1.If praising employees for doing a good job seems to be fairly easy and obvious motivational tool, why do you think companies and managers don't often do it? There is nothing like a good recognition for a job well done. When you are acknowledged for something that you worked hard for and given praise, you can't help but feel motivated to do better and improve your current output.. These praises may come from different people that observe directly and who may be benefited from the hard work you put in. It may be from your colleagues that may give you a good remark or two. It can be from clients or customers who may have a good experience from the product that you offer. However, one of the most significant praise that you can garner and can uplift your morale is one that comes from your manager as well as recognition from the company.

As the saying goes, “Different strokes for different folks”, but isn't it a widely accepted fact that verbal praise can be one of the the most powerful incentive that can be awarded to a good performing employee? As one research conducted goes to show, verbal praise in forms of recognition during events or a formal praise in front of others is a big factor that affects the turnover rate of the company, that is their ability to retain their employees. Verbal praise affects the willingness of the employee to stay with the company for a longer period of time. Percentages show that verbal praising is among one of the recognition techniques that is effective alongside cash bonuses and other non-cash incentives (Maritz 2006). However, easy as it is to dole out praise words, not a lot of managers are into the practice. There are different factors that may affect the manager's disposition about doling out verbal praises and are enumerated as follows:

a) The manager may be uncomfortable with verbally praising employees. This may root from previous experiences that make him/her distrust this kind employee recognition strategy.

b) Ego. This is a common problem for everyone. Some managers, due to having reached their status with the company, has developed a a sense of pride that may be unhealthy. He/ she may adapt an attitude that makes them think highly of themselves. Rank and power sometimes does a lot of things to people.

c) Other employees sometimes think that those that are praised are becoming favorites or “pets” by the manager. This sometimes prohibits the manager to give verbal praises to employees in front of others in fear of being labled unjust. They would rather not give praises than cause an uncomfortable atmosphere.

d) Words are very powerful tools in affecting the human emotion and depending on the kind of words that one may hear, it may have negative of positive effects. In praises for example, it can negatively effect employees who are uncomfortable with it. It may make them decrease their productivity in order to shy away from being acknowledged publicly. Therefore, not knowing the proper incentive needs that are effective with your employees may be a hindrance to managers and companies to praise their employees.

2. As a manager, what steps would you take to motivate your employees after observing them perform well?

Working hard is a virtue that all employees must employ in order to get recognized and be acknowledged. It is their part of the bargain when they get accepted in the company. You don't just receive praises and rewards without expending effort on it. Most employees who are career-oriented and are focused in their productivity put their best foot forward in order to achieve their goals of a higher position ang compensation in the future. It is employees like these that are key factors for a company to achieve their goals of productivity. Driven as they are, they are humans as well and may experience burn-out or may become unsatisfied when their hard work are not being acknowledged and they would feel like they are taken for granted.

No one likes a boss who takes his/ her employees for granted. Sometimes, monetary incentives are not enough to make employees feel appreciated. A direct recognition of a job well done may just be the thing to keep their fire burning. An honest appreciation of a positive outcome of a project done by employees is an effective way to make them feel pride on what they have done. It will give them a sense of importance and fulfillment which will fuel their drive to perform better in the next undertaking. Others who may see this in a positive light will be encouraged to do the same thus creating a constructively competitive environment for all. A win-win situation for the employees and the company as well. As from the Supervisor's Newsletter of Mines and Associates, “Effective praise tells employees what they're doing right and encourages them to keep doing it. That's why some consider praise superior to punishment as a teaching tool. Praise is loaded with information: It tells you exactly what to do next time (Epotech 2001).”

Another motivation tool for me is to provide compensation based rewards as well as spontaneous rewards that may be out of the blue or may serve as a surprise. This will provide an atmosphere of excitement that is contagious to all and will make the employees put in a conscious effort to make their work exceedingly noticeable. They will all be eager to put in extra effort since they know that they will be reaping rewards. Ed Frigsbee gives examples of spontaneous gift like maybe a day at the spa or gift certificates to a good restaurant (Rigsbee 2010). This may be good idea for treats since the employee who works so hard may welcome a relaxing day to have them recharged and be more motivated as ever to perform well. All properly motivated employees will highly contribute to the productivity of the company as a whole. It all starts with a few or a handful but if the right motivation is employed, it will spread to a company full of eager employees. The company must employ the right strategy to keep the fire burning.

3. Are there any downsides to giving employees too much verbal praise? What might these downsides be and how could you alleviate them as a manager?

Again, verbal praises can highly affect an employees work as whole. It can affect their productivity, image in the workplace, self esteem as well as relationships with other employees and managers as well. Much as it is positive, it has it's downsides as well. The key to somehow avoid these downsides would be to plan on a way of lessening it and it's effects to the employees. Here are the possible downsides of too much verbal praises as well as ways to somehow alleviate them:

a. One downside would be making the employee feel complacent and may cause him/ her to feel that mediocre work would be enough. It may give them a feeling that there is no room for improvement. If verbal praising is over done, it may not develop a sense of improvement in the work attitude of the employee. To alleviate this, the manager should not overdo verbal praising. Choose only the achievements that are noteworthy of praise. When verbal praising is overdone, the next praise would seem meaningless for employees. Point out the positive effects of the wonderful job done to the company as a whole to give the employee a sense of responsibility in furthermore improving their work.

b. Another downside of too much verbal praise is the perception it may give to employees. Some employees may perceive it insulting when things that are too basic are given praises. Do not sweat the small stuff.

c. It may be a prelude to insults. Some managers when given the assignment from higher management to give too much verbal praise can think of this as a opportunity to insult the employees through phony praises. Employees may also think of it a as sugar coating and may think that there are insincere undertones to it. The best way for a manager to avoid this is to make eye contact when giving out the praise to communicate the honesty to it. It should be more meaningful when it is timely and delivered in a precise way to make it more credible and believable.

d. It may not be applicable to all but too much verbal praising can cause unnecessary stress to the employee. There are employees who do not take well to being praised especially when in public. There are cases when it is the cause of the deterioration in the employees' productivity and attitude in the work place. One way to address this is for the manager to study the personalities of the employees. Be keen on matching the effective incentive or praise strategy for employees so that it is both effective and well appreciated.

e. It may cause chaos in the workplace since some employees may be envious with other employees who receive excessive praising and may think them favorites. Again, to be precise in pointing out the noteworthy act comes into place. The manager should point out the exact reason why the praise was given so that it could be set an example for others to follow and resolve their issue, and make it clear to them that the praise was given for a reason.
4. As a manager, how would you ensure that recognition given to employees is distributed fairly and justly?

Managers should think it important that incentives and praises should be justly and fairly given to employees. It is indeed hard to face complaining employees who are comparing themselves with others. To address this, first and foremost, the manager should design a non-biased incentive program or a gauge level that should be uniform to all. This should be made clear to everyone and must have a basis so that there can be a benchmark or a standard that all the employees can reach to gain rewards.

Managers should also conduct in-house surveys that dwell on employee relationships and work attitude so that others that may not be recognized may have the opportunity. Some employees who have meaningful contribution may not be very visible and surveys can help in recognizing them since other employees who see the value of their colleague's work can bring this to the attention of management. Good peer-to-peer relationship is inportant in fostering a more productive atmosphere. Suggestion boxes can also be used and will be helpful in addressing other employee issues and will also aid in assessing incentive and praise programs.

Furthermore, management should make sure that everyone gets a chance in getting a well deserved recognition. The rewards program should also be consistent and clearly communicated. Well satisfied employees translates to good productivity and wellness for the company.

List of References
Epotech. (2001). Praising Employees. Retrieved April 19, 2005, from the Epotech database.
Maritz (2006). The Power of Meaningful Employee Recognition: Why One Size Does not Fit All.
Maritz Inc. MRC-124 April 2006

Rigsbee, E (2010). Praise for a Job Well Done. (Online) available from

Life Cycle Costing Method

I. Introduction

Costing is very important in an organization or a business entity. Without a system to identify the cost of the product an entity would not be able to analyze if a certain product or project is feasible or not, or if it advantageous with potential financial returns and not disadvantageous carrying losses with it. To identify the cost is to recognize an activity’s “expenditure, usually of money, for the purchase of goods or services” or to recognize “an expenditure, usually of money, incurred in achieving a goal, such as. producing certain goods, building a factory, or closing down a brand.” These are the definitions of cost provided by the A Dictionary of Business (1996, p.133) These costs can any of the following: current cost; economic cost; fixed cost; historical cost; marginal cost; opportunity cost; and/or replacement cost. These items are very relevant in cost accounting.

The “techniques used in collecting, processing, and presenting financial and quantitative data within an organization to ascertain the cost of the cost centers, the cost units, and the various operations” Hussey (1999, p.99) are termed as cost accounting. Presently cost accounting is regarded as a division of management accounting, which also incorporates the techniques of planning, decision-making, and control in the entity. In large organizations, the management team usually includes a cost accountant responsible for various costing needs and problems encountered by the company. One of them is the Life Cycle Costing

II. What is Life Cycle Costing (LCC)?

Life Cycle Costing, also known as the Whole Life Costing, is a costing technique to establish the total cost of ownership. As Defined in the A Dictionary of Business (1996, p. 292) it is the approach to determining the total costs of a fixed asset that takes into account all the costs likely to be incurred both in acquiring it and in operating it over its effective life.

For example, the initial cost to a plant or factory equipment is only part of the relevant costs to the decision to purchase it. The operating and maintenance costs over its effective life are also relevant and would therefore be part of the decision - making data. This is an aspect of terotechnology or s technology that encompasses management, financial, and engineering skills in installing, operating, and maintaining plant and machinery.

LCC is a structured costing method that addresses “all the elements of this cost and can be used to produce a spend profile of the product or service over its anticipated life span” (Life Cycle Costing). The outcome of an LCC analysis is very useful in assisting management in the decision-making process where there are choices of options. One factor that needs to be considered in this costing method however, is the accuracy of the analysis. As the time frame moves further into the future the accuracy of the analysis diminishes due to factors such as time value of money or inflation among others. Thus, it is very important to present a comparative tool when long-term assumptions apply to some options.

III. The Cost of Ownership

As mentioned, LCC totally accounts all costs in using an item. This cost “can be broadly divided into three categories: acquisition, running and disposal costs” Whole Life Costing (p.2). The following figure presents the cost of ownership.

Acquisition costs are incurred before the item, product or service is ready for implementation. On the other hand, running costs are those incurred as a result of actually utilizing the item, product or service or by simply keeping it available. Disposal costs are incurred, as the name suggests, costs incurred during disposal or when dealing with its potential contamination or other harmful effects of the item. This happens during the end of the life of the products.

There may also be some income that will be associated with or realized during the disposal phase of the item if a resale or residual value is available for that asset. This residual or resale income together with any rental or other income when assets are not in use (opportunity cost saved) can be used to offset against the costs in determining the whole life cost. The previous illustration presents some examples of the costs incurred on each phase of an asset’s life also known as the costs of ownership.

III. Application of LCC

The utilization and application of LCC is important for both end-users (clients) and suppliers (contractors). “LCC is based on the premise that to arrive at meaningful purchasing decisions full account must be taken of each available option.” (Life Cycle Costing) ” All significant aspect of the expenditure process regarding the use of resources which are likely to be incurred as a result of any decision must be addressed. Important considerations must be given to all relevant costs for each of the options, including opportunity costs, from initial consideration of a certain project until its disposal.

The level of complexity of LCC will vary also according to the respective complexity of the goods or product to be procured, contracted. Following are the common fundamental concepts to all applications of LCC:

a. Cost breakdown structure (CBS) which aims to identify all the relevant cost elements. CBS must also have well defined boundaries to avoid omission or duplication;

b. Cost estimation is a necessary procedure in LCC that may be determined by known factors or rates, cost estimating relationships (CERs) derived from accessible historical or empirical data and an opinion of some experts;

c. Discounting which is a technique used to compare costs with benefits that occur in various time periods; and

d. Inflation, which is not a necessary factor for LCC but may be considered. The inflation rate is not the discount rate.

Two good real life examples in the application of LLC are on government projects and procurement of equipments such as hospital equipments. Both the agencies mentioned (hospital and government agency) together with their respective project contractors would find LCC techniques very helpful in letting them decide on the feasibility and profitability of the projects. The better aspect of using LLC is on its “disposal phase” because sustainability is being thought of since the initial and during the entire process. Thus, when the disposal stage arrives, both the supplier and the client need not worry further on the environmental issues that the project may encounter.

Following are the statements taken from the published article on Achieving Sustainability by the Sustainability Action Group of the Government Construction Clients’ Panel of the United Kingdom (UK) government on how helpful it is to consider sustainability in government projects.

It clearly sets out how Government clients will take forward the sustainable development agenda through better procurement of new works, maintenance and refurbishment. This will deliver better value for money for occupiers, users and the public and will make clients and, in turn, suppliers fully aware of their responsibilities regarding sustainability.

Sometimes, in evaluating profitability versus market opportunity potential, decision-making process “often becomes more of an art than a management science” Eastaugh (1992, p.207) Decisions that must be made by hospital management is very important with regards to its reputation and continued existence. Eastaugh further emphasized the importance of using LCC in hospital projects:

.

The better hospital CEO would take the long-run perspective, consider life cycle costing, and concentrate on safeguarding the reputation of the institution. If one factors in the malpractice expense of mediocre performers, a big loss in the courts could more than wipe out 10 years of "cash cow" profits. Profitability should include some life-cycle costing adjustment for malpractice risk and facility reputation risk. Eastaugh (1992, p.207)

IV. The Use of LCC to Producers, Suppliers or Contractors

The primary consideration in the procurement of construction projects or the purchase of a long term asset is the need to obtain the best value for money or its equivalent “in the whole life” (Achieving Sustainability, 2000) of the facility or the service. This is the reason why it is best to utilize LCC in projects that require not only the setup but also require operation maintenance as well as disposal.

The design, function and operation of the project, be it a constructed plant or equipment, or facility or a rendered service should maximize the delivery of effective customer and public benefit and satisfaction. These goals are most likely to be achieved through a combination of the design, construction, operation and ongoing maintenance, appropriate procurement methods and proper setup and disposal that will deliver the best value for money against the inputs that the producer, supplier or service provider have invested.

“Design, construction, operation and maintenance should not be considered in isolation from each other” (Achieving Sustainability, 2000). Thus, with the use of LCC all the cost can be integrated and proper pricing on projects can be done leading to a competitive bid or to a successful project itself. LCC is a great help in developing strategies that identify the best way to achieve the objectives of the project and value for money, taking into account all of the possible risks and constraints such as maintenance and disposal which are not incorporated in normal costing method that accounts only for the acquisition cost. The strategies gained from using LCC will help the producers, suppliers or contractors to decide about the funding mechanism and asset ownership for the project. The use of LCC greatly assists in achieving the goal of the procurement strategies of the producer, supplier or contractor to achieve the optimum balance of risk, control and funding for a particular project.

V. LCC for the End Users

For an investment decision to be properly made, the decision maker, which is the management board of the entity, must have access to very important and relevant information. This is because the decision carries accountability. The relevant information that the decision makers need is on the cost of the planned project. Before deciding if the project is to be implemented or to be rejected, a proper costing is needed, a costing method that accounts for all the cost of the project since its inception until its disposal. This is where LCC comes in for the use of End-users or clients.

With the assistance of LCC, clients would be able to compare the cost data and make a proper decision when project bidders present their respective offers. Assessing the whole life cost of the project is essential, if the entity has a going concern objective. What the entity must know is not only the initial cash outlay or the investment cost but the entire cost of ownership of the project.

To fully understand what the project can give them, the client must be able to identify the ownership costs associated with the it. These costs are generally categorized as the following:

a. Acquisition costs are those incurred between the decision to proceed with the procurement and the entry of the goods or services to operational use

b. Operational costs are those incurred during the operational life of the asset or service

c. End life costs are those associated with the disposal, termination or replacement of the asset or service. In the case of assets, disposal cost can be negative because the asset has a resale value.

The use of LCC makes the entity secure and ready for all the potential expenditures the project can cause. This is much more important than to know the cost of the initial investment only which appears lower and more favorable but has not accounted for other costs of ownership or the entire cost during the lifetime of the asset.

VI. The Pros and Cons of LCC

Being something normal, the LCC has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The following section enumerates and discusses the good side of using this system as well as its drawbacks.

a. The Advantages

LCC is a very powerful tool helping a lot of management decision-making processes in the financial world. Among the benefits of using this costing system, as stated in the book of B.H Dhillon entitled Life Cycle Costing are:

a. Useful to control program

b. An excellent tool for making a selection among the competing contractors

c. Beneficial in comparing the costs of competing projects

d. Useful in reducing the total cost

e. Useful in making decisions associated with equipment replacement

f. Useful in planning and budgeting

On the other hand, if one is to make an analysis of LCC, following are the four major benefits of LCC analysis as presented in the site of the Government Construction Clients’ Panel of the UK government entitled Life Cycle Costing:

g. LCC assists in the evaluation of competing options in purchasing such as competing proposals taking into account the cost all throughout the life cycle. LCC is mostly relevant in service contracts and decisions on equipment purchase

h. LCC improves awareness of total costs by taking into account factors that drive cost and their respective resources needed for a certain purchase

i. The application of LCC makes more accurate estimation of the full cost of a project leading to an improved decision making process for the management and establishment of support policies which are also cost effective. Long term costing assessments can have more accurate forecast for its future expenditures when using LCC.

j. Performance trade-off against cost is considered when using LCC. Factors such as requirement and quality must also be considered when purchasing an asset or hiring a service are thoroughly considered in LCC.

b. The Disadvantages

As previously mentioned, LCC is not perfect. Taken from the book of Dhillon, among the pitfalls of LCC are the following:

a. Costly

b. Time consuming

c. Accuracy of data is doubtful

d. Obtaining data is a trying task

Associated with one of the disadvantages of LCC is the lower visible cost of a purchased asset, which often misleads the decision makers. The costs that the majority usually notice, which is the acquisition cost represents only a small proportion of the total cost of ownership. In majority of the big businesses, many departments are within the big organization and the responsibility for the purchase of a certain asset and its acquisition cost is held by one department while the subsequent support funding are held by another department. This can be viewed as a clear limitation of using LCC. The decision makers do not see its benefits easily. Taken from a medical point of view, this fact is stated by Eastaugh in page 7 of his book, Health Care Finance: Economic Incentives and Productivity Enhancement:

Some medical technologies appear cost decreasing, such as visualizing gallstones with ultrasound and crushing the stones with lithotripsy. This is also clearly quality-enhancing in comparison to traditional exploratory surgery. Unfortunately, the public is not well versed in life-cycle costing or the risks of old style invasive medicine (with iatrogenic infections and prolonged lengths of stay). The media tend to focus excessive attention on initial capital outlays rather than on long-run cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness.

VII. Conclusion

LCC is a very powerful tool that takes into account all the relevant cost when acquiring a product. This therefore have helped a lot of decision makers in deciding a lot of things when presented with various options to choose from. However, not everyone can utilize LCC due to some limitations such as its cost, accuracy, time needed to formulate it and the difficulties faced in acquiring the data needed to perform LCC.

Warning and Friendly Reminder: Plagiarism is a crime. This essay is here to give you an idea or guide you, not to be copied by you. You can look at the references and Works cited provided by this free academic essay and from that you can create your own. Be a smart student,be honest: look for free academic essays anywhere in the web or the Internet but don’t forget to make your own. There are so many free essays online as guides but please do your own. You can also utilize free plagiarism checkers available online.

References

Achieving Excellence in Construction Procurement Guide. (2000). [Online]. Available at: http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documents/CP0066AEGuide6.pdf (Accessed: 11 May 2008)

A Dictionary of Business. 2nd ed. (1996). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dhillon, B. S. (1989). Life Cycle Costing. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.

Eastaugh, S. (1992). Health Care Finance: Economic Incentives and Productivity Enhancement. New York: Auburn House.

Hussey, R. (1999). A Dictionary of Accounting. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Life Cycle Costing. 2008. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ogc.gov.uk/implementing_plans_introduction_life_cycle_costing_.asp (Accessed: 11 May 2008).

Whole Life Costing. [Online]. Available at: http://www.eprocurementscotland.com/toolkit/Documents/Whole%20Life%20Costing%203.pdf (Accessed: 12 May 2008).


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1. If praising employees for doing a good job seems to be fairly easy and obvious motivational tool, why do you think companies and managers don't often do it?

There is nothing like a good recognition for a job well done. When you are acknowledged for something that you worked hard for and given praise, you can't help but feel motivated to do better and improve your current output. These praises may come from different people that observe directly and who may be benefited from the hard work you put in. It may be from your colleagues that may give you a good remark or two. It can be from clients or customers who may have a good experience from the product that you offer. However, one of the most significant praise that you can garner and can uplift your morale is one that comes from your manager as well as recognition from the company.

As the saying goes, “Different strokes for different folks”, but isn't it a widely accepted fact that verbal praise can be one of the the most powerful incentive that can be awarded to a good performing employee? As one research conducted goes to show, verbal praise in forms of recognition during events or a formal praise in front of others is a big factor that affects the turnover rate of the company, that is their ability to retain their employees. Verbal praise affects the willingness of the employee to stay with the company for a longer period of time. Percentages show that verbal praising is among one of the recognition techniques that is effective alongside cash bonuses and other non-cash incentives (Maritz 2006). However, easy as it is to dole out praise words, not a lot of managers are into the practice. There are different factors that may affect the manager's disposition about doling out verbal praises and are enumerated as follows:

a) The manager may be uncomfortable with verbally praising employees. This may root from previous experiences that make him/her distrust this kind employee recognition strategy.

b) Ego. This is a common problem for everyone. Some managers, due to having reached their status with the company, has developed a a sense of pride that may be unhealthy. He/ she may adapt an attitude that makes them think highly of themselves. Rank and power sometimes does a lot of things to people.

c) Other employees sometimes think that those that are praised are becoming favorites or “pets” by the manager. This sometimes prohibits the manager to give verbal praises to employees in front of others in fear of being labled unjust. They would rather not give praises than cause an uncomfortable atmosphere.

d) Words are very powerful tools in affecting the human emotion and depending on the kind of words that one may hear, it may have negative of positive effects. In praises for example, it can negatively effect employees who are uncomfortable with it. It may make them decrease their productivity in order to shy away from being acknowledged publicly. Therefore, not knowing the proper incentive needs that are effective with your employees may be a hindrance to managers and companies to praise their employees.

2. As a manager, what steps would you take to motivate your employees after observing them perform well?

Working hard is a virtue that all employees must employ in order to get recognized and be acknowledged. It is their part of the bargain when they get accepted in the company. You don't just receive praises and rewards without expending effort on it. Most employees who are career-oriented and are focused in their productivity put their best foot forward in order to achieve their goals of a higher position ang compensation in the future. It is employees like these that are key factors for a company to achieve their goals of productivity. Driven as they are, they are humans as well and may experience burn-out or may become unsatisfied when their hard work are not being acknowledged and they would feel like they are taken for granted.

No one likes a boss who takes his/ her employees for granted. Sometimes, monetary incentives are not enough to make employees feel appreciated. A direct recognition of a job well done may just be the thing to keep their fire burning. An honest appreciation of a positive outcome of a project done by employees is an effective way to make them feel pride on what they have done. It will give them a sense of importance and fulfillment which will fuel their drive to perform better in the next undertaking. Others who may see this in a positive light will be encouraged to do the same thus creating a constructively competitive environment for all. A win-win situation for the employees and the company as well. As from the Supervisor's Newsletter of Mines and Associates, “Effective praise tells employees what they're doing right and encourages them to keep doing it. That's why some consider praise superior to punishment as a teaching tool. Praise is loaded with information: It tells you exactly what to do next time (Epotech 2001).”

Warning and Friendly Reminder: Plagiarism is a crime. This essay is here to give you an idea or guide you, not to be copied by you. You can look at the references and Works cited provided by this free academic essay and from that you can create your own. Be a smart student,be honest: look for free academic essays anywhere in the web or the Internet but don’t forget to make your own. There are so many free essays online as guides but please do your own. You can also utilize free plagiarism checkers available online.

Another motivation tool for me is to provide compensation based rewards as well as spontaneous rewards that may be out of the blue or may serve as a surprise. This will provide an atmosphere of excitement that is contagious to all and will make the employees put in a conscious effort to make their work exceedingly noticeable. They will all be eager to put in extra effort since they know that they will be reaping rewards. Ed Frigsbee gives examples of spontaneous gift like maybe a day at the spa or gift certificates to a good restaurant (Rigsbee 2010). This may be good idea for treats since the employee who works so hard may welcome a relaxing day to have them recharged and be more motivated as ever to perform well. All properly motivated employees will highly contribute to the productivity of the company as a whole. It all starts with a few or a handful but if the right motivation is employed, it will spread to a company full of eager employees. The company must employ the right strategy to keep the fire burning.

3. Are there any downsides to giving employees too much verbal praise? What might these downsides be and how could you alleviate them as a manager?

Again, verbal praises can highly affect an employees work as whole. It can affect their productivity, image in the workplace, self esteem as well as relationships with other employees and managers as well. Much as it is positive, it has it's downsides as well. The key to somehow avoid these downsides would be to plan on a way of lessening it and it's effects to the employees. Here are the possible downsides of too much verbal praises as well as ways to somehow alleviate them:

a. One downside would be making the employee feel complacent and may cause him/ her to feel that mediocre work would be enough. It may give them a feeling that there is no room for improvement. If verbal praising is over done, it may not develop a sense of improvement in the work attitude of the employee. To alleviate this, the manager should not overdo verbal praising. Choose only the achievements that are noteworthy of praise. When verbal praising is overdone, the next praise would seem meaningless for employees. Point out the positive effects of the wonderful job done to the company as a whole to give the employee a sense of responsibility in furthermore improving their work.

b. Another downside of too much verbal praise is the perception it may give to employees. Some employees may perceive it insulting when things that are too basic are given praises. Do not sweat the small stuff.

c. It may be a prelude to insults. Some managers when given the assignment from higher management to give too much verbal praise can think of this as a opportunity to insult the employees through phony praises. Employees may also think of it a as sugar coating and may think that there are insincere undertones to it. The best way for a manager to avoid this is to make eye contact when giving out the praise to communicate the honesty to it. It should be more meaningful when it is timely and delivered in a precise way to make it more credible and believable.

d. It may not be applicable to all but too much verbal praising can cause unnecessary stress to the employee. There are employees who do not take well to being praised especially when in public. There are cases when it is the cause of the deterioration in the employees' productivity and attitude in the work place. One way to address this is for the manager to study the personalities of the employees. Be keen on matching the effective incentive or praise strategy for employees so that it is both effective and well appreciated.

e. It may cause chaos in the workplace since some employees may be envious with other employees who receive excessive praising and may think them favorites. Again, to be precise in pointing out the noteworthy act comes into place. The manager should point out the exact reason why the praise was given so that it could be set an example for others to follow and resolve their issue, and make it clear to them that the praise was given for a reason.

4. As a manager, how would you ensure that recognition given to employees is distributed fairly and justly?

Managers should think it important that incentives and praises should be justly and fairly given to employees. It is indeed hard to face complaining employees who are comparing themselves with others. To address this, first and foremost, the manager should design a non-biased incentive program or a gauge level that should be uniform to all. This should be made clear to everyone and must have a basis so that there can be a benchmark or a standard that all the employees can reach to gain rewards.

Managers should also conduct in-house surveys that dwell on employee relationships and work attitude so that others that may not be recognized may have the opportunity. Some employees who have meaningful contribution may not be very visible and surveys can help in recognizing them since other employees who see the value of their colleague's work can bring this to the attention of management. Good peer-to-peer relationship is inportant in fostering a more productive atmosphere. Suggestion boxes can also be used and will be helpful in addressing other employee issues and will also aid in assessing incentive and praise programs.

Furthermore, management should make sure that everyone gets a chance in getting a well deserved recognition. The rewards program should also be consistent and clearly communicated. Well satisfied employees translates to good productivity and wellness for the company.

List of References

Epotech. (2001). Praising Employees. Retrieved April 19, 2005, from the Epotech database.

Maritz (2006). The Power of Meaningful Employee Recognition: Why One Size Does not Fit All.

Maritz Inc. MRC-124 April 2006

Rigsbee, E (2010). Praise for a Job Well Done. (Online) available from <http://www.rigsbee.com/ma9.htm >

One of the growing fields in the teaching industry is the vocational education and training sector (VET). Little has been known regarding the management and leadership strategies in this field and because of the growing demands of a changing environment, attention is being given by investing on research regarding the improvement of the roles of educational personnel in the field. With the reforms that are being implemented by the government sector, there is a constant need for improvement and an establishment of requirements to develop expertise in management and leadership to improve competence and achieve the highest efficiency. There are also other external factors affecting the changing roles of managers such as changing work and policy evironments, reduced funding, increased expectations and the pressure of improving technology and e-commerce.

In tackling the questions and issues surrounding the organizational environment. A structured approach is very important. First and foremost, the roles of the leader and manager should be determined. “Leadership” and “Management” are concepts that may be similar and different at the same time. Similar in a way that both should be possessed by the one holding the leadership position, different in a sense that managers are more for making sure that order and discipline is maintained while leaders are more about encouraging about vision and change. However, these differences can be foregone since both of these concepts are important for a manager to have. To group together the management and leadership responsibilities of a manager, it would be financial, human and physical resource management. The financial management aspect would refer to quantitative aspects of an organization wherein the manager is concerned about how money is being handled by the organization. Managers should stay focused on how to increase income, reduce expenditures and safeguarding assets therefore promoting audit and accountability among everyone. Human management, is one key aspect in being a manager because without the proper people skills, it is hard to get things done. Leadership is all about influencing others towards aiming at reaching a goal without hesitation. Therefore, encouragement and motivation are key to proper human management. Lastly, physical resource management is integral since it would affect the efficiency of operations. Without the competence of knowing how to manage the resources and use them to their full potential, a manager will fall behind in the growing competitive market.

Module 1, Part 2

To be able to achieve all this, one must have the proper expertise. A manager should be well-adept in all the roles mentioned above. One must have the proper know-how about planning regarding budget, income generation, resource management, as well as development of human management skills as well as public relations. The manager should have the flexibility and responsiveness that is key to achieving the short-term and long-term goals. All these would be well achieved with the proper strategy formulation geared towards the same objective of organizational efficiency. However, proper education and constant learning is needed. A manager should be open to expanding horizons by attending seminars, workshops, taking courses and participating in support groups. This module is very helpful in the teaching industry because gives importance to leadership and management which should be strongly incorporated in educational institutions.

Warning and Friendly Reminder: Plagiarism is a crime. This essay is here to give you an idea or guide you, not to be copied by you. You can look at the references and Works cited provided by this free academic essay and from that you can create your own. Be a smart student,be honest: look for free academic essays anywhere in the web or the Internet but don’t forget to make your own. There are so many free essays online as guides but please do your own. You can also utilize free plagiarism checkers available online.

Module 3, Part 2

Teachers often preach about teams and being team players to students. These concepts are given a lot of focus to promote cooperation among students. But, the four walls of the classroom are no different than that of a faculty room. How can teachers teach about being effective in a team when they do not know how to be teamplayer themselves.

Neville Johnson's module is very helpful in how to build “learning communities” in schools. It is healthy and at the same time productive for collaboration between teachers to emerge in an educational facility. This can provide a venue for them to contribute ideas, lose differences, and gear themselves towards achieving the school's goals together. Initially, the teaching and learning challenges should be recognized and established. With this, the school can then form strategies and plan on interactive projects that all the teachers can participate and be part in. Here, the term 'action learning' is applicable which is defined by ANTA as a “united approach to solving a problem” by a group of professional colleagues. This would foster a collective responsibilty developed by the team members as well as promote their professional learning through discussions and sharing of ideas, and genuine collaboration would not only improve professional relationships but emotional and personal relationships as well, promoting a more supportive environment.

As the teams are formed and motivated for action, a leader is assigned. Even if the team is already that of a group of professionals, a leader who is skilled, competent, knowledgeable, supportive and who may have more training should be designated to be accountable in terms of managing time, finances and monitoring. This may be hard for a chosen leader considering the teaching responsibilities that should not be ignored. Thus, management should restructure the role of the formal leader so that the leader can be more available in providing coaching and mentoring to other teachers.

As the learning teams distribute the tasks of leadership among members accordingly, the concept of distributed leadership is employed. When leadership is rotated among members, they would feel that they are relevant to the group and that their capabilities are recognized and valued. This inculcates a sense of responsibility and motivates everyone to contribute their best in order to be chosen as a head for the next project.

On the other hand, another concept such as middle leadership can be seen in a team. This kind of leadership is not really clear because teachers who are asked regarding this concept do not have concrete ideas about it. Middle leadership is usually viewed as enacting leadership with teachers and collegues but at the same time being answerable to senior management. Some middle leaders find it a problem to communicate management policies to teachers and would sometimes cause misunderstanding when not properly communicated.

In summary, all types of leadership as mentioned above are present in teams. Proper strategic planning, open and constant communication as well as respect are key to avoiding conflict and making the team work cohesively.

Module 4

Leadership and management have been thoroughly discussed in the different materials reviewed. In the last module the concept of headship or principalship was introduced. Principalship is a title and comes with it are responsibilities and accountabilities. Though the three, leadership, management and principalship may have differences but all three must be present hand in hand in an educational sector. Being the principal, you are the formal leader who is the one overlooking the day to day operations of the establishment. This is where management and leadership comes in. In relation to management, the principal is responsible for setting policies straight and ensuring that processes and operations are running smoothly. In short, the principal as a manager makes sure that everything is in rhythm. On the other hand, the principal is a leader when he starts to use influence rather than mandate those under his supervision to perform together to achieve the broader goals of the school. In addition, it is the role of the principal to promote dispersed leadership in the organization. Therefore, the concept of leaders and leadership in schools should not only be contained in the formal positions occupied. It should mean the dispersed leadership across the school, therefore encouraging teacher-leadership since the teachers are the ones who are closely communicating and interacting with the students. Giving teachers importance and contributing to their professional improvement will translate to better teaching qualities. However, the emergence of this kind of informal leadership could only emerge with the provision of support from upper management. Though accountability and responsibilty is developed by teacher-leaders, this should not reduce the vigilance of the principal and other formal leaders in their own responsibilities and accountabilities.

Taking all into consideration, the concept that is of most interest at the present is the formulation of techniques and strategies in how leadership and management should be inculcated and taught to the teacher level. This is not an easy task because much attention must be expensed on designing a structure that would well fit into the the school's environment. Factors like budget, professional atmosphere as well as time constraints should be taken into consideration since a school may have different limitations depending on their resources. A lot of researches which are geared to actually set up guidelines and standards are very helpful materials that a school could use in initiating actions and making a plan that would be beneficial to all parties.

The learning provided by the different references would highly contribute to my personal and professional knowledge as a teacher. Through this, I have gained a lot of insights, learned concepts and improve my understanding on the importance of being visible, flexible and cooperative. This has also fueled my motivation to be able to contribute more to further the achievement of our school's goals. With a whole lot of understanding on my part I can now recognize where I need to impove and suggest improvements to my learning team as well. As for the whole education industry, this learning will spark the interest of educational institutions to give more attention on educational management and leadership in their areas. It will get them thinking that it will be a good investment because of the benefits it will provide and will probably inspire them to form their own learning teams to be more competitive in the growing market of the educational sector.

References

Fitzgerald, T. (2009) . Educational Management Administration and Leadership.

London, Los Angeles, Singapore, New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Foley, J., Conole, L. (2003). A Draft Leadership Capability Framework to Assist Leadership

Development in the Victorian TAFE Sector. Wheeler Strobel Consulting Group.

Johnson, N. (2003). Working in Teams. Victoria, Australia: Department of Education

Training.

Leading Theory (Module 4_Article 1)

Mulcahy, D. (2003). Leadership and Management in Vocational Education and Training.

Adealaide, Australia: National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

Given the scenario, being the president of the Homeowners’ Association (HOA) board, and having to give feedback to one HOA board member that is distressed and to other board members, in light of discussing whether a certain proposal is to be implemented or not, I need to consider some factors before sharing my thoughts.

First, “what is my purpose in giving feedback?” Indeed, before doing anything, it is important to know why we are doing such a thing. Being the president, empathizing with my fellow homeowner would ease out the tension. However, in the present situation, it is best to empathize with the one who is in worse situation: the board member that is heavily distressed by our discussion. Empathy is one of the positive psychologies that I can utilize in easing the feeling of the distressed board member and make him feel a better and positive so that a better decision can be made. Aside from making our discussion productive, empathizing with the distressed board member can “cultivate positive emotions in our own lives and in the lives of those around us not just because doing so makes us feel good in the moment but also because doing so will transform us to be better people, with better lives in the future. (Fredrickson, 2002, p. 131)

The second thing to ponder upon is, “what specific actions am I trying to change?” It is obvious that the situation is becoming too much for everyone who is attending the discussion. It is not only the “action” but also the situation need to be changed. By giving my feedback to the distressed board member, through empathy, I can change the current heated exchange of words and possible long-term misunderstanding that this discussion can lead to, not only today but also in the future.

The third consideration I need to think about is, “what will be the most helpful feedback I can give?” I would tell the distressed board member that I truly understand his position that such a proposition is reasonable that is why we, HOA board members and officers, are currently having this discussion. I would emphasize to him that he needs to take it calmly because so far, the proposition has not been decided yet. Who knows? What he opt to might even get implemented. I would advise him to compose his mind and ideas so that he can further put his input in the final discussion to conclude and decide the matter at hand: whether to have the security guard in the neighborhood or not.

Fourth, I have also to consider that my feedback does not have an assured 100% success rate. I still have to reflect and ask, “what are the potential problems with my feedback?” There are many things that can happen. The anger of the distressed board member might be redirected to me. This happens when his id overtakes his ego or superego. He will turn narcissistic especially if he will realize that I have reasonable feedback but he does not want to admit his mistakes at the same time. He will obviously do this as a defense mechanism. In fact this is one of the "most widespread and supple of the mechanisms of defense” (Newberger, 2000, p. 279), the denial. The board member hates to admit that he overreacted with the issue and that my feedback is rational.

Fifth, “how do I plan to overcome potential problems with this feedback?” As Clarke-Epstein, (2001) stressed, the truth in feedback is that, whether it is “positive or negative, given or received, feedback can be tricky". First, I should plan a very good timing in giving them. I would let the distressed board member calm down for a few minutes, engage him in a conversation that is not related to the subject that distressed him. One good example is something interesting and gives a sense of enjoyment from his side such as his latest vacation or his sailing activity or his upcoming family reunion. Then, I would get back to the issue at hand, look him straight into the eyes and give him my feedback. I should make sure though that no one is nearby who can unnecessarily join in our conversation giving unsolicited opinion that may irritate the board member again.

Sixth, I have to plan whether “all the feedback I want to deliver need to be done at one time?” As indicated above, I have to be in perfect timing to make things work perfectly. Thus, giving all the feedback in one time will not help. A set of procedures need to be followed: one step at a time and slowly but surely. Once the heated discussion is at its peak, I would call for a session/discussion break. In my experience, no one refuses a hot cup of coffee or tea in the middle of a heated discussion. Everyone simply wants to wind up a bit, refresh and free the mind and compose his or her ideas and thoughts better to better present his or her views.
Lastly, I have to ask, “what is the best time to give my feedback without a need to procrastinate?” The feedback that I plan to give should be given outright. It is best to hit the iron while it is hot. In psychology, "some researchers, following behaviorist tenets that reinforcements need to be given quickly to be effective, have thought that it is essential to give feedback immediately." (Metcalfe, Kornell & Finn, 2009) Thus, a ten to fifteen minute break is enough to implement my plan as mentioned in the preceding paragraph. My plan has a 97% success rate because the distressed board member is a close friend of mine and he is also a respected nice person. Once I have implemented my plan on him, my next feedback is for the whole board. If my feedback and advice to the distressed board member succeeds, everything will be better when the time to finalize the discussion comes and decision is to be rendered. Our discussion would be more productive and our personal relationships, with respect to each other, not tarnished by the heat of the discussion.

References
Clarke-Epstein, C. (2001, November). Truth in Feedback: Positive or Negative, Given or Received, Feedback Can Be Tricky. We Shatter Some Popular Misconceptions to Guide You. T&D, 55, 78+.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2002). 9 Positive Emotions. In Handbook of Positive Psychology, Snyder, C. R. & Lopez, S. J. (Eds.) (pp. 120-131). New York: Oxford University Press.

Metcalfe, J., Kornell, N., & Finn, B. (2009). Delayed versus Immediate Feedback in Children's and Adults' Vocabulary Learning. Memory & Cognition, 37(8), 1077+.

Newberger, E. H. (2000). The Men They Will Become: The Nature and Nurture of Male Character. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing.

When the word leadership is mentioned, what comes to mind is the highest person in authority, the one who is in-charge in an organization, the leader. However, in the accomplishment of a goal, the leader cannot do it alone. It has to be a product from the cooperation of both the leader and the followers. Therefore, one can say that personal interaction between the key people in the organization is vital in the achievement of success. This is the reason why in the most common definition of leadership, it is emphasized that it is a process of influencing people to get things done with the best of effort and willingness. Begrudged or uninspired followers simply cannot be helpful in the achievement of goals and so leaders should concentrate on the best way to encourage their followers to contribute the best they could.

Kouzes and Posner in their book “The Leadership Challenge”, identifies actions that are key to successful leadership. These five actions particularly concentrates on the interplay between the leader and his followers. These five actions are to model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. This reading has impacted me most amongst others because it is something that I can relate to in my experience as a follower. The leader that I want to specifically address is my supervisor at the department of corrections. She is Brenda Everett and I would say that she is great as a leader. Personally, she is someone that I want to imitate and if I could be a leader someday, her methods would serve as a guide for me. As to “modelling the way”, Brenda works as a mule and gives everything her 100% percent. She is always on the go and it is very infectious since we are all motivated to do the same. We strive to equal her input for us to achieve the most positive output. She inspires us to “share the same vision” by constantly communicating with us. We feel that we all have the same cause and doing our best to have it realized. She is also good at “challenging the process”, her hardcore personality and strength in dealing with adversities is very notable and it sparks the same strength in us. It seems that whenever there are problems and issues that challenge the organization, we worry less because we feel confident that Brenda is very competent in thinking and producing ways to succeed through it. She is also very adaptable to change and encourages us to do the same. Change is inevitable, but we embrace it and live through it. She “enables others to act” by constant motivation. She never instills fear in us, instead she is very compassionate and gives us the reassurance that she's got our back. This gives us confidence and makes us feel that we can have our ideas put into action because our leader believes in what we can do. Lastly, she “encourages the heart”, being a firecracker herself. She seems very passionate about her work and of us. She cares about her people so much that it was inculcated in us that we have to care for everyone and the organizaton as well. The drive in us to all contribute in making our jobs worthy of praise is always a burning ember because Brenda sets a very good example. However, perfect as she may sound, she is not. What I think is her top weakness is that she does not care for her self enough. What use is a sick leader to a pack of robust followers? Too much of something is bad enough and too much passion and drive can sometimes prove unhealthy. Taking our part, we constantly remind her that before everything else her health should be a priority because her leadership is required in the organization.

Leadership is one very important aspect in an organization and leaders should constanly be aware of their performance. To cite Clawson, “before you start thinking about influencing others, you might want to think about refelection and introspection”. Therefore, leaders should start from their inner self before they can be effective in dealing with their subordinates. Another important knowledge imparted by Northouse, “the way you think about leadership will influence the way you practice leadership.” It is a must to expend effort in strategizing the best way to become an efficient leader. This can be remedied by practice, study and active learning.

References
Clawson, J. G. (2008). Level three leadership: Getting below the surface (4th ed.).Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Northouse, P. G. (2008). Introduction to leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing

Kouzes, J. Posner, B. (2007). The leadership challenge (4rded.). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

To: Mr. Supervisor

From: Associate Director &The Department Hiring Personnel

Date: July 31, 2010

Re: Biases and Judgment in the Hiring Process

Recently, a new case manager for the radiology department in the hospital was hired. In order to maintain the good name of the hospital, our honored organization, and for it to stand for its very highly valued services and unequalled reputation, it is only inherent that we evaluate our practices. In this regard, yours truly is making a self-evaluation process as to the dignity and reasonability on the decision to hire Mr. Smith as a case manager over the rest of the eight final candidates.
Deciding as to which one to choose among the many outstanding candidates was a difficult ordeal. Aside from this obvious task on selecting which, among the original seventeen (17) applicants, and narrowing them into eight (8) final candidates, is the best and the most suitable case-manager-to-be, there are other issues at hand that need to be addressed given my position. The two most dominant of these issues that yours truly needed to strongly consider are biases and egocentrism. Although Barton (2001) noted that "everyone has biases”, it is not an excuse not to minimize it or be aware of it and prevent it from happening. On the other hand, egocentrism happens when one “can only view the world from their perspective and finds it difficult to understand any other". (Oakley 18) Biases and egocentrism are so inherent that they need to be warded off every time a major decision, such as hiring a key organization manager, is to be made.

Combating one’s bias is not simple but as long as there is patience, it can at least be reduced to its minimum level. In the case of yours truly, the following major measures are applied in order to succeed in eliminating or at least minimizing bias:

a. Identifying the issue at hand and getting informed as much as possible,

b. Not adhering to stereotyping and discrimination (age, gender, sexual orientation, physical appearance, ethnic origin, etcetera; and

c. Applying the “scientific method”

Once a person has enough knowledge about something, he or she is not easy to be deceived, especially by his or her own biases. Stereotyping and discrimination is so strong in this society, thus, yours truly always make a checklist in avoiding all these types of biases or causes of biases. The “Scientific Method” always works in reducing or eliminating bias. This means that yours truly always see to it to ccollect useful data by means of observing and experimenting, then formulate and test hypothesis. Even though this may sound so technical but it can be applied on almost every situation.

As for egocentrism, almost the same procedures are applied in order to eliminate it during a decision-making process. Moreover, one simple rule applies here as well: the Golden Rule while stepping into someone’s shoes. For situations where yours truly believe that egocentrism may takeover, the idea comes to mind carrying the solution. This solution is in the form of inner examining voice asking, “If I am in his or her situation, how would I like to be treated?” Thus, it is a mixed golden rule and empathy. The answer to the question always reduces/eliminates egocentricity.

Decisions by expedience are considered as foundations of this organization. Decisions based on reflections give this organization its emotion and meaning. Thus, yours truly also utilize both, around 80% of decisions are expedience-based and the rest are based upon reflection. It is always important though, during the entire decision-making process to "ensure that subjective decisions about omitting some subjects from the analysis do not cause bias" (Peat, 2001, p. 200)

Decision-making is difficult and determination is important in succeeding. There are also factors deterring a person to perfect his/her decision-making abilities but once these factors are identified and admitted by the decision-maker, there are various ways to combat them.

References

Barton, G. (2001, December). Patriotism and the News. The Quill, 89, 18+.

Oakley, L. (2004). Cognitive Development. London: Routledge.

Peat, J. K. (Ed.). (2001). Health Science Research: A Handbook of Quantitative Methods. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin.