefore, there is a demand for qualified and well trained Human Resource Professionals in all branches. It is an extremely competitive region and for this purpos e, I will increase my qualification in this field. Therefore having a strong background in Human Resources I would like to start a new field for myself as a human resource expert in the future and this topic will give a vast exploration in this field and will broaden my knowledge in this field. Significance for Habib bank limited: It is hoped that the conclusion of this study will be of immense significance to management and policy maker of the Habib Bank Limited. It will not only provide them an advantage to reassess their organizational policies but will also allow them to address the minor problems and existing dissatisfaction in its employees that have been revealed through this report. Not only this, but HBL can also take advantage of the questionnaire that had been designed for the purpose. It will let them know what the maximum of their employees feel about their organisation and work. They can also measure their responsiveness to the set questions and respond to the needs practically. ACADEMIC UNDERSTANDING From an academic point of view, this research will contribute to the present opinion and will help many other students and researchers. it will be provide a comprehensive foundation for further study. It will not only highlight and explore factors that determine motivational strategies and their impact on the motivation of employees but will also identify endeavours that will help influence the commercial banks for a consideration of a more structured and systematic approach, acknowledge employees efforts which would then flourish culture of high performance in Pakistans commercial banks.