Monday, September 30, 2019

Leadership Management

APPLIED LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT COURSE BUS3023 ASSIGNMENT 3 CREDITS Please complete the following assignment and mail it with the copy of the assignment to be marked and for comments. Please use your discretion to determine the length of your answer. Keep the following criteria in mind: Did I demonstrate my knowledge and insight? Will the tutor be satisfied that I can apply the information (Skills)? Write answers in your own words as far as possible and refrain from copying from text books/handouts. 1. Define: Leadership. The process of influencing people while operating to meet organizational requirements and improving the organization through change. 2. Name the five practices of exemplary leadership. * Model the way * Inspire a shared vision * Challenge the Process * Enable other to act * Encourage the heart 3. Explain the relationship between management, vision and planning. * Management involves all the undertakings require planning, organizing, command, coordination and cont rol to function properly, by focusing on producing change by developing a vision for the future along with strategies for bringing about the changes needed to achieve that vision. . Does every manager need to be a leader? Explain. * All good managers are leaders to various degrees. They need to carry out their leaders' visions by creating their own visions that support the larger vision, and then getting their workers to accomplish the vision. For example, Howard Schultz, of Starbucks Coffee Company, had a vision of 2000 stores by the year 2000. This vision became one of the driving forces behind the company's success. Did Howard Schultz build those 2000 stores himself? No way!Schultz's vision was achieved by managers and supervisors throughout the organization who had smaller scale visions that directly supported his 2000 by 2000 vision. They got these visions accomplished by delegating the means and authority to their subordinates. These managers and supervisors also supported the ir employees by giving them the means and opportunity to grow by coaching and mentoring; and providing training, development, and education opportunities. * A CEO cannot be the sole leader of a large organization. There are simply to many leadership tasks that must be accomplished†¦ leader cannot do all of them herself. 5. It has been identified that there are 6 Pillars of Character that are important to adopting and ethical perspective in leadership development. Can you name four of the six? a) Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship b) Ruthlessness, Drive, Determination, Toughness, Supportive, Action oriented c) Supportive, Intelligent, Insightful, Good Communicator, Toughness, Fair d) Caring, Softness, Intelligent, Decisive, Team Player, Communicator 6. Define: * Vision The ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom:the organization had lost its vision and direction * Mission * a strongly felt aim, ambition, or cal ling: his main mission in life has been to cut unemployment * Strategy * A plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim. * The art of planning and directing overall military operations and movements in a war or battle * Leadership Values. * Leaders know what they value. They also recognize the importance of ethical behaviour.The best leaders exhibit both their values and their ethics in their leadership style and actions. Your leadership ethics and values should be visible because you live them in your actions every single day. 7. What concepts of leadership are important to explain the difference in focus of leadership compared to management? * Leadership and management must go hand in hand, however they are NOT identical. Both are needed and they are linked and complement each other. Any attempt to separate the two is likely to cause more problems in a business without solving any. Many debates took place and is still taking place regarding the differences. Simply put the manager’s job is to plan, organize and coordinate and the leader’s role is to inspire and motivate * The following is from book published in 1989 written by Warren Bennis namely â€Å"On Becoming a Leader,† he composed a list of the differences as listed below: * The manager administers; the leader innovates. * The manager is a copy; the leader is an original. * The manager maintains; the leader develops. * The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people. The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust. * The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. * The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. * The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leader’s eye is on the horizon. * The manager imitates; the leader originates. * The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. * The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person. * The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing. 8.In which way do you see that new technologies will affect leadership and leaders? * I do not see technologies affecting leaders, or people for that matter. What I do see are good leaders achieving their goals by selecting the right tools (technology) to achieve their goals. Good leaders focus upon their goals and then do what is necessary to achieve it; they do not pick a technology and then try to achieve some goal with it. 9. What is the difference between ‘Interpersonal skills and Personal Learning Skills’? * Interpersonal Skills- The skills used by a person to properly interact with others.In the business domain, the term generally refers to an employee's ability to get along with others while getting the job done. * Personal Learning Skills – Is the way that a person will learn something either by making notes, creating a mind map, etc. 10. Write an essay of (one) A4 Page on the importance of the individual within the context of team practices. Organisations are made up of individuals brought together to enable the organisation to achieve its mission. The organisation's structure will determine how these individuals are brought together and how they relate to one another.The success of the organisation is dependent on each individual working together to achieve the common goal. If individuals are pulling in different directions, this will have a detrimental impact upon the organisation achieving its mission. It is the role of the manager to integrate the activities of individuals, ensuring that they are aware of the institution's priorities and that they are working towards them. Managers achieve this through the authority delegated to them within the organisation's hierarchy. We are all different.We differ in many ways, some of them visual (age, gender) some of them non-visual (personality, abilities). These differences mean that we often have diff erent values and attitudes on certain issues and individuals will perceive situations in different ways. It can be interesting and rewarding to discuss a topic from another point of view and to gain insight into other perspectives. But diversity can also be challenging and it can sometimes be difficult to understand things from a different point of reference.From an individual perspective, it is important to understand and appreciate that not everyone will see things or value the things that you do, nor agree with your opinions. Different jobs require different abilities, skills and competencies. When we assign someone to a job that does not match their abilities, because the job is either not sufficiently demanding or too demanding, the result can be frustration and stress for both the individual and their work colleagues. In a situation where an individual's abilities do not match the requirements of the job because they are in some way lacking, then the individual will feel out o f their depth.This has an impact on the individual who feels unable to complete their tasks to the required and expected levels of performance. The team will also be affected by the situation. They will often have to take on extra work and duties in order to support their colleague. In a situation where an individual's abilities exceed those required for the job, then the individual may find the job too easy and become bored. This leads to a lack of enthusiasm and care for the job and a sense of frustration for the individual feeling unable to achieve their potential.Again this frustration impacts upon the rest of the team and ultimately their performance. Stress is a very individual concept and our responses to it can vary considerably. We all find different situations stressful and we all react to them in a variety of ways. Some people are stress victims. They perceive almost every situation in life as a threat and they respond negatively to situations causing them anxiety, anger, self-doubt or frustration. Others view situations more positively. They assess situations and channel their energies into a proactive response spurring them on to achieve their goals.Our response to stress depends on a balance between how demanding a potentially stressful situation is perceived to be and our ability to cope with it. Too big an imbalance and we will suffer negative stress. This ability to cope with stress is influenced by our outlook on life, our health and our support system which includes friends and relatives. Therefore, a situation that may be stressful to one individual, may be exhilarating and exciting to another, and indeed our reactions to stressful situations and how we cope with them varies throughout our life 11. Describe the three critical dimensions of team learning. First, there is a need to think insightfully about complex issues * Teams must learn how to tap the potential for many minds to be more intelligent than one mind * Second, there is a need f or innovative, coordinated action * Third, there is the role of team members on other teams * A learning team fosters other learning teams through inculcating the practices and skills of team learning 12. Explain the requirements for leadership team learning. * Leadership in a non-team work environment is a top down structure where rules, not principles, govern participation.In a team culture, leaders, guided by their principles of involvement, work to help team members find a level of confidence, trust, and cooperation so that they can achieve high levels of production * Both managing a department and leading a team involve the following skills and activities: * Providing direction and leadership to others * Planning * Meeting goals and objectives * Managing activities/tasks * Working with people * The key difference lies in the responsibility for performance management. * Team leaders, on the other hand, are responsible for leading teams of people who may not report to them. Witho ut organizational authority, team leaders must influence others and inspire them to meet the goals of the initiative or project. * Following are five critical team leadership skills that will help team leaders (and managers) effectively influence and demonstrate respect for their team members. * Understanding behavioural styles * Listening and effectively communicating * Giving praise * Handling * criticism * Using problem – solving and persuasion instead of Criticism 13. What is the relationship between leaders and followers? Many people make mistake to separate leaders and followers. I think that no matter what position one has within an organization, he/she is playing a follower’s role to support someone else. Great leaders of an organization are following the profitable goals of their stakeholders. For a survival  business, followers need to be effective and supportive for their leaders to be successful. Nevertheless, followers are more effective if they consider themselves active and independent * It is more important in my opinion that how follower’s view of their leaders is. According to Yukl et al. 2010), leaders’ effectiveness implies leader competence and intentions in the view of the followers. Followers who are closed to their leaders are often the most susceptible to the crucibles of their failed leaders. Additionally, followers who are so committed to their leaders are the most disappointed people when they see their leaders fail. 14. Distinguish between the following types of teams: * Problem Solving Teams; * A group of individuals assembled to work on a project that involves resolving one or more issues that have already arisen or to deal effectively with issues as they arise.In a business context, a problem solving team will typically be formed for a limited time frame incorporating staff from different organizational levels with various relevant skill sets. * Cross Functional Teams; * Let us understand this with the help of an example. * Maria and Andy both were part of the branding team. They got an assignment from their superiors to be completed within two days. Unfortunately Andy met with an accident and was advised complete bed rest. To avoid delays, Peter from the operations team was shifted to the marketing team to assist Maria for the time being and form a team.Such teams are called cross functional teams. Ideally the employees should be more or less on the same level to avoid ego hassles. Individuals from different areas come and work together for a common objective to form a cross functional team. In such teams, people from different areas, interests and likings join hands to come out with a unique idea to successfully complete a task. * Virtual Teams; * Virtual teams consist of individuals who are separated by distances and connected through computer. Here individuals communicate with each other online through internet.Sam at Los Angeles can form a team with Mandy at Mexico and Sa ra at Denver all working for a common objective but the communication is totally digital through internet. Such teams are helpful when employees need to connect with each other and are located at different places. Individuals supporting any community in social networking sites such as facebook or orkut also form a virtual team as all the members are from different locations but support a common community. They all have a common objective -to support and promote their community. * Research and development Teams; Investigative activities that a business chooses to conduct with the intention of making a discovery that can either lead to the development of new products or procedures, or to improvement of existing products or procedures. Research and development is one of the means by which business can experience future growth by developing new products or processes to improve and expand their operations. * Self Managed Teams * Self Managed Teams consist of individuals who work together again for a common purpose but without the supervision of any leader. Here as the name suggests every individual is accountable for his individual performance.The team members of self managed teams must respect each other and should never loose focus on their target. No leader is appointed and the team members have to take their own responsibility. Individuals take the initiative on their own and are their own guides and mentors. 15. What do you understand by ‘Quality Performance ; Collaboration’? * Quality Performance is also referred to as quality of service. Quality performance can be assessed through measurements of physical products, statistical sampling of the output of processes, or through surveys of purchasers of goods or services. Collaboration is working with each other to do a task. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, (this is more than the intersection of common goals seen in co-operati ve ventures, but a deep, collective, determination to reach an identical objective 16. Explain in your own words the phases of the mentoring relationship. * Building a relationship between the mentor and mentee * Discussing and developing clear expectations between the parties * The development of the Mentee * Closing of Ending the Formal Metor – Mentee relationship 17.Why is the development leadership effectiveness important in the 21st Century? * The quality of leadership is an important element in an organization’s success, since leaders influence employees to work together toward the fulfilment of a company’s mission and the achievement of its goals 18. Describe the two leadership functions needed for effective group performance. Must the leader perform both of these functions? * To act as a counsellor of the people at work: When the subordinates face problems at work, which may be technical or emotional, the leader has to guide and advise the subordinate co ncerned.There may be situation which are out of control, in that situation, leader must stand behind the subordinate to encourage and support and find a solution for the problem. * Time Management: Leader must ensure the timely completion of the work while ensuring the quality and efficiency of the work. At different stages, the work should be complete according to the plan. The timely completion of the individual tasks will ensure the completion of the group work. Leader should monitor and ensure the individual task at different stages are accomplished as per the plan. In my personal view I would think that a leader should perform in both of these mentioned functions 19. What is the â€Å"situational leadership theory†? How should the manager’s style vary in each of the four phases? * Situational Leadership Theory (S. L. T. ) is the idea that changing conditions often call for a rapidly evolving strategy with tactics to support the evolution of the team to meet the pr esent challenges. S. L. T. also suggests that great leaders will recognize the special talents ; strengths of each team member and then adjust the tactical maneuvers around the strengths of each team member and the collective team. 0. In what ways, if any, have your views on leaders and leadership changed as a result of this course? Which leadership style do you feel is best suited to you? Which style would you be most likely to use? How flexible in leadership style do you believe you are? Do you think your answers to these questions will affect your career choice(s)? 21. Create a leadership time line for yourself (beginning with the end of high school) that depicts important turning points in your development as a managerial leader. Think of where you have been and where you are today on the time line.What do you expect it to look like in five years? Ten years? 22. Describe in short the four principal forces of change. * Globalization * A convergence of international activities suc h as the increase in overseas production of goods and services; increasing consumer demands in emerging markets worldwide; declining barriers to international trade aided by rapidly changing technology, have created a globalized economy in which inter-dependency among countries has emerged as the norm today * Technological Change: * Technology is like a two-edged sword that can make our lives easier or worse.The Internet has revolutionized the way in which information is exchanged, communication facilitated and commerce conducted. Technology is rapidly changing and effective management demands more knowledge in these areas in order for companies to manage their resources and develop, maintain or keep their competitive edge. * While technology has enabled firms to save time and money by conducting business such as negotiations, trade, and commerce in real time, it can also facilitate the dissemination of sensitive information about a company's practices, trade secrets and new product development in a matter of seconds. Knowledge Management * Driving forces such as shifts in buyer demographics and preferences; technology, product and market innovation; changes in society, consumer attitudes and lifestyle all demand new ideas. This has created a need for knowledge workers. * Knowledge workers comprise a company's intellectual capital and are made up of creative people with novel ideas and problem-solving skills. Managing its knowledge assets can give a company a competitive edge as it effectively utilizes the expertise, skills, intellect, and relationships of members of the organization. * Cross-boundaries Collaboration An important part of knowledge management is effectively managing organization-wide collaboration. Use of appropriate technology and applications such as a virtual private networks; VoIP, e-mail, social networking websites such as Face Book, and even company-sponsored blogs can facilitate communication between an organization and its stakeholders, and help in different types of internal and external collaborative processes. An example of a tool that can be used in cross-boundaries collaboration might be an easily accessible online database that provides a central source of information to employees, customers, or suppliers. 3. Briefly profile your company’s primary shareholders. What are their investment objectives? How much influence do they currently exert? If your organization is not publicly traded, identify the key stakeholders. How influential are they in the day-to-day operations? How might the influence of the key shareholders or stakeholders change in the next five years? With this level of analysis of the forces acting upon your company, what must the organization do differently in order to effectively address these influences? Where do you fit into that picture? 24.What are the values that drive you in your job? 25. How do you keep people's loyalty in a company that is downsizing? * Leadership is more about enabling people to do their best and become the best, than it is about loyalty. Leaders inspire people while managers set polices that buy loyalty. Besides, organizations that have effective leaders throughout their organization will find themselves downsizing much less than organizations that are lacking leaders. That is because they will be performing the necessary steps to carry them on to the visions they have created.Also, if you have good leaders throughout the organization, you are going to find yourself doing the right things if and when it becomes cost-cutting time – being honest and compassionate 26. Is there any index of success for turning common managers into leaders, i. e. , a tax of effectiveness of training? * I'm not so sure if there is an index, since this type of training falls more into the development category, which can be extremely hard to measure at times. For example, if you train someone to operate a forklift, you can then go to the job site to see i f that person actually learner some new skills.But observing someone to see if they have gained some leadership skills is much more difficult. How do you effectively measure their visioning skills? Also, developing a leader is not accomplished in a two-week leadership course; that is where they learn the basics. The rest of what they learn comes through a trial and error period of practice. However, there are indicators that show how much value organizations place on leadership skills: * The March 2, 1999 edition of the NewsEdge had a story on an international study conducted by the HayGroup for Fortune magazine.They found that corporate cultures of the world's most admired companies are alike in many ways, but also differ from those of an average company. * This study reveals that the dominant values in the world's most admired companies are teamwork, customer focus, innovation fair treatment of employees, global reach, and vision. These are mainly leadership skills! * In average c ompanies, the overriding values are making budget, supporting the decisions of management, and minimizing risks. While these are mainly management skills! * Great companies have leaders while average companies are run by managers! Also, Aon Consulting of Chicago reported that the top five reasons for employee commitment are (notice that all five tasks are mostly leadership skills): * Employer's recognition of personal and family time * The organization's vision and direction * Personal growth * The ability to challenge the way things are done * Everyday work satisfaction 27. Describe your business strategy in less than 45 words. 28. Answer True or False: According to the recent literature, courage is one of the seven competencies of effective leaders. * False 29.International management development involves the CEO and the senior team and other key elements. Which of the following is not one of the key elements? a) The global strategy b) Human Resource and line capabilities c) Senio r Management involvement d) Performance Management 30. Explain why resistance to change is so prevalent in the workplace * Loss of Job: * In an organizational setting, any process, technological advancement, systems, or product change will include streamlining, working smarter, cost reduction, efficiency, faster turn around times. * Bad Communication Strategy: The way in which the change process is communicated  to employees within the organization is a critical factor in determining their reactions. * Shock and Fear of the Unknown: * Employees’ responses to organizational change can range from fear and panic to enthusiastic support. During periods of change, some employees may feel the need to cling to the past because it was a more secure, predictable time. * Loss of Control: * Familiar routines help employees develop a sense of control over their work environment. Being asked to change the way they operate may make employees feel powerless and confused.People are more li kely to understand and implement changes when they feel they have some form of control * Lack of Competence: * This is a fear that is difficult for employees to admit openly. But sometimes, change in organizations necessitates changes in skills, and some people will feel that they won’t be able to make the transition well. Therefore, the only way for them to try and survive is to kick against the change. * Poor Timing: * Change must be introduced when there are no other major initiatives going on. Sometimes it is not what a leader does, but it is how, when and why she or he does it that creates resistance to change!Undue resistance can occur because changes are introduced in an insensitive manner or at an awkward time * Lack of Reward: * There is a common business saying that managers get what they reward. Organizational employees will resist change when they do not see anything in it for them in terms of rewards. * Office Politics: * Every organisation has its own share of i n-house politics. So, some employees resist change as a political strategy to â€Å"show or prove† that the change decision is wrong. They may also resist showing that the person leading the change is not up to the task. Former Change Experience: * Our attitudes about change are partly determined by the way we have experienced change in the past. For instance, if in your organisation, you have handled change badly in the past, the employees will have good reasons for rebelling. * Loss of Support System: * Employees already in their comfort zones, working with the managers they get along with, and who are operating within predictable routines know their support system will back them up during challenging times. * Empathy and Peer Pressure: * Whether we are introverted or extroverted, we are still social creatures.Organizational stakeholders will resist change to protect the interests of a group, team friends, and colleagues. It is normal for employees to resist change to prote ct their co-workers * Lack of trust and support: * Successful organizational change does not occur in a climate of mistrust. Trust, involves faith in the intentions and behaviour of others. In organizations where there is a high degree of trust and each individual employee is treated  with respect and dignity, there is less resistance to change. 31. How could cultural differences within an organization be better leveraged to enhance performance? Cultural diversity involves the differences in the composition of members of an organization in terms of nationality, race, color, gender, creed, religion or age — in other words, an array of culture found among people from diverse backgrounds. Organizational behavior refers to the nature of interactions among people and groups within an organization. The positive influence of cultural diversity facilitates members of the organization to build relationships and acknowledge each other regardless of their differences of origin and bac kground. A typical organization has an extensive range of people who have cultural and personal differences. A small business interested in fostering cultural diversity among its employees endeavours to create mutual respect for the different cultures, along with enabling personnel to reach their full potential. Acknowledging diverse cultures enables the organization to positively influence the organizational behaviour that, in turn, enhances the performance and image of the organization.The business should portray the cultural diversity aspect of the organization in the mission statement. * Cultural diversity is the biggest potential benefit to work teams with complex tasks and problems that require creativity and innovation. 32. Select the right answer: All of the following are differences in the inherent leadership styles between women and men except: a) Men are more likely to use a directive command and control style b) Man rely on formal authority for their position c) Women at tempt to enhance followers’ self-worth ) Men share power and information e) Women tend to lead through inclusion and rely on interpersonal skills to influence others 33. Answer True or False: One limitation of path-goal theory of leadership is that some of the contingencies have not been sufficiently researched. * True 34. Describe the different stages of group evolution. * Forming * In the Forming stage, personal relations are characterized by dependence. Group members rely on safe, patterned behaviour and look to the group leader for guidance and direction. * Storming The next stage, called Storming, is characterized by competition and conflict in the personal-relations dimension an organization in the task-functions dimension. As the group members attempt to organize for the task, conflict inevitably results in their personal relations. Individuals have to bend and mould their feelings, ideas, attitudes, and beliefs to suit the group organization. * Norming * In the Normin g stage, interpersonal relations are characterized by cohesion. Group members are engaged in active acknowledgment of all members’ contributions, community building and maintenance, and solving of group issues.Members are willing to change their preconceived ideas or opinions on the basis of facts presented by other members, and they actively ask questions of one another. Leader ship is shared, and cliques dissolve. * Performing * The Performing stage is not reached by all groups. If group members are able to evolve to stage four, their capacity, range, and depth of personal relations expand to true interdependence. In this stage, people can work independently, in subgroups, or as a total unit with equal facility. Their roles and authorities dynamically adjust to the changing needs of the group and individuals. Adjourning * The final stage, Adjourning, involves the termination of task behaviours and disengagement from relationships. A planned conclusion usually includes recog nition for participation and achievement and an opportunity for members to say personal goodbyes. 35. Select the right answer: The type of leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements are: a) Transactional leaders b) Employee-oriented leaders c) Transformational leaders d) Process-oriented leaders ) Charismatic leaders 36. Explain in your own words what you understand by ‘Distributing Power and Status’ * Human societies develop pecking orders just as chickens do, but both the process and the outcome are, of course, far more complex and varied. We are used to a single powerful leader who operates through command and control is attractive in its simplicity. However it is much better to rely upon a wide range of individuals and leaders who share a common set of values and feel personal ownership for the overall success of the organization.These responsible and empowered individuals will serve a s much better watchdogs than any single, dominant leader or bureaucratic structure. I personally feel that status will not influence teams aa power is distributed evenly and most of the time these teams are composed of people that have the same status. It can also be useful to adopt a peer ranking system. All associates get the opportunity to rank members of their team, including their leaders 37. Define Group Boundaries and Identity. For a group to function and develop, one of the most important areas for clear consensus is the perception of who is in the new group and who is not in, and the criteria by which such decisions are made. New members cannot really function and concentrate on their primary task if they are insecure about their membership, and the group cannot really maintain a good sense of itself if it does not have a way of defining itself and its boundaries. * Initially, the criteria for inclusion are usually set by the leader, founder, or convener, but as the group m embers interact, those criteria are ested, and a group consensus arises around the criteria that survive the test. In a young company, there is often intense debate over who should be an owner or a partner, who should have stock options, who should be hired for key functions or be an officer, and who should be ejected because he or she does not fit in. In this debate, real personnel decisions are being made, and at the same time, the criteria of inclusion are being forged, tested, and articulated so that they become clear to everyone.Such debate also provides opportunities for testing mission statements, goal clarity, and means clarity, illustrating how several cultural elements are simultaneously being created, tested, articulated, and reinforced. 38. Complete the following statement: With self-leadership, individuals and teams set goals, plan and implement tasks, evaluate performance, and _________________. * Solve their own problems, and motivate themselves. 39. What do you under stand by ‘Moralism-Pragmatism’? Moralism means the notion that there is some intrinsically good way of living, or at minimum some intrinsically bad ways of living. To the moralist, the proper function is to reinforce the intrinsically correct way of living and to suppress the intrinsically incorrect ways of living. In contrast, pragmatism is not concerned with the intrinsic ways of living, but with outcomes: a way of living is good or bad only to the extent that it produces a good or bad outcome. To the pragmatist, the proper function of the is to produce a good outcome.Both of these paradigms entail making moral judgments: the moralist must (somehow) judge which ways of living are good or bad; the pragmatist must (somehow) judge which outcomes are good or bad. 40. A more recently emergent theory of leadership holds that IQ scores and other historical qualifiers of â€Å"leadership† are not as important as being able to understand yourself and others in the conte xt of varying situations. What is this theory known as? a) Motivation b) Self Awareness c) Emotional Intelligence d) Charismatic Leadership 1. Perhaps the first study of Organizational Leadership (Lewin et al, 1938) identified 3 behavioural leadership styles, which of the following is not one of the styles? a) Autocratic b) Democratic c) Laissez-Faire d) Task Oriented 42. The super leader model of leadership proposed by Afsaneh ; Nahavandi in a 2000 paper, does NOT include which of the following characteristics for a leader? a) Use self-managing teams b) Work as a facilitator c) Delegate to a team with goals and structure d) Trust the team to handle given work 43.A critic of business school's obsession with teaching of management as a science, this current professor at McGill University is also the co-author of a organizational structure known as an Organigraph a) Henry Mintzberg b) Peter Drucker c) James MacGregor Burns d) None of the above. 44. What are some advantages of a MBA Pr ogram focused on Leadership? * Help students develop skills that are essential to success in any field: critical thinking, problem-solving, communicating, negotiating, and acting ethically in professional situations. Programs are designed for mid-career professionals who want to step into leadership roles * It has flexible schedules 45. Which of the following theories of leadership postulates that people will be more focused and motivated if they believe they are capable of high performance, believe their effort will results in desired outcomes and believe their work is worthwhile? a) Contingency Theory b) Path-Goal Theory c) Transformational Theory d) Transactional Theory 46. The belief that people are either born or not born with the qualities for successful leadership can be classified as what type of leadership theory? ) Transformational Theory b) Situational Theory c) Skills Theory d) Trait Theory 47. The nominal group technique is a good way to allow all group members to have a say in the group's final decision? a) True b) False 48. When faced with a difficult decision that directly involves the group you a) Avoid making the decision altogether b) Put it up for discussion and ask other members of your group for input c) Leave it to someone else to decide d) Pretend the problem doesn't exist e) Keep postponing the decision until the problem becomes obsolete 9. You delegate a task. What defines the performance standards for the person who fulfills the task? a) How well you would do it b) The person's past performance c) Criteria and standards set prior d) The job needs to be done as well as necessary (fitness for purpose) e) By giving others in the group authority, the manager/team leader loses control. 50. When working toward a goal a) You tend to focus on the big picture b) You tend to focus on the details. 51. Do you have a clear vision of where your group/organization is headed? a) Definitely ) To a large degree c) To a certain degree d) Not really 52. Why is effective communication so important for leadership? * Effective communication is an important element of success for every organization, leader, manager, supervisor, and employee. An organization whose people communicate effectively experiences fewer of the misunderstandings that create friction between people, waste time, and cause mistakes. The strategy of this enterprise is clear to all, and each person understands how his or her work contributes to that strategy.Employees listen to customers and, in turn, are clear and persuasive in describing their company’s products and services. 53. Explain where does trust fit in terms of effective leadership? * Trust is one of the most critical elements in the leading-following equation. People who are in leadership roles in any organization cannot succeed over the long term unless there is some sense of trust from the followers in that organization. Force and coercion can replace trust as a glue that binds people together f or a while, but not for the long haul. Followers need not love a leader. They need not like a leader. But to support a leader, and follow him or her, they need to have some sense of trust and confidence in that leader, both in their ability to perform competently and expertly, and confidence in the leader as a person 54. Explain where does power fit in leadership? * To answer the question we have to distinguish between two kinds of power. First there is the kind of power that is associated with a formal position in an organization's hierarchy, such as the CEO, VP, Department Head, or Unit Supervisor.Holding such a positions confers some ability to control reward, punishments, working conditions and other things that affect employees. We call this formal power, or you can also call it positional or role power. * The other kind of power doesn't come from having a formal position, so both formal and informal leaders can wield it. We can call this form of power informal power, or influe ntial power, since it is based on the ability to influence and not on the ability to control the rewards and punishment or the work environment.Informal power is a result of others (peers, other managers, rank and file) choosing to follow because the leader creates trust, loyalty and inspires others. 55. What is a ‘thought leader’? * Thought leaders are people who have an influence on how people think about an issue or situation. Through their development of models, theories or ideas, they end up with a following that stems largely from the apparent truth and/or usefulness of their ideas. * Thought leaders do not â€Å"intend to lead†. Neither do they require formal power. Their â€Å"power to lead† lies with the apparent truth and effectiveness (and often innovativeness) of their thinking. Thought leaders can affect others on a grand scale, through the exposure of their thinking in the media, or through books, personal influence and so on, but they can al so affect others locally, within an organization, by presenting their thinking in compelling ways, so that those around them approach problems or issues from a different perspective. Often thought leaders are best known for innovative or â€Å"new† ideas. 56. Answer True or False: According to organizational behaviour research, male and female leaders do not differ in their levels of task-oriented and people-oriented leadership. True 57. What is paternalistic leadership? * A type of fatherly managerial style typically employed by dominant males where their organizational power is used to control and protects subordinate staff that are expected to be loyal and obedient. A manager with a paternalistic leadership style might be appropriate for a business with a more formal and hierarchical structure where creative thinking is not required of staff. 58. Some authors say leaders must divide their time in three parts: one for handling finances, another for quality, and a third for relationships.What do you think about? * Leaders have two â€Å"leadership continuum† scales that they must follow. Earlier, I talked about the people scale, and how we have been moving from Douglas McGreagor's Theory X to Theory Y. This continuum can be seen as the vertical axis (concern for people) in Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid. The other axis is the â€Å"concern for task† and it is plotted along the horizontal axis. By focusing on the far end of the scales or continuum and developing goals to achieve the 9s, a leader can create her visions.And then by developing great people (people scale) and giving them the means to accomplish your vision (task scale), you have ensured that the necessary ingredients are there for organization success. In other words, good leaders have â€Å"goal directed visions† and then achieve them by inspiring their people to work through change and challenges in order for task accomplishment. This, in turn, equals a successful organization. 59. What do you call the theory that some people have specific characteristics that differentiate leaders from non-leaders? * Trait Theories 60.What's the worst fault a leader can have? * A failure to see the benefits of diversity. This creates like-people throughout the organizations and leads to one-way thinking. If you do not have a diverse team, then you cannot come up with the creative brainstorming solutions to stay competitive. Also, you alienate your customers and consumers who can be quite diverse. 61. Complete the following statement: If trait research had been successful, we would ______________, whereas if behavioural studies were correct, we would ___________. * Select the right person for the job; * Train leaders. 2. Select the right answer: It is generally considered that leadership is important to an organization’s success. All of the following are actions that leaders take to make an organization successful except: a) Make rapid and firm decisi ons b) Control deviations from a standard c) Motivate employees to higher levels of productivity d) Practice charismatic standards e) Anticipate change and vigorously exploit opportunities 63. Answer True or False: Path-goal theory advocates servant leadership. * True 64. What is the shape of the perfect leader and does he or she exist? To paraphrase W. Somerset Maugham, â€Å"There are three rules for creating good leaders. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. † * There are no perfect leaders, that is why good leaders are always trying to improve themselves through self-study, training, education, mentorship, making mistakes and then learning from them, etc. Since there are no perfect leaders, it is hard to build a good leadership model, which is why there are hundreds of them. But, we can be sure of a few things that good leaders have: * A vision of the future (answers the question, â€Å"where are we going? †). The ability to encourage followers to jump into t hat experience (work through the many changes that are required to achieve that vision). * A love of self-improvement for themselves and their followers. This love makes them good coaches and mentors. * Empowering their followers to get things done (delegates). 65. Does a leader need to be motivated? How can leaders maintain themselves to stay motivated? * A leader definitely has to be motivated; those who are not will quickly be seen as frauds in their followers' eyes as they expect their leaders to be enthusiastic about their work.Motivation comes in two forms: extrinsic and intrinsic. * Extrinsic motivators come from the outside. For example, one reason that I go to work is that I need to make a living in order to survive. Intrinsic motivators come from within. For example, another reason that I go to work is that I get a great deal of satisfaction when I accomplish a difficult task. * Good leaders set and achieve goals that allow them to get a healthy balance of both motivators. Although many people believe that intrinsic motivators are the best, that is not necessarily so.Often, the extrinsic motivators lead us into new situations and then our love for doing it (intrinsic) carries us through and on to new heights. 66. As far as communication is a key point, how can a shy person be a leader? * Communication, from a leadership point, is more than just directing others (which shy people would draw back from), it is more about maintaining healthy relationships (which almost every shy person is capable of doing). One of my favorite quotes is from Captain Henry â€Å"Jim† Crowe, USMC.While in Guadalcanal on 13 January 1943, he used the following words and actions to motivate his troops: â€Å"Goddamn it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me! † It was more than an order — it was his action of not showing his fear by being in the front that motivated his troops. * Leaders use both actions and words to get things do ne. Bossing others is the act of directing others to get things done without having any concern for the employees. Shy persons do not normally become bosses, but many of them do become leaders†¦ while the bullies become bosses. 67.If so much material is written about leadership, why are there so few real leaders in companies? * Who says there are so few leaders? The only people who can call a person a leader are the followers. People outside the organization might call a person a leader, yet she might have just been a dictating tyrant who used her power of authority to get things done. This only made her the boss, not a leader. Only the people who work for another person have the authority to call that person a leader. * Too many people equate leaders with the power of authority, yet it is more about visioning and achieving goals through others.Organizations that are lagging behind their competitors often have a lack of leaders throughout their ranks. While great organizations have leaders throughout the organization, from top to bottom. Just as I mentioned earlier about Starbucks' goal of 2000 stores by the year 2000, it took a lot of leaders throughout the ranks to accomplish it. 68. The role of principles of leadership is so extensive that it puts one to think – isn't a good leader a kind of superman or superwomen? How can that be? * Leadership is like many other difficult skills — it takes skills and practice.That is why it is important to develop leaders throughout your organization; although you can learn the knowledge and the skills in a short period of time, it takes plenty of practice to get it right. Senior leaders should always be coaching and mentoring their subordinates on the leadership continuum. 69. Is a military model of leadership adequate to any company, as far as it based most on authority and discipline? * Researchers at McKinsey & Company and the Conference Board discovered that one highly effective route of leadership is demonstrated by the U. S. Marine Corps.The Marines' approach to motivation follows the â€Å"mission, values, and pride† (MVP) path, which researchers say is practical and relevant for the business world. A couple of other organizations that follow the MVP path are 3M, New York City Ballet, and KFC. There are four other valid paths to follow: Process and Metric (Toyota), Entrepreneurial Spirit (BMC Software) Individual Achievement (Perot Systems), and Reward and Celebration (Mary Kay). * The Marines invest in their front line by following five practices: * Over-investing in cultivating core value: * Make an investment by intensely focusing on core values.Give your employees more than a brief introduction — assign some training to your most experienced and talented managers. One role model can influence 40 or 50 new hires. Also, focus on values after the training, i. e. Marriott prominently displays customer letters praising superior performance. * Preparing every pe rson to lead, including frontline supervisors: * Training every front line person to lead has a powerful effect on morale. Do NOT write the followers off or give them superficial attention. You most embrace the notion that front line workers can lead. Learning when to create teams and when to create single-leader work groups: * Genuine teams are rare in the business world where a single individual leading a group is the norm. Real teams get most of their motivation from its mission and goals * Attending to the bottom half, not just the top half: * Find the time to attend to the poor and mediocre performers, even if it means personal sacrifice. Normally, it is cheaper and easier to rejuvenate under-performers than it is to replace them. Marine Drill Instructors, despite their legendary toughness, refuse to give up on any recruit. Encouraging self-discipline as a way of building pride: * Demand that everyone act with honor, courage, and commitment. For example, Southwest Airlines turn s its planes around in less than half the time that is needed by most competitors; not by fear of punishment, but by a desire to be the best. * To emulate the Marines, many executives would have to embrace the notion that front-line workers can lead. (Jon R. Katzenbach and Jason A. Santamaria. Harvard Business Review â€Å"Firing Up the Front Line. † May-June, 1999, pp. 107 to 117. ) 70. Is there an ideal percentage of leaders in a company?Can an excess of leaders turn into a problem? * Every organization is unique, hence it will require a different percentage. But every leader and supervisor must display some form of leadership, they cannot simply be bosses and expect the organization to become a great organization. As far as excess, how can you have too much of a good thing; is there such a thing as a company having too much profit? 71. Which of the following g statements about leadership is false? a) Leadership does not necessarily take place within a hierarchical structur e of an organisation b) Not every leader is a manager ) When people operate as leaders their role is always clearly established and defined d) All of the above 72. What is better for a company that does not have huge sums to invest in training: try to build a team of leaders, with all the failure possibilities, or concentrate on building a good team of efficient managers? * Why would there be more failure possibilities with a team of leaders than with a team of managers? Managers can get things done, but they have to have leaders and leadership abilities of their own. Otherwise, what will hey get accomplished? It takes leaders to have visions. Once you have your vision, it needs to be framed in general terms and communicated to your team. Your team then develops the ends (objectives), ways (concepts), and means (resources) to achieve the vision. Except for developing the means (resources), all of these are leadership tasks. 73. Can someone be a good leader, but not a good manager? W hich is better for a company? * Just as there are many managers who cannot lead, there are many leaders who cannot manage. And neither is better for a company.Both strip the company of a valuable resource — a leader who can get things done or a manager who can lead her employees. 74. Answer True or False: Anonymity inevitably has a negative impact on group members. * True 75. Select the right answer: Which of the following is a leadership activity? a) Reviewing and evaluating the delivery of a project b) Planning and undertaking performance reviews and monthly supervision sessions c) Empowering and inspiring others to take responsibility for aspects of the service they deliver d) Drafting a service budget and consulting the management team about it.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Negative Effects of Classism

Negative Effects Of Classism Have you ever been judged by the way you look or act? How about just for your income? Social classes have existed for many centuries, whether you are rich or poor, there has always been a large group of people who share a similar economic and/or social position. In society, citizens are put into classes based upon their income, wealth, property ownership, and job status. When citizens are put into a â€Å"class† whether it is high or low, it affects their way of life.For example; when the working class feels like they’re not good enough, it might be because someone in the higher class is acting ignorant or superior towards the lower class. When citizens are not treated equally due to their social status, this is called â€Å"classism. † As you may know classism is professed throughout all classes whether you’re a working class, middle class, or even a higher class. For starters, in an American society,  classism  is usually pointed in the direction of the â€Å"working class† as having the disadvantage.The â€Å"working class† is the lowest social group of people. They are employed for only minimum wage in manual or industrial work. Although our system in the U. S. is designed to allow mobility between social classes, discrimination against the lower classes is still perceived by the higher class. The higher class considers the â€Å"working class† as unreliable or lethargic workers who don’t want to put any effort in achieving in their life goals. Believing this way might be because of their background or where they come from.Secondly, many underclass citizens tend to be the most hardworking of all because every day they make just enough money to get by and that’s it. When working these low income jobs, it’s difficult to support a family and live life without the struggle of â€Å"money problems. † Most people in the working class didn’t pursue their life long goals or promotions in their lives because of their lack of motivation or dedication to succeeding. Most importantly, if the higher class didn’t have such misleading judgments on the â€Å"working class†, then maybe there wouldn’t be as much wrongful thoughts towards them.The middle class is a set of workers who are quite educated, wise, and overall more successful than the working class. The middle class is considered the average or the suitable of the three main classes, mostly because they make a much higher salary than the working class but not enough to be considered the higher class. The middle class is the majority of people in the United States. Occasionally the middle class consider thoughts and assumptions that the sociability of this country towards them are true which leads them to believe it and as well as act it out towards others.The reimbursements or the â€Å"benefits† of being in the middle class provide access to health care benefits such as Medicare or medicate, a home that’s stable enough to live in, a great secure job, as well as retirement security for the seniors of this class and most importantly many chances of a good education which comprises a college education as well. Since million of the households in this country are in the middle class, it’s hard to discriminate or judge against a class where a majority of the United States citizens in are in or close too.The â€Å"higher class† in America consists of people who have mostly inherited their money. Historically in some cultures, members of an upper class often did not have to work for a living, as they were supported by earned or inherited investments. The main distinguishing feature of upper class in the US is the ability to derive enormous  incomes  from  wealth  through techniques such as investment and money management, rather than engaging in wage-labor or salaried employment.Secondly, many unprincipled behaviors across the social classes have delivered a withering verdict on the upper echelons of society, studies have shown that privileged people behave consistently worse than others. For instance, in a range of situations the upper class has a greater tendency to lie, cheat, take things meant for others, not stop for pedestrians on crossings, and endorse unethical behavior. Most importantly, the upper and lower class individuals do not necessarily differ in terms of their capacity for unethical behavior, but rather in terms of their default tendencies toward it.In conclusion, classism will consist in all social classes’ whether it’s the higher class or lower class, people will make generalizations or stereotypes about other people in different classes because of their personal background, arrogances, and actions. Although there will always be different forms of oppression and prejudice, classism’s drastic income and wealth inequality and basic human needs te nd to go unmet. | |

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Why did the Continental Congress select George Washington of Virginia Research Paper

Why did the Continental Congress select George Washington of Virginia to command its army Assess Washingtons service as commander of the Continental forces - Research Paper Example He was designated as the General and Commander in Chief of the United Colonies (Schwartz 20). It is apparent that several factors must have influenced the Continental congress decision in selecting George Washington to be the Commander of the continental forces. He was a Southerner and delegates believed he was the best man who could unite all the colonies (Martin 25). George Washington was also wealthy; hence the delegates of the Continental congress believed that Washington could not be influenced by corruption in his duties. George Washington was also courageous and fearless and a determined competent leader. He was going to head a military which was under civilian rule of the new congress. Washington understood fully all his functions as a military leaders since he choose strategies, operations and tactics which led to victory (Martin 32). In March 1776, he carried out his first tactical attack by occupying the Dorchester Heights after planting artillery which brought down Fort Ticonderoga. This move forced British to evacuate from Boston. Washington courage made him cross to Delaware on a cold and stormy night where he attacked Hessian garrison of Trenton, New Jersey and captured more than 900 prisoners. Tactically he avoided British forces traps from a large force which was deployed in Trenton. His success and withdrawal to Princeton compelled the British forces to eastern New Jersey. He continued attaining victories by mastering his battlefield strategies. He held the army together and avoided any discontentment amongst his Continental forces (Schwartz 28). He confronted General Howe’s forces in Philadelphia but was defeated but did not give up hence he decided to relocate to York. His tactical capabilities made him decide to send his well trained forces to the North in order to counter any threat of invasion from Canada by British force which was under General Burgoyne. He prevented the attempts of General Howe to rescue General

Friday, September 27, 2019

Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho - Movie Review Example Suspense is always characteristic of a Hitchcock movie. Though he started with horror genre, Hitchcock was able to transform his work into a different kind of style, and that could have transformed into a genre itself. In TV and in films, the plot, the music and scoring are typical of Hitchcock. A woman unrobes, steps into the bathtub, draws the shower curtain closed, and turns on the shower. As she is showering, the door opens, a shadowy figure slowly approaches, and a hand swiftly throws open the curtain. A shadowy figure of a woman appears from behind the curtain, raises her hand with a large bread knife and stabs the naked woman several times. She screams but the attack is relentless. The scene is intensified by a searing background music of a violin that seems to slash and scream. The woman lays lifeless, half of her body hanging on the tub. What's so peculiar and popular - and controversial - in this shower scene in Psycho These days thrillers or mystery/suspense movies employ this kind of gory scene, in fact modern thrillers apply a more intense and horrifying scene that one can say they are more violent blood-soaked scenes than the original Hitchcock Psycho movie. Here, Hitchcock committed many firsts in movie viewing in the 60's. Janet Leigh, or Marion Crane in the movie, flushing the toilet is believed to be the first such shot shown in American cinema, and with her showing her nipple, was also a no-no at that time. Out of this film and the succeeding Hitchcock classic, the guy initiated, albeit unknowingly, his own brand of horror - the mystery and suspense genre. Psycho defines the beginning of Mystery and Suspense Genre Hitchcock has very shrewdly interwoven crime, sex and suspense, also blending the real and the unreal in fascinating proportions and punctuating this with several quick, grisly and unnerving surprises. It is clear that the story has an unsolved crime, or a serial killing is still uncovered. But why was Psycho popularly known - and advertised - as a horror film This was the beginning, in fact, of the mystery genre and Hitchcock was one of those who made it happen. Hitchcock is known for his horror movies, but in Psycho, horrifying as it is, the genre that we can and must refer to is Mystery/Suspense. During the first showing of the movie, Hitchcock again attempted another first in American cinema appreciation. The movie was to be seen at the very beginning, so as not to anticipate the suspense. Psycho is not an ordinary police story, although this can be regarded as a police story because murder is being committed - or a series of murder - and the perpetrator continues to commit such murder. After the first killing, another one, the private investigator is himself killed. It could not be positively identified who was the perpetrator of the murder, but at first it was insinuated in the scenes that the "mother" of Norman Bates, the manager of Bates Hotel, was the murderer. Some scenes shown were that of Norman arguing with his mother, although the figure of the 'mother' was shown with

Thursday, September 26, 2019

External and Internal Environment Analysis Essay

External and Internal Environment Analysis - Essay Example Its different branches serve their respective localities. I will discuss the environment of the branch that serves my community. External Environmental Analysis External environment of Human-Care Organization consists of all those elements in the remote, industrial and external operating environment that impact upon the design of its strategic plans and define its competitive position in the market. The environmental variables or these elements are important to identify here. In the remote environment, most important are the technological and legal forces that must be dealt with quite efficiently and changes in whom must be kept track of to reach effective strategic options to a problem. Changes in the technological world define the competitive situation of this organization thus it places great stress upon learning and implementing new technologies that help the organization bring together its clients and legal service providers on a collaborative platform. In the industrial environ ment, the most important factors affecting this organization are the competitors and the potential entrants in this business. The organization has to keep constant check on the changes occurring in the competitive market so that such decisions should be made that keep the organization at par with its competitors. The operational external environment involves the clients most importantly who come to the branch and report their complaints about any unfair treatment they may be receiving from other citizens or from the government. Their satisfaction is vital for the sustainability of this organization and hence they are one of the most important external environmental factors affecting its integrity. Effective communication with clients and regular contact with them until the problem is resolved is one of the main objectives if this organization. Internal Environment Analysis Just like external environment, the organization gives great importance to its internal environment and lays ou t such strategic plans that guarantee that all internal factors are working properly and in nice coordination. Internal environment is defined as â€Å"the conditions, entities, events, and factors within an organization that influence its activities and choices, particularly the behavior of the employees† (WebFinance, Inc, 2011). Internal factors mainly include the mission statement, leadership, organizational culture comprising of employees and management, and resources. Strengths Although all of these factors are very important for the sustainability of the internal organizational culture; yet, the leadership and the employees are the most significant factors that drive the organization. The leadership of Human-Care Organization is provided by Henry Steve who is known to be a proficient and ethical leader. His leadership has provided the company with such a motivational platform where the whole management and labor works in harmony to achieve the organizational mission and the objective of the mission statement. Moreover, the employees work in collaboration and are kept happy and satisfied with their jobs. This has improved the workplace culture and job satisfaction. Employees are given their due rewards and regular bonuses to motivate them to do hard work. Their problems are listened to and solved.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Principles of advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Principles of advertising - Essay Example However, the vast variety of brands and products may also be the companys biggest weakness as it makes it almost a certainty that some items will not become popular. It also makes it difficult to give all of their products enough attention when it comes to staying up-to-date with market changes. Regardless, PepsiCo has the opportunity to increase sales at almost any time simply by exploiting their strongest markets through raised prices and the introduction of new, well-researched, and desirable products. The biggest threat to the continued growth of PepsiCo is the Coca-Cola Company, whose focus on beverages has kept it on top of the market. PepsiCo is a strong company with a lot of power and much to offer the public. Moving forward, they will likely be focused on overtaking Coke. The only way to accomplish this may be to become less diverse, so that more time and resources can be given to their top

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Macroeconomics and Microeconomics - Merced County Research Paper

Macroeconomics and Microeconomics - Merced County - Research Paper Example Sixty eight percent of the population lies between 18 and 65 years, which is a good indicator of the county’s labor force market. Agriculture is the base of the county’s economy. As a result, Merced has been ranking among the top producers of chicken, cattle, calves, milk, cream, tomatoes, and silage in the state of California. In addition, the county is home to some of the world’s largest agricultural processing facilities, including the Hilmar Cheese production, Fosters Farms Poultry processing, Ingomar Packing Company tomatoes processing, and Ernest and Julio Gallo winery. Despite this, the unemployment rate has been on a steady rise since 2000 in the county. Census reports indicate that the rate of unemployment was 9.6% in 2000, shooting to 16% in the 2009 census. The country’s overall economic crisis since 2001 may be a reason, but there is need to salvage the situation. The rise in unemployment is a contributing factor to the current high rates of cr ime. Another economic metric of concern is the labor market, which stood at 90,500 in 2000, increasing to 105,200 in 2009 (US Census Bureau). The figures indicate that there has been a relative growth in the county’s labor force. Accordingly, 86,678 individuals older than 16 years were under employment in comparison to 105,059 the year 2009 in the same category, indicating a slow growth of employment opportunities in the county. New business establishments rose from 4700 in 2000 to 5832 in 2009. Other metrics indicate that the county is experiencing a dormant growth in large-scale business establishment, but with more small-scale businesses being setup. The result is the absorption of a relatively small percentage of the labor market by the new businesses. Another concern is the educational level of the county’s population. According to the US census Bureau data of 2000, only about 68.5% of individuals older than 25 years had attained a high school diploma, and a mere 11% had a bachelor’s degree or higher education. these percentages are low compared to the averages of California state, which recorded 76.8% in high school diploma holders and 26.6% with a bachelor’s degree or higher, indicating that the work force is relatively under-qualified. Sustainability in the food manufacturing and processing has changed the heavy reliance of the economy on production of farm crops. Consequently, the county has been attracting a significant number of manufacturing and processing plants with interests outside the agricultural sector. The county’s economic development is a responsibility of the Merced County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDCO). The corporation oversees the economic coordination of various efforts and organization that seeks to improve the county’s labor force market as well as provide a favorable business environment that will attract new businesses into the region (Moffat 46). MCEDCO claim that the county ha s been changing its reliability on agriculture but the fact is that the county still relies on the agricultural sector, from revenues to job (which often pay low wages and are seasonal). In order to maintain economic sustainability of the county, there is need for the MCEDCO to engage in several economic development efforts, including general economic development, economic base diversification, workforce training and education, economic partnerships, existing business retention and expansion, new business recruitment and attraction, and tourism attraction. The MCEDCO (whose members

Monday, September 23, 2019

Health Care for All Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Health Care for All Americans - Essay Example With this respect, this paper will critically expound on the basic reasons as to why health care should be to all Americans. Across America, there are many people from one side struggling to make both ends meet and on the other coping with a broken health care system. In addition, there are those who live completely without health care, others are striving to pay the hiking costs of Medicare, and more of them are joining the ranks of those uninsured. Agreeably, this is a shocking and terrible situation for super power like America! This growing health care crisis is not just a problem that should worry only the affected, but also places an endangering burden to the rest of the Americans as well. Furthermore, due to economic issues, small businesses are finding it difficult to insure their employees due to competitive and skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums. Most worrisome, much of the funds spend on health care services disappears through inefficiency and massive waste. Even Unit ed States tops the globe in health care expenditures (Collins 15). The administrative costs swallow 1 dollar out of every 4 dollars set aside for health care needs. That is not all, medical errors result to loss of lives of 100,000 Americans every year. With that follows a $100 billion dollar loss via drug prescription errors alone. Causes of Health Care Disparities in America Factors leading to health care disparities in the US vary and at the same time interrelate. Different groups have different underlying rates of illness due to environmental factors, generic predisposition, or lifestyle choices. They express different types of care-seeking behavior due to cultural beliefs, trust in the health care providers, and linguistic barriers (Herbage and Devanport 8). The ability of an individual to pay as well as his location and management of health care services influences all these factors. Race and ethnicity are significant factors determining whether an individual stands to receive care, whether an individual receives quality care, and assesses health care outcomes. Even after adjusting insurance income and status, racial and ethnic minorities tend to have limited access to heath care and receive lower quality of health care compared to non-minorities. Not surprisingly, the Americans’ top two concerns of healthcare are its increased costs and lack of access. Cognitively, today the cost of health care insurance is high and increasingly unaffordable even to working families. Documented evidence reveals that 6.2 percent of all US bankruptcies in 2007 related to medical expenses (Halvorson 7-8). People with medical insurance covers filed 78 percent of these bankruptcies whereas low-income uninsured majorities filled 38.3 percent of the same bankruptcies. In 2008, uninsured Americans were 46.3, a report released by the US Census Bureau. This figure represents 16.2 percent of the US economy, depicts that health care is the largest industry in the US, and emp loys more than 14 million people. Additionally, this impeding problem stretch to show that racial and ethnic disparities in health care persists even when comparing groups of similar socioeconomic status (Barr 87). For example, the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Relationship Between Argetina and the International Monetary Fund Essay

Relationship Between Argetina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Essay Example The higher a countrys foreign debt level, the greater are the chances of default. According to World Bank, the Latin American Countries (LAC) would need US $ 60 million annually during 1991-2000 period. This translates into higher borrowing, higher debts and debt servicing. Budget cuts were immediately felt at the international financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), which decreased access to officially supported credits. Global interest rates rose, which further increased foreign debts. Mexico, Brazil and Argentina could not sustain the economic growth and lurched from one financial crisis to another (Elstrodt, Lenero, and Urdapilleta). Debt has been the largest source of capital flows in the developing countries but despite that, economic development has not been successful. The causes and consequences of such debts have been the subject of debate over the years. This paper will examine the severity of Argentinas debt and the relationship between Argentina and the IMF. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, UK and France too had defaulted on the debt repayments but the problems in debt repayments in Latin American can be dated back to 1914 when Mexico suspended its payments (Dodd). Owing to a series of corrupt regimes, Argentina has experienced severe economic declines. In 1956, a group of wealthy nations met in Paris to find a solution to the looming debt problems of Argentina. In the 1970s, large amount of lending to Latin America was in the form of syndicate banks loans. Brady Bonds helped in the debt restructuring process and the Brady plan proposed exchanging the loans for bonds that would allow the debt to be traded in financial markets where it would be priced at market value. Macroeconomic management is essential if the country is to attain sustained growth. Argentina, besides pegging the peso to the US dollar at parity in

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The right of habeas corpus in the context of the war on terror Essay Example for Free

The right of habeas corpus in the context of the war on terror Essay Explain the historical evolution of habeas corpus, including its English and American traditions. The explanation of its evolution within the American tradition should include the general meaning of the right of habeas corpus in the U.S. Constitution and its relationship to the protection of other civil liberties. Provide examples from U.S. history of the suspension of habeas corpus and their applicability to the present. Analyze the relevance of habeas corpus to the contemporary U.S. situation during the war on terror, especially with respect to persons characterized by as enemy combatants or illegal combatants. Explain the U.S. Supreme Courts interpretation of the right of habeas corpus with respect to enemy combatants or illegal combatants (i.e., the views of the five justices making up the majority in Boumediene v. Bush as well as the views of the four dissenting justices). Evaluate a minimum of four perspectives on this topic expressed by justices of the Supreme Court, leaders in other branches of government, and commentators in both the academic and popular media. Your evaluation should consider perspectives on the following topics as they relate to habeas corpus: The role of the President as Commander-in-Chief. The role of Congress in determining when habeas corpus can be suspended. The role of the Supreme Court in protecting civil liberties, including the judicial philosophy which should guide the Court in this role, and In your evaluation, you should also include your personal philosophy, values, or ideology about the balance between civil liberties and national security in the context of an unending war on terror. Follow these requirements when writing the Final Paper: The body of the paper (excluding the title page and reference page) must be at least 1,500 words long. The paper must start with a short introductory paragraph which includes a clear thesis statement. The thesis statement must tell readers what the essay will demonstrate. The paper  must end with a short paragraph that states a conclusion. The conclusion and thesis must be consistent. The paper must logically develop the thesis in a way that leads to the conclusion, and that development must be supported by facts, fully explained concepts and assertions, and persuasive reasoning. The paper must address all subtopics outlined above. At least 20% of the essay must focus on subtopic five, listed above (your evaluation of perspectives on the topic). Your paper must cite at least three academic articles (excluding the course textbook) and at least four other kinds of sources (e.g., Supreme Court opinions, magazine or newspaper articles, the course textbook, and reliable websites or vide os). Use your own words. While brief quotes from sources may be used, altogether the total amount of quoted text must be less than five percent of the body of your paper. When you use someone elses words, they must be enclosed in quotation marks followed by an APA in-text short citation (author, year, and page) to your source. The in-text citation must correspond to a full APA citation for the source on the reference page at the end of the essay. When you express in your own words someone elses ideas, arguments or facts, your statement must be followed by an APA in-text short citation (author, year, and page) to your source. The in-text citation must correspond to a full APA citation for the source in the reference page. The form of the title page, the body pages, and the reference page must comply with APA style. Additionally, the title page must include the course number and name, the instructors name, and the date submitted. The paper must use logical paragraph and sentence transitions, complete and clear sentences, and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Prevention of Enzymatic Browning in Fruits and Vegetables

Prevention of Enzymatic Browning in Fruits and Vegetables Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is known to be a key enzyme in enzymatic browning of fruit, vegetables, beverage and seafood in the food industry. The browning of food causes a great quality loss and economic loss of food products. Inhibition of browning by physical treatments has well been developed and there are a wide range of chemicals can also inhibit enzymatic browning. This article overviews the various chemical inhibitors against enzymatic browning in food. Enzymatic browning is one of the major causes in quality loss of vegetables and fruit, beverage and seafood. It is roughly accounted for over 50 percent losses in fruit [1]. It is very important to control enzymatic browning so as to minimize losses and maintain the economic values of the food products. In animal tissues, melanosis is the process results in the formation of dark pigments. The products of melanosis sometimes cause similar visual perception as spoilage and this would make customers not select these products although they are not harmful and do not influence taste of the food. Browning causes many deleterious changes in the organoleptic and nutritional properties of food products that decrease their market values. However, enzymatic browning is beneficial for some of the food products such as tea, coffee, and cocoa. The consumption of fruits and vegetables has been increased due to the nutritional recommendations for health maintain. As a result, the market values of mi nimally processed fruits and vegetables production increases and this will trigger and encourage research in enzymatic browning. Enzymatic browning definition Cell disruption caused by mechanical injury or temperature changes may lead to physiological disorders or even cell death. This loss of cell integrity results in the decompartmentation of phenolic substrates and enzymes [2]. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is a critical enzyme catalyzing the oxidation of endogenous phenolic compounds to form grey or brown colors in the enzymatic browning process. PPO is a term which includes a large number of related copper-containing enzymes, including catechol oxidase, tyrosinase and laccase. In the presence of oxygen, PPO oxidizes mono- and di-phenols to o-quinones. Once the products are formed, they polymerize to form high molecular weight compounds or brown pigments as they are highly reactive. The brownish color could be enhanced when they react with amino acids and proteins [2]. Importance of browning inhibition It is essential to control enzymatic browning in order to reduce the economic loss during fruit and vegetables processing. It is essential to control enzymatic browning for the better development in the food industry. The most common way used for the inhibition of browning is the addition of sulfating agents to inhibit PPO. However, sulfite is a toxic molecule and can react with a variety of humoral and cellular components and can cause toxicity [3]. Due to the adverse health effects caused by sulfites, alternative compounds are investigated for anti-browning properties. The ideal compound would be the one which is effective, does not cause any quality loss (eg. taste, flavor, nutritional values) and toxicity, as well as low cost. Until now, many approaches are available to inhibit enzymatic browning, which include the use of ascorbic acid, sodium chloride, kojic acid, 4-hexylresorcinol etc. Enzyme inhibitors, reducing agents, acidulant agents, chelating agents and complexing agents are the common chemical treatments of antibrowning [4]. In order to have a better control of enzymatic browning, it is important to understand its mechanism of actions, the property of the enzyme, substrates, products and their interactions. Minimizing the negative sides of enzymatic browning can extend the shelf life and increase the market value of the food products. Physical inhibition Physical treatments are one of the common approaches in the control of enzymatic browning in the food industries. Hot-air drying, freeze-drying, canning and bottling are examples of some preventive methods. Browning is enhanced by wounding of plant tissue as it stimulates phenolic biosynthesis, hence minimizing the mechanical damage of fruit and vegetables reduce the degree of browning. Reducing the temperature can slow down the rate of enzymatic browning as enzymes are generally inactive at low temperature. However, color change still occurs at 0oc, hence it is important to allow the crystallization temperature of water to be reached as rapidly as possible [5]. Color change would be blocked during commercial frozen (-18oC). When the temperature rises again, browning starts and the rate will be greater if the cellular structure of the plant tissues is damaged by freezing, peeling and slicing [5]. Heating or blanching is the simplest method to inhibit browning by denaturing the enzyme PPO. Heating temperature and time are crucial to maintain the quality of the food products as heating will affects the texture, taste, flavor and nutritional value of the food. PPO is completely destroyed at 80oC [6], but sufficient time is required for the interior part of the fruit or vegetables to reach such temperature. Blanching the green beans for 3.5 minutes at 82 oC and above, inactivated catalase, lipoxygenase, and polyphenol oxidase activities completely[6]. Protection of the fruit and vegetables from oxygen can prevent enzymatic browning when the plant organs cannot be branched. A variety of methods are used in food industries, including airtight package, partial vacuum and oxygen-poor atmosphere. Chemical inhibition Chemicais are the most commonly used for the control of enzymatic browning, but their use in processed food products is restricted to compounds that are nontoxic, wholesome and that do not adversely affect the quality[7]. Inhibition of enzymatic browning can be achieved by hindering the enzyme or by binding to its active site which lower the PPO activity. Chelating agents which remove the copper prosthetic group from PPO can inhibit enzymatic browning. Removing the substrates is another way to prevent enzymatic browning. Substances which undergo complexation with the phenolic substrate and enzymatic modification of phenols are possible ways to inhibit enzymatic browning. Besides substrate, inhibition targeted toward the products, o-quinones, can also be an approach to control enzymatic browning. Chemical inhibitors of enzymatic browning in food will be discussed in detail in this essay. Polyphenol oxidase Definition PPOs are first discovered in mushrooms by Schoenbein in 1856. They are copper-containing proteins and belong to the group of oxidoreductases. A copper prosthetic group is required for its activity. In the presence of oxygen, polyphenol oxidase catalyses reaction of monophenols to o-diphenols (monophenol oxidase activity). It also oxidises o-diphenols to o-quinones (dipehnol oxidase activity). The enzyme in plants have both mono-and diphenol oxidase activity and the ratio of monophenol to diphenol oxidase activity is usually 1:10 to 1:40. [8]. PPO is present in a wide variety of plants and the activity varies from one organ to another and varies inside an organ, depending on the types of tissues or cells. The role of PPOs in plants is believed to resist the infection of microorganisms and virus and to extreme climatic conditions. PPOs are also in involved the development of dark pigmentation in animals. The biosynthesis of melanin pigments and other polyphenolic compounds which often provide a protective function [1]. Indeed, there are many studies concerning the prevention of melanin formation on the face by inhibiting tyrosinase activity, so as to develop whitening agents for the cosmetic industry. Nomenclature Nomenclature of PPOs is sometimes confusing due to their similarity in nature. Jaenicke and Decker write Probably there is no common tyrosinase: the enzymes found in animals, plants and fungi are different with respect to their sequences, size, glycosylation and activation [9] PPOs must have a dinuclear copper centre, in which type 3 copper is bound to histidine residue in their active sites, and this structure is highly conserved [10]. PPOs are normally classified into three types for the convenient use of the term: Catechol oxidase Catechol oxidase (1,2-benzenediol: oxygen oxidoreductase, EC1.10.3.1) has both monophenol oxidase and diphenol oxidase activity. It is the most common form of PPOs in plants that when people talked about PPOs in food it normally refers to catechol oxidase. Reports on the molecular weight of plant PPO are very diverse and variable and it is estimated the molecular masses of PPOs ranges from 20 to 180kDa [2]. Most of the studies show PPOs have an optimum activity between pH 4 and 7, but some reports show that pH optima varies with the proportions of isoenzymes as well as phenolic substrates used [2]. The optimum temperature of PPOs ranges from 15 to 40 oC and this also depends on the same factors as pH. Tyrosinase Tyrosinase (EC1.14.18.1, monophenol, L-DOPA: oxygen oxidoreductase) refers to as monophenol monooxygenase and corresponds to the same enzymes as EC1.10.3.1 but which always catalyze the hydroxylation of monophenols. In aminals and fungi, PPOs are refered to tyrosinase as L-tyrosine is the major monophenolic substrate. It is very similar to catechol oxidase and sometimes tyrosinase is referred as PPOs. It catalyze two distinct reactions of melanin synthesis: the hydroxylation of tyrosine and the oxidation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenyphenalanine (L-DOPA) to o-dopaquinone. Tyrosinase has been a great concern in humans in the cosmetic industry as it plays a key role in mammalian melanogenesis, which leads to the formation of dark macromolecular pigments, melanin. Laccases Laccase (p-diphenol oxidase, E.C. 1.10.3.2)(DPO), has the unique ability to oxidase p-diphenols into their corresponding quinones, which allows it to be distinguished from catechol oxidase. The enzyme contains many subunits and there are three types of copper centers in each subunit. They occur mainly in fungi and higher plants while much less frequently in the plant kingdom than PPOs. They are glycoproteins with a carbohydrate content of about 15-41% and they have a molecular weight of about 60 to 80 kDa. Substrate Phenolic compounds are substrates for PPOs. There is a wide variety of phenolic compounds found in plants, but only a small number serves as direct substrates for PPOs. Degree of enzymatic browning varies widely from one plant to another. Not only content of PPOs contributes to the variation, quantitative and qualitative aspects of their phenolic content also affect enzymatic browning in fruit and vegetables. In the studies of enzymatic browning in various fruits such as apples, grapes, and peaches, the effects of phenolic content and polyphenol oxidase on the rate of enzymatic browning have been reported [11-13]. Phenolic compounds contain an aromatic ring with one or more hydroxyl groups, together with other substituents. The differences in species, ripening and environmental conditions of growth and storage influence the phenolic composition of plants. Phenolic compounds are essential in fruit and vegetables as they contribute to flavor, color and taste in fruits. Flavonoids are t he major phenolic compounds occurred in plants. Caffeic acid derivatives and monomeric flavan-3-ols often appear to be the best substrates [2]. In some cases, phenolic compounds which are not direct substrates can also take part actively in enzymatic browning by coupled oxidation reaction. Tyrosine, an amino acid, is a monohydroxy phenol and it is an important substrate for PPOs in animals. Caffeic acid derivatives, such as chlorogenic acid, the major diphenolic compounds in plants, act as substrates for polyphenol oxidases. Chlologenic acid is the main substrates for enzymatic browning in apples. On the other hand, some phenolic compounds may also act as inhibitors for PPOs. Apple polyphenol oxidases can be inhibited by various cinnamic acids acting as substrate analogues [1]. Mechanism of action Monophenol oxidase activity for the hydroxylation reaction is normally slower than the oxidation reaction for the production of quinine, which leads to the initiation of the polymerization reaction. Thus it is the rate determining step in the production of brown pigments from monophenols. One mole of oxygen is required for the reaction as shown in Figure 2. When there are only diphenolic substrates, production of the brown pigments will be faster due to their high catalytic rate in the formation of quinines. The primary products, o-quinones, are reactive and unstable compounds, which can undergo further oxidation to brown melanin pigment (figure 3). O-quinones are strong electrophiles which can suffer nucleophilic attack by water, other polyphenols, amino acids and proteins, leading to Michael-type addition products [14-16]. The final products have more intensive color than the o-quinones. Their color depends on the phenol from which they originate. Chemical inhibitors of PPO Plant Polyphenols Polyphenols are a diverse group of compounds having multiple phenolic functionalities [18]. Plants are a rich source of polyphenols which are almost free of harm effects. There are continued investigations of tyrosinase inhibitors from plant extracts, aiming to search what bioactive chemicals in plants have significant inhibitory effect. Flavonoids are one of the most common and best studied groups of plant polyphenols. Flavonoids can be further divided into six subgroups, which are flavanones, isoflavones, flavonols, flavanols, flavones and anthocyanidins. Some flavonoids such as catechin act as substrates for PPO while some of them, eg. quercetin and kaempferol have inhibitory effect on PPO [19, 20]. Isao Kubo studies the inhibition kinetics of kaempferol extracted from saffron flower and it is found that to be a competitive inhibitor, its inhibitory activity presumably comes from its ability to chelate copper in the enzyme [20]. This copper chelation mechanism may be applicable fo r all of the flavonols as long as their 3-hydroxyl group is free [20]. However, 3-o-glycoside derivatives, eg. kaempferol 3-o-glucoside, quercetin 3-o-glucoside, did not inhibit tyrosinase in high concentration [20]. This shows that the free hydroxyl group at C-3 may play an important role in the inhibition. However, some flavones which lack the 3-hydroxyl group, such as luteolin and luteolin-o-glucoside, still have tyrosinase inhibitory effect [21]. (−)-epicatechin 3-O-gallate(ECG), (−)-gallocatechin 3-O-gallate(GCG), and (−)-epigallocatechin 3-O-gallate(EGCG) in tea, especially green tea, are strong inhibitor of tyrosinase and it is found that GCG may act as a competitive inhibitor for the L-tyrosine binding at the active site of the enzyme [22]. It is believed that the flavon-3-ol skeleton with a galloyl moiety at the 3-position is required to inhibit tyrosinase effectively. When the hydrophobicity of gallates increases, the coumpounds are more resistant to be o xidized by tyrosinase as the tertiary structure of the enzyme is disrupted [23]. Structure-Activity Investigations of stilbenes and related 4-substituted resorcinols, obtained from Artocarpus incisus and other plants suggested that the 4-substituted resorcinol skeleton have potent tyrosinase inhibitory ability [24]. Oxyresveratrol, a stilbene isolated from Morus alba, exhibited 32 times inhibitory effect of kojic acid on tyrosinase and the inhibitors act non-competitively on the enzyme [25]. In the structure analysis of extracts from licorice root, glabridin exerts the strongest inhibitory effect on tyrosinase and the inhibitory effect was more effective against monophenol oxidase activity, the rate-determining step, than diphenol oxidase activity [26]. However, glabridins analog, glabrene, was 100-fold less active than glabridine while glyasperin C, isolated from the same part of the plant, was two times more active than glabridin [26, 27]. 6-hydroxydaidzein (6,7,4-trihydroxyisoflavone), one kind of hydroxyisoflavones isolated from soybean koji fermented with As pergillus oryzae, had 6-fold more than kojic acid acting competitively on the tyrosine binding site of the enzyme [28]. It is found that an isoflavone with hydroxyl groups at both the C6 and C7 positions in the A ring would increase both inhibitory effect and affinity to the enzyme more than 10 times [28]. Chalcones, with two aromatic rings in trans configuration, have strong inhibitory effects on tyrosinase. Licochalcone A isolated from the roots of glycyrrhiza species competitively inhibit tyrosinase and the effect was 5.4 times more active than kojic acid [29]. Kuraridin, isolated from Sophora flavescens, was 34 times of the activity of kojic acid in inhibiting monophenolase activity of mushroom tyrosinase [30]. It is believed that the 2,4-dihydroxyl groups in the aromatic ring of chalcone structure was the important substituted group to exert strong tyrosinase inhibitory activity as some simple 4-alkylresorcinols were found to exhibit the strong inhibitory effect [24, 31]. Chelating agents Chelating agents are chemicals that bind to metal ions and remove them from their sphere of action. EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) is a chemical preservative permitted for food industry use. It is a chelator and it is believed that EDTA inhibits PPO activity by either binding to the active copper site of PPO or reduces the availability of copper for the enzyme [7]. the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Calcium disodium EDTA and disodium EDTA to be used as a food additive [32]. EDTA is usually used with other chemicals such as reducing agents (ascorbic acid) and acidulants (citric acid) to prevent enzymatic browning in food. Polyphosphates are another common chelating agent for anti-browning of fresh-peeled fruits and vegetables, but it has low solubility in cold water [7]. Sporix, containing citric acid, ascorbic acid, sodium acid pyrophosphate and calcium chloride, is a powerful chelator and also an acidulant. Browning prevention in apple juice a nd cut surfaces was obtained by Sporix [33]. However, it is not approved in U.S. for food use. Kojic acid (C6H6O4; 5-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-4-pyrone), always being use as a standard to compare and study the tyrosinase inhibitory activity of various chemicals in research, is produced by several species of fungi, especially Aspergillus oryzae. Kojic acid possesses both antibacterial and antifungal activities. It is a good chelator and antioxidant that can prevent browning in both plants and seafood. It is commonly found as a food additive and in cosmetic products due to its tyrosinase inhibitory effect. In the phenolic acids tested (caffeic, chlorogenic, cinnamic, coumalic, ferulic, gallic, kojic) for inhibition on PPO, Son et al. reported that kojic acid showed the highest inhibitory activity on apple slice browning [34]. Kojic acid may inhibit the enzyme acting as a reducing agent. If high dose of kojic acid is given to rodents, the level of tyrosine stimulating hormone increases [35]. However, there is inadequate evidence showing that kojic acid would cause cancer in human . Consumption of kojic acid at levels normally found in food does not present a concern for safety [36]. Reducing agent Reducing agents can act as antibrowning agents by reducing the o-quinones back to o-quinones. Ascorbic acid is a good reducing agent and antioxidant which removes oxygen in polyphenol oxidase reactions. As the reaction resulting in the formation of o-quinones is reversible, in the presence of excess reducing agent, o-quinones are reduced to their original o-diphenols. Ascorbic acid is the most widely used antibrowning agent in food due to its reducing property as well as low pH. Since reducing agents act on o-quinones to prevent browning, the effectiveness of ascorbic acids would be decreased if their use is delayed until after the enzymatic reaction has started. In practice, about 0.1-0.3% of ascorbic acid can have protective effect against enzymatic browning. However, one of the drawbacks of ascorbic acid is that it can be oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid irreversibly during the reaction. As a result, it disappears rapidly and browning would occur again upon its depletion (figure 4 ). To overcome its rapid depletion, some derivatives, such as ascorbic acid-2-phosphate (AAP), or ascorbic acid-triphosphate (AATP), are used as substitutes. They are not reducing agents, but when the action of PPO presents they release ascorbic acids. Therefore they will not be oxidized by oxygen rapidly as AAP and AATP can remain stable in the presence of oxygen. Erythorbic acid (EA) has a similar effect and action as Acorbic acid in the inhibiting enzymatic browning. However, it is destroyed at a faster rate than ascorbic acid. Sulphiting agents including sulphur dioxide (SO2) and sulphite are very popular browning inhibitors used in the food industry. It is one of the most effective chemical inhibitors of browning and it is effective even in low concentration. Also, it is inexpensive and hence many food manufacturers use it to inhibit microorganisms growth and enzymes. Sulphur dioxide has three actions to inhibit browning. The first one is its reducing property to reduce o-quinones to its original o-diphenols. The second mechanism involves the formation of colorless products with o-quinones and the last one is that SO2 denatures PPO, resulting in the loss of functionality of the enzyme. Madero and Finne [37] reported that bisulphite could bind to the sulphydryl group at the active site of the enzyme so as to exert competitively inhibit the enzyme. Ferrer et al. [38] proposed that bisulphate inhibited PPO irreversibly by forming sulphoquinones when sulphites react with intermediate quinines, causing complet e inactivation of the enzyme. In addition, it also inhibits non-enzymatic browning that reduces pigmentation of the fruit and vegetables. Sometimes sulphur dioxide treatment is applied before deep-frozen, drying or freeze-drying of fruit and vegetables. In deep-frozen products of apples and apricots, fruit slices are soaked for 3-4 minutes in 0.4-0.5% sulphur dioxide solution. Sulphites are regulatory restricted in food products as it may cause potentially adverse effects on health. There are many reports showing that sulfites are genotoxic in vitro but not in vivo [39]. In the report of the safety evaluation of sulphites as food additives by World Health Organization (WHO), it concluded that when a suitable alternative method of preservation exists, its use should be encouraged, particularly in the applications in the food industry that the use of sulfites is extensive which may lead to its high intake as high level of sulfites in the body may cause life-threatening adverse reactions [39]. Thiol containing (sulfhydryl) compounds are compounds that an oxygen atom in the compound has been replaced by a sulphur atom. Many studies showed these compounds such as cysteine, N-acetyl-L-cysteine and reduced glutathione are able to inhibit enzymatic browning in fruits and vegetables [40]. In this group, cysteine is the most effective anti-browning agent. The proposed mechanism was that it reacted with the quinone intermediates to form stable colorless compounds. The cysteine-quinone adducts are also the competitive inhibitors of PPO. Nicolas et al. showed that cysteine directly inhibits PPO by forming stable complexes with copper [40]. However, use of cysteine is not so encouraged in the food industry because concentration of cysteine used to achieve significant inhibitory effect on PPO would have negative effects on taste. It has also been shown that Maillard reaction products (MRPs) are potential inhibitors enzymatic browning. Amadori rearrangement products, key intermediates in the first states of the Maillard reaction, has chelating, reducing and oxygen-scavenging properties and it might inhibit enzymatic browning [41]. The MRPs derived from glucose with sulfhydryl amino components (cysteine or the tripeptide, glutathione) could be considered as potential natural inhibitors and this was supported by Billuad et al.s study [42]. In a further study conducted by Hesham A. et al., the inhibitory effect of the thiol containing compounds was comparable with 4-hexyl resorcinol and being significantly (p < 0.05) higher than ascorbic acid. The MRPs derived from cysteine/glucose model system were more active than their counterpart derived from cysteine/ribose model system [43]. In a study examining various types of MRPs for their tyrosinese inhibitory effect, monosaccharide-glutathione was more active than glutathione [44]. However, MRPs are unstable and they may negatively affect the sensory quality of the food products as there was unpleasant odor formed from t he apple slices treated with MPRs [44]. Acidulants Most enzymes especially oxidative enzymes activity is very pH-dependent. Extreme pH can denature the enzymes that lead to the loss of the catalytic function. The groups in the active site of the enzymes are ionizable. In the environment of high proton concentration, the structure of the active site may be affected and there may be conformational change that decreases the binding of substrate and catalytic activity. A pH below 3 can effectively inhibit PPO activity [45]. In addition, under extreme pH, substrates may be degraded or change its conformation; as a result, the degraded substrates share the molecular features of the substrates that they may act as enzyme inhibitors [46]. Common acidulants use for PPO inhibition are citric acid, organic acids such as malie, tartaric and malonie acids and inorganic acids such as phosphoric and hydrochloric acids. Citric acid is an acidulants which widely used in the food industry as it is cost effective and highly available. 0.5-2% of it has protective effects against enzymatic browning in fruit and vegetables. The use of 100mmol/L citric acid combined with 10mmol/L glutathione was found to give a great control of browning in litchi fruits and it is recommended this combination can be a good way applied to control litchi fruit quality [47]. Since it is difficult to achieve efficient browning inhibition through pH control solely, citric acid is frequently used in combination with other anti-browning agents, such as ascorbic acid to chelate the copper of the enzyme. However, when the pH is lowered to a level the taste of the food products may be affected and it only can be applied in acidic foods. Complexing agents Complexing agents are able to form complexes with PPO substrates or reaction products, so as to reduce the browning effects. Cyclodextrins and cyclic nonreducing oligosaccharides of six or more D-glucose residues are examples of complexing agents. The hydrophobic central core of cyclodextrins can form inclusion complexes with phenol compounds, leading to the depletion of PPO substrates. Due to the limited space in the core of cyclodextrins, larger guest molecules only partially bind to it and form relatively weak complexes. However, chemical modification of cyclodextrines increases the binding and hence increases the inhibitory effect on PPO. In a study using chlorogenic acid as a substrate to compare ÃŽ ±-, ÃŽ ²- and ÃŽ ³-cyclodextrins in the formation of inclusion complexes, ÃŽ ²-cyclodextrins are more effective in inhibiting browning in apple juice [48]. The internal cavity of ÃŽ ²-Cyclodextrins is non-polar that it induced inclusion complex formation with the phenolic substrates of polyphenol oxidases, preventing them oxidizing to quinones and hence stop the subsequent polymerization to brown pigments. However, complex formation by cyclodextrins is not specific and it may remove the desirable color and flavor compounds of the food product. Cyclodextrins are insoluble in water, so it is better to be used in volatile or insoluble food ingredients in the food industry. The use of cyclodextrins in fruit and vegetable juice are patented, but it have not been approved to use in food by the FDA [49]. Chitosan, a naturally abundant polymer of ÃŽ ²-(1-4)-linked -D-glucosamine, is obtained from the chitin of shellfish. It is widely used in agricultural and horticultural as natural biocontrol and elicitor, water filtration and biomedical. Chitosan is a kind of dietary fibre that have an effect in reducing the absorption of bile salts in the small intestine, hence lowering the blood cholesterol level. It also helps to stop bleeding and has anti-bacterial effects. It is safe and non-toxic, and may even gain health benefits to the body. It has been reported enzymatic browning was inhibited by adding 200 ppm chitosan to Mcintosh apple juice [50]. When 2% of chitosan was treated with shrimp during storage, the incidence of melanosis was reduced [51]. Another study showed that chitosan coating can inhibit enzymatic browning in longan fruits and it can improve shelf life and quality of the fruit [52]. The effect might be due the formation of protective barrier on the surface of the fruit, p reventing the supply of oxygen to PPO. Therefore it is applicable that chitosan can be used in the combination with other agents to control browning and improve quality in fruit and vegetables during post-harvesting and storage. Enzyme inhibitors 4-hexylresorcinol is the one of the most potential PPO inhibitors apply to fresh-cut products. It has obtained the GRAS status for use in the prevention of shrimp melanosis and it proved to be more effective than sulphites in the inhibition of melanosis [7]. Due to its specific mode in the inhibition of enzymatic browning and effectiveness at low concentration, it may be a potential substitute to sulphites. The combination of it with ascorbic acid improved browning control in apple slices [53]. In a study investigating the combination effect of cysteine, kojic acid and 4-hexylresorcinol on the inhibition of enzymatic browning in Amasya apple juice, the interaction of kojic acid and 4-hexylresorcinol was found to have a positive effect on the inhibition of enzymatic browning [54]. Everfresh, a patented product containing 4-hexylresorcinol as the active ingredients and sodium chloride, showed better stability to blackspot formation than sulphites and it is proposed to be use for the in hibition of enzymatic browning in fruit and vegetables [55]. Sodium chloride, or saline water, is widely used in daily life as an anti-browning agent in freshly cut apple. It can also slow the microbial growth in the food products. Its effects on PPO increase when concentration increases. In an experiment examining the effects of salinity on PPO and peroxidase activity, increasing levels of salinity  reduced both oxidases activities immediately after cutting and throughout 7  days of storage [56]. Samples cultivated under high  salinity had also the lowest change in colour and showed the lowest reduction in total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity after 3  days of storage [56]. However, due to its inadequate protective effect at low concentration and unwanted salty flavor at high concentration, its application in the food industry is limited. When it is used with ascorbic acid and acidulants such as citric acid, the inhibitory effect is enhanced and prolonged. However, as the pH is getting higher, the inhibitory effect would dec rease. Its inhibition to PPO might be achieved by interacting with the copper at the active site of the enzyme. Sodium chloride at a concentration of 2-4% is usually used to inhibit browning in the food industry. At 1-2% concentration soaking for less than 1 minute, it can afford temporary protection from surface browning of sliced peeled apples for freezing, or ready-to-use fresh food. Other chemical inhibitors Sodium chlorite is an effective sanitizer inhibiting microbial growth. It can generate chlorine dioxide in acidic environment. Chlorine dioxide is a very powerful oxidizing agent and found to have inhibition in browning reaction. The anti-browning effect of sodium chlorite was gr