Sunday, January 26, 2020

Group Formation And Group Roles

Group Formation And Group Roles Which work is better, a group work or an individual work. There is no answer to this question as it has many facets. Our main focus during the group assignment was to analyze the organizational structure; culture and management and leadership style. In this essay, I have analyzed and evaluated the one aspect during the group work, its approaches and its relevant theories. I have highlighted my aim and justification of the performance by illustrating the group formation: identifying both the aspect positive as well as negative. I have interrelated my experience with the theories and also focused on how group roles played an important role during the group assignment. This essay is divided into four parts but interlinked parts. The first part includes Group Formation and Group Roles: development and its related issues. The second part focuses on the approaches to the group roles. The third part focuses on the identifying the effects when a similar situation happens in the organization. The final part focuses on diagnosing or suggesting the various group role models. Conclusion is also included in the end. 2.0 GROUP FORMATION AND GROUP ROLES An individuals performance enlighten into an optimum group. It is a reflection of what I have written in my personal diary and also, from the recording of the meeting. The group passes through five clearly defined stages of development, which they labeled as forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Tuckman, 1965; Tuckman and Jensen, 1977) 2.1 FORMING In my viewpoint, forming a group before doing a task is an important issue. Our Group can be called FORMAL group, which was deliberately created to complete the project. Initially, I was feeling uncomfortable with the group because our ideas and way of thinking were not alike. It was formed because we were sitting next to each other. I thought to form a group with people who have opinions about the subject and had been always outspoken. In our group, four members were from same nationality and one from other nationality. All the members from the same nationality were from different corners of the country. I believe point of doing an assignment is not only going along with group but also to work on something, which is unknown to you. This is the reason we decided to have diversification in the group. Diversification is important because we get to know about the working environment of the other nationalities. It was also a test of adaptability. In the group, I think important role is of a Leader but no one emerged as a leader within the group because everyone wants to work on of its own in their comfortable space. 2.2 STORMING On our first group meeting, we had a conversation about the selection of organization. We had storming two-hour session and were discussing to either select the organization that has a worldwide reach or to select a national organization. I was favoring to have a national organization because it will be gives us an advantage since we dont have much experience person in the group. At the end of the session, we decided to take a national organization for various reasons. Group meeting left us with various questions: 1) Which kind of organization should be taken? 2) How can we benefit our project? 3) From where and how can we collect data? 4) Evaluation of the organization? After the meeting, it was decided that everyone has to come up with one organization and have to work on the questions above within a week. I think two members didnt like the way the process was going on. While coming from the meeting, they told me to focus on Something Concrete and they were feeling shy to give out the opinions. I asked them to write everything in an email and send it to everyone in the group. 2.3 NORMING Norming is a period where we should trust each other and try to develop an atmosphere where everyone can work. Initially, I was unhappy with group but after our first meeting, I felt little relaxed that some members were responding and giving out the opinions. The member whom I suggested to give out the mails didnt send any e-mail neither they came with any organization and its working in the second meeting. So, the other three members gave out their suggestion and their respective organization. The member from the other nationality gave out the best suggestion and was decided to choose it as a topic. When we were dividing out the sections of the outline, members including myself showed some anger and irritation. Due to domination by one member, no one was able to choose theirs respective topics and roles. My role to become the leader of the group was not accepted by the other member. The other member wanted no one to become the leader in the group. I believe everybody has an intention to become the leader. Since, there was no leader. Everybody chose their role in a way that even they were not even aware of the responsibilities with the role. The main motive of the group is to able to present the best work you can do as group and also not letting the other group members down. This thing actually calmed me down and then, decided to work on some other aspect of the organization. Altercation happened between other members as well for the same reason. Nobody was willing to get out of his comfortable zone. We also decided to communicate with each other regularly, because it has been seen that group who are not performing well is a lack of communication and knowledge but it doesnt come off. 2.4 PERFORMING This is the crucial point of the group, which test the ability and consensus within the group. After working for more than 2 weeks and giving out suggestion through meetings and emails, no one including myself had completed the work. From the initial period of the group formation till the time of performing, we had lot of contradiction within the group and were not getting along but motivation to give the best project always had given us to move forward and also to perform. During our group performance, I think sections in the outline were not properly drawn as the data that was collected was colliding with each others work. My part was to work on the organization structure. It was very lengthy but with help of other members I was able to finish it in time. Sometimes, when I had any problem with the structure, my other members were willing to help me. Even at end of the project, I believe delegation of work was not done properly. If it had been, then we could have made a better proje ct. 2.5 ADJOURNING Anxiety and excitement didnt allow me to sleep for two nights before submission. I feel that I have given out my best in this project. After the completion of the project and reading the project again gave me a sense that anyhow work can be done. After submitting the assignment, everybody in the group shook hands with each other and also celebrated for the submission. During the project, I made new relationship with members and also, decided to take one of the members for the next group assignment (International Banking). Our group had achieved the goals what we decided in the initial stage and thus, was the time to adjourn the group. We regularly faced the problem at several times. As a member of the group, we regularly faced the problem at different times. There was a cycle of storming, norming and performing at every stage. 3.0 APPROACHES TO GROUP ROLES This part of the essay, firstly I would like to write about the problems that I have faced while working with group. Secondly, how I could have made it better or will be acting on the similar situations in the future. The experience I had and the problem I faced will be an advantage in my future assignments, as it will give me a better understanding of the roles. We have followed the model of Benne and Sheats (1948) to achieve our goals. The role that we have mutually delegated to every member was different. Firstly, Information-Giver is a person who finds out all the relevant information before moving forward. Also, clarifies the problem if there is something missing or unclear. In our second meeting, we decided to assign one member to gather all the information. He provided us with the primary data but he did not make clarifications on some issues. He gave us the overview of the organization but was never able to provide with the insights of the organization. So, everyone in the group has to their relative research about their work, which gave us conflict between our works. Secondly, we decided to communicate and work at all times. Whenever I was asked to give out Opinions on any subject, I was willing to do that. Sometimes, even I cannot suggest something on some issues until and unless I have the proper evidence to support it. I asked for the help if I am in a problem or not able to understand, members willingly helped me. I would say everyone in a group was an opinion giver. Sometimes, opinions and suggestion are followed by the egos and domination. Since, our group was a leaderless group. Everybody in the group wanted to dominate the group. At some point, I felt the same but I have realized that giving out opinions doesnt mean that the person can lead the group until and unless has the characteristics of the leaders. Thirdly, for the conclusion of the topic, we assigned one of the members as an Evaluate-critic. As he was given the authority to look after the each part of the topic and critically analyze and write down the conclusion accordingly. He started criticizing the points that we have written also belittling us. After the submission of the assignment, he was boasting himself and was trying to take credit from other members. If I had been in the same position, I would never try to take the credit of the people and would also appreciate the work of others. Fourthly, the main problem we faced during our group was that one of member possesses the traits of the Dominator. From the beginning till adjourning of the group, the member was trying to show him as a leader but a leader is different from dominator. He was forcing everyone in the group to do the work accordingly and roles that he has assigned but a leader gives liberty to the other members to work according to their characteristics. Conflict mounted due to this issue in the group. This instance gave me an experience that there is a little difference between a leader and a dominator. There is always an advantage to have a leader over dominator in the group. 4.0 EFFECTS OF GROUP ROLES IN AN ORGANISATION In this section, I would like to evaluate the Benne and Sheats (1948) Group roles theory into an organization taking my personal experience into consideration. I will consider the similar situation in an organization in terms of Group Formation and Group Roles. Benne and Sheats(1948) encouraged Social role and Beblin (1996) encouraged Team Role, t he two most common frames of reference on group roles which have been suggested below:- In my perspective, Team role should be considered within an organization. Individual work is different from teamwork but from my perception and perspective of an organization, Team role can lead to a better understanding between the members of the group. As I have experienced, Belbin (1981,1993,1996) argues the Benne and Sheats (1948) Functional Role Theory by stating that firstly, people in organization are selected on the basis of experience or ability, not on the basis of personal characteristics. Secondly, it also limits the likelihood that they will be successful in other roles. The performance of any organization can be impeded by various problems. Firstly, I would like talk about Maslows (1954) hierarchy of needs. Self-esteem in Hierarchy has been described as achievement and respect for each other that can be obtained by providing appropriate Group role to the person. Once the person is satisfied with what he is doing and it is going with his personality, he will perform better. I can relate the self-esteem with the problem we had in our group .If everyone was given their part according to their characteristic, and then we could have worked produced better result. Secondly, the flow of opinion should be made clearly without any egos and attitude. Knowledge Sharing can lead to the better work. Knowledge sharing always gives a better working environment and also, a competitive work. (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka and Kanno, 1998; Grant, 2005). This similar situation happened in our group, opinions were given to help each other but egos and attitude always followed and power to dominate. Knowledge sharing should be made without any hesitation and greed. Thirdly, I would like to Benne and Sheats (1948) model as the most of the positive aspect such as evaluator-critic can be transformed into Recognition Seeker (Dysfunctional) if evaluator-critic is given importance. As I mentioned above, Evaluator-critic was trying to get recognition as an individual. If the similar situations happens in the organization, this might result into a havoc because every individual is working for the organization ,not for the individual recognition. This will create disharmony in the group, which will reflect for the organization. I would like to suggest on the basis of the group role that in organization Belbin(1996) nine team role should be followed to achieve the goal and every member should be chosen in terms of their characteristics. This will increase the productivity as well as the level of healthy competition within the organization. This is how an organization can be benefited from the Group roles. 5.0 DIAGNOSIS OF GROUP ROLES APPROACH I have already argued and suggested that organization needs a proper set of roles, which can be provided to the employee and employer for the betterment of the organization. I have argued that sometimes, Task role and Maintenance role theory of Benne and Sheats (1948) transform into the Individual roles, which are self-centered and personal motives, arises. There are many concepts of Group such as Benne and Sheats(1948), Bales(1950) but most popular in modern days is Beblin(1996). The table below shows the group roles suggest by Beblin(1996). The theory above shows coherent relationship with the organization group roles. This will not only increase the performance of the organization, also the interaction between and within the groups. This can work for the big organization but with smaller group of 9-10 people. However, there are no theories without criticism. Beblins theory has been criticized by the Aitor Aritzeta et. Al (2007). Firstly, he argued that team success cannot be measured with this theory and hard to recognize that all the nine roles have been opted. Secondly, the theory takes excessive psychological perspective on role. Thirdly, the theory is unable to differentiate between different types of tasks. David Butcher and Catherine Bailey (2000) argued that Dream Team, where all member are committed to one work, and all the members are present at decision -taking time. They felt this is impractical and undesirable. 6.0 CONCLUSION I have considered many issues and explained it in terms of approaches, effects in organization and also, suggested the better way to assign the group roles. However, during my group work, I have taken the Benne and Sheats(1948) Theory which resulted in a average performance but If I would have used Beblin(1996) theory for the group roles in my group, then we could have performed better. Although, every theory has a criticism and flaws but this can be suggested that organization of today world uses Beblin Theory for group roles. I would also like to conclude that problems would never be reflected on any other assignments. The key lesson learned from this assignment that people should be judged by their characteristics and assigning the roles accordingly. It is necessary to move forward as described by Tuckman and Jensen(1965) to achieve the goals.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Influence of Shyness on Personal Development and Happiness Essay

â€Å"I have severe difficulty socializing to others†; â€Å"They think I’m unfriendly but in reality, I do want to connect to them but I don’t really know how†; â€Å"My anxiety always gets in the way, that’s why I’m painfully conscious around people†. These are some of the thoughts shared by people who are shy or those who feel uncomfortable when attention is on them because they are afraid of falling short of the standard of the superficial authority or of their perfectionist expectations on how things are supposed to be. Shyness, regarded as a personal attribute for a person, is also considered to be a psychiatric disease (Lane, 2008). This condition may vary in different degrees to what extent a person would display its symptoms, such as uneasiness and avoiding the things he fears to deal with. It could also be experienced inwardly without showing its complications to others but the one who suffers, when hiding his difficulties, could probably add worries and problems to his psychological self. Unusual situations are the common circumstances that trigger shyness. Also, the person’s environment may contribute to his shyness. If he is psychologically maltreated, there is a high risk that degree of shyness and avoidance to others would increase. But, the deeper root of shyness can be explained by genetics. There has been progress in determining suspected genes involved in personality but only a little development in confirming relationships between these. A gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) is examined and identified to be related with shyness (Ebstein et al. , 2003). According to WHO, embarrassment, excessive shyness, timidity, self consciousness and, social-phobia and lack of self-confidence are also symptoms of a disease called erethism. Erethism is a clinical condition in which appears in cases of mercury poisoning. Moreover, shyness is sometimes inappropriately interchanged with introversion, high sensitivity, social phobia and social anxiety disorder but is much related to the said terms in certain cases. According to Whitten (2001), introversion is not similar to shyness because introverts prefer being alone and are energized with that but they are not anxious in social situations. Unlike with them, the shy, because they fear social encounters, thinks that he has no choice but to avoid socializing which sometimes is not really where his heart at. But, there can be cases that a person would be an introvert and shy at the same time, it is when they are very sensitive to the social environment but it doesn’t matter because they get their energy within their selves not on others. Another term, in which shyness is related, is the social anxiety disorder. Its difference with shyness is, its scope is wider and it includes panic attacks. In relation to shyness, it also brings fear, apprehension or worrying about being evaluated by others in social situations that causes depression to the sufferer. Varying degrees of shyness and as to how the shy handles his trait contributes a lot on what can be the impact of shyness on the person. It is considered harmful when it has been controlling people’s lives because it brings incessant negative evaluation of the self, excessive self-consciousness and negative self-preoccupation that inhibit social confidence. In cases like that, the shyness is needed to be cured or if not, lessened because it hinders the disposition in life of some individuals. Shy people may tend to be unfriendly because they believe they lack social skills and may resort to withdrawal from people. But essentially, they desperately wanted to connect to others and wished to have as many friends as those people who are not shy have. The problem is they appear to be antisocial at times which they do not intend to be. Their socializing attitude might be the root of this one. Carducci (2000) observed that they expect others to get in touch with them and drag them out of isolation. But their efforts are also needed for starting and maintaining relationship to others. Also, being fear of negative judgement and rejection, people who are shy are likely to be afraid of socializing. From this arrangement, it could only lead to individual’s avoidance which causes isolation. Aside from emotional pain brought about by separation from others, this situation may hinder personal development which can be benefited through relation from other people. In social situations, people who are shy are driven to be self-conscious and inhibited in their actions. Perfectionist standards on social performances were set and followed by these people. For example, they tend to feel responsible of the awkwardness sometimes experienced which is not their fault at all. These worries leave room for low self-esteem and shape a negative view of the self. According to Howard (1958), self-esteem contributes a lot to a person’s ability in handling difficult situations because it helps in dealing with problems. It also gives confidence to a person which he will need in achieving his goals. But for shy people who has a high tendency of having insecurity, instead of focusing on their strengths, their weaknesses are given more attention. Acceptance of imperfections is very hard for them, not realizing that all people have vulnerability on their own such as failures, weaknesses and anxieties. Their true capabilities were just left confined and full potentials were not maximized because they were already intimidated by anticipation of failure. Moreover, shy people blame themselves for having no sense of self-efficacy due to low self-esteem. Howard (1958) defined self-efficacy as the belief in self that they can achieve their desired goals. Shy people tend to criticize and evaluate themselves inferior to others. Self-doubts are then established which promotes poor decision-making, weak judgement of things that severely affects one’s life and his disposition. Zimbardo and Radl (1982) described shy people as those who tend to behave in an inhibited manner, such as speaking less of the usual, in the presence of others. They usually hold back their feelings and opinions on certain things preventing them to express themselves. Because of nothingness to say, the shy would then tolerate silence. McMahon and McMahon (1986) told that, â€Å"†¦silence may be perceived as an indicator you do not approve of what’s going on or that you would rather be someplace else†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 225) As a result, many people do no not understand them well and may cost them to miss out of opportunities for social relations. Shy people struggle and find it hard to initiate and maintain conversations. Starting a chat with somebody is usually feared and avoided by a shy person because it is either he is anxious that he has nothing to say or the topic that he will put up would disinterest the other person and that the other would badly evaluate him personally. There is a tendency for the shy to choose topic of conversations that would impress the other. And in the process of overthinking only about the topic, he would forget to be attentive to the actual thing discussed by the two of them because his mind was already drifted away. Also, a shy person is scared to have conversations that suddenly drop like a dead balloon. When this would happen, he would resort to leaving the person he talks to, because he has nothing to say, thus, leaving a bad impression to the other. Shyness can be a serious threat to communication because it brings about distractibility and may interfere thinking processing which were caused by irrelevant thinking reactions which arise from being conscious from social evaluation. Merill (1965) stated that frustration can arise in cases where there is a failure in comprehending someone’s temporary disinterest due to certain circumstances. Also, this can hinder development of essential relationship to others. Self- doubts will be triggered because of depressing situations like this. As a result, a person may tend to avoid this sort of encounter that will only lead to further alienation and despair. Sociability is a human affiliative need that is needed to be nourished. Socializing includes people skills which needs understanding the self and controlling our responses, communicating effectively and empathizing accurately, and most importantly, it provides respect, trust to relationships (Rifkin, 2009). The different benefits of social relations contribute to a healthy well-being of a person. Heider (1958, quoted in Weiss) notes that there are six basic â€Å"provisions of social relations† –the things that are given when in a relationship (p. 232). First is the attachment, the sense of being secured and comfortable which we experience through our closest relationships. Shy people do not have an issue with this one because they reveal their true self in front of people they know and know them very well such as family. Another is social integration which is the sense of having shared interests and attitudes and offers companionship and sense of belongingness to society. For this, shy people find it hard or it takes time to fit into the society due to draw backs. Next is the guidance that we grasp from friends or authorities which we lean on at times when we need an advice that most of shy people are deficient to because they lack certain relations such as relation to some authorities. Sense of reliable alliance, knowing that there are people who will offer their help when emergency arises, and opportunity for nurturance, when our sense of importance and needed is shown while taking care of others, are nurtured through closest relationships. Last is reassurance of worth, it is when others let us feel being valued and looked up to as a competent person which shyness hinders a lot. Concern for others and love we feel from them are the necessities for a person to grow and to have worthy and productive life. Without these, a person may suffer emotional depression. (Corey, 1986) Most of shy people were likely to suffer social inhibition. One reason could be the lack of social skills at the beginning of interaction: According to Merill (1965), lonely people who would like to make new friends fail because they do the wrong things during the initial and critical moments. They avoid the other’s person gaze, they do not smile and they seem tense or preoccupied with other things. All of these discourage any comment from the other person, who does not realize that this apparent unfriendliness is due to a considerable discomfort and an inability to cope with it. (p. 104) People respond negatively to others who have undesirable anxieties and depressing behaviors which turn people away. As a result, social support needed by people with negative attitudes is inadequately given. (Plotnik, 1996) Anxiety is clearly seen on the outside. The shy, having his face registered blankly or anxious, or avoiding eye contact to others, can be interpreted by others as a sign of being aloof so the shy appears to be unapproachable. Plotnik (1996) says that high self-esteem, confidence and self-worth are the benefits of social support. These things promote our physical and psychological well-being. So if social support is lacked, it results to poor mental, physical and emotional health and the shy people have a disadvantage to this. Popenoe (1977) claims that the self-identity provided by social interaction helps people learn new roles in life. It also enhances our self-image which prevents loss of self-identity that may cause emotional stress. When people discover their new roles, they tend to develop their selves and aim for the best changes to make in oneself. But, due to shyness, social interaction experienced by some is very limited that the benefits like the desired change reduced also. Shy people do not want to stay disturbed by problems related to shyness forever. That is why they discover or think of ways resolving the problems that are crippling them. The usual effect of the harmful shyness is mental distress in form of loneliness. According to Heider (1958), loneliness is a personal anxiety which is a result of certain lack in either social integration or attachment in relationship. In order to free themselves from these bothersome issues, certain strategies were reinforced by shy people. Unfortunately, for some, they employ ineffective and irresponsible strategies to overcome shyness. Examples of these are alcoholism and drug addiction. Reason of this undertaking is that they feel energized because they thought that it would be better to detach themselves from their true selves and be more outgoing which they thought most people prefer. According to James, lack of support from social connections and poor stress management contribute a lot to psychosocial deficit (2009). Disadvantages and problems associated from shyness are disturbing and bothersome. Shyness should not greatly affect one’s life and disposition in a negative way. These should have been prevented only if shyness will be cured or if not, learn its ways and have the control of it, not the other way around. However, this is a self-inflicted issue which is just within the self. Treatment for this is easy only if handled accordingly and the shy individual is properly counselled and guided by an expert.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Holey Soles Essay

This case analysis will focus on the issues surround the lifestyle product company Holey Soles. Psychologist Ann Rosenberg founded the company in September 2002. She initially operated in her garage and backyard, until she recruited Joyce Groote (now current CEO of Holey Soles) and expanded the company into other parts of North America. Holey Soles focuses on creating innovative footwear made from their trademarked technology SmartCel and SoleTek, which is an injection-molded foam technology. As of July 2007, sales had grown at 300% in each of the last two years and the company was ranked number four in the 2006 Profit magazine ranking of Canada’s Emerging Growth Companies. However as they continue to operate, they find themselves getting pushed back by their number one competitor, Crocs. By mid-2007, Crocs sales were 33 times the sales of Holey Soles. Holey Soles has a revenue target of $40 million by 2009, and to achieve this target, they will need to focus on the issues surrounding their company and hindering its growth. We have decided that the core issue surround the company is how to reach the goal of $40 million. They need to address the possible alternatives of either expanding into other products besides footwear, implementing a more aggressive marketing strategy, changing their 2-year goals completely, or maintaining the status quo. These alternatives will depend on the assessment of the time frame, cost, and current and potential competition. Upon analyzing all situations and alternatives, we have decided that the best solution for Holey Soles would be to expand the company by creating other product lines made form their trademarked technology. Only through this method will they be able to generate enough revenue to meet their $40 million goal. Issues The issues surrounding Holey Soles include the inability to have a high market share due to dominance from Crocs, how to reach the goal of $40 million revenue, and deciding upon expansion. We think the core issue is how to reach the goal of $40 million. Decision Criteria 1.Time frame of implementation: They only have 2 years to make reach their intended goal of $40 million. Considering the high target number, 2 years is a very short time frame, and therefore is an important decision criterion. Sourcing from China to other parts of the world also takes a long time, so it factors in how much product can actually be made in the time frame given. 2.Cost of expansion: To reach a goal of $40 million, an expansion of the company would have to take place. This poses the problem of where capital is going to come from. 3.Current competition: Their number one competitor is Crocs. During the 2-year period to reach a goal of $40 million, Crocs will still be selling at the rate they have been, and may also be working towards goals of expansion. 4.Threat of potential competition: In the 2 year time frame given, what’s to say that new competitors will not enter the market? As the clog fad continues, more companies are producing similar products as Holey Soles . Even though most of them aside from Crocs have a poorer design with lower quality materials, the possibility of a company suddenly entering with a whole new technology is always possible. Alternatives & Assessments 1.Expand by increasing a more diverse range of products sold. By relying on selling the clogs alone, they will never be able to reach their goal of $40 million, nor be able to overtake Crocs since Crocs has taken so much more of the market share already. With their trademarked foam-injection technologies SmartCel and SoleTek, they should put those towards creating newer and more innovative lifestyle products aside from footwear. They already started with the beach bag, so it proves that it is possible to create other products. They already have an advantage due to their company being defined as products that are â€Å"lifestyle† centered, rather than simply a â€Å"footwear manufacturer†.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Otto Von Bismarck s Foreign Policy Affect The Creation Of...

The creation of Germany was made possible through the great ideas of Otto von Bismarck, the Prime Minister of Prussia. This investigation will explore the question: How did Otto von Bismarck’s foreign policy affect the creation of Germany? The first source that will be analyzed is Jonathan Steinberg’s Bismarck: A Life. This is a very valuable source because Steinberg was a professor at Cambridge University for 33 years teaching, he now teaches at the University of Pennsylvania as professor of Modern European History. His teaching covers modern Europe since 1789, primarily focusing on the German, Austrian Empires, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Germany showing that he is very knowledgeable on this topic. The purpose in writing this book is to â€Å"illuminate the life of the statesman who unified Germany but who also embodied everything ruthless about Prussian culture (Steinburg i).† Steinberg wants to give an insight on Bismarck’s life, the thinking, and how the type of person he was affected his plan in creating Germany. In this book Steinberg heavily focuses on contemporary writing, allowing Bismarck’s friends and enemies to tell the story. â€Å"I met and read the letters and diaries of the greatest figures in Prussian society† (x). This is a strength for it allows the reader to see how Bismarck friends and foes viewed him as a leader during the process. While the focus on contemporary writing is a strength, it is also a limitation because some of the writing towardsShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagescenturies are almost invariably years of little significance. But there is little agreement over when the twentieth century c.e. arrived, and there were several points both before the year 2000 (the collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, the surge of globalization from the mid-1990s) and afterward (9/11, or the global recession of 2008) when one could quite plausibly argue that a new era had begun. A compelling case can be made for viewing the decades of the global scramble forRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 PagesIndeed it is possible to argue that the British academic accounting professoriate has played an extremely important role in mediating between the profession and the state, both bringing knowledge to bear on policy issues and providing a cadre of people who can operate effectively in this policy sphere. Michael Bromwich has certainly contributed in this way, advising accounting and competition regulators on complex issues and providing his own intellectual authority to the office of President of the