The Russian Civil war, 1918-21 Essay Example

The Russian Civil war, 1918-21Â   Paper It is accurate to say that the Whites were a huge threat to the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil war. This discussion will analyse why they proved such a threat using source A and my own knowledge.As source A correctly shows, the whites controlled vast amounts of Russia. This would have given them a huge advantage when it came to attacking for they could do so from all sides. This ultimately would stretch the Bolshevik forces to a large extent, causing thin defensive lines, which the whites may have easily broken.The whites also controlled the Trans Siberian railway. This was incredibly important, as it was one of the only means of transferring troops and supplies due to Russias enormity.The white forces had backing from various influential groups in Russia. The landowners who had been dispossessed of their land due to the communist regime gave their support, for of course they wanted it back. The Socialist Revolutionaries also supported them because they were deeply angered at Lenins move to close down the Constituent assembly due to it being counter revolutionary.The Communists were hated by the nationalist groups for signing the treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, (the treaty to end the first world war). They believed that Russia shouldnt have given in so easily and also shouldnt have given away much of their land. This reason forced them to join the whites.The aristocrats, businessmen and richer peasants of Russia formed the Kulaks. This force was controlled by General Denekin and Admiral Kolchak and fought because it would benefit them all if the Soviets were removed from power. As source a shows this force advanced from Russias east side.It was in the interests of all the major powers of the world to remove the Bolsheviks as soon as possible. Therefore as source a shows the whites had a considerable amount of foreign support. These powers included Britain, France and America as well as the Poles, Canadians and even the Germans. These extra forces were b ound to enhance the white forces and would prove a threat to the Soviets. It also meant that the whites could fight a longer drawn out war, for they were not footing the bill, while the soviets could not afford to do this.It is realistic to say that the whites did prove a large threat to the Bolsheviks due to the reasons above. All the factors are extremely important for every regiment stretched the Bolshevik red army even further.Question 3This piece of writing will discuss how reliable source C is for a historian studying the Russian civil war.Source C is an account of the Bolsheviks Red Terror observed by a British businessman in Russia in 1918. The businessman is British and is therefore bound to be slightly biased against the Bolsheviks. Being British the reader assumes he belongs to the white side. This businessman has written this source at the time of the civil war and because he hasnt got hindsight the source might not be totally reliable.The first line of the source states that the peasants hated the Bolsheviks and would not give them grain. Lenin had given the peasants the land and they were grateful for this. Although they did not really like the Bolsheviks they were scared that if the Whites won Tsarism or something worse might be restored. Therefore they either stayed out of the war or joined the reds. This contradicts the first line for not all the peasants hated the Communist regime.The writer of this source is a businessman and is therefore likely to be middle class. He quotes, the position of the middle class defies all description. This comment is probably being overstated and is probably used mainly as anti propaganda against the Bolsheviks. As someone from the middle class he is trying to protect his own place in society, which is threatened by the Bolshevik idea that everybody is equal.Although a British man has written this source it is largely correct in what it says. The Bolsheviks were a machine of terror and their attitude towards th e middle classes was terrible. It was in their interests in some cases to take grain from the peasants for without it there front line forces would have starved and they would not have been able to hold onto power. From other sources I have gathered that if a soldier of the red army deserted the punishment is death. Therefore this statement is reliable.I believe this source is reliable in most that it says. It is not a distorted view at all and is actually surprisingly trustworthy. I would have expected it to be even more biased against the reds, as the writer was a white whoms duty it was to spread anti red propaganda given the opportunity.The Bolshevik sucsess in the civil war was due to the weaknessess of the whites . In this essay I will assess and discuss this interpretation, looking at the all the factors and evidence.The White armies were not united as a fighting force. Source A correctly shows many different nations advancing from different sides. These nations all had diffe rent objectives and ambitions and were not fighting for one single cause. Therefore instead of fighting as one large unit they fought as several, effectively weakening themselves.There were even cases of generals on the White side refusing to speak to each other, An example of this were the Generals Kornilov and Alexi.Many troops fighting on the White side were incredibly exhausted by world war one. These troops were sent to Russia and may have fought with physically tired bodies and equipment.The reds were extremely ruthless to the white officers as source B suggests. Although this may be biased against the reds it is still highly relevant towards the question. If the White soldiers heard this sort of propaganda there morale would surely be weakened. In general the White morale was not good, this was especially so when the French naval fleets mutinied at Odessa. Although the reds were known for their barbarism it is unfair to discount the whites cruelty as well. It is known that th e killing of 100,000 Jews was ordered by the high white generals.The peasents were a definate factor in deciding the outcome of the civil war. Russia occupys vast numbers and which ever side they joined surely had an advantage. The Whites refused to promise independance. Therefore they were worried that if the whites were to beat the Soviets Tsarism or something very similar may be restored, therefore the majoriy sided with the Bolsheviks.The Whites also didnt try to gain the popular support of the masses in Russia. It was almost imperitive for them to do this if they wanted a chance in winning the war. The masses could have rallied up against the Bolsheviks, instead they joined with them to fight the whites.Countrys supporting the whites for example Britain and France sent small forces, this comment is backed up in source G. It is likely to be correct as it is written by an independant British historian early in the 21st century who it seems would have no clear motives for being bi ased. Sending small forces shows the confidence and expectance of the foreign leaders. These leaders arrogance was surely a reason for the white loss for with a larger force it is unlikely the Bolsheviks would have clung to power.Source a shows all the differnet nations invovled in helping the whites in the civil war. With so many invovled it was highly unlikely they were all going to have the same objectives and ambitions. Therefore instead of fighting as one large unit they fought as several surely weakening themselves.Although there are many white weaknesses which brought about a defeat for the whites there are also many red strenghs which surely were huge factors.The Russian generals are portrayed as dogs who are all scampering in different directions in Source D. Although this is a piece of propoganda written by the Bolsheviks and is a distorted view it is generally what the majority of the Russian people believed at the time. The Russian reds fought desperatley knowing that if they were beaten they were bound to be treated like this and that they may be killed.Source C states that for any military offence the only punishment is death. This is largely correct for in the Bolshevik army disipline was ruthless. This caused the Bolshevik soldiers to become scared and therefore they fought desperatley.Trotsky was a military genious. He created a feared fighting force christened the red army, which was ruthless and extremely effective against the Whites. Trotsky also re commisened many old Tsarist officers back into the army. This bolstered his force and gave him much needed experience. By 1918 the red army numbered 1,700,000 is a statement taken from source e. Although this is written by a soviet historian and is likely to be slightly biased it is still a fairly accurate representation. Trotsky conscripted thousands of normal Russians and forced them to fight against the whites.The red army was fresh and new unlike the beligered tired armies of the whites who had been fighting world war two. This gave them a strong advantage and of course boostered there morale, which was extremely high.The Soviets were also very lucky in the fact that they controlled the two main industrial centres, Moscow and Petrograd. This point is backed up in source F which mentions that the reds controlled most of the resources of old Russia. This source is unlikely to be biased for it is written by an indepedant British historian who would probably have little reason to distort the truth. They also had control of the important railway network which gave them the ability of moving troops quickly and effectively.Perhaps the most important factor for the Soviet victory is that they had clear objectives on what they wanted to achieve. A victory for them would secure power over Russia and all soldiers were completely united in a common cause. This is bound to increase their morale and determination.It is fair to say that the whites did have alot of weaknessess during the civil war, but this is not solely why the Bolsheviks won. The Bolshevik victory was largely down to their own strengths and sheer determination as well as great leadership and order.

Definition and Examples of Conversational Implicature

Definition and Examples of Conversational Implicature In pragmatics, conversational implicature is  an indirect or implicit speech act: what is meant by a speakers utterance that is not part of what is explicitly said. Also known simply as implicature.  Contrast with explicature. What a speaker intends to communicate, says L.R. Horn, is characteristically far richer than what she directly expresses; linguistic meaning radically underdetermines the message conveyed and understood (The Handbook of Pragmatics, 2005). Example Dr. Gregory House: How many friends do you have?Lucas Douglas: Seventeen.Dr. Gregory House: Seriously? Do you keep a list or something?Lucas Douglas: No, I knew this conversation was really about you, so I gave you an answer so you could get back to your train of thought.(Hugh Laurie and Michael Weston, Not Cancer. House, M.D., 2008) Inferences The probabilistic character of conversational implicature is easier to demonstrate than define. If a stranger at the other end of a phone line has a high-pitched voice, you may infer that the speaker is a woman. The inference may be incorrect. Conversational implicatures are a similar kind of inference: they are based on stereotyped expectations of what would, more often than not, be the case. (Keith Allan, Natural Language Semantics. Wiley-Blackwell, 2001) Origin of the Term Conversational Implicature The term [implicature] is taken from the philosopher H.P. Grice (1913-88), who developed the theory of the cooperative principle. On the basis that a speaker and listener are cooperating, and aiming to be relevant, a speaker can imply a meaning implicitly, confident that the listener will understand. Thus a possible conversational implicature of Are you watching this programme? might well be This programme bores me. Can we turn the television off? (Bas Aarts, Sylvia Chalker, and Edmund Weiner, Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2014) Conversational Implicature in Practice Generally speaking, a conversational implicature is an interpretive procedure that operates to figure out what is going on. . . . Assume a husband and wife are getting ready to go out for the evening: 8. Husband: How much longer will you be?9. Wife: Mix yourself a drink. To interpret the utterance in Sentence 9, the husband must go through a series of inferences based on principles that he knows the other speaker is using. . . . The conventional response to the husbands question would be a direct answer where the wife indicated some time frame in which she would be ready. This would be a conventional implicature with a literal answer to a literal question. But the husband assumes that she heard his question, that she believes that he was genuinely asking how long she would be, and that she is capable of indicating when she would be ready. The wife . . . chooses not to extend the topic by ignoring the relevancy maxim. The husband then searches for a plausible interpretation of her utterance and concludes that what she is doing is telling him that she is not going to offer a particular time, or doesnt know, but she will be long enough yet for him to have a drink. She may also be saying, Relax, Ill be ready in plenty of time. (D. G. Ellis, From Language to Communication. Routledge, 1999) The Lighter Side of Conversational Implicature in The Office Jim Halpert: I dont think Ill be here in 10 years.Michael Scott: Thats what I said. Thats what she said.Jim Halpert: Thats what who said?Michael Scott: I never know, I just say it. I say stuff like that, you know- to lighten the tension when things sort of get hard.Jim Halpert: Thats what she said.(John Krasinski and Steve Carell, Survivor Man. The Office, 2007)

The Battle of Buena Vista - Mexican American War

The Battle of Buena Vista - Mexican American War The Battle of Buena Vista took place on  February 23, 1847 and was a hard-fought battle between the invading US army, commanded by General Zachary Taylor, and the Mexican army, led by General Antonio Là ³pez de Santa Anna. Taylor had been fighting his way southwest into Mexico from the border when most of his troops were reassigned to a separate invasion to be led by General Winfield Scott. Santa Anna, with a much larger force, felt he could crush Taylor and re-take northern Mexico. The battle was bloody, but inconclusive, with  both sides claiming it as a victory. General Taylors March Hostilities had broken out between Mexico and the USA in 1846. American General Zachary Taylor, with a well-trained army, had scored major victories at the Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma near the US/Mexico border and had followed up with the successful siege of Monterrey in September of 1846. After Monterrey, he moved south and took Saltillo. The central command in the USA then decided to send a separate invasion of Mexico via Veracruz and many of Taylors best units were reassigned. By early 1847 he had only some 4,500 men, many of them untested volunteers. Santa Annas Gambit General Santa Anna, recently welcomed back to Mexico after living in exile in Cuba, swiftly raised an army of 20,000 men, many of whom were trained professional soldiers. He marched north, hoping to crush Taylor. It was a risky move, as by then he was aware of Scott’s planned invasion from the east. Santa Anna rushed his men north, losing many to attrition, desertion and illness along the way. He even outpaced his supply lines: his men had not eaten for 36 hours when they met the Americans in battle. General Santa Anna  promised them American supplies after their victory. The Battlefield at Buena Vista Taylor learned of Santa Annas advance and deployed in a defensive position near the Buena Vista ranch a few miles to the south of Saltillo. There, the Saltillo road was flanked on one side by a plateau accessed by several small ravines. It was a good defensive position, although Taylor had to spread his men thinly to cover it all and he had little in the way of reserves. Santa Anna and his army arrived on February 22: he sent Taylor a note demanding surrender as the soldiers skirmished. Taylor predictably refused and the men spent a tense night near the enemy. The Battle of Buena Vista Begins Santa Anna launched his attack the following day. His plan of attack was direct: he would send his best forces against the Americans along the plateau, using the ravines for cover when he could. He also sent an attack along the main road to keep as much of Taylor’s force as possible occupied. By noon the battle was progressing in favor of the Mexicans: volunteer forces in the American center on the plateau had buckled, allowing the Mexicans to take some ground and direct fire into the American flanks. Meanwhile, a large force of Mexican cavalry was making their way around, hoping to surround the American army. Reinforcements reached the American center just in time, however, and the Mexicans were driven back. The Battle  Ends The Americans enjoyed a healthy advantage in terms of artillery: their cannons had carried the day at the battle of Palo Alto earlier in the war and they were again crucial at Buena Vista. The Mexican attack stalled, and the American artillery began pounding the Mexicans, wreaking havoc and causing massive loss of life. Now it was the Mexicans’ turn to break and retreat. Jubilant, the Americans gave chase and were very nearly trapped and destroyed by the massive Mexican reserves. As dusk fell, the weapons went silent with neither side disengaging; most of the Americans thought the battle would be resumed the next day. Aftermath of the Battle The battle had ended, however. During the night, the Mexicans disengaged and retreated: they were battered and hungry and Santa Anna didnt think they would hold for another round of combat. The Mexicans took the brunt of the losses: Santa Anna had lost 1,800 killed or wounded and 300 captured. The Americans had lost 673 officers and men with  another 1,500 or so  deserting. Both sides hailed Buena Vista as a victory. Santa Anna sent glowing dispatches back to Mexico City describing a triumph with thousands of American dead left on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Taylor claimed victory, as his forces had held the battlefield and driven off the Mexicans. Buena Vista was the last major battle in northern Mexico. The American army would remain without taking  further offensive action, pinning their hopes for victory on Scotts planned invasion of Mexico City. Santa Anna had taken his best shot at Taylors army: he would now move south and try and hold off Scott. For the Mexicans, Buena Vista was a disaster. Santa Anna, whose ineptitude as a general has become legendary, actually had a good plan: had he crushed Taylor as  he planned, Scotts invasion might have been recalled. Once the battle started, Santa Anna put the right men in the right places to succeed: had he committed his reserves to the weakened part of the American line on the plateau he might have had his victory. If the Mexicans had won, the entire course of the Mexican-American War may well have changed. It was probably the Mexicans best chance to win a large-scale battle in the war, but they failed to do so. As a historical note, the St. Patricks Battalion, a Mexican artillery unit comprised largely of defectors from the United States Army (mainly Irish and German Catholics, but other nationalities were represented), fought with distinction against their former comrades. The San Patricios, as they were called, formed an elite artillery unit charged with supporting the ground offensive on the plateau. They fought very well, taking out American artillery placements, supporting the infantry advance and later covering a retreat. Taylor sent an elite squad of dragoons after them but they were driven back by withering cannon fire. They were instrumental in capturing two pieces of US artillery, later used by Santa Anna to declare the battle a victory. It would not be the last time that the San Patricios caused great trouble for the Americans. Sources Eisenhower, John S.D. So Far from God: the U.S. War with Mexico, 1846-1848. Norman: the University of Oklahoma Press, 1989 Henderson, Timothy J. A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and its War with the United States.New York: Hill and Wang, 2007. Hogan, Michael. The Irish Soldiers of Mexico. Createspace, 2011. Scheina, Robert L. Latin Americas Wars, Volume 1: The Age of the Caudillo 1791-1899 Washington, D.C.: Brasseys Inc., 2003. Wheelan, Joseph. Invading Mexico: Americas Continental Dream and the Mexican War, 1846-1848. New York: Carroll and Graf, 2007.

Food taboos in Nigeria and their nutritional effects Research Paper

Food taboos in Nigeria and their nutritional effects - Research Paper Example This study â€Å"Food taboos in Nigeria and their nutritional effects† focuses on the eating behavioural qualities of people in Nigeria and the problems of malnutrition of due to the lack of awareness and education. Talking about Nigeria, it is an under developed country with a huge amount of population, in terms of population it stands at tenth place in the world. It is divided into different ethnic groups each having their own culture and beliefs. Each of the group has different taboos mostly regarding children, pregnant women and mothers and people follow them like a sacred religion. Due to such reasons many parts of Nigeria are either suffering from malnutrition or have high infant mortality rate, people are uneducated and do not know the significance of adding a particular food in their diets. They do what they have seen their ancestors doing for ages. For example, people in most part of Nigeria do not include meat and eggs in their children’s diet, they believe th at adding such eatables would make them thieves. The logic behind such insane thought is that since meat, eggs are expensive food items, and they cannot afford it so if children get used to eating them just to fulfil their desire, they will start stealing because of such myths. Nigeria falls into the countries with one of the highest maternal mortality rate and every year millions are spent to improve the health sector but despite of this there has not been much change. It has been noticed that all such taboos are primarily related to foods of animal origin. Meat contains approximately 18% protein which is very high plus it is rich in phosphorus, moderate in iron content, and is an important source of niacin and riboflavin. Especially fresh meat contains ascorbic acid which prevents scurvy. Eggs which are forbidden to pregnant women contain proteins, vitamin A and thiamine. Cutting short all these important nutrition from the diet results in a handicapped society. It has been observ ed that some 170 thousand Nigerian women die as a result of following such food related taboos (UNCIEF, 2001). The most common causes of death include hemorrhage, sepsis, anemia and others. Hemorrhage is particularly caused when a mother is anemic; a condition marked by lowered production of red blood cells which have a

Should Dolphins be Considered Persons Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Should Dolphins be Considered Persons - Essay Example Personhood is connected with a variety of theoretical issues with the most significant being that persons get better treatment that nonpersons. Although the terms human and person are used interchangeably as synonyms on a daily basis, the two words have a different meaning form a philosophical perspective.The word human is a scientific concept with reference to members of the biological category Homo sapiens. On the other hand, the word person refers to a combination of complex traits by which we define intelligence, self-consciousness and freewill (White 2007).According to recent research by scientists, dolphins have proven to possess sophisticated nervous systems, as well as a high level of intellectual and emotional ability. This characteristic of the dolphins makes it unethical for human beings to cause them pain and use these creatures for a convenience whereas, there is another way to achieve the same result. Diana Reiss, who is a marine scientist, has defined dolphins as †Å"alien intelligence.† Diana Reiss asserts that the dolphin species are perfect model for assisting humanity to formulate ways of describing and comprehending the intelligence of non-human species. Anthropocentrism has led humans to be subject to bias quintessentially while investigating other species.Dolphins have the most similarities with human beings than any other species. Firstly, dolphins are mammals that bear their off springs alive, take care of them by feeding them via their mammary glands, and they are warm-blooded and have hair. Physically, the dolphins resemble human beings to some extent especially the eyes, mouth and teeth. Although dolphins are aquatic inhabitants, they are engaging and share fundamental traits with human beings (White 2007). The behavior of dolphins shows they are intelligent animals with distinct personalities and self-sense. Diana Reiss, a marine scientist, showed that dolphins could recognize themselves on a mirror reflection and utilize it to inspect other body parts, as well. This ability has since the past been thought to be limited only to human beings. In addition, Diana Reiss found out that captive dolphins possessed the ability to learn an elementary language based on symbols. Some research has shown that dolphins are capable and do solve difficult problems. Dolphins in a wild environment show co-operation in various ways that involve multifaceted structures and a high level of emotional sophistication (White 2007). Dolphins perform fascinating well-organized movement that indicates a high level of intellect. They lead above the water surface in acrobatic figures. Although several researches have been conduct with respect to the movement of dolphins, scientists are not yet sure what the motive of their acrobatic movement is. Scientists have assumed that the movement maybe meant to locate fellow species by looking at above water waves. Communication could be another likely reason for their acrobatic movement to merge them together for hunting or dislodging parasites. Play is a vitalS characteristic of the dolphins, and they are spotted harassing other creatures such as seabirds and turtles in some instances. On frequent occasions, dolphins accompany boats and ride bow waves. Dolphins are interactive in nature as observed in their willingness to approach humans on several occasions and play with them in water. There have been reports of incidents where dolphins have provided protection to swimmers against sharks by swimming circles around them. This characteristic reveals the high intellectual capacity of the dolphins. The dolphins also communicate among themselves by use of clicks,

Leadership Capabilities Of Steve Jobs Commerce Essay

Leadership Capabilities Of Steve Jobs Commerce Essay The main goal of this report is to examine and evaluate leadership capabilities of Steve Jobs. Jobs is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Apple and nowadays possibly one of the most successful businessman on the world. Despite of many critics about his leadership. The fact that he is an effective leader is not contestable. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to examine the leadership qualities that have brought Jobs to the top of business World. CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND OF STEVE JOBS Steve Jobs was born on 24 February 1955, in San Francisco, California, United Sates. Clara and Paul Jobs adopted him shortly after birth. He was growing up in two with his sister Patty. In 1961, whole Jobs family relocated from San Francisco to Mountain View in California, which, was at that time the heart of electronics industry called Silicon Valley (Butcher, 1987). During his childhood, he was an individual who liked making things alone. He liked to compete with others, but definitely, he was not attracted in group sports or other team games. However, from the early age he demonstrated an intensive interest towards electronics field. He devoted all of his spare time observing and working together with neighbor who was employed at Hewlett-Packard (HP) that was an electronics producer. Moreover, at that time young Jobs joined to HP Explorer Club. This gave him possibility to observe engineers working on new products. When he was twelve, he could see and touch HPs first computer. Th is was huge milestone in his life, because then he thought that he wanted to work on this field (Stross Randall, 1993). While in high school, Jobs participated lecture at the HP factory. Once he asked directly William Hewlett CEO of HP, for some specific part, which, he required to finish a school project. Therefore, Hewlett was so dazzled he not only donated Jobs the parts, but most of all he proposed him a holiday job at HP. After High school, in 1972, Jobs joined to Reed College in Portland, Oregon. However, after one semester, he left and in summer, he decided to go to India and take a course of eastern religions. This is because Jobs was a contradictory, trifler young recluse with an inclination for problems. He liked hippie way of life, narcotics and Zen philosophy (Butcher Lee, 1987). After a few months in India, he came back. In 1975, Steve Jobs enrolled to the Homebrew Computer Club. There he met Steve Wozniak, a technical maniac who was designing a small sized computer. Steve fell in love in this idea and started exploring marketing possibility of such a product. Therefore, in 1976 together with Wozniak established their own company, which they named Apple. Initially they had no money to invest, thus to gain same resources for a startup Jobs sold his microbus and Wozniak his calculator which gave them $1,300. The first products they sold were circuit boards, which keep the inner parts of a computer. However, while selling these boards they were working on their core products that were personal computers (Norman, 2009). While doing marketing research Jobs realized that there is huge opportunity for them to expand on the market. This is because in that period time all computers available on the market were huge size that could hardly fit in the large room. What is more, at that time computers were so expensive that potential customers were not able to afford to purchase them. In response to the market needs, Apple designed its computers in this way in order to be able to sell its products to large number of users. Finally, in 1977 Apple II released to the market personal computer (PC) which in first year generated extraordinary sales of $2,7 million. The Apples sales rose to $200million within following three years. Apples example became the most unusual situation of corporate development in whole United States history. Throughout this implementation of PC Steve Jobs and its Apple permanently inscribed on the pages of history, because initiated completely new era era of personal computers (www.referenceforbusiness.com). In eighties, era of PC was progressing rapidly. Because of appearing competition on the market, Jobss and Wozniaks company was constantly pressed to develop its computers to remain a market leader. Jobs as a head of marketing of Apple in 1983 officially presented new computer called Lisa. That was created for users having smallest computer knowledge. However, mostly because of its high price this PC was not to o successful. For example, IBM, Apples biggest competitors (50% of PC market share) sold its PC at the lower price (Landrum Gene, 1993). In 1984, Jobss company issued pioneering model of computer on the market, called Macintosh (Mac). This PC differs from others in term of its usability (very easy to use). However, once again the sales level of Mac was poor. This is because; it did not have attributes that competitors had, for instance an adequate high tech printer. The catastrophe of the Mac initiated the start of Jobss collapse at Apple. Jobs retreated in 1985 from the company he had established; however, he kept the title of Chairman of the board (Norman, 2009). Short after this, Job employed several of his previous workers to establish another computer company named NeXT. Then in San Francisco in 1988, Jobs presented his new company. Preliminary feedback was good, because new PC was very easy to use, equipped in very fast processor, had great graphics, and an excellent sound sy stem. Unfortunately, no matters on the initial response from the users, the NeXTs PCs had never been released on the market. This was because once again these new computers were too expensive, possessed a black-and-white display, and were no compatible with other computers or could not work on universal software (Stross Randall, 1993). Definitely, NeXT was not the last one word of Jobs. Because in 1986 Steve bought from moviemaker, George Lukas a small-sized firm named Pixar. The core activity of Pixar was computer animation. Consequently, in 1995 this company issued famous Toy Story, which was a huge success of Pixar. Furthermore, in following years they released most successful animation movies ever such as Toy Story 2, A Bugs Life, and Monsters. After long time of failures, Pixars success was not the only one. Jobs privet life got better as well. Because in the same year, he got married and shortly he had, a baby girl named Lisa (www.referenceforbusiness.com). In the meantime, A pple wrestled below a sequence of six CEOs that had no vision and were not able to inspire the firms unmotivated engineers. Morale was down and so Apple was facing profit lose and poor financial liquidity. Then in following year, Jobs came back to Apple as consultant to the CEO. Right after this Apple bought NeXT Software. In 1997, Apple and its main competitor Microsoft became partners. In the same year, Apple started selling its products directly to customers both by internet but as well by telephone. Right after this, Apples web store went into the top three most successful e-shops worldwide (Butcher Lee, 1987). In following year, Steve publicly declared the issuing of the iMac that possessed great computing capability at the reasonable price. Additionally, in 1999 Apple released laptop available on whole plateau of colors called iBook. In 2000, Steve Jobs became once again permanent CEO of Apple (Norman, 2009). After 2001 has came a period of splendor for Apple and for Jobs tha t continues to these days. Consequently, in 2009 Forbes listed Jobs on the 43 position wealthiest people on the globe, with $5,100 million fortune. LEADERSHIP CAPABILITY OF STEVE JOBS Numerous academics have claimed that proper management of knowledge can bring to organizations crucial and essential competitive advantage. Leadership is foundation of the process of managing information efficiently and effectively (Bryant, 2003). The recent studies show that most successful managers, uses a set of different styles of leadership (Goleman, 2008). What is more Golemans survey identified the following role: leaders who have mastered at least four styles of the leadership especially the authoritative, democratic, unifying and coaching create the best atmosphere at work and have the best results. (quotation translated, 2008). Based on the leadership theories, in term of specific traits the most effective leaders are calm, innovative, confident and challenging (Belbin, 2008). They have a vision and charisma (Goleman, 2008). They have ability to convince and motivate others to act effectively, while encouraging personal development (Kouzes Posner, 2002). They uphold wid e picture, while delegating details to the others (Coutu, 2008). In case of Steve Deutschman stated (2001) that his most significant leadership feature was creativity and being innovative. We could easily state that innovation was a base on which he built his empire. Until these days, we can observe that innovation is still key factor, which brought Apple to the market leader position in information technology industry. Jobs understood that being innovative and providing permanently new ideas to meet customers needs is essence in effective leadership (Quittner, 2004). Some of us can joke that Jobs has no education background, because he has not finished any college. However, undoubted fact is that devoting his life to his passion, new solutions in IT branch achieved more than almost every human being could ever dream about. Despite of many critics towards his behavior and styles of leadership such as Jobs is perfectionist with tendency to intimidate others (Harvey, 2005), there are a few important facts: In 1976, he co-founded Apple, and until n owadays, he has successfully led company, which now has 15K employees. This can prove that Jobs possesses great leadership qualities. In period, from 1977 to 1985, Apple had in total six CEOs. Within this time company was losing money, management had not vision for the future and stuff was not motivated. Right after this, Jobs came back as a CEO and by implementation of a few innovative products in very short time Apple returned to the prosperity (Young, 2005). Moreover, additional capability of Jobss leadership is product passion and deep-seated consumer orientation. Jobs was judged for his approach to leadership, however his accomplishments were never negated, because all of these were world shattering. Another important of trait of Jobs leadership is ability to see big picture, thus not only PCs, but also long distance ahead (Landrum Gene, 1993). Consequently, many times people working with him did not understand choices of Jobs concerning new products implementation, or his lon g-term vision. For instance, shortly after he came back to Apple, he decided to stop most of running production lines. Instead of this, he focused only on four products. This soon after turned out to be a huge success (Deutchman, 2001). Steve is very challenging both his towards his employees, but first of all for himself. Thus, tasks he delegates to workers are very likely not fully SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-framed). However, from the other hand, which is good thing, Jobs is permanently working to improve all fields of his job (Erve, 2004). Furthermore, there is crucial feature of Jobs leadership style that is his capability to connect passion and respects of his workers. Business Week (1997) argued that Jobs is a great example of transformational leadership (TL). This is leadership, which causes that workers devote all their energy in the companys strategy. TL takes place when, employees interact one on another, by which increase their morality a nd motivation (Kouzes Posner, 2002). Jobs as a transformational leader, was able to make its employees to do things that were in line with his vision of the companys development. Jobss best-known gift is his capability to charm and convince others. That is an extremely powerful trait, which, he uses often to persuade anyone of everything (Siracusa, 2007). Bennis and Thomas posted in their article that great leaders are born in the crucible of harsh experience (quotation translated, 2007). Furthermore, they added that: what makes a great leader is a resistance to adversity, and perseverance in the pursuit of goals. This is definitely significant capability of Jobs as a leader. As demonstrated above (leaving Apple in1985) Jobs life was full of failures. Most of the people in a similar situation would leave for good. However He did differently. Having a look on the Steves biography, we can also state that he has additional trait which good leader need to have, to perform effectively. Namely, this is self-confidence and ability to experiment and take a risk. These, according Kouzes and Posner are necessary (2002). All his live Jobs was confident, he deeply believed in all what he has been doing. He profoundly believed in his success, in success of companys strategy and so success of its products (Erve, 2004). This self-confidence and courage led him on the top. Many Journalists suggest that Jobs is egoist (Norman, 2009). Very likely he is indeed. However, this could be perceived also as crucial trait of effective leader, especially here in this case of company founder. Possibly Jobs has dreamed to be billionaire, and so egoism helped him to make this dream come true. Possibly egoism was a driving force which convinced him to create successful teams of employees that were able to develop such a revolutionary products. Jobs possesses also ability to create and develop great teams, consisted of star talents (Young, 2005). This is crucial trait, which is essential i n effective leadership (Kouzes Posner, 2002). This skill combined with great ideas, its vision and capability to manage and motivate his team could be key factors of his overall success. Summarizing the core features of Jobs success as leader are the following: being visionary, innovative and charismatic confidence and trust in: himself, success, his strategy capability to recruit, develop and motivate effective teams built of star talents persistence and resistance for defeats product zeal huge consumer devotion skill to transmit his ideas to the teams for realization; LEADERSHIP WEAKNESSES OF STEVE JOBS There is undoubted fact that overall performance Jobs has to be considered as a successful, because numbers on his bank account do not lie. He is extremely victorious businessman who achieved great financial status. However, there are also numerous of weaknesses, which, Steve Jobs possesses. Here based on the statements of people who have had direct contact with him, we could have a feelings Jobs represents typical for Belbins Shaper weaknesses, such as emotionality, the tendency to irritation or aggressive behavior (Belbin, 2004). Moreover, research performed by Belbin in 2004 to identify behavior of most effective manager indicated shaper team role as a least effective. Jobs represents also autocratic style of leadership. This approach has a tendency to weak decision-making process on the middle management level. Recently Apples management team gives the impression of being more motivated by dread of Steve than by their own inherent aspects (Siracusa, 2007). Webber from Washington Post said (2009) that Jobs had became a living legend in term of leadership style. Since his behavior discredits all existing best practices of leadership. He demonstrated long list of less than advisable behaviors, from public rebuking his employees to disrupting practices within meetings to the time consuming overview of every detail in product designing process. However in contrary experts and academics from leadership area state: Never reprimand your subordinate publicly! Rather, If necessary do it face to face (Walasek, 2010) The most effective leaders maintain wide focus, while leaving details to the others (Belbin, 2004) The most effective managers are calm and they are able to control their emotions (Rzyska, 2010) CONCLUSIONS This hard task to indicate weaknesses of the one of the biggest leaders ever CEO of decades (Fortune Magazine, 2009), whether to indicate the room for improvement in his leadership. Numbers do not lie he had no money when he started making business. Now he is billionaire. In 2009, Forbes magazine listed him on the 43 position wealthiest people on the globe, with $5,100 million fortune. Many traits that Jobs possesses seems to be completely opposite in relations to these indicated by leadership experts as an essential in order to be effective. However, those that he has, such as being innovative, self-confident, persistent for defeats or capability to make its ideas come true seem to be sufficient.

Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Analysis Essay

Geert Hofstede is a social psycologist, originally from the Netherlands. Hofstede is well known globally for his revolutionary research of multicultural organisations and groups. Perhaps his most important work was developing the theory of cultural dimensions. There are 5 dimensions that Hofstede explains in his framework- these are; Power distance index (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), and Long term Orientation versus Short term normative orientation (LTO). Power distance index is the dimension in which a society can understand and accept inequalities that occur in their culture. It is all about the less dominant members of that culture understanding that imbalances politically, financially and racially for example, occur in their world- and the key issue Hofstede focuses on is how these disparities are handles. For a country to yield a large degree of PDI, then the people must recognise that thes e inequalities will occur and accept a hierarchical order. Therefore societies with a low PDI, make every effort to rid of the differences in status or importance and strive to level the distribution of, for example, wealth or power. The example that Hofstede recently gave to illustrate the impact of PDI is the reaction of Chinese authorities to the fact that a Chinese author won the Nobel Prize for peace, explaining that he is a man that the western part of the world would only perceive as a good, virtuous winner of the prize. Due to the authorities reaction he describes them as feeling threatened by the possible share of power, therefore being a place of high PDI. The second dimension that Hofstede describes is Individualism. This can be explained as a preference of a society that only believes they need to look after themselves and their immediate family. The flipside of this, which Hofstede refers to as Collectivism, represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. A society’s position on this dimension is reflected in whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of â€Å"I† or â€Å"we.† The next aspect of his framework is the Masculinity versus Femininity factor. The masculinity feature is where society in whole is very competitive. It is about achievement, success, and prevailing more than others and gaining material rewards for success. The opposite of this that is illustrated is femininity,  which is a society which is more focused on cooperating, caring for the weak and the general concern for quality of life. In the business context Masculinity versus Femininity is sometimes also related to as â€Å"tough versus gender† cultures. The fourth point that Hofstede portrays in his work is Uncertainty avoidance index. This is explained as being the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with doubt and ambiguity. Hofstede explains the key issue here is how a society can deal with or accept the uncertainty of the future and how it cannot be known- it is a question of whether society attempts to control what will happen in the future or just simply let it happen. A country with a low uncertainty avoidance index is the latter; the part of society with more of a laid back and relaxed approach to how the future develops, whereas a country with strong UAI has firm beliefs on codes of conduct and behaviour, in order to be able to influence the future as much as possible. The final dimension that Hofstede uses is the Long term orientation versus short term normative orientation. Societies who score low on this dimension, for example, prefer to maintain time-honoured traditions and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion. Those with a culture which scores high, on the other hand, take a more pragmatic approach: they encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a way to prepare for the future. To conclude this exploration of Geert Hofstede’s framework, I believe that all of the points he makes and focuses on are relevant in societies internationally, regardless of specific cultures. For example, the Power Distance index dimension is an issue that occurs all over the globe. There are individuals in every society that have superior power to others, be it financially, politically or just have a greater status in the social order. However the acceptance of these issues can vary from country to country. For example, I would say that North Korea have a very high PDI, as they are governed by a dictatorship where certain individuals have enormous power over the rest of society, and they just get along with it and accept that fact. However in more democratic states; i.e. the UK and the USA the PDI is much lower as society believes much more in equality.