The Fall of Classical Greece Essay Example for Free

The Fall of Classical Greece Essay The war between Athens and Sparta in the fifth century BCE was a major turning point in western history. It marked both the end of Athens as a Mediterranean superpower, and the end of the Greek Golden Age. The war lasted nearly thirty years, left hundreds of thousands dead, disrupted trade, bankrupted both societies, altered the course of warfare, and rattled the platform of democracy. Though Sparta emerged victorious and Athens brutally subjugated, neither city state was able to recoup their former prosperity and power and both yielded to another Greek superpower after less than a century of tenuous peace. Nothing would be the same after the Peloponnesian War. In Classical Greece most states allied with either Sparta or Athens, the two most opposite states in the Greek world1. The Spartans focused on creating the perfect warrior; they were a militaristic oligarchic state dependent on slaves2. They viewed the democratic Athenians with suspicion and increasing resentment, especially after the Persian wars when Athens was becoming the authoritative economic and cultural centre of Greece. With its commanding navy Athens was able to accumulate many tribute-bearing allies and to devote itself to spreading democracy. According to Thucydides, the leading source of the events during the Peloponnesian War, the prime reason for the war was the growth of Athenian power and the fear which this caused in Sparta3. By 431 BCE both sides were prepared to go to war, and both believed victory would be quick. The war lasted twenty-seven years. It began with Spartan raids on Atticas countryside in the summer of 431 BCE. Soldiers attempted to burn olive trees and grape vines, the mainstay of Athens economy4. They hoped the ruined crops would force Athens to sue for peace or face the deadly Spartan hoplites in battle. Spartan soldiers were fabled; the rest of Greece knew that they would lose any land battles against Sparta5. But Athens refused to bow to Sparta. Pericles, a powerful Athenian statesman, believed he had a winning plan. He moved everyone from the hinterland into Athens city walls so that Spartan raids on the countryside would have little effect6. He also kept up military pressure along the coast by sending superior fleets to harass the Peloponnesus. This move into the city was disastrous. With pressure on food, housing, and sanitation a plague broke out within Athens, one so deadly that Spartan soldiers refused to advance to the Long Walls. Thucydides, a survivor of the plague, states that the disease, first settling in the head, went on to affect every part of the body in turn, and even when people escaped its worst effects, it still left its traces on them by fastening upon the extremities of the body7. This was a time of complete and utter chaos. There was nowhere to bury the dead, and no way to treat the infected or even reduce their suffering. When people became affected they often resorted to unprecedented lawlessness8. Many lost their entire family and died alone in the streets. The exact numbers are debatable but Attica likely lost one-quarter to one-third of its population9. The plague, in only the second year of a twenty-seven-year long war, is what ultimately drove the Athenian defeat. It caused more deaths than all the battles the city fought against the Peloponnesian League. Thucydides states that nothing did more damage to Athenian power than the plague10 because it changed the entire course of the war. The state lost about one third of its hoplite troops and cavalry forces, and between forty and fifty thousand women, children and slaves, as well as the level-headed Pericles11. So few eligible sailors and rowers remained that slaves were given these positions in exchange for freedom12. It left Athens profoundly demoralized The plague was followed by a series of poor decisions by both sides. For the most part the two states never directly faced off, this was largely because of their opposing strengths; Spartas hoplite army could defeat any land-based enemy and Athens had the most powerful navy in the Aegean13. Athens did not want to fight Sparta on land, and Sparta did not want to fight Athens at sea. In 424 BCE Athens attacked Boetia, a Spartan ally just north of Attica that allowed Spartan raiders easy access into the Athenian countryside. This was supposed to be an equal-sided pitched battle14. Hoplite battles were normally fought on even ground at a set time and with roughly an equal number of troops. There were generally no surprises and winning was determined on the individual strength and resolve of the men. Battles were usually over in a matter of minutes15. But at the Battle of Delium the Boetians charged downhill towards the Athenian army and eliminated it. The Athenians lost nearly 15 per cent of their hoplite army16. The Athenians received another severe blow when they tried to regain Amphipolis, an important ally that had recently surrendered to Sparta. Thucydides was sent to save the city but arrived too late. He spent the next 20 years in exile. The Peloponnesian War marked the end of formalized warfare in Greece. Whole cities were destroyed and their inhabitants murdered or enslaved. After a decade of fighting the Peace of Nicias sought to ally Sparta and Athens. The terms stated that peace between the Peloponnesian League and the Delian League was to last for 50 years, and both sides were to return what land they had gained from the enemy17. This uneasy peace18 did not last long. By 418 BCE the truce was officially over; Athenian coastal attacks of the Peloponnesus had not ceased, and King Agis of Sparta attacked Mantinea and Argos19. In 415 BCE the Athenians embarked on their most controversial and disastrous military expedition to date. They resolved to sail again against Sicilyand, if possible, to conquer it.they did not realize that they were taking on a war of almost the same magnitude as their war against the Peloponnesians20. The Athenians believed that if they could conquer the large, fertile island they could cease grain imports into the Peloponnesus as well as increase imported grain for themselves21. They underestimated the size and strength of Sicily. The expedition was also poorly led22. The Athenian Assembly sent three commanders: Nicias, Lamachus, and the traitorous Alcibiades who jumped ship in southern Italy and fled to Sparta. After arriving at Syracuse the Athenian fleet waited several months before attacking thus enabling the Syracusans to prepare. When they finally attacked they won a hoplite battle but were unable to breach the reinforced city walls. They began constructing a siege wall, Syracusans built counter-walls but could not keep pace and victory looked certain for Athens. Then the Spartan fleet, having been informed by Alcibiades of the Athenians plan, landed on the island and attacked the Athenians from the rear. Athenian naval reinforcements were sent but modified Spartan and Corinthian ships smashed through the Athenian triremes and 25000 sailors and nearly all the Athenian ships were destroyed23. A night attack on Syracuse also ended disastrously. When the Syracusans began fighting back Athenian soldiers panicked, and in the dark began killing their own men. Some 40,000 Athenian soldiers attempted to retreat to Catana, a city in northern Sicily that was Athenian friendly. More Athenians died while fleeing than in all other Sicilian battles; 9000 hoplites and countless foot-soldiers perished. This wasthe greatest action that we know of in Hellenic historyto the vanquished the most calamitous of defeatstheir losses were, as they say, total; army, navy, everything was destroyed24. This failed conquest of Sicily was the second major factor in Athens fall from preeminence. While the Athenians flailed in Sicily, Spartan troops urged by Alcibiades, set up base in Decelea, which gave them control of rural Attica and prevented food supplies from reaching Athens. The Athenians were forced to break into the Iron Reserve, a secret stash of 1000 talents to construct a new fleet. In order to construct a fleet of their own, Sparta made a deal with King Darius of Persia: the Persians would provide gold for a fleet if Sparta surrendered Ionia25. The Spartans agreed and the Peloponnesian War moved to the sea. The Battle of Arginusae in 406 BCE was the biggest naval battle in Greek history and Athens greatest naval victory. The Athenians destroyed two thirds of Spartas fleet26. Sparta, exhausted and defeated, offered peace but the Athenians refused, arrogantly assuming their rivals could never recover from such devastating losses. This was the third massive blunder of the Athenians. Backed by Persian gold Sparta quickly rebuilt her fleet. The final battle of the Peloponnesian War was at Aegospotami, a harbour in the Hellespont. For days the Athenians tried to lure the Spartan admiral Lysander into battle. He waited until many Athenian sailors were off searching for food and water then, in a surprise attack, destroyed 171 Athenian triremes and killed 3000 soldiers27. With this defeat Athens was forced to join the Spartan alliance, destroy the Long Walls, surrender all but twelve ships, and abandon democracy28. Athens was finished. In three decades the once paramount polis of Athens had lost a third of its population to war, disease, and famine; she was bankrupt and was no longer a player in Mediterranean trade. She was now ruled by the oligarchic Spartans, and a tyrannical group of thirty Lysander loyalists who slaughtered more than five per cent of her remaining population29. The events of the last twenty-seven years, the plague, loss of tribute-bearing states, the violence wrought upon its allies, the financial burden of having to rebuild several fleets, bankruptcy, the humiliation of an enemy-occupied homeland, the Sicilian disaster, the broken down class barriers, political turmoil, and the monumental losses at sea had changed the city of Athens30. She was defeated and demoralized but was not destroyed. Population soon rebounded, arts and philosophy were restored, and trade and agriculture grew productive again. Athens had been brought to its knees by the plague and a few massive blunders, not because of superior Spartan strategic tactics and military ingenuity31. Athens was able to throw off the Spartan yoke in little over a year and reinstate democratic rule. An oligarchic Sparta was incapable of running an empire, even with Persian support. Classical Athens demonstrates a remarkable example of the resiliency of democracy. But, if Athens had not been so determined to spread democracy and to extend their empire throughout the Aegean, the thirty year long battle and its irreparable damage to classical Greek civilization may have been avoided entirely. Lessons to be learned from the Athenian empire are glaringly apparent in todays world of superpowers run by corporations where present-day governments, in a quest for secure oil reserves, again wage war under the guise of spreading democracy. The economic and political costs of the war in Iraq have been devastating to America and her allies. America finds herself increasingly weakened and isolated from the rest of the world. Any claims the United States may have had to moral superiority have been destroyed. Tens of thousands of civilians are being slaughtered in the chaos that the war has created. Iraqs infrastructure has been destroyed and the economy devastated. Much of the population has been reduced to poverty. It is imperative that democracy consider human rights before the interests of the state. The deplorable impact upon the populace by Athens attempts to spread democracy throughout ancient Greece are being echoed today in Americas attempts to impose democracy in the Middle East. The war is undermining and making unpalatable democracy itself. And, like ancient Athens, America risks finding its seemingly infinite power and prosperity irrevocably damaged. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.32 References Bagnall, Nigel 2004 The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta, and the Struggle for Greece. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. Detailed book on the Peloponnesian War, although rather dry. It did however provide a great description of the events leading up to the war and what events may have perpetrated it. It also had good maps, a list of the main players in the war, and a historical survey, which listed all the city-states involved and how they contributed to the outcome of the war. Hanson, Victor Davis 2005 A War Like No Other. New York: Random House A very entertaining and accurate book on the Peloponnesian War. Hanson does not write like an historian, he writes as thought he is telling a story. This made the book enjoyable to read, but I did find it lacked continuity. He explained major themes of the war but had to jump around between events to do so. I often got confused as to which part of the war I was reading about. Hornblower, Simon 2002 The Greek World 479-323 BCE. London: Routledge. This book covers Greek history from the Persian invasion to Alexander the Great, essentially Classical Greece. There is a small discussion on the Peloponnesian War, but the majority of the text focuses on the before and after; that is how much the war changed Greece. It was an interesting read, although at parts rather technical and dry, but nonetheless informative on the causes and effects of the Peloponnesian War. Kagan, Donald 2003 The Peloponnesian War. London: Viking. A mammoth book on nothing but the Peloponnesian War. Kagan discusses every event in the war, taken from the writings of Thucydides and Xenophen. This makes his book very long and descriptive, but like Hanson he writes like a story-teller so his text is very engaging. Some parts (particularly the battle tactics drawn from Thucydides) are less entertaining. Nonetheless, a very clear and complete book. Morris, Ian Barry B. Powell 2006 The Greeks: History, Culture and Society. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. Survey textbook for my Classical Studies course. Just gives a chapter-long overview of the war, but is very complete in its description. The text lacks analysis, but it helped clarify certain events that some other authors went into far too much detail about. Overall, the book is very good; it discusses every aspect of ancient Greek life. Santayana, George 1906 The Life of Reason. New York: Prometheus Books. I only used his book for the quote. It demonstrates how something written one hundred years ago is still applicable in todays society and justifies the importance of understanding and learning from history. Thucydides 1972 History of the Peloponnesian War, trans. Rex Warner. London: Penguin Books. Thucydides, being our only primary source on the Peloponnesian War (up until 407 BCE at least), writes on the war from the militaristic standpoint. His analysis varies from being dry (when he is describing the military tactics in detail) to being extremely interesting (pretty much everything else). However, there is the problem of reliability when it comes to his discussion: he was not present at many of the events and speeches he writes about. Some of what he says must be taken with a grain of salt, but nothing he wrote about has been archaeologically disproved. His history is as accurate as we can ever hope to get. Notes 1 Kagan, 2003:3 2 Morris Powell, 2006:193 3 Thucydides I.23 4 Hanson, 2005: 37 5 Hornblower, 2002:118 6 Bagnall, 2004:139 7 Thucydides, II.49 8 Thucydides, II.53 9 Hanson, 2005:79 10 Thucydides, III.87 11 Hanson, 2005:79 12 Hanson, 2005:264 13 Kagan, 2003: 4, 8 14 Hanson, 2005: 144 15 Hornblower, 2002:192 16 Hanson, 2005:145 17 Hornblower, 2002:160 18 Thucydides, V.26 19 Hornblower, 2002:161 20 Thucydides, VI.1 21 Hanson, 2005:203 22 Hanson, 2005: 206 23 Morris Powell, 2006: 351 24 Thucydides, VII.87 25 Morris Powell, 2006:354 26 Morris Powell, 2006:358 27 Morris Powell, 2006:358 28 Kagan, 2003:481 29 Hanson, 2005:290 30 Hanson, 2005: 293 31 Hanson, 2005:309 32 Santayana, 1906:248.

Leadership Styles in Knowledge Management

Leadership Styles in Knowledge Management This research paper aims to study the three basic leadership styles widely practiced in the organizations as well as the emerging concept of knowledge management and examine individually the relationship of these leadership roles on the knowledge management. The three leadership styles under focus are: transformational, transactional and laissez-faire. The purpose of this research is to identify which leadership style is more effective in relation with the knowledge management. Hence, to help organizations make the best use of this phenomenon and increase their knowledge sharing among different hierarchical levels to exercise maximum levels of learning and innovation in their work environment. It will also enable corporations to gain the competitive advantage with respect to their human capital and. When it is discovered that which managerial style has the positive impact on the knowledge management, it will result into employee empowerment and motivation. Among the important finding s are that effective knowledge management or knowledge sharing processes lead to a competent work environment and the employees get more involved with their jobs as they feel that their ideas are valued. Moreover, they tend to get more creative and challenging, but these behaviors are majorly dependent upon the managers attitude and whether he or she encourages such contributions or interferences from the subordinates and is flexible and open to change and innovation. In the outcomes, transformational leadership has proved to positive relationship with knowledge management and that of the laissez-faire has a negative effect on it. This paper has derived findings through extensive study of literature reviews on these main concepts which is based on theoretical researches. Keywords: Knowledge management, Transformational leadership, Transactional leadership, laissez-faire, Communication. Introduction: Background of study: In this research we are going to study the various factors affecting the issue of Knowledge Management among employees and how can it become most useful for the growth of an organization. The concept of Knowledge Management basically is about the knowledge an individual possesses about anything and this particular kind is referred to as tacit knowledge which is usually gained through personal observation, experience, values and beliefs. Such form of knowledge is usually exhibited in informal settings and could not be formally written or documented into a proposal to the manager. As it is something that can cross an employees mind instantaneously but he or she might not feel confident to share their idea openly in the given atmosphere, where they might think it would sound insignificant or absurd to others. To sum up, the purpose of knowledge management is to provide strategies, processes and technology to amplify the overall organizations learning (Satyadas et al., 2001). Moreover, s ystem oriented view is highly being emphasized and companies are installing technology applications ranging from traditional data-processing areas to expert networks enabling expert-to-expert communication. These systems are designed to store and make profit from the existing explicit, implicit as well as tacit knowledge of organizations. Hence, they facilitate the flow of knowledge in the processes and also record the information that which employee has put in the knowledge and how its implementation could help the organization, so that the right person should get the reward fairly and it is done as an act of encouragement for others. In todays world of immense market competition and rivalry among brands, there is an increasing need of formulating progressive organizational strategies constantly for a companys survival. There organizations are now paying most attention to the notion of innovation, which is majorly generated from the employees. Hence, it is highly important for an o rganization to have a culture that is flexible, open to new ideas, adaptive to change and appreciative of contribution of knowledge. Hence if the sharing of knowledge from individuals is encouraged and valued, it can enable a company to be competitive and help in achieving its goals, provided it is in relevance with the problem. (Birasnav, Rangnekar, Dalpati, 2011) Moreover, if that knowledge is used and followed through, it gives a sense of recognition, achievement and personal satisfaction as well as a sense of belonging. It matters most especially to the senior employees who do not much care about the other lower components of the Maslows motivation theory of hierarchy, as those needs are already fulfilled at this stage. Leadership Styles are at the center of Knowledge Management importance and approaches that have caught the attention of researchers and scholars for long periods. Overly technical view of Knowledge Management seems to downplay the importance of soft factors that impact the Knowledge Management phenomena. Significance of study: Managing knowledge and intellectual capital has become the key drivers of new knowledge and new ideas to the innovation process, to new innovative products, services and solutions. It helps in better achieving and even exceeding the objectives. (Knowledge Management in Health Science Libraries, 2007) The purpose of knowledge management should not be to become just knowledgeable but to be able to create, transfer and apply knowledge with aim of better achieving the objectives. Problem Statement: The current competitive setting of organizations and the changing management paradigm has highlighted the importance of Leadership Styles on Knowledge Management. Identifying Leadership Styles that promote concept and practice of Knowledge Management is crucial as the growth and competitiveness of organizations in new-age economy. Research Question: What are the different leadership styles that affect knowledge management in organization? What are the ways in which different leadership styles affect knowledge management? Purpose of study: The purpose of this study is to examine the different roles of leadership in the knowledge management and how this has an impact on the overall organization. Research objectives: To identify and evaluate different roles of leadership To examine the impact of these different roles of leadership on knowledge management Delimitation: Only few educational institutes are surveyed for the primary research from Rawalpindi and Islamabad only. Literature Review: Knowledge management has been identified as one of the most important resources that contribute to the competitive advantage of an organization. Behavioral and interpersonal skills are most often known as the essentials for successful knowledge management. Knowledge can be within individuals or within the relationships between the individuals groups or sub groups. Without verbal or even the non verbal communication the only way to organize knowledge transfer would be to move around people holding the relevant knowledge. (Ferenc, 2003) For many years it had not been studied despite its importance in this information age; only recently leadership theories and researches have addressed the role of leadership in knowledge management. Researchers (Beron et al. 2006), (Viitala, 2004) suggested that the design and building management information system is one way in which leaders at the top of a corporate have an impact on organizational performance. Recent development in the organizational knowledge literature stresses the importance of knowledge management to building a sustainable competitive advantage. (Bogner and Bansal, 2007) and to the importance of leadership for the success of knowledge management. Recently the growing information systems and knowledge management have continuously stressed the lack of leadership support for the failure of many knowledge management projects. (Davenport et al. 1998), (Chandrashekhar, 2009). It has been found that 42 percent of an organizations knowledge resides in the minds of the employees (Clark and Rollo, 2001); therefore it is dependent upon the leaders how to make the best use of it. Furthermore, as discovered by Doppelt (2003) that in order to achieve sustainability in a corporation, leadership is the key, because a competent and committed leader encourages dialogue which as a result leads to change and so barriers such as sticking to old ideas and cultural frameworks, past practices, tunnel vision and such approaches tha t come in the way to draw new progressive visions for the future. According to the researchers Jong and Hartog (2007) and Aragon-Correa (2007) every leadership style has its own pros and cons; but transformational leadership is more attentive and engaging with the sub-ordinates and encourages them to be creative and focuses on the firms learning and innovation. Whereas, Bass (1985) presented that transactional leaders are not much involved with the subordinates work unless there is a need when a problem arises. On the other hand, he also stated that transformational leaders motivate their workforce, rouses their intellectual skills and acts as role models for them. Moreover, they also have the quality of inspiring the employees into acquiring goal accomplishing skills and improve their performance in achieving the corporate vision (Nemanich and Kellar, 2007). Also, they train, encourage and support their subordinates keenly and optimistically and promote individual and team spirit a mong them. Consequently, it is paid back in the form of boosting employees performance in their tasks and bringing high returns from them (Yulk, 2006; Boerner et al, 2007). Information management: Information as now a day includes both physical and electronic information. Now its the organizations and its structures that must be capable of managing that information throughout the information lifecycle regardless of its sources and formats. Thus the focus on information management is the ability of organization to capture, manage, preserve, store and deliver the right information to right people at right time. Information management becomes the corporate responsibility that needs to be addressed and followed from the senior level management to the front line management. Information is the key asset for an organization and thus should be treated as corporate asset. (Information Management) And it must be made available to everyone and must be shared. People management: Knowledge is the main driver for organizations performance. It affects performance by making it possible for people to perform well. So the instrument by which knowledge affects the performance is through people. So knowledge management must be people focused (Wiig, 2004) (Corral, 1999) Cindy Johnson, Director of Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing at Texas Instruments states: Knowledge management is really about recognizing that regardless of what business you are in, you are competing based on the knowledge of your employees. They way of making knowledge available has evolved over time. It started with family clans where knowledge was passed from father to son by the process of learning. With the new ideas of working in teams, groups, and as institutions, people work closer to benefit from the knowledge of each other. Process Management: Knowledge management is considered as an approach where the employees of the companies would leverage from the buried knowledge that was held closely to them. This enabled the evolution of the term learning organizations where knowledge is always evolving and is being made assessable to all the employees who are eager to attain it and apply it. The focus on improving, re-engineering and managing business process is considered as corporate assets. The companies are taking charge of how they will deliver value to their customers by focusing on process effectiveness and efficiency. While KM and process engineering was evolving at the same time, there were no efforts to combine them in the same architecture. KM has always been focusing on the best practices and proven practices but it had failed to understand how valuable the fusion of process and knowledge can be. So process management gives the ability to view, manage, evaluate, and adapt the business activities, applications, and peop le in organizations to achieve goals. And to achieve these goals there is a need for the management of knowledge where people get an easy access to share and create knowledge (Records, September 2005). Leadership and knowledge management: There is no doubt about it that leaders are the ones who set the standards for others in the organizations and they are one of the biggest driving forces who inspire and motivate them to achieve what they meant to achieve so leaders have direct impact on how organizations should see and deal with knowledge management but if knowledge management is not being conducted on all levels in the organization starting from the top then it would not be as effective as expected (Singh S. K., 2008) Leaders have vital role to play on every level to manage the knowledge but particularly CEO should take part in this process because if he would take it seriously and feel that there is really a need of managing this thing like other practices in the organization then the rest of the people also take it seriously. Organizations with strong cultures and promising compensation programs will not succeed without committed and responsible managers. According to Singh it is the major responsibility of top executives of the organizations to make such strategies and create such values in the organizations which encourage employees to share, create and value knowledge and leaders should provide them with the opportunities to do so and then afterwards measures should be taken to evaluate employees behaviors, attitudes and productivity that are required for effective knowledge management (Singh S. K., 2008) Four broad approaches were studied to understand the leaders and leadership through the trait approach, the contingency approach, the behavior approach and the transformational approach and some of the approaches does have a role in knowledge management but they are not enough to understand knowledge management systematically. The trait approach does have impact on knowledge management and considers it important thing for leaders, contingency and behavior approach also considers knowledge management vital for effective leaders. The transformational approach also support this phenomena that information creation, keeping and sharing facilitates in obtaining shared vision and values in the organization (Lakshman, 2007). Leaders self realization of importance of knowledge management really matters in the effectiveness of knowledge managements practices in the organization and realization is needed in two dimensions, one internal other external. Internally it is achieved by establishing technological and socio-cognitive ways of managing knowledge and externally it is by realization of valuing customer focused knowledge management (lakshman, 2009). Information revolution changes way of doing things in the corporate context, it enhanced the value of time and customers need quick Reponses with relevant and useful knowledge of the products and services so that transformed the process of leadership too by speeding up the inputs, requirement of quick and customized information regarding product and its functions which further builds competition in the business environment. Likewise he emphasizes the need for knowledge managers to achieve and maintain equilibrium between motivating team members with urgency and providing them with time and space to reflect. To become the knowledge sharing and managing organization, leaders have to take the responsibility and have to choose the appropriate leadership style to lead the organization effectively. (Viitala, 2004) Transformational leadership: A framework was established to implement quality management within an organization actually a system of profound knowledge .While implementing it leadership and knowledge management were measured and it was found that in order to implement such system leaders required should be participative, collaborative and inspiring (Gapp, 2002) Transformational leadership have potential to effect employees perceptions through the returns that organization get in the form of human capital benefits and these leaders also have potential to make those benefits greater by adding them in the knowledge management processes, encouraging inter personal communication among employees and creating organizational culture. (Birasnav, Rangnekar, Dalpati, 2011) It is possible for transformational leadership to enhance organizational innovation through creating a participative environment or culture and it can do so directly or indirectly by changing organizations culture which encourages knowledge sharing and management in the organization. It is in the control of transformational leadership to promote such culture so the employees have autonomy to speak about their experiences and knowledge. (Nguyen Mohamed, 2011) There is relation between magnitude of knowledge acquisitions and transformational leadership. In todays challenging world organizational culture should be more empowered and that is achieved by transformational leadership which encourage people to be open about their choices and decisions. (D.Politis, 2001) He encouraged the role of participative leadership, it is this leadership style which relies heavily on the leader functioning as a facilitator rather than simply a leader who orders and wants his assignments done in time. Employee would not be comfortable in sharing knowledge unless employee knows that he/she would be supported by their leaders. Finally, (C.B.Crawford, 2005) argued that there is a clear relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge management in organizations. Crawfords research is pre empirical and made the point very clearly that empirical testing is needed to understand the relationship of transformational leadership and organizational knowledge constructs. Crawfords research provides some basis from which to speculate that transformational leadership might be a causative factor influencing greater knowledge management skills. Transformational leadership and personal innovation are linked. It was found that transformational leaders are more innovative than transactional and laisse-faire leaders. Innovation is considered to be the key factor for knowledge leaders; innovation is the name of managing and creating information and knowledge through different ways. Transactional Leadership: The second variable we are studying in this research, affecting the knowledge management in organizations is the transactional leadership style. This style of leadership is influenced by the concept of reward and punishment; such leaders believe that the employees performance is mainly dependent upon these two factors. That means that when there is an incentive the workers put in their best effort and the reward is in monetary terms in most of the cases; while when they fail to achieve the set target they ought to be punished. (Oshagbemi Ocholi, 2006) Similarly, transactional leaders impose their authority on their followers to take work from them and clearly state what they want and also give employees the opportunity to get detailed information and guidance before they accept an assignment. Such leaders emphasize on present issues; they do not get involved with the employees tasks unless a need arises and in the beginning of a project they provide the workers with all the resource s needed for its completion and after that the task becomes totally the responsibility of the workers (Bass, Cacioppe, Gronn, Hughes.et.al, Popper, Zakkai, 2002).Transactional leadership has two major components, contingent reward and management by exception (MBE). Here, contingent reward means the reward that an employee is promised by the manager, to be acquired if the required target is achieved by him or her and the MBE approach is used to make sure that one should never fail to achieve the desired result due to the resource constraint. Leaders must be clear in explaining what they actually expect and the organizational goal is achieved they must give the recognition. It was also extracted from that manual that MBE is of two types, passive and active. In MBE active, the leader clarifies the standards to be followed and also defines the unacceptable standards of work and are likely to punish if they are not followed. In this strategy, mistakes and errors are identified and steps are taken to correct them. While, in MBE passive, the leader plays a passive role who does not clarify the standards or the requirements to be met by the employees, but only gets involved when there is an obvious issue. Hence, in this case passive style is not considered to be un systematic in correcting the negative issues. (Ogunlana, 2008) Transactional leaders pay more attention to physical and security needs of the employees. The relationship between the leader and the subordinates mainly revolves around the attraction of reward system as a return for their efforts. It is also said that in transactional leadership one person takes the initiative to make a contact with others in order to make a contract of exchanging functions for the benefit of the organization (Birasnav, Rangnekar, Dalpati, 2011). Laissez-faire: Whereas, the third variable in this study is the laissez-faire leadership style, in which the leader gives complete freedom to the employees to make decisions regarding the completion of a task while answering their questions wherever they find problems and the workers are provided with all the necessary resources and tools for that by the leader. Apart from that only little guidance is provided by the leaders and the followers are expected to solve problems on their own (C.B. Crawford, 2005). This strategy is successful in case the workforce is highly experienced, skilled and capable of their jobs, otherwise if the labor lacks these expertise, the researchers recommend it to be an ineffective and the weakest form of leadership which yields poor productivity for the organization, as there are some workers which are unable to solve problems and meet deadlines on their own. Although, in such situations the work environment is quite relaxed, free of work pressure and without interferenc e from the manager, but still it brings frustration and demonization among the teams when they are unable to produce the desired results, without the required feedback and assistance from the manager. But laissez-faire strategy contributes to the employee empowerment and it gives a visionary worker the opportunity to perform according to his or her own will. Lassiz- faire is a leader who always runs away when there is a need to make an important decision or when there is a serious problem (Ogunlana, 2008). The phenomenon of knowledge management is applicable on the whole organizational structure, taking into all the levels of hierarchy. While studied empirically it was discovered that the relationship between the different components of knowledge management and transformational leadership, transactional leadership and self-management have a link with the accomplishment of knowledge forms. Moreover the leaders should be able to give an empowering environment to the employees. Although according to the empirical findings, which are quite limited in this aspect, as well as the theoretical assumptions of a number of authors, there is a need for participative collaborative leadership style in order to facilitate the flow of knowledge. Hence it was pointed out that empirical testing of the knowledge attributes in an organization should be carried out, to find out the relationship between the management of knowledge and transactional leadership in a firm. (C.B. Crawford, 2005) The researcher selected a sample of 1,046 males and females enrolled in liberal classes who were side by side employed in different economic sectors. In the first round they were asked to answer the questions based on the behavioral aspects of knowledge management in which the questions taken from the Barth (2003) typology of personal knowledge management categories. In the round they were asked to fill in the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5-S (MLQ) derived from Bass (1985) which comprised of scales measuring the attributes of the three leadership styles: transformational, transactional and laissez-faire. The scales ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree and as a measure for superior performance or as a self-report measure. But he used the MLQ as a self-report of transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership characteristics. Finally, in the last round, the respondents were asked about their demographics considered important for the research including se x, age, years of employment, education, career type, position at work and use of technology. While conducting the analysis, only the position variable was used that described the respondents as senior managers or executive, supervisors and at entry level. Though the basic purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the knowledge management attributes and the transformational leadership style. In the end various correlations were found that determined the degree of the relationship between the knowledge management behaviors and transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership. Eventually, the outcome of the investigation concluded that the variables leadership and knowledge management are significantly related, both in the organizational setting as well as in theoretical context. The most important results included that there exists a strong relationship between knowledge management and transformational leadership. Moreover, transactional leadership, i t was discovered that as knowledge management is technical in nature, the more effective management style would be transactional. Furthermore, transactional leaders are more goal oriented and not much concerned about the personal development of the sub-ordinates. In addition, another finding was that transactional leadership had strong correlations with knowledge management and contingent reward and it had considerable negative correlation with management by exception. On the other hand, it was analyzed that laissez-faire came out to have a negative effect on knowledge management, which indicates that a leaders role is very essential in managing knowledge behaviors in corporate. Consequently, the negative correlation between the two components indicated an inverse relationship, which means that when knowledge management behavior increases, the extent of laissez-faire decreases (C.B. Crawford, 2005) Additionally that investigation also showed that the hierarchical position an employee has in a company also has a link with the knowledge management, as people handing more information are expected to possess more skill and grip on building knowledge management capabilities. Likewise, leadership attributes are practiced and exerted most according to the position an individual holds; the more the responsibility, the greater the actions of a leader exhibited, to succeed in following an aim or achieving a goal. As a result, there were higher levels of transformational leadership witnessed as the position in a corporate increased, whereas transactional and laissez faire got less. Hence, the position in the hierarchy is also crucial in examining the relationship between knowledge management and leadership attributes; and that variable proved to be predictive of knowledge management, just like transformational leadership. Only transformational leadership style, not transactional or laisse z-faire was related to the impact of position on knowledge management. In that investigation, it was concluded that transformational strategies worked best even where the most technical skills were required, in modern corporate environments as compared to transactional or laissez-faire and are more successful in other organizational constructs too because of their person-centered approach. Whereas, transactional strategies did not enhance knowledge management behavior and laissez-faire leadership slowed it to a significant extent. Furthermore, the higher the positions got in a corporate for individuals; they dealt with knowledge more effectively, because they then adopted more of transformational strategies. But in the significance, leadership is of much greater value than the position variable, effecting knowledge management. (C.B. Crawford, 2005) Laissez-faire as leadership style exhibits ineffectiveness, unproductiveness and dissatisfaction. These leaders avoid interfering in the followers jobs and stay away from taking the responsibility their position demands and also avoid developing a relationship with the subordinates. (Ogunlana, 2008) Proposed Methodology: The sampling method that we will use is purposive sampling which is a non-probability sampling technique. Subjects would be selected because of we will be able to select people of interest and exclude who do not suit the purpose of research. The sector chosen for this study is educational sector, coordinators and head of departments would be researchers respondents. Total sample will be 100 individuals.

Juvenile System Vs Adult Justice System Criminology Essay

Juvenile System Vs Adult Justice System Criminology Essay A criminal justice system is a mechanism, utilized by a society to enforce a given standard of conduct in order to protect the members of the community (Colquitt 2002). It consists of apprehending, prosecuting, convicting and sentencing violators of the basic rule of group existence within a society. The purposes of such a system are to remove dangerous members of the community, discourage the rest from criminal behavior, and give society the chance to change violators into law-abiding citizens. The core philosophy of the American criminal justice system is that the government may punish a person who has violated a specific law. A juvenile court, on the other hand, is viewed as a helping social agency. Its purpose is to prescribe carefully individualized treatment to young people who are in trouble with society but in a non-adversarial way (Colquitt). Violators older than 18 years old are tried in regular courts according to the adult justice system. The juvenile court is a fairly new device. A violator or offender who was 7 or older up to the 18th century would have been tried and treated as an adult by the courts (Stolba 2001). The belief at the time was that a person under 7 did not have full moral capacity and capacity to give consent. But beyond 7, he could be considered an adult. Even with the introduction of the juvenile justice system in the late 1800s, adult courts were still used in sentencing the most violent and most defiant violators. The original juvenile court in Chicago moved 37 boys to the adult criminal court in its very first year of operation (Stolba). The juvenile justice system was instituted to reform US policies on young offenders When the juvenile pleads not guilty, the trial becomes a jurisdictional hearing for juveniles (Calderon 2006). It has to be held up to 15 days or 30 days if the child is not in the custody of the court. In the case of adults and despite their right to speedy trial, the proceedings can take very long for a number of factors. These include change of venue, new motion for new evidence and many others. Juvenile courts do not have jurors as in adult courts. Juveniles are not subjected to jury trials but to adjucatory hearing where the judge renders a final decision. Adult proceedings are open to the public but juvenile proceedings are not. The court findings or results are called a disposition in both justice systems. These are a dismissal, a fine, a probation, treatment programs or institutionalization. The juvenile justice aims at rehabilitation and treatment. Thus, the least punitive or restrictive is exacted by many courts on young offenders. Another important difference is the right of adults to a jury trial. A juvenile can have a jury trial if his case is transferred or appealed to a circuit court (Calderon). In deciding a juvenile case, the probation or parole officer, alternative program directors, the attorneys and the judge come up with the best solution to the problem (Calderon 2006). If an adult case can qualify for a plea bargaining, a juvenile case may also achieve a desired result. An interview with the young or adult offender considers family factors, social involvement, church, education level, job skills, history of criminality, IQ level, psychological factors and other aspects needed to reach a decision. Comparatively with adult cases, some issues can lead to a disposition. It determines if the young offender should be detained in alternative programs, dismissed, proceed to the juvenile court, or transfer him to adult courts through waivering. The disposition in an adult case determines whether the offender is guilty or innocent of the crime charge. In a juvenile case, the respondent is always found delinquent beyond reasonable doubt. In rare cases when the judges find a youn g offender too violent or chronic and resistant to treatment, the juvenile court waives its jurisdiction and transfers the offender to the adult criminal court. Some courts automatically exclude young offenders charged with heinous offenses, such as murder, from the jurisdiction of the juvenile court (Calderon). Many adult cases go through plea bargaining (Calderon 2006). These are more lenient sentencing, admission or positive evidence of guilt and reduced costs in the proceedings. In many juvenile cases, the respondent pleads guilty. In recent years, policymakers went tough on repeat juvenile offenders and introduced some changes on the sentencing structure. Many of them felt that more young people were committing more violent crimes and that the juvenile justice system was ineffective in its role. More young offenders then were waived or transferred to adult courts where they were subjected to blended sentencing. This means getting adjudicated as a delinquent and getting sentenced as an adult for the same offense. Laws began losing favor for lenient and indeterminate sentencing and punishment and leaning towards determinate disposition. Legislators and policymakers did not find early release effective in rehabilitating young offenders. It was a similar view held for adult criminals. This getting-tough philosophy manifested itself quite severely in applying the death penalty on children as young as 16. There has been a growing sentiment that young criminals threaten the security of society in many ways. Citizens find children committing adult crimes loathsome but neither are the penalties imposed acceptable. This dilemma has led some to propose on the abolition of juvenile criminal courts so that more appropriate punishments for juvenile offenders who commit serious crimes could be devised (Calderon). Reforms in recent times have endowed young offenders with more rights (Calderon 2006). These included appointed attorneys and protection from Constitutional rights. They now also enjoy the rights to due process and to unreasonable searches and seizures more than in the past. State laws vary on the process of interrogation. But the courts have ruled on the overall totality of the circumstances as the determinant of the age for making legal decisions. In some States, parental presence is not a requirement. Complications are also present in both justice systems. The other role-players in the juvenile system are the defense attorney, the prosecutor, the social service worker, the probation officer, the family and the judge himself. The roles they play are similar to those they play in adult cases. The prosecutor and law enforcement officers determine the charges. The judge has the authority to decide what motions to suppress, accepting or rejecting a plea bargain, waiving the juvenile courts jurisdiction to an adult court and acting as the jury on the case. He is the leader who interacts with the other court officers. These players all make signific ant contributions to the proceedings, during follow-ups and the aftercare period. And alternative sentencing is available in both justice systems (Calderon). The actual court proceedings in a juvenile court consist of the arrest procedure, search and seizure, and custodial interrogation (Calderon 2006). The concept has been that the delinquent is a child rather than a criminal. Hence, rehabilitation rather than punishment is the court and the systems goal. But the major aspects of the juvenile justice system continue to hound its supporters. One is the cause of serious juvenile crime. Another is that young offenders need to be rehabilitated under a surrogate entity of the parens patriae concept. Another is a recent redefinition of young violent offenders as adults and their transfer to adult courts and the criminal or adult justice system. There has been increasing belief that they pose a serious and genuine threat to the safety of other young people and the community as a whole. An increase in serious juvenile crimes warrants more severe punishment. But moving them to the same place with adult offenders is a critical step, as there has a s yet no understanding or agreement on what age sufficient understanding develops. Trying a juvenile offender as an adult offender is a serious decision, which will also seriously affect society and the young offenders future. The vested interests of the other players in the court decision likewise merit consideration. The two justice systems use different legal standards. Children naturally lack the cognitive ability to participate in the adjudicative process. And the choice of whether the young offender should be tried in an adult or juvenile court necessarily determines the outcome of the adjudication. A finding of guilt in an adult court almost always means some punishment. A finding of delinquency in a juvenile court results in rehabilitation and punishment in combination. Rather than eliminating it or reintegrating it into the adult criminal justice system, the juvenile justice system needs an overhaul, more funding, and better initiatives for programs, which will truly incorp orate the parents patria concept into the young offenders rehabilitation (Calderon). Other opinions argue that offenders 12 years old and under should not be moved to adult courts on the basis of their limited adjudicative competence (Steinberg 2001). This does not mean they should not be punished but rather held within a system viewing them as children and not yet as fully mature adults. But the large majority of offenders 16 years old and older are not to different from adults and can sufficiently participate in adjudication within the adult criminal justice system. Offenders between 12 and 16 require individualized assessment of their competence to stand trial. The judges, prosecutors and defense attorney should be allowed to evaluate and judge the offenders maturity and eligibility for transfer to an adult court (Steinberg). There are also issues of race and ideology to contend with as among the impediments and issues confronting the current juvenile justice system (Hopson and Obidah 2002). Young people of color experience unequal and inequitable treatment within the system. The larger situation suggests that the decisions are tougher on them. The problems they confront go way beyond what has plagued the juvenile court for more than a hundred years. Youth criminality, deviance and discipline for young people of color have compounded the situation. There have been disproportionate numbers of African Americans and Native Americans arrested and handled by juvenile courts. A racial double standard is revealed. These young offenders of color find themselves at a clear disadvantage in their struggle to obtain equal protection under the law and the right to a good attorney. Reforms made to rehabilitate the system have created contradictory effects on juveniles of color. The young Black offender sees race as a s ignificant factor in his or her treatment through the juvenile justice process. African American youth have been over-represented in official reports of youth crime. These reports said that African Americans accounted for only 15% of the American population. Yet they were responsible for approximately 50% of arrests for violent crime. The Sentencing Project Briefing Fact Sheets also said that 75% of juvenile defendants arrested and charged with drug offenses were Black and 95% of juveniles waived to adult prison for drug violations were minorities (Hopson and Obidah). The American Bar Association said that approximately 200,000 youths are tried in adult courts every year (Juvenile Justice Digest 2001). The figure had doubled between 1985 and 1997 and was expected to increase as more laws were created for juveniles to be tried as adults. The Association published guidelines for juvenile cases referred to adult courts for use by policymakers and law practitioners. The guidelines were derived from the seven general principles, which included the developmental differences between young and adult offenders and in all the aspects of the criminal justice system (Juvenile Justice Digest). Within the realm of a justice system is the basic social belief that society is responsible for rearing and raising children into peace-loving and useful adults (Steinberg 2001). Their family, friends, peers, the community, social workers, the justice system and everyone else in society each have a role to play in bringing them up to fit the image (Steinberg). Yet contemporary society, with a newly and recently evolved victim culture, has eagerly embraced therapy and a strong belief in the powers of social engineering (Stolba 2001). It finds the idea of certain individuals, especially children, as deliberately refusing to change as something simply distasteful. Many juvenile offenders are products of very unsettled times and turbulent environments. But it is the States responsibility to save and reform them (Stolba). In that direction, it must first figure out how to categorize these offenders before it can appropriately deal with them in realizing its mission within the current syst em of justice.

The Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham Alabama :: Black Civil Rights Movement

Walls are built up all over the world. They have many purposes and uses. The most common use of a wall is to divide a region. One of these famous walls is the Berlin Wall, which was constructed in 1961. This Wall was erected to keep East Berlin out of West Berlin, and even America had its own wall well before this one. There were a few major differences though. America’s wall, in contrast, was not a physical one that kept capitalism from communism. America’s wall was of a psychological variety, and it spread across most of the nation. America’s wall was more of a curtain in the fact that one could easily pull it aside to see what behind it, but if one didn’t want to they didn’t. This curtain was what separated whites and blacks in America, and one famous writer, James Baldwin, felt there was a need to bring it down. He felt that one should bring it down while controlling his or her emotions caused by the division. One of the best places to see the bringing down of the curtain and the effects that it had on the nation is where the curtain was its strongest, in Birmingham, Alabama. Forty years ago there was an explosion of bombings in Alabama. These attacks on communities seemed endless, as endless the hate that had been brewing in Alabama itself. These attacks seemed to be concentrated in the city of Birmingham, which is the setting for a place where a very tragic event will happen, one that brought the attention of the world to the evil curtain within Birmingham. In the church bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church four little girls were killed in the blast on September 15th, 1963. Although this event started unrest and upheaval, by in the end it will have sparked the destruction of the curtain. To understand the why these youths were killed in Alabama, one must come to understand the events that led up to their death. Birmingham, Alabama was a very unstable area during the 1960’s, and this instability stemmed from pure racial hatred brewing within this city. Bombings started as early as the 1940’s and gave a section of Birmingham the nickname dynamite alley. The resulting civil unrest caused a man to step forward to stop it, a man by the name of Fred Shuttlesworth. Mr. Shuttlesworth was a part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and he organized many events and demonstrations but the only result that came from them was more violence.

Masculine Desires Expressed in Art and Media Essay -- Male Masculinity

Suppose the locks to a Starbuck’s Cafà © were slowing turning to seal the doors shut from any last customers. But before the latch could roll into the opposite lock, two strangers pulled open the door and made their way inside. A sight to have seen: James Bond and Keanu Reeves. They held each a large canvas and a sculpture, respectively. Both purchased their favorite coffee drinks at the local cafà ©. Having made an exception in not closing the shop at the normal time, the employee allowed the men to enjoy their beverages inside—in the comfort of the inexplicably soft couches. The gentlemen sat and conversed about their current lives. My question is: does the adolescent worker, who is still bewildered, share a singularity with the unexpected customers, as well as with the artworks in their possession? Regardless of the hypothetical, the answer is always the same: Yes. The fictitious heroes and brave men conceived by man bear the longings and passions of their creator. In fact, it is through them that man lives vicariously. However, prior to the births of legendary characters in motion pictures and comic books, there existed artworks that introduced the public to the deepest desires of man. They portrayed his universal image: a man that is â€Å"wild at heart†. What does the action sequence of The Matrix: Reloaded have in common with a sixteenth-century sculpture? Baccio Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, exemplifies the first of three desires in man. According to the legend, Hercules went on a journey to complete his tenth labor, a task of retrieving the Cattle of Geryon. Cacus, â€Å"a fire-god†¦demoted to a fire-breathing giant†, stole the cattle from the unsuspecting Hercules and hid with them in a cave. The theft launched the enemies into ... ...expresses. The three desires of man are painted and sculpted in the magazines, books, television shows, and movies of today. Society suggests the ideals and universal image of man it wants to uphold; the media engraves the information into the stone tablets of its mind. Sure, I can appreciate the sculpture of Hercules and the painting of Christ, but only because I know that I can personally relate to the artworks. I want a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. Works Cited Eldredge, John. Wild at Heart. Tennessee: Nelson Publishing, 2001 Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2005 â€Å"Hercules and Cacus† Wikipedia September 25, 2006 Gospel of John BibleGateway September 25, 2006 Masculine Desires Expressed in Art and Media Essay -- Male Masculinity Suppose the locks to a Starbuck’s Cafà © were slowing turning to seal the doors shut from any last customers. But before the latch could roll into the opposite lock, two strangers pulled open the door and made their way inside. A sight to have seen: James Bond and Keanu Reeves. They held each a large canvas and a sculpture, respectively. Both purchased their favorite coffee drinks at the local cafà ©. Having made an exception in not closing the shop at the normal time, the employee allowed the men to enjoy their beverages inside—in the comfort of the inexplicably soft couches. The gentlemen sat and conversed about their current lives. My question is: does the adolescent worker, who is still bewildered, share a singularity with the unexpected customers, as well as with the artworks in their possession? Regardless of the hypothetical, the answer is always the same: Yes. The fictitious heroes and brave men conceived by man bear the longings and passions of their creator. In fact, it is through them that man lives vicariously. However, prior to the births of legendary characters in motion pictures and comic books, there existed artworks that introduced the public to the deepest desires of man. They portrayed his universal image: a man that is â€Å"wild at heart†. What does the action sequence of The Matrix: Reloaded have in common with a sixteenth-century sculpture? Baccio Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, exemplifies the first of three desires in man. According to the legend, Hercules went on a journey to complete his tenth labor, a task of retrieving the Cattle of Geryon. Cacus, â€Å"a fire-god†¦demoted to a fire-breathing giant†, stole the cattle from the unsuspecting Hercules and hid with them in a cave. The theft launched the enemies into ... ...expresses. The three desires of man are painted and sculpted in the magazines, books, television shows, and movies of today. Society suggests the ideals and universal image of man it wants to uphold; the media engraves the information into the stone tablets of its mind. Sure, I can appreciate the sculpture of Hercules and the painting of Christ, but only because I know that I can personally relate to the artworks. I want a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. Works Cited Eldredge, John. Wild at Heart. Tennessee: Nelson Publishing, 2001 Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2005 â€Å"Hercules and Cacus† Wikipedia September 25, 2006 Gospel of John BibleGateway September 25, 2006

Back to School Speech by Obama Essay

This essay is about President Barack Obama’s speech â€Å" Back to school â€Å" which he held September 8th 2009 at the Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. The overall message in the speech is whether young people are taking school serious and understand the importance of hard work. Not only for themselves but also for the future of the country. â€Å"Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.† I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous.† Obama is starting out by addressing his audience like a father figure, trying to reach all realities in the audience by mentioning all the grades. He is making himself real to the audience, presenting himself as a guy who is down to earth. â€Å"Some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning† And already in line 10 â€Å"I know that feeling†. He is referring to his own life. He is explaining how he had to get up 4.30 every morning to study with his mom, and how he wasn’t too happy getting up that early. Here he is making himself real to the audience, explaining something from his childhood that they will understand. So here he is using pathos appealing to the feelings. From line 20, it’s like he is changing from being the friend of the audience to his role as the president of the United States again.â€Å" But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you.† From line 25, 30 and 35 he is revealing the essence of his speech. His message is that it is ones own commitment and hard work that will make one succeed in life. â€Å"You can have the most dedicated teachers and supportive parents, but unless you individually takes responsibility nothing of this is very helpful.† In line 40 and 50 he is more friendly againâ€Å" Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. † He is motivating the audience by saying that every person has something that they’re good at, that everyone has a important role In the American society. Obama is also very good at mentioning things many people can relate to in his speech. â€Å"Maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone. â€Å" Here he is mentioning the iphone that most children can relate to. From line 50 to 75 he talks more about morals again. He is very seriously talking about how everyone needs to have an education to get a job, and how it takes hard work. More important in Obama’s speech is that your education not only decides ones own future, but ones country’s future. Obama is really good to alternate between being judgmental and understanding through the speech, for example in the line â€Å" Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer.† He is very understanding and encouraging to the people, before he with this sentences; â€Å" If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country. Is being very judgmental. From line 75 to 85 Obama is again being more understanding. Obama explains his personal difficulties from his own childhood, and that he understands school isn’t always easy. Obama explains how his father left the family when he was 2 years old, and that he was raised by a single mother without much money. â€Å"There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.† Obama then talks about how he through hard work was fortunate to go to college and follow his dream, to attempt law school. In this part of the speech Obama is using ethos. He is trying to be trustworthy. From line 95 Obama again set himself up as the country father. He explains that there is no excuse for having a bad attitude and also no excuse for not trying hard and giving your best towards education. From line 100â€Å" Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you.† Obama is referring to the American dream. Mentioning personal freedom and responsibility for ones own destiny. He explains that with hard work you can accomplish everything you want, no matter background or social rank. From the line 105 – 110 – 115 Obama is stressing his statement by giving some concrete examples about how real people with all sorts of difficulties, made it through hard work and determination. This is an example of logos, because he is giving concrete examples that are supportive to the message of the speech. From line 170 he is again referring to the American dream. â€Å"The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. â€Å" At the end of the speech from line 175 to 185 Obama is talking about America as a culture surviving through many decades.â€Å" It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation â€Å" Obama ask the audiences what they will do to pass on the American culture, and what people in about 50 years will remember from this time. And so he puts some positive pressure on the kids, hoping to get them to understand their responsibility to secure the American dream and culture in the future.

Virtual keyboard

There is a wide range of innovative input device selections available in the market today. Most of these input devices are designed for ease of use. Previous devices are usually developed and improved to devise new inventions fitting for the pressing needs of the computer client. In some cases, these brand new gadgets are dispensable, simply for plain entertainment. Browsing through the internet has provided the writer with information about the latest input devices that have swamped the market for gadget finds. I have chosen three different keyboard innovations, putting them side by side, to identify their functionality and efficiency. Through a simple analysis of product descriptions, the value and marketability of each is also identified. The virtual keyboard is a laser technology that takes input through keyboard to a new level. The virtual keyboard is an I-Tech innovation that is merely a projection of the standard keyboard interface. Practically speaking, the virtual keyboard can be cast on any type of surface. This is a perfect companion for laptop, PDA, Pocket PC, and Smart Phones users, accustomed to traveling around. The virtual keyboard works in a complex manner as it processes movements of the hand and the fingers to identify and carry out various keystrokes. Each keystroke is coupled with a tapping sound for a realistic feel.   It does not use up much power because when it is not in use, it vanishes automatically from sight. The virtual keyboard can be connected to any device through USB or Bluetooth connection. The FrogPad mini keyboard is another interesting keyboard device because of its size. Its dimensions are smaller than the regular keyboard dimensions and it has only around 20 functional keys. Like the virtual keyboard, it is also designed for traveling and outdoor use. An interesting fact about the FrogPad mini keyboard is that it is one-handed. Inputting only requires the use of one hand allowing you to do other things while typing. It can be connected to any type of device such as PDA, Laptop, Pocket PC’s, Smart Phones, and other varieties of mobile devices through USB. The FrogPad mini keyboard is widely used in computers installed in vehicles because of its functionality and simply because it saves much space. Its newest development is the FrogPad Bluetooth wireless keyboard. The Step On It keyboard control pedals by Bilbo Innovation, Inc. is a plug and play   keyboard peripheral that makes use of a three electronic pedals in replacement of some keyboard keys, such as the Ctrl, Alt and Shift keys. However, designating other keys to each pedal is allowed, as desired by the user. The objective of the keyboard control pedal is to reduce wrist strains that may have caused by prolonged typing activity. Among the three keyboard innovations listed above, I think the device having the most market potential is the FrogPad mini keyboard. A lot people nowadays are looking for ways to maximize their time and be able to do multiple tasks at the same. The FrogPad mini keyboard enables you to this. As it saves much space, it is also easy to bring anywhere you want to go, through the use of handheld devices and other computers. It also offers a one-handed feature where it permits multi-tasking. It also comes with features like switching left hand and the right hand, and its interface allows users for easy input. The I-tech virtual keyboard comes next with regards to market potential. Aside from its attractive and hi-tech design, it is also practical and functional for people on the go. It is best to use it with handheld devices to save space. The most interesting thing about it is that it each keystroke is accompanied by a real tapping noise similar to the tapping sound in regular keyboard devices. It was creatively designed and well thought of, producing an innovation that captures the attention of the computer client. The Step On It keyboard control pedals are impractical. It results to confusion as it changes the way the keyboard is used. It complicates things because you have to mix the use of your fingers and your feet. I would have to say it has not proved its potential for consumer consumption. References Bilbo, (2007) Step On It! Keyboard Pedals. Retrieved December 4, 2007 from Bilbo Innovations Inc. Website: http://www.bilbo.com/ Fogg, M. (2006) Virtual Laser Keyboard Now Available. Retrieved December 4, 2007, from Overclocl3d Ltd. Website: http://www.overclock3d.net/news.php?type=3&id=491&desc=virtual_laser_keyboard_now_available HackerStickers, (2006). FrogPad Mini Keyboard USB. Retrieved December 4, 2007, from HackerStickers.com. Website: http://www.hackerstickers.com/products/frogpad-mini-keyboard-usb.shtml