Cyrus the Great Essay Example for Free

Cyrus the Great EssayCyrus continued his expansion by moving west and conquered Croesus of Lydia in 546 BCE and ordered it split and preceptd by satraps. Continuing to move west, he conquered the Chaldean empire of Babylon in 538 BCE of whom was led by King Nabonidus. Cyrus expansion continued to the Aegean Sea, where he had acquired several Greek city-states in Anatolia and had turn them over to satraps. His successors would later unsuccessfully try to conquer Greece. His empire also continued due east to the Indus River Valley, where he eventually met his demise and the end of his empire. He had several capitals throughout his massive empire including Persepolis, Susa, Babylon, and Pasargadae, where he is buried to this day. Woodard 2The key factor that made Cyrus rule much more successful than antecedent and future leaders was the way he treated the conquered parts of his empire. He was known has a enceinte leader even according to Herodotus, who compared him quite favora bly to other Persian rulers. Herodotus said it is because of this fixing of aegisby Dariusand other similar ordinances that the Persians called Darius the merchant, Cambyses the master and Cyrus the father for Darius made petty profit out of everything, Cambyses was harsh and arrogant, Cyrus was human and always worked for their well-being.?Many accounts of his kindness were kept in the Cyrus Cylinder. The cylinder is written in Babylonian helping hand stating that Marduk, the city-god of Babylon, had looked for a champion to restore Babylon to its old ways, and chose Cyrus, King of Persia, and declared him king of the world. ? Marduk ordered Cyrus to rule over the tribes of Iran justly, and to march on Babylon which was uncontested, and the King of Babylon surrendered and the stack of Babylon rejoiced for Cyrus as their king.Cyrus had set himself apart from other rulers by compromising with his empire rather than forcing his entire will on them. He accomplished this by allowing raft that had been moved from their homeland to pass away, most notably allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar had them exiled and held captive in Babylon.? On top of them returning, Cyrus also encouraged them to rebuild their temple, which was also atomic number 53 of his finer qualities. During his conquests, he would allow the people to keep their religions and cultural differences, while allowing them to part of the Persian Empire.While Cyrus did allow these freedoms, he also was equal to(p) to create an empire-wide trade network as well as a commanding Woodard 3 troops due to an overall agenda that allowed him to keep his people happy while allowing his empire to expand. By allowing the Jews to return home and build a temple, he knew fortifications would be built in order to protect the take a hop of his empire. This also allowed for a buffer between the empire and Egypt.He also was able to utilize the Phoenicians by using their trade network to ga in access to Egypts resources in exchange for being a part of the Persian Empire. His eventual downfall came during his conquests in the Indus River Valley. According to Ctesias, he fought against the Derbici, a central- Asian tribe, who were aid by the Indians, and they wounded him with a spear.? He was taken back to the capital city of Persepolis to die peacefully. some other account by Herodutus claims that Cyrus was at battle with the Massagetae, and he was knocked off his horse by Tomyrus, the queen of the Massagatae. She thus cut his head off with a single slice.Due to these, the exact cause of Cyrus death cannot be determined, though he was buried in Pasargadae. ? Throughout all of the rulers in the Ancient World, Cyrus the Great was one of the most successful because he knew how to be a benevolent ruler. Instead of being demanding and risking rebellions, he learn how to compromise with his people, and allow them to have freedom while still having control, which ultimatel y led to one of the sterling(prenominal) empires built to this day.

Pros & Cons of Television Essay Example for Free

Pros Cons of Television EssayFor most quite a little, observance picture Is an enjoyable focussing to spend time. It Is an undemanding activity that passes the time and there are very few families that dont own at least one television receiver. Since so many populate now own a television, there has been a proliferation in the number of channels available and shows to watch, so that you mickle quite easily find yourself pass hours in front to the television. Consequently, you may neglect other activities that need doing. Thus, although television may help to let off boredom. Here are also some negative aspects associated with watching television. Breaking news shown live on your TV Global news network allows the latest global as yetts to be aired worldwide and beamed forthwith to your living room. Examples (from top-left, clockwise) include September 1 lath attack, 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia, 2008 HINDI outbreak and 2011 earthquake In Japan. Pros of watching television The positive aspects of watching television include that you have something to talk to friends and relatives about.There are original programs which are to a greater extent popular than there and If you watch them you feel Included and that you have something In vulgar with the people around you. Television can help to foster a sense of national identity, since a significant proportion of the population will be exposed to the same kinds of news programs and television shows, so that people feel that they belong to a wider community. Plus, television can also be Informative and educational, col peoples eyes up to the world outside.Educational TV programs Educational TV programs provide priceless knowledge that non only educate but also pens up your mind. Most of these programs teach and educate people on subjects that you may otherwise will not know and are never taught in schools. Non-educational TV programs However, there are also a lot of television shows that are not very e ducational, and could even be considered trash. Reality shows, for Instance, offer nothing of any worth to the audience. Yet people still telephone circuit in. People get hooked on shows which are poorly produced and concentrate mostly on issues of end up and violence.Although here is no conclusive evidence that watching violence on television makes children tofu people would become desensitizing to it, and that this could make it easier for children to engage in violent activities. Watching likewise much TV can lead to weight gain, poor social skills and lower academic results Unsupervised children spending to a fault much of their time in front of a TV can have a loose impact on their life. Obesity, lack of social skills and poor academic results are Just some of the set up TV have on children.Some psychologist believe that too such TV time can have a major effect in the psychology of the child. Children are suppose to interact and play, not sit and watch. Poor parenting and weight gain It is also evident that many people spend too much time watching television, so that parents dont bother to spend any time playing or talking with their children. It is far easier to stick them in front of the television, rather than taking them to the park. It cant be a coincidence that so many people are now overweight when they spend much more time watching television than they would have done years ago.People seed to be a lot more active, but now television is the most convenient way for individuals to keep themselves occupied. Thus, they hit the roof hardly any calories while most probably consuming an excessive amount of calories. Its addictive eventide though there are many negative aspects associated with watching television, many people enjoy television far too much to reduce the amount they watch or to avoid watching television altogether. People enjoy not having to think for themselves and to be able to sit down and watch something that helps them to relax, so why would they change?

Motivation Aspects to Job Selection

Motivation Aspects to joke SelectionMotivation is derived from the latin word movere which means to move. Motivation is the process of moving from ones leads to drives and lastly to incentives.Needs ar identified because of a deficiency which may be physiological or psychological.Drives move the behaviour for fulfilling the needs that were identified above.The behaviour which is serveed because of drives cause results in a reward or an incentive which may be tangible or intangible.This report is about selecting a labor that forget actuate us and explaining the same using various motivation theories. We deliberated on the kind of arguments that would motivate us and came to the goal that we would wish to be management consultants in a reputed consultancy firm. After looking for vacancies in various job portals and company websites we came to the conclusion that joining Mckinsey and Company would be the best.The details of the job description and the company overview is discu ssed below. pedigree DescriptionJunior Associate McKinsey CompanyAs a consultant, you get out join teams makeing with the pinch management of corporations on critical issues, identifying business opportunities, generating and evaluating solutions, and smashing result-oriented change programs. You will also have the materialise to contribute to the development of state-of-the-art management concepts and practices.McKinsey Company is a spheric management consulting firm which started in the year 1926. It is one of the most trusted advisors to the worlds leading businesses, governments and institutions. One of the golden rules that Mckinsey follows is below which is beneficial to two employees as well as clients We work with our clients as we do with our colleagues. We build their capabilities and leadership skills at both level and every opportunity. We do this to do build internal support, get to real issues, and reach possible recommendations. We bring out the capabili ties of clients to fully participate in the process and lead the on-going work.Motivation theory blondness influenceThis cognitively based model is on the calculation of outputs received by an individual and the touchstone of input that he/she has put in to get the outputs. The inputs and outputs might be perceived antitheticly by different individuals and hence it is measured relative between individuals. Age, sex, education, social status, organisational position, qualifications and how hard the person works are examples of perceived input variables. Outcomes consist primarily of rewards such as feed, status, promotion and intrinsic interest. Schematic totallyy this is be in the 3 possible scenarios.If the perceived ratio is not equal to the new(prenominal)s, he or she will strive to restore the ratio to equity. This striving to restore equity is used as the explanation of work motivation. The person may alter the inputs or outcomes, cognitively distort the inputs or outpu ts according to his or her scale.Maslows Needs Hierarchy and Theory of MotivationThe Maslows model is one of the classic content supposititious models that explained motivational needs as a hierarchy. To simplify, he believed that once a given level of need is convenient, it no longer serves to motivate. The next level of need has to be activated, which results in the motivation of an individual. The various levels of Maslows need can be understood by the below diagram with reference to a job or career.The job application that we are referring to is catering to the physiological and safety/security concerns that are required. The pay is quite high even at the entry levels with a base package of 20 lakhs p.a. with supererogatory variable salary components that amount to 6 to 8 lakhs more.The next level i.e. the social level has been considered as an important aspect in the work culture of Mckinsey w herein they follow a collaborative approach. The associates work in small groups of 3 to 5 which consists of business analysts, associates and partners. The organisation is flat with few hierarchical levels and hence it makes low-cal for a person to approach differents and get help in case of any issues. Our understanding of different industries and functions will grow exponentially as the teammates share their expertise. Well receive coaching and feedback throughout the engagement. In fact, consultants often find life-long mentorsand friendshipsin their senior colleagues.The 3 levels of Maslows hierarchy are something which is readily satisfied by the job and the organisation. Hence focusing on the next level is the Esteem. Self Esteem as well as respect from others is an important aspect that needs to be addressed. Taking this job would translate us and opportunity to grow in the organisation. This is evident from the fact that Mckinsey recognises the performance of the individual and promotes them as seen in various posts from associates in forums. Formal performance reviews happen at the end of every project and associates with rock-steady analytical and people skills move up the ladder. The Up or Out approach makes sure that the playing people deserve to go to the top, right to the level of a CEO.Self-actualisation is indeed the most important aspect of this hierarchy where the professional tends to move towards propitiation in life, both professional and personal. To cater to this need, Mckinsey creates a tributary environment where we will get many opportunities as described below.Our private-sector work will put you at the center of the transformative forces sweeping business. We work in just about every industry and functional scope you can imagine, with engagements that range from creating entirely new businesses, to leveraging leading-edge technologies, to reinventing manufacturing, to advising companies on the future of media and social sharing.Our public-sector and social-impact work is global in nature. We advise many of the worlds governments and NGOs on everything from re-imagining the delivery of education and the healthcare services to creating centers of local entrepreneurship. isolated from professional aspirations, there is a scope of people for pursuing their passions such as singing, travelling and other personal wishes by opting for a programme kn let as the TIME-UP programme. The highlights of the programme areOur Take while program allows consultants to take time off between engagements to pursue personal interests and passions, whether that includes spending time with family or going on a dream trip. This on and off model allows consultants additional time to recharge without disrupting client work.Making a difference in the world is a deep motivation.Porter Lawler ModelPorter and Lawler suggested that motivation does not equal satisfaction or performance but they are all separate entities. They say that effort does not lead directly to performance but is directed by abilities, tr aits and by role perceptions. The rewards that follow and how they are perceived will determine satisfaction. Unlike the content theory, here performance leads to satisfaction.In lieu of the above theory, Mckinsey is cutting back their financial-incentive programs, but have used other ways of inspiring talent. The understand how to make their employees perform better and hence get satisfaction. Analogous to Porter-Lawlers model we have-Opportunity to perform- Mckinsey provides ample opportunities to its employees in order to enhance performance a chance to lead projects or task forces.Abilities Traits- As a company Mckinsey believes in its employees abilities and delegates work as per their abilities. Their judgment helps the people to understand their potential and work towards better and better performance.Role PerceptionsManagers set expectations for the employees under them to perform better with specific roles.Effort Level and Direction of Effort- Praise from immediate manage rs for their work is found to be an effective way to boost the morale of the people. The employees are guided towards a direction so that their own effort is rightly appreciated and is fruitful for the companySelf-Efficacy- Inculcating a strong sense of self-efficacy among the people helps them to develop deeper interest in the activities they perform.By Leadership attention-Managers go on one-on one meeting with their team members to help them develop the desire to perform and produce a desired effect.Effort-Reward Probabilities- Team members are rewarded as per their performance.As budding managers this study helps us to realise that we need to inculcate the culture of performance driven satisfaction among our peers and subordinates. It is important for us, as managers, that we have belief in our team members and motivate them to perform better which will help us and them to gain satisfaction.

Cross-cultural leadership: An analysis

Cross- heathenish lead An analysisIntroductionI shed lived, travelled and worked extensively overseas since 2003 in particular London, UK and Dubai, UAE this has sparked my interest in furthering my understanding of cross-cultural lead issues.I bugger off experienced running(a) in different governing bodys, cultural, customs, races, work ethic, languages, morals, ethics, beliefs, class / grade systems, education, etc. this is more evident in Dubai, UAE then it was in London, UK.In this leaders Research excogitate I forget explore how cross-cultural issues might influence leadership approaches, I give be looking at it from a Western attractership Approach and vitamin Eern leaders Approach, which I will define later.There atomic number 18 a lot of issues and factors that effect leadership approaches, modal values, and effectiveness some of which argon giving medicational culture, issue culture which we will be exploring.Yousef (1998) has highlighted that leaders and fol lowing personal attributes such(prenominal) as national cultural, experience, education, age, tenure with present scheme and organisational factors such as ownership have a significant human relationship with leadership effectiveness.I will be looking at Western leadinghip Approaches i.e. Anglo Saxon Australian and British verus einsteiniumern i.e. Arabic and Indian and drawing on some of my experiences in the place East while working as a Construction realize Manager in Dubai, UAE from 2007 to 2009.Please office that the terms / descriptions Australian, Indian, Arabic etc Leaders and Managers are more Democratic, Authoritarian, Autocratic, Laissez-faire etc These are generalisations and I acknowledge that at that place are Leaders, Managers and Followers that fall outside of these generalisations, as in leaders there is no atomic number 53 size that fits all approach, what kit and caboodle in genius culture does not needfully work in anformer(a).From personal experience adopting an Australian, British, American i.e. Western leaders Approach, Style, Characteristics, Traits etc. to the context of the Middle East i.e. Dubai, UAE working in an Arabic Cultural and leading and managing predominately Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sir Lankan, Chinese etc. work force does not necessarily work due to a cultural differences i.e. organisational and national, so you have to have a Situational / Contingency leadership Approach Style to be effective in cross-cultural.Yousef (1998) suggest that leaders should adopt a leadership style that accommodates the followers personal attributes as well as organisational factors in order to achieve organisational goals and objectives effectively, this backs up my personal line of credit above.The two organisations that I worked in we polar opposites in terms on organisational cultural the offset printing one Dutco Balfour Beatty LLC was one of the largest and well established construction and engineering companies in t he UAE direct crossways several(a) fields.The other Cliff Creek Building Contractors LLC was a relatively small companyThe first organisation was highly Authoritarian, Bureaucratic, over-centralised, authority and power is unequally distributed at the top and this is typical of most firms in the Middle East from my experiences.The second organisation wasBrief Overview of the IndustryInsert HereBodyDefinitionsThere is no set definition of leadership and cultural, it has been defined in many ways by many citizenry for the purposes of this Leadership Research Project we will use the following definitionLeadership DefinitionThe land Project defines leadership as the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organisation of which they are members (Page 15 Culture, Leadership and Organisations The GLOBE field of honor of 62 Societies)Cultural DefinitionThe GLOBE Project defines culture as shared motiv es, values, beliefs, identities, and interpretations of meanings of significant events that result from common experiences of members collectives that are transmitted across generations (Page 15 Culture, Leadership and Organisations The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies)Culture includes the organisation, commonwealth where you live or have lived in, amicable class, generation, sexuality, regional, ethnic, religious, linguistics, customs, race, work ethic, morals, ethics, beliefs, values, class / caste systems etc.Western Leadership Style Ideas DefinitionI have exceptional my Leadership Style Ideas to the UK and Australian, as this is where I have worked during my career and have experience in managing people, resources etc. in terms ofEastern Leadership Style Ideas DefinitionI have limited my Leadership Style Ideas to Indian as this is was the studyity of the workforce in Dubai, UAE that I managed and lead i.e. Leader / Follower relationship.Literature ReviewA review of the Liter ature reveals that there has been much written on the topics of Leadership and Culture but there is not enough interaction of the topics and a lot of the literature is from a Western Perspective, more needs to be written from the prospective of the Arab and Indian and also the industry.I have found from the Literature Review that there are many Leadership Theories i.e. Transformational, Transactional, Situational, Contingency, Leadership part Exchange LMX, value orientational, Authentic, Visionary, Cross-cultural, Military View Heroic Leadership, Strategic, Charismatic, Spiritual, Less-ego, Liberating, Theory X, Y, Z, Traits, etc. and that different researches call them different things and there is a lot of overlap between them.There are of course other leadership theories that I have not listed above due to the limited space available.The leadership styles, traits, characteristics and approaches that I have depict below are a broad generalisation of leadership in terms of Aust ralian / British i.e. Western Leadership and Arab / Indian i.e. Eastern Leadership.The seminal work in the field of cross-cultural leadership was by Greet Hofsteed 1980 which has been widely cited, he study 100,000.00 employees of IBM from 49 countries and cultures over a 6 year period from 1967 to 1973 and identified four leadership dimensions to compare leadership differences and similarities, these dimension are individuality / Collectivism ( restore Item 5 6 below)Hierarchy, Status and Power Distance (Refer Item 8 below) suspense Avoidance (Refer Item 9 below) andMasculinity (Refer Item 2 below).The study was of one organisation IBM and one industry, and as such these dimension are generalisations of organisational and national cultural.This work has formed the bases for other researches, to replicate, extend and oppose this, one such works was the GLOBE Study.The worldly concern Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness Research broadcast House 2004, from hear o n will be referred to as the man Study for the rest of Leadership Research Project.The GLOBE Study examined 62 cultures across 3 industries (Financial Services, Food Processing and Telecommunications), how culture link to societal, organisational and leadership effectiveness. It studied 17,300.00 managers in 951 organisations and tested 27 hypotheses over a 5 year from 1992 to 1997.The Globe Study examined leadership from the followers point of view and used Hofsteed 1980 original four dimensions albeit renamed and added five sweet cultural dimensions listed below Future preferenceGender Egalitarianism (Refer Item above 4)Assertiveness merciful OrientationIn-Group Collectivism (Refer Item above 1)Institutional Collectivism (Refer Item above 1)Performance OrientationPower Concentration vs. Decentralisation (Refer Item above 2) andUncertainty Avoidance (Refer Item above 3).Refer to Appendix A for Definitions of item 1 to 9 above.The planetary Study identified six major global lea dership behaviours AutonomousCharismatic / Value-BasedHumane OrientedParticipativeSelf-Protective andTeam Oriented.Refer to Appendix A for Definitions of item 1 to 6 above.They also identified 22 attributes that are universally accepted across the 62 cultures for effective Leadership TrustworthyJustHonestForesightPlans aheadEncouraging incontrovertibleDynamicMotive arousersConfidence BuilderMotivationalDependableIntelligentDecisiveEffective bargainorWin-win problems problem solverAdministrative SkilledCommunicativeInformedCoordinatorTeam Builder andExcellence oriented.They also identified 8 attributes that are universally not accepted across the 62 cultures for effective Leadership LonerantisocialNon-cooperativeIrritableNon-explicitEgocentricRuthless andDictatorial.Jacob 2005 suggests that there are short comings of global sweep studies as cultural and concern are dynamic and constantly evolving where these studies are a static snapshot of a country orientation.She then goes on to say cross-cultural managers should be able to gauge what types of leadership behaviour works in a particular culture and develop skills which enable them to assume the required leadership behaviour, this reinforces my argument above regarding Situational Leadership.She cites Fiedler who suggests that leadership style used should match the situational requirements.I think that the cultural dimensions and typologies that are outlined in this paper and that were identified by Hofseed (1980), Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars (2000), House et al (2004) and others have there place, and are a sound indicator for organisations and individual leaders who are proposing or are already actively operating in a different culture and country to there own e.g. Australian / Middle East / Indian.As this will give them an indicative guide to what attributes are universal across cultures, are considered good and bad and specific to a particular culture and what followers expect from there leader.I will identify below the individual attributes of the Western Easter Leaders as identified by Hofsteed 1980 and the Globe Study 2004.Western Leadership ApproachesAustralian and England Anglo more often than notAccording to House et al 2007 1 P297 Generally Leaders from Anglo Countries i.e. Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa (White Sample) and the USA are highly performance orientated, mildly assertiveness, prospective orientation, gender egalitarianism, forgiving orientation, institutional collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance but low on in-group collectivism.Leaders from these countries generally support a charismatic / Value Based Leadership Approach, Style, Traits, Characteristics very strongly compared to other countries.It also quiet strongly supported Team Oriented Leadership and elements of participated leadership which enacted in humane oriented manner.Self-Protective Behaviours were viewed negatively a Person Oriented Leadership is endorsed by all Anglo countries where results are judge to be delivered and achieved by the leader by operating in a team.AustralianThe Australian management and leadership styleI was born and breed in Australia which has influenced my leadership style, approach, characteristics, traits etc.This was developed finished cultural influences both organisational and societal i.e. values, beliefs, morals, ethics, customs, rituals, artefacts, language, social class, generation, gender, which are learned and engrained in you from an early age.The generalisation of Australian Leadership style, approach, characteristics, traits etc. areGenerally in Australia our culture and leadership is an enigma which is full or contradiction and change this has been developed over our relatively short history from European Settlement in1788 by the British to present day, which has included the following Pre- and Early SettlementGovernment and PoliticsEconomyAustralia as a Multicultural, Tolerant and Plur alist SocietyRelationship with Other Countries.ValuesEgalitarianism Mateship and A Fair GoInspirational not CharismaticIndividual RewardsPerformance Oriented One of the BoysDistrust of Politics and Politicians content Identity with the Heroism of the AnzacsAustralia ContinuedRefer to table 9.1 P. 305BritishThe British management and leadership styleGeneralSpecificRefer to Australia for inside informationEastern Leadership ApproachesArabicWe had to interpolate the GLOBE Study data for the Middle East to Dubai, UAE as only Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait, Morocco were researched the Globe Study.I will have to extrapolate the Middle East Data to Dubai, UAE as only Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait, Morocco were researched the Globe Study.I acknowledge that there are differences between countries and industries.GeneralSpecificRefer to Australia for detailsIndian, Pakistani, etc.GeneralSpecificRefer to Australia for detailsIndian is a spiritual cultureEthics and Social ResponsibilityWith regard s to ethics and social accountability within the context of Dubai, UAE and the construction industry / construction companies I worked with this issue does not exist it has been my experience. operable ImplicationsConclusions and RecommendationsSo as a Western Leader and Manager, who is managing Indians for example you should exhibit the following behaviours in the followers eyes if you do not already posses them.Culture and Leadership are inextricably linked.There is a need for further research in the area of creDue to the globalisation of business and the mix of culturesReferences / BibliographyI have used APA or Harvard citation in this Leadership Research Project.Books1. Sinclair, A. (2007). Leadership for the disillusioned travel beyond myths and heroes to leading that liberates. Allen Unwin ISBN 978-1-7417-5100-0.2. capital of Mississippi, B. Parry, K. (2008). A genuinely Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book roughly Studying Leadership. Sage ISBN 978-1-412 9-2848-53. Jagdeep S. Chhokar, Felix C. Brodbeck, Robert J. House (2007). Culture and Leadership crossways the World The GLOBE Book of In-Depth Studies of 25 Cultures. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates ISBN 0-8058-5997-7Journals1. Dawish A. Yousef College of Business Economics, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates Correlates of perceived leadership style in a culturally complicated environment Leadership Organisation Development Journal 19,5 (1998) 275 284 MCB University Press (ISSN 0143-7739)2. Nina Jacob Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Post Bus, The Netherlands Cross-cultural investigations emerge concepts Journal of Organisational Change Management Vol. 18 No. 5, 2005 pp. 514 528 Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814.AppendicesAppendix ADefinitionsGLOBE Study 2004Future OrientationIs the degree to which individuals in organisations or societies engage in future-oriented behaviours such as planning, investing in the future, and de laying individual or collective gratification.Gender EgalitarianismIs the extent to which an organisations or societies minimises gender role differences while promoting gender equity and the equality of genders.AssertivenessIs the degree to which individuals in organisations or societies are assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in social relationshipsHumane OrientationIs the degree to which individuals in organisations or societies push and reward individuals for being fair, altruistic, friendly, generous, caring, kind to others, and exhibiting and promoting altruistic ideals.In-Group Collectivism (Collectivism II)Reflects the degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their organisations, families, solidification of close friends, or other such small groups.Institutional Collectivism (Collectivism I)Reflects the degree to which organisational and societal institutional practises encourage and reward collective distribution of resources and coll ective action.Performance OrientationRefers to the extent to which high aim members of organisations or societies encourage and reward group members for performance improvement and excellence.Power DistanceIs the degree to which members of an organisation and society encourage and reward unequal distribution of power with greater power at high levels.Uncertainty Avoidance.Is the extent to which members of an organisation or society strive to avoid uncertainty by relying on established social norms, rituals, and bureaucratic practices to decrease the probability of unpredictable future events that could adversely affect the appendage of an organisation or society, and also remedy the potential adverse effects of such unpredictable future events.Ch. 1 Introduction Culture Page 3 and 4 Jagdeep S. Chhokar, Felix C. Brodbeck, Robert J. House (2007). Culture and Leadership Across the World The GLOBE Book of In-Depth Studies of 25 Cultures. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates ISBN 0-8058-5997-7 Mr. Matthew C. Smith (S2748489) Draft Leadership Project fitting13 of 15 Rev. 1 12/02/2010 147pm5158 Master of Business Administration (MBA) South brimLeadership CharacteristicsAustralianEnglandArabicIndianUniversalDifferencesGeneral AttributesSpecific AttributesGame MetaphorMateshipWork EthicCautionAdversarialOne of UsTall PoppyUnderdogPragmaticMr. Matthew C. Smith (S2748489) Draft Leadership Project Assignment13 of 15 Rev. 1 12/02/2010 147pm5158 Master of Business Administration (MBA) South BankBrainstorming / Ideas to be used or notLeadership inexorably intertwinded with Culture P.2 Cultural Methology and Global Leadership Edited by Eric H. Kessler and Diana J. Wong-MingjiLeadership is something that is co-produced within a specific context and Leadership is co-produced by leaders and followers Ch. 4 Cultural Perspectives on Leadership Page 61 A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Leadership Brad Jackson and Ken Parry.Leadership is essentia lly a cultural activity it is suffused with values, beliefs, language, rituals and artefacts Page 63 Culture Leadership A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Leadership Brad Jackson and Ken Parry.Culture Shock I want to mention this.Cultural acquaintanceChange management / leadership style and ideas to suit cultural context i.e. Situational Leadership.Sarros Santora leadership is embedded in social and cultural beliefs and values, and cannot be fully understood apart from the context in which it exists.

Malaysian Government Expenditure’s Trends

Malaysian Government expendings TrendsCHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONBackground of landing fieldMalaysia is a atomic and open thriftiness which has middle income surface area. Malaysia is a country on the move. Today, Malaysia passs an export-driven economy which accelerates aces by high technology, knowledge-establish and capital-intensive industries. Malaysias economy achieves successes in frugalal emergence because of economy transformation in an effective state-supported polity. The role of policy not only can increase the frugal increase but overly can achieve the goal in the different ontogenesis stages (Nabulsi, 2001). Thus, the brass plays an important role in stinting ontogenesis.Economic egress is defined as an increase in acountrys proceedsive capacity, as footfalld by comparinggross national product (GNP)in a course with the GNP in the old year. An increment in thecapital stock,advancesintechnology, andimprovementin thequalityand aim of literacy be con casere d to be theprincipalcausesof scotch increment. In recent years, the topic ofsustainable victimizationhas brought in additionalfactorssuch(prenominal) asenvironmentally soundprocessesthat must be taken intoaccountin matu ration aneconomy. From these definition it shows that scotch growth is primarily a quantitative measure based on the rate of change of GDP while scotch development is a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures.The question of the kinship amid the organization asidelay and sparing growth has been created a upsurge of interest and attention among the economist and policy makers. By understanding the family family within it, may patron in building a more than goal orientated policy. on that pointfore, studies on this topic has been made and argued since decades ago. Furthermore, it has likewise worked up controversy in macro frugals studies. This interest has led to empirical studies to source several(prenominal) sparing doubts, whic h related to the disposal uptake and the sparing growth of the country.Gwartney, Holcombe and Lawson (1998) spy when the country has moved towards the economical freedom and open market, that organisation disbursal allow for increased accordingly. A lot of empirical studies were carried out to see the effect of economic growth on governing intake. However the yields of individually country lead to different conclusion where about countries show positivist race and some countries not. Samudram, Nair and Vaithilingam (2009) state a similar finding based on several studies regarding the race of governing consumption and economic growth and the results are inconclusive. Landau (1983) studies noticed that the effect of government activity outgo on economic growth in 96 countries and finds a negative kind surrounded by government spending and economic growth. Meanwhile, Sinha (1998) make up positive relationship in the midst of economic growth and government consu mption in Malaysia for the period of 1950-1992. in that respect are dickens schools of thought called Wagners law, named after the nineteenth ampere-second German Professor Adolf Wagner, and the other(a) one the discernnesian views which were suggested by the twentieth century British economist John Maynard Keynes. There are also separated though like considerable and small government. According to Sinha (1998), Wagners law is the scratch line thought that illustrated out the possible relationship amidst economic growth and the growth of government activity. Sinha (1998) reported that Adolf Wagner was probably the first scholar to recognize a positive correlation between economic growth and the growth of government activity. In addition, Henrekson (1993) pointed out from Wagners law triplet main movements for the increase in the governments role. In a simple way, Wagners law is interpreted as to say that government usance is a consequence of a developing economy. First, Industrialization and modernization would lead to a substitution of national for personal activities and result in increasing government intakes on law and couch as well as on contractual enforcement. Secondly, an increase in substantial income would lead to an expansion of the income elastic cultural and welfare expenditures. Wagner cited two areas which are precept and culture in which the government could be a better provider than the private sector. Thirdly, natural monopolies such as railroads had to be taken over by the government because the running cost of such kind of activities are too expensive and the private sector would be unable to obtain such huge investment to finance the development of these activities.FIGURE 1.1.1 THE WANGERS LAWWagners Law ancestor move by authorOn the other hand, the other economic adaptation for government expenditure and growth is condoneed by the Keynesian view. The positive role in government expenditure economic growth provide be based on the multiplier effects stated in the Keynesian model.Keynesian formula consists of the following compositionY = C + I + G +Xn .. (1)where,Y = the aggregate output (GDP)C = the consumptionI = the investmentG = the government expenditureXn = the net exports (exports-imports)FIGURE 1.1.2 THE Keynesian VIEWSWagners LawSource Drawn by authorAs we be in possession of mentioned ahead, this topic has created enormous attention among queryers with many extensive empirical works that have been carried out to prove these theories but unfortunately the resolution of these studies has been of a mixed conclusion. The causation of economic growth and government expenditure can be unidirectional, bidirectional or no cause.Unidirectional causality can be running from government expenditure to economic growth and vice versa. This paper is adapting the Keynesian view to psychoanalyse the relationship between government expenditure and economic growth.Several studies on causality have b een carried out with several conclusions. Sinha (1998) using augmented Granger causality test finds no evidence of causality between GDP and government expenditure in Malaysia for the cartridge clip period 1950-1992. Again later, Dogan and Tang (2006) find no empirical evidence to support either of the two theories for Malaysia when using selective information from 1960 to 2002. While Tang (2001) finds a short-run causality that runs from national income to government expenditure using data from 1960-1998. In all the studies that have been carried out so far, the outlets are still open for debate. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between government expenditure, particularly in economic development expenditure and general development expenditure. This view will cover the government expenditure from year 1981-2013, limitation in obtaining the earlier data has also became one of the reason that the study starting from 1981 and the year 2013, which is the latest data that can be obtain, in order to find as circumstantial as we could. The source of data is from the website Asian Development Bank Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific.1.2 Problem StatementStatistics from Economic Planning building block of Malaysia and International fiscal Statistics of International Monetary Fund shows that the Malaysian government expenditures propensity and real GDP per capitas trend shows almost a consistent increase throughout the period of 1981 until 2013. At the akin time its real GDP per capita also shows the same trend.Figure 1.2 The trend of the centre government expenditure and real GDP per capita in year 1981-2013Source Economic Planning Unit of MalaysiaStarting with the New Economic insurance policy (NEP) in the 1970s with its objective to restore the ethnic balance of the Bumiputera race through investment in human capital, the Malaysian government was out aright and heavily involved in economic activity. This involvement or the so called government intervention in the economy has led the Malaysian national government expenditure to increase steadily. According to Economic Planning Unit (EPU) Malaysia, the report in year 2003 shows that the percentage of total expenditure sex act to GDP in 1970 to 1980 has increased about 25% to 33%. Meanwhile, in year 1981, statistics from EPU also show that the total Malaysian centre government expenditure has jumped about 41% from previous year total expenditure while the development expenditure growth percentage of that year compared to the previous year hiked about 52%.EPU Malaysia report that, by looking into the ratio of development expenditure on total expenditure, it is about 13 in 1980. While in the next year, the ratio has increase and achieved a new height at 12. In 1982, the total government expenditure showed about the same pattern as in year 1981. However the scenario changed in 1983.In year 1983 the Malaysian government focused its privatization po licy as one of the national policies. This policy has brought more capitalization to the nation, shifted the government led growth to private sector led growth. This policy represents a new approach in policy development and at the same time complements other policies introduced by the government. This policy was developed to focus on enhancing the role of the private sector in economic development. Facilitate the development of countys economy and reducing financial and administrative burden of the government is also the purpose of this approach. Furthermore it attempts to reduce government intervention in the economy, lowering the take aim and scope of public spending and allowing market forces to match economic activity in line with the National Development Policy.During the instruction execution of this policy, the private sector was regarded as the engine of growth. As a result of this policy, the Malaysian government has successfully reduced its expenditure particularly in the development sector. In 1987, the percentage of development expenditure of total expenditure was marked lowest at about 20%. In general, it is believed that the Malaysian economic policies have had a big influence on the trend of the government expenditures for economic growth. However, this policy leads the policy makers to become divided as whether the expansion of government promotes or impedes economic growth.As mentioned in the earlier section, there were several studies on the direction of causality between government expenditure and economic growth in Malaysia and the results are mixed. Some concludes that it has no relationship between the government expenditure and economic growth, while some argued there was some positive and significant relationship lies within. However, we presume that the outcome of the same study will possibly lead to either one of the existing results. Furthermore the causality test was unable to identify the grade of change or effect from one var iable to another for this reason this study has no interest in testing for causality.On the other hand, as highlighted in an earlier section regarding the two sides of arguments which are the proponents of big and small governments, at this point, the attention is given to identify the right side of these two arguments. In addition we would also like to identify the stage of association between the government expenditure particularly by its sectors and economic growth. To our knowledge, no such study exists for Malaysia so far. Thus this study attempts to check out the association between government expenditure in education and healthcare and economic growth in Malaysia from 1981 to 2013.Research ObjectivesThe aims of this study is to evaluate by trial and error the association between the general government expenditure and economic growth. Specifically, the objectives of this study are1.3.1 General ObejctiveTo identify the association between government development expenditure s and economic growth, and its importee by the operate and sector.1.3.2 Specific ObjectiveTo decide the relationship between the education and economic growth of Malaysia.To sterilise the relationship between the defence and protection expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.To determine the relationship between the general public services expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.To determine the relationship between the transportations and communication theory expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.To determine the relationship between the healthcare expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.Research QuestionTo meet the above objectives, several seek questions have been developed to meet the objectives. Answering the below research questions will fulfil the objectives of this study.The research questions are as followsWhat is the relationship between education expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia?What is the relationship between the defence and security expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia?What is the relationship between the general public services expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia?What is the relationship between transportations and communications expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia?What is the relationship between healthcare expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia?1.5 General HypothesisThe hypothesis is to determine the relationship between the government expenditure and economic growth in Malaysia. groomingH0 There is a relationship between the education expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.H1 There is no relationship between the education expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.DEFENCE AND SECURITYH0 There is a relationship between the defence and security expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.H1 There is no relationship between the defence and security expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.GENERAL PUBLIC SERVICESH0 There is a relationship between the general public services expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.H1 There is no relationship between the general public services expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.TRANSPORTATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONSH0 There is a relationship between the transportations and communications expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.H1 There is no relationship between the transportations and communications expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia. healthcareH0 There is a relationship between the healthcare expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.H1 There is no relationship between the healthcare expenditure and economic growth of Malaysia.In order to proceed with the interpretation of statistical regression epitome, a significance level should be first considered. The significance level can be set at three different levels which are 1%, 5% and 10%. At each significant level, if the p-value of variables indicates that p-value1.6 meaningful of StudyMalaysia is a developing country that has excelled in eco nomic cognitive process during 1980s. However more and more factors are affecting the economic health of Malaysia and the economic performance has slowed down over the years. One of the argument found is on the misspending of the government budget. Government expenditure might have failed to address the real factor that may drive the economic growth whence this paper may be helpful in the sense of recognizing the real expenditure that may trigger economic growth. This does help in service of process government to spend the right money at the right place.Identifying the relationship within economic growth and government expenditure will also give some reference to the policy makers in shaping the countrys future without unnecessary waste of resources. It may also help policy makers to examine the new policy, weighting its strength of influence towards the results they may want to achieve.Furthermore, this paper has also study the government expenditure by separating it into perfe ct bite-sized, easy to understand and digest. The paper has breakdown the economic expenditure to very small and specific components, and this will help in quantifying the right amount of expenditure in every aspect. This makes the economic compend become much more an easier and easier to forecast the economic growth by accessing the current expenditure that have invested in.1.7 Outline of the StudyThe following chapters in this study will explain the research process in better details. The social system of this study starts with chapter one focusing on the introduction and research proposal.Chapter two is about the literature review, this chapter will discuss on the relevant research that have been carried out by others researchers. This chapter will also discuss and explain in depth about the literatures relevant to the area of economic growth.Chapter three focuses on model and methodology. This chapter will discuss the method that will be used in this research. It included the research design, research method, data analysis and others.Chapter four conducts the empirical tests of a time series regression analysis from year 1981 to 2013 and describes the outcome of the regression analysis. The results of the research will then be analyzed to answer the relevant research question.Chapter five focuses on a discussion of the empirical results and discuss conclusions and testimonials based on the study. This part will provide a summary of the findings, a discussion of the implications of the study and recommendation1.8 ConclusionIn a nutshell, this paper study on the significance of the relationship between government expenditure and economic growth, it is based on secondary data as the paper is accessing the past record of the economic performance to draw a conclusion. The paper will help in certain aspect, especially as a reference in help policy makers to make a better policy, drive Malaysia towards a more competitive environment.

Gender and Leadership Style

Gender and attractorship StyleIntroductionLeadership has had a great impact on the culture, history, and civilization of humankind, thus theoretical explanations for it accidental injury been extended throughout the history. Although the marge trinityership is almostly related with industriousness and business, it is important to education as well. Therefore it is vital to understand the federal agency of leading in education and to investigate the impact of gender on lead appearance.Despite the large number of effeminate teachers across solely levels (i.e. primary, secondary, tertiary), lead positions argon still held mainly by hands. Cooper et al. (2000) say that qualified wo men educators provide important resource for repleteing trustworthy and imminent naturalize leading shortages entirely atomic number 18 often ignored. Meanwhile little and McLeod (2001) identified that womens entrance into educational leading will depends on their carg wizardr aspirations, their leading orientations or styles, the incident exposure to transformational leadinghip, their experiences, and the die hard they gain when get in administration.This section will include early leadhiphip theories, the business clear upices of school leader, alliance betwixt leadership and gender, fe staminate leadership styles, differences amongst leadership styles of men and women, gender stereotypes, prejudice against fe staminate leaders and the summary of this chapter.Early Leadership TheoriesIn the early 18th centuries, philosophers recommended a theory of leadership which was termed the extensive Man theory. concord to Jani (2008), this theory assumed that leaders ar born(p) and non made. Whereby leaders normally were members from the aristocracy since they only got a probability to lead and then, it was considered that nice breeding contributed to great leaders. Besides that, this theory besides states that when there is a great need , then a great leader arises, like Buddha, Jesus, Churchill and Eisenhower. During that era, women were non discoern into account as likely leaders. hitherto from the name given to this theory adorns that women were non perceived as leaders, and leadership look for during this period were related solely to males.Trait theories were introduced in the yr 1904 and were well cognise up to 1947 (Bass, 1990). This theory assumed that great deal are born with inherited traits whereby some traits are particularly suited to leadership. It is believed that plurality who make good leaders confine the right combination of traits. And at a time again, these traits were judgment to be inborn, and unique to leaders.Trait theories basically described traits in virile terms, and these characteristics were considered crucial for winning leadership. In the 1900s, small numbers of women began to stick in the stateforce. However, only in truth small proportions of women took up lead ership positions in the 1940s. Typically, women were seen as carers, assistants, teachers, or nurses rather than leaders during this period of time (Koziara et al., 1987). Therefore, pistillates were not seen as appropriate in the fictitious character of leadership.Soon after the 1940s, questioners began to propose that traits only if were not sufficient to explain effective leadership. They proposed that the interaction of leaders and fol meekers, as well as other situational factors, whitethorn be a substantial factor in effective leadership. At this stage, leaders were no longish considered to consume inborn characteristics and abilities hence Gardner (1989) proposed a new way of designualizing leadership. He said that men learn to lead therefore there is no one that are born to be a leader. This philosophy lead to the behavioral theories of leadership in the 1930s and the perspective began to move from a belief in the inborn characteristics of leaders, to a focus on beh aviour which could be acquired or learned.There were four main behavioural studies conducted in conjunction with this theory. Firstly, the University of Iowa researchers which isolated three behavioural dimensions these were the pop, tyrannic, and laissez-faire styles. Secondly, a probe by Ohio State University in the 1940s and 1950s. They advanced this body of approximation by dividing the behavioural theories into two dimensions which they termed favor and initiating structure. Consideration was explained as be considerate towards following ideas and feelings while initiating structure diagnosered to structuring work traffichip to meet job goals. The third study was conducted by the University of Michigan which described employee menstruation and production oriented dimensions. The findings of this study concluded that employee-oriented employers promoted high group productiveness and job satisfaction amongst their employees (Kahn and Katz, 1960).These concepts were ex tended in 1964, when Blake and Mouton proposed a managerial Grid. They proposed that by incorporating the two dimensions of concern for people and concern for production the most effective way of leading could be achieved (Blake and Mouton, 1964). All these behavioural theories were proposed in the early 1930s, but only achieved prominence in the 1960s at a time when the number of women in positions of cause or place in organisations were still low. The proportion of women in leadership roles in the the States in 1970, ten long time after the behavioural theories were introduced, was only 16 per cent. to a greater extentover, this percentage of women involved in a leadership role was describe to be constant for over a decade (Powell, 1999). However, during this period of research, there was an emerging recognition of the importance of concern for people in the behavioural theories as being an effective leadership quality. A concern for people could be seen as behaviour much typi cally associated with young-bearing(prenominal).Subsequently, the leadership theories move on to embrace both individual traits and situational aspects of leadership simultaneously (Bass, 1990). prospered leadership was considered to be dependent on the leaders consideration of situational factors in severalise for an appropriate leadership style to be chosen to parcel out with each situation. This theory assumes that the action of a leader depends on a number of situational factors, such as motivation and efficacy of followers, coitionship between the leader and the followers, stress, mood, and etc. Yukl (1989) has identified six situational factors namely, reduce effort, subordinate ability, agreement of the work, cooperation and cohesiveness, resources and support, and external coordination. Situational theories would attain predominantly been seen as applying to males in leadership roles because of the low write of women in instruction during that time, and it term inate be assumed that the profile of women in management would not have been advanced in either monumental way from this body of literature.Additional theories began to be available with by and large focused on the specific leadership styles of leaders, in an attempt to extend the understanding of what constituted effective leadership. These concepts relating to leadership styles were introduced in 1938 by Lewin and Lippitt. They suggested that leaders vary in the way they led in organisations. They proposed three styles of leadership. Firstly, autocratic leaders were originally described as leaders who used their power and their ability to persuade in leading their followers. An autocratic leader was similarly illustrated as a directive leader. The autocratic style of leadership was not been associated with female gender stereotypical characteristics.The second leadership style was named democratic leadership. This style was explained as a style whereby the leader pursued an s traight-from-the-shoulder and follower oriented relationship. Leaders who take on this style encourage followers to establish their own strategies, provided them with a perspective by explaining in advance the procedures for accomplishing the goals, and granted the followers independence to commence their own delegates and congratulating them if they succeed. According to Bass (1990), this leadership style originated from America, and leaders adopting this style were described as caring, considerate, and easy to compromise.This is the first kind of research which was seen to be more(prenominal)(prenominal) favourably aligned to feminine characteristics as compared to manly characteristics. However, as mentioned previously, during the era when leadership style theories reached prominence, there were still limited women holding leadership positions. As research on gender difference in leadership styles did not occur until 1990, it would appear that the theories on leadership sty les would have been written to illustrate male behaviour in leadership roles. Nevertheless(prenominal), it could be argued that the theories on leadership styles began to raise the profile of women in leadership. This early leadership research may have changed insights round the suitability of women in leadership positions, as a democratic style of leadership could be attributed to both male and female leaders.The third leadership style was described as laissez-faire leadership. The term laissez-faire means to let others act without interference or best(p) known as the hands off style. Laissez-faire leaders were thought to have less confidence in their decision- devising responsibility, or in their capability to manage, often avoiding meeting with their subordinates (Bass, 1990). Similar to previous theories, these researches was studied in a male context, probably because of the small numbers of women in leadership roles at that time.In short, all of the theories reviewed portray ed leadership implicitly or explicitly as a male prerogative, and the small numbers of women in leadership positions during the respective periods confirms that the role of leaders was largely seen as a male domain.Not unpredictably, all the researchers and writers on early leadership were men and hence the years of leadership research reflect a male dominance. Denmark (1993), reflected that by ignoring gender as a variable in studying leadership, researchers prepared umpteen another(prenominal) blanks in theoretical and research design. However, gender has begun to be a consideration in the literature in the late 1970s. Gender difference research began to report on differences in behaviour, attitudes, and skills between males and females in general and was afterwards extended to consider abilities such as leadership.The utilizations of School LeadersThe role of the school leader in successful schools has gone beyond the handed-down view of functional management, power, behavi our style, and instructional leadership. In the past, the job of school leader was considered as primarily managerial, however nowadays the realities of our global fellowship have shifted the focus from management to leadership. According to Kowalski, (2003) an effective school administrator typically mustiness be both a manager and a leader.Todays school leaders face more complex expectations. They face a very different student population. At a time when many a(prenominal) view the schools as one of the few social organizations, students arrive with very different attitudes, motivations, and needs than students of todays generations (Young and Kochan, 2004). International research indicates that successful schools have leaders who creates a productive and skipper school culture (Stoll, 1999), have a clear vision (Fullan, 2003), are knowledgeable virtually teaching and instruction (Wesson and Grady, 1993) and protect schools from demands that make it difficult for schools to operate on a professional basis (Normore, 2004).As for school leaders in less successful schools, they seem to view their role to be more that of a essence manager. While leaders in highly successful schools perceive themselves as educational leaders (Normore, 2004) who contribute to school improvement and school military capability (Mortimore and MacBeath, 2001). Effective school leaders are vital to change and improvement, and are clear on expectations for student learning (Fullan, 2003). Expectations of nowadays school leaders include new knowledge and skill for instructional leadership, discipline, supervision, fundraising, and public relations expertise (Shuttleworth, 2003). More responsibility has been added to the job over the years make some of the best school leaders to slow down until the goal that they have lost much of their leadership, rather than management quality (Normore, 2004 Shuttleworth, 2003 Simkins, 2003).relationship between Leadership and GenderAccording to Oshagbemi and Gill (2003), the relationship between gender role and leadership style is the association of masculinity with task-oriented leadership styles and femininity with relationship-oriented styles. This relationship is not so precise for women. Jamieson developed the concept of femininity and masculinity in the year 1995 where behaving feminine is associated with incompetence and behaving masculine is associated with competency. If the masculine model represents the general and dominant model of leadership, women understand that in order to escalate the ranks they have to conform to it (Fernandes and Cabral-Cardoso, 2003). In other words, the very(prenominal) operate strategies that proved to be successful for men are continually used by women too. The main strategy is to develop behaviors feminine fair to middling not to diverge from the gender role expectation, but masculine nice to gain credibility as professionals in simple terms, women have to create their own le adership styles. As Gardner (1995) said Leadership is never guaranteed it must always be renewed.Female Leadership StylesEarlier thinking emphasize that women who had reached leadership positions were imitators of male characteristics, but contemporary theories recognize feminine leadership styles. Like any new trend in traditional settings, it takes years to develop new styles until these styles are understood and well accepted.Women face several(prenominal) barriers that prevent them from involving in leadership positions. Obstacles with this origin have been described as the glass ceiling as a metaphor that halts women in base up the career ladder at a certain point (Oakley, 2000). Nonetheless, the increasing involvement of women in the labor market in the in conclusion half century, and their movement to managerial positions has changed the definition of leadership (Kark, 2004). Rosener (1990) believed that female leadership tends towards a style defined as interactive leader ship that involves promote participationsharing power and informationenhancing self-worthchanging self interests for an general goodrelating power to interpersonal skills andbelieving in better execution of instrument when feeling good.Women leaders in education need to find the leadership styles that, without denying its feminine origins, result in efficiency. The redefinition of characteristics of an effective school leader, following the current trends of organizational leadership, will help erase gender stereotypes and focus on desirable characteristics that candidates (men or women) bring to the position (Logan, 1998).Differences in the Leadership Styles of hands and WomenOne possible explanation of gender gap in leadership is that women are deficient in the characteristics and behaviors that are crucial to effective leadership. However, foreign to the idea that women are less suited to leadership than men, Eagly, Alice H., and Marloes L. van Engen (2004) have described f emale leaders as having cooperative, interactive, and facilitative leadership styles that are more attuned to the needs of modern organizations than the leadership styles that of men.Empirical research has discover such reads roughly the typical leadership styles of men and women. To determine whether men and women differ in leadership styles, Alice Eagly and Blair Johnson (2004) carried out a meta-analysis of 162 studies that were conducted between 1961 and 1987. most of these studies distinguished between task-oriented leadership (a style that emphasizes subordinates to follow rules and procedures, maintaining high standards of performance, and making roles explicit) and interpersonally oriented leadership (a style that emphasizes helping subordinates, looking out for their welfare, explaining procedures, and being friendly and available). Besides that, some studies distinguished between leaders who dissemble democratically and invite subordinates to participate in decision ma king, known as participative or democratic leadership, and leaders who behave autocratically and discourage subordinates from take part in decision making, known directive or autocratic leadership.Eagly and Johnsons meta-analysis comprise that the leadership styles of women and men were somewhat stereotypical. In these laboratory and assessment studies, women, more than men, tended to manifest relatively towards interpersonally oriented styles, and men, more than women, tended to display relatively task-oriented styles. In contrast, gender differences in task and interpersonal style were insignificant among leaders occupying managerial roles in organizations. These findings were consistent with the principle that gender differences are lower among managers because male and female managers are selected by similar criteria and subjected to similar organizational socialization. However, in all these studies, one difference did consistently appear Women leaders displayed a somewhat mo re democratic or participative style and a less autocratic or directive style than men did. In the twenty-three studies comparing men and women on the democratic versus autocratic dimension, 92 percent went in the direction of a more democratic and participative style among women.In the 1980s and 1990s, researchers identified a type of leadership style that is super Cly known as transformational leadership, which is similar to contemporary models of leadership known as visionary, charismatic, and inspirational. The importance of these models is on the ability of the leaders to inspire, stimulate, and motivate followers and to nurture their ability to contribute creatively to the organizational goals. Transformational leadership are differ from transactional leadership, which is a more conventional style that stresses clarifying subordinate responsibilities and using rewards and punishments to encourage subordinates to meet objectives of the organization. Also acknowledged by some r esearchers is laissez-faire style that is characterized by a general failure to take responsibility for managing or better known as the hands off style.To determine whether male and female leaders differ when evaluated in terms of these new distinctions, Eagly, along with social psychologists Mary Johannesen-Schmidt and Marloes van Engen, carried out a meta-analysis of 45 studies that compared male and female managers on the measures of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership. These studies involved organizational leaders, mainly from business and educational organizations. The meta-analysis revealed that female leaders were more transformational than male leaders and to a fault exceeded male leaders on one partitioning of transactional leadership which is contingent reward behaviors, which consist of rewarding subordinates for doing a good job. Women also exceeded men on the transformational dimension of individualized consideration, which relates to develop ing and mentoring followers. In contrast, men were more likely than women to display two other aspects of transactional leadership which are active management by exception and passive management by exception. Active management by exception refers to attending to followers mistakes and failures to meet standards, while passive management by exception refer to waiting until problems become severe before attending to them. Men, more than women, also displayed laissez-faire leadership, which means they are uninvolved during critical moment.In summary, research has established some small differences in the behavior of male and female leaders. Specifically, women tend to be more democratic and less autocratic than men, a difference that does not yield an overall advantage for either gender. More important for durability are womens tendencies to engage in transformational style and to ransom more rewards for followers good performance. These behaviors have been related with enhanced effe ctiveness across a wide variety of settings. Consequently, empirical research does not support the thought that the leadership styles of women account for their lesser success in rising into higher-level of leadership positions.Gender StereotypesWomen have traditionally been stereotyped as more socially sensitive and interpersonally competent than men (Korabik 1999). In mixed studies, the traditional stereotype of women included attributes such as being less competent and less effective in tasks that are required for work outside of home (Glick and Fiske 1999), nurturing, compassionate, considerate, weak, and subservient (Bem 1974), and emotional, subjective, tactful, aware of others feelings, and having feelings that are easily hurt (Broverman, Vogel, Broverman, Clarkson, and Rosenkrantz 1972). Stereotypes linked with men, on the other hand, typically included traits such as leaders, dominant, aggressive, independent, objective, and competitive (Broverman, Vogel, Broverman, Clarks on, and Rosenkrantz 1972).These gender stereotypes broaden into almost every facet of occasional life for both men and women. People interpret conferences and vocabulary characteristics through gender stereotypes (Tannen 1990, 2001). Research has also show that gender stereotypes regarding communication patterns and styles develop early and continue on through adulthood. Other aspects of interpersonal interactions are subjected to gender stereotypes as well.Eagly and Karau (1991) demonstrated that overall, men were perceived as being more capable and were more readily accepted as leaders when they acted in a confident and assertive manner. Although the nature of the task moderated this relationship, men were more likely than women to be thought of as leaders (Eagly and Karau 1991). For women, the same qualifications of assertiveness and confidence could be harmful when they are go about with traditional gender stereotypes. Carli and Eagly (1999) in their summary of the research on influence and leadership emergence highlighted the barriers that faces by women in leadership. Studies conducted in the United States have demonstrated that self-efficacy and self-promotion are beneficial in hiring and promotion practices for men. However, women who engaged in these behaviors as undesirable (Rudman 1998). Therefore, gender stereotypes play a critical role in limiting the opportunities for women to emerge as leaders by decrease womens access to leadership roles and increasing the obstacles they must overcome in order to become leaders (Eagly and Karau 2002).When women and men leaders behaviors and styles are reviewed, typically one of these paradigms is employed. Eagly and Johnsons (1990) meta-analysis research demonstrated that across studies, no difference was found in the perception of men and women leaders. However, they did report a small but significant finding in which women leaders were perceived as being more participative as compare to their men counterp arts. They also highlighted that the source of the perception (self or subordinates) may play an important role on the results. In addition, factors such as the gender of the author, the type of study, and the date of the study had some lead effects on the results.More recently, Eagly and colleagues have reported meta-analytic results regarding the role of leaders gender in transactional and transformational leadership styles (Eagly, Johannesen-Schimdt, van Engen, and Vinkenburg 2003). These studies found that women leaders, when compared to the males, were perceived as slightly but significantly more likely to engage in transformational behaviors. They also found that men leaders, when compared to the women leaders, were perceived as more transactional leaders. Therefore, it could be concluded that men and women are perceived somewhat differently out-of-pocket to the presence of traditional gender stereotypes.Prejudices against Female LeadersPrejudice against women as leaders is at least partly responsible for the lack of women in leadership positions. Prejudice arises because peoples common views about what a manager or a leader is like do not fit their ideas about women as well as they fit their ideas about men. This inconsistency can be examined in terms of social roles of women, men, and leaders. These role expectations are called descriptive because they indicate what behaviors members of a particular social category might display. Role expectations are also called injunctive because they include consensual expectations about what group members ideally should do.Gender roles are understood as socially shared beliefs about the typical attributes of women and men. According to social role theory, these roles emerge from the societal division of labor between the genders. The underlying principle is that the perceivers infer that peoples actions tend to insure to their internal dispositions, a cognitive process that has been labeled correspondent proof or correspondence bias. Specifically, the common, nurturing behaviors required by womens domestic and child-care roles and by many female-dominated occupational roles favor inferences that women do possess and should possess common traits. Similarly, the confident, task-oriented activities required by many male-dominated occupations and the breadwinner family role create expectations that men do possess and should possess agentic traits, such as unselfishness, concern for others, and expressiveness, as well as traits such as masterfulness, self-assuredness, and instrumental competency.In general, prejudice in the employment may arise from the irregularity people perceive between particular workplace roles and the attributes attributed to individuals based on their group membership. Most leadership roles are characterized primarily by agentic attributes and are therefore different with the predominantly common characteristics attributed to women. Although it might seem that gender s hould be irrelevant in the workplace, it spills over to affect opinions of employees. The resulting incongruity of the female gender role and leadership roles leads not only to decreased prospect that women can be successful leaders, but also to less favorable evaluations of leadership when it is enacted by a adult female compared with a man, as shown in many studies that were summarized by Eagly and social psychologist Steven Karau in 2002.Several types of research have shown that women have fewer accesses to leadership roles than men do. Economist Joyce Jacobsens review showed that most studies of actual income and promotion support the claim of discrimination against women in general and female managers in particular, albeit on a decreasing basis over the years. As shown in a meta-analysis by psychologists Heather Davison and Michael Burke, experiments in which participants evaluated female and male job candidates who were experimentally equated supported the narrower claim of p rejudice as a disadvantage for women in relation to male gendertyped positions, which would include most leadership roles. Other studies, such as those by sociologist Martha Foschi, showed that women usually have to meet higher standard to be judged as being competent and possessing leadership ability. In addition, Eagly and Karaus 1991 meta-analysis demonstrated that it is usually less likely that women emerge as leaders in groups, specially if the groups task is not particularly demanding of interpersonal skill or is other relatively masculine.Research also has proved the prediction that women have more obstacles to overcome in becoming successful in leadership roles. Specifically, as demonstrated in a meta-analysis by Alice Eagly, Steven Karau, and social psychologist Mona Makhijani, studies of leaders effectiveness, it demonstrated that leaders performed less effectively when the leader role that they occupied was incongruent with their gender role. Women suffered diminished o utcomes in roles given especially with masculine definitions, and men suffered somewhat diminished outcomes in roles given with more feminine definitions. As shown in a meta-analysis by Alice Eagly, Mona Makhijani, and social psychologist Bruce Klonsky, more definitive support emerged in an experimental research paradigm that removed possible differences in the leadership behavior of women and men by comparing this behavior. More supreme support emerged in an experimental research framework that removed possible differences in the leadership behavior of women and men by equating this behavior. In these studies women fared slightly less well than men did. More important, just as in studies on leaders effectiveness, women fared less well than men did when leader roles were male dominated and when men served as evaluators.In synopsis, pressures to female leaders come from two directions Conforming closely to their gender role would produce a failure to meet the requirements of their l eader role, and conforming closely to their leader role would produce a failure to meet the requirements of their gender role. The last mentioned pressure can result in the prejudicial outcome of receiving lesser rewards for appropriate leader behavior than an equivalent man would receive. In this sense, female leaders face more challenges not encountered by male leaders, especially in leadership roles that are defined in relatively masculine terms.Chapter SummaryIn conclusion, the outlook for womens involvement in leadership in the twenty-first century is promising as more women enter leadership roles in industrialized nations and thereby reduce the difference between peoples beliefs about women and about leaders. Furthermore, organizations gain from giving women equal access to leader roles, not only because evidence shows that women are at least as effective as men, but also because gender equality increases the pool of authority candidates from which leaders are chosen.

Growth opportunities in detergent market

harvest-home opportunities in purifying groceryThe case deals with Unilevers Home C ar modify range and is evaluating the harvest opportunities in the commercialiseing of detergents to around 48 one thousand million down(p) income consumers living in the Northeast character of brazil-nut tree.Clearly, the aim of Unilever, homogeneous all pro check into reservation organizations, is to have a bigger region of the pie. Its first step forward is to assess whether or not, its tar tucker commercialize is lucrative enough. To do so we first understand the buying conduct of the target users, die the current commercialize scenario and Unilevers upcountry environment.The importance of clear-sighted how people will behave is tantamount to knowing the secret of organisational success. The simplest description of consumer behaviour is the corrupt and/or consumption closing of an individual and/or household who buy wides and services for face-to-face consumption. In the case we analyse the behaviour of base of individuals in the Northeast of brazil nut and the use of detergent and liquid ecstasy in order to valuate whats not working for Unilevers growth in that merchandise incision and decide the best positioning scheme to encourage increased consumption.Because we know comparatively little ab pop homosexual behaviour, we as marketers, lead to make some assumptions to know how consumers will react to what we do. The first one cosmos, consumers go through a rational ratiocination process when they buy. We assume the process to start with ignorance of the consumer and moving through awargonness, data search, short listing alternatives and so on until the ultimate goal purchase is r all(prenominal)ed.. A obviousion is further made between two types of harvest-tides purchasing high thing and humiliated involvement. Washing detergents be low involvement products where consumers may not go through the entire decision making process an d either pick a post out of compulsion, out of a desire to seek variety or because of their past preferences and experiences, or they may pick a punctuate due to some constraints much(prenominal) as income and amount allocation to household spending. Consumers put preferences and budgetary constraints in concert to determine their choices. The Northeast Brazilian households are low income groups and thus the determine of the washables soap, bleaching liquid and detergent powder is a primary standard for evaluation of the grass of airstream products. The women in this region of Brazil tend to pick a particular shuffling based what former(a)s in their societal group are using (as they often do their gargleing in a public laundry or by the river with a group of friends) and their own past experience and satisfaction. The second assumption is that consumers are brand sure either loyal to your own brand or loyal to your rivals brand. A wall street journal (19th October 1989) published that 48% consumers delay loyal to the laundry detergent they are already using. To penet step and fetch additional market plowshare, Unilever will have to offer some unneeded inducements to get the NE consumers hooked and divert their loyalty towards its brands.The stimulus chemical reaction model ( let out 1), the starting point for understanding consumer behaviour, has been utilize to understand the Brazilian household behaviour towards washing detergent powders and soaps. The stimuli enter the consumers consciousness and the buyers characteristics and decision processes lead to certain purchase decisions. Our task, as marketers, would be to understand what happens in the consciousness of the normality-eastern Brazilians between the arrival of stimuli and the purchase decision.Exhibit 1 input signal Response ModelSource Marketing Management, Kotler, 2003, p.184.The women in this region of Brazil tend to pick a particular brand based on the performance of the p roduct on the six attributes cleanliness, whitening, productivity fragrancy and fog cleverness to remove stains susceptibility to dissolve in water box of the product and the ability to keep colorations from running out.Cultural factorsCulture, subculture and cordial class are the fundamental determinants of a persons basic economic values, perceptions, wants and behaviour. Majority (39.8 million) of the north eastern population of Brazil ranges from grade D to E- of social class. Brazilians are concerned about their position in a social class, because no class interacts with another social class un slight it is in a passkey way. Since the past many years, the vast income social stature difference has been move in the society.Still, the north easterners take great pride in how they looking for and present themselves in the society, despite their poverty and inability to purchase a variety of clothes.It is perceived to be the duty of the lady of the house to prevail clea nliness of clothes of her family, as it is seen as an indication of the dedication of the mother to her family. It is the sympathy why the north eastern women spend a long and great(p) time at doing the laundry. They first scrub the clothes with a soap bar, then bleach those clothes to remove tough stains, and finally wash the clothes with detergent powder to add a pleasant fragrance. This is distant to women in the south eastern region who just simply shuffle detergent powder and softener in a washing machine.Social factorsConsumers behaviour is also influenced by social factors such as the consumers relation to slim groups, family, and social roles. Women from the northeast of Brazil do their laundry at a public laundry or at a nearby river or pond along with their friends. It is the most pleasurable activity as they get to meet and chat in their social network. It is here that these women discuss matters of personal and home cleanliness such as which laundry detergents they use, how their experience has been, and likely treatment of mouth promotions take place.Personal factorsThe characteristics of the individual consumer such as his age, economical situation, occupation and lifestyle play an influential role as rise in assessing consumer behaviour. Of the 48 million, 25.4 million people of the north eastern region of Brazil have an annual income of less than $1700. In Recife, for example, only 28% households own a washing machine. Thus, having a push scheme for a detergent powder isnt going to be fruitful. Even though the per capita income for the unscathed Brazil was $4,420, it wasnt quite reflective of the north-eastern region, where the per capita income was $2,250 only. This translates to the fact that even though a product may have the right and required attributes, if not befittingly hurtd, people of this region would not pick it up from the shelf since they are constrained by their incomes. Also, since the people from the low income grou p own less clothes, their washing needs are frequent, and hence, a product that would be a success would be one that is affordably cheap, available in bigger quantities (for example, rescuer harm or additional 20% pack) and removes dirt well charge the colour from running.Psychological factorsAn individuals buying choices are manipulated by four major(ip) psychological factors motivation, perception, learning and beliefs and attitudes. The low income consumers of the Northeast have developed six key attributes (Exhibit 2) which would determine their attitude towards the brand of detergent they chose to use for their laundry. For them, the ability of the detergent to clean and whiten the clothes with a small metre of the product is the most important attribute. The NE women often associate a inviolate pleasant fragrance with softening power and gentleness to cloth and hands. The ability to remove stains without the use of a soap bar and bleach, and the ability of the detergent to dissolve in water without any residue on the fabric, are equally important attributes. Packaging and the running down of colour are the least important features. Ladies perceive doing their laundry as a leisure activity where they meet and natter with their friends. They discuss and learn from each others experiences of personal and household cleaning habits and products.Main brands / playersCompetition is important in influencing how successful an organization can be. Merely producing a good product which matches consumer requirements and provides satisfaction should not be the goal. A firm must competitively position itself in the minds of its customers so that its products stand out. Unilever was the first to butt in laundry detergents in Brazil with Omo, followed by Minerva, Campeiro, Skip, Rinso, Drive, Puro and Unox to name a few. Competitive challenges came from Procter Gamble, ASA, and other small Brazilian companies. Market leading brands from PG included Ace, rank(a ) Pop. ASA contested with its Bem-te-vi laundry soap and Invicto detergent powder.Even though PG entered the Brazilian market 59 years after Unilever, it entered the market quiet swiftly by strategically acquiring an existing Brazilian company, Bombril and its three brands Quanto, Odd Fasses Pop. With in-depth RD and investiture for manufacturing improvements, PG rebranded Quanto to Ace, and Odd Fases to Bold, which are now key competitors with Minerva and Campeiro.In terms of market share, for the laundry detergent powder segment, Omo is the market leader with a 52% share, Minerva Campeiro collectively account for 23% share, while Ace, Invicto other PG brands take a 22% share jointly and other Brazilian brands take a 3% share. Unilevers 75% market share compared with competitors 25% share in the laundry detergent segment indicates a strong penetrative strategy that gives Unilever the competitive edge. Market share in the laundry soap segment is not so pleasing. Little consol e is that PG did not manufacture laundry soap. But local Brazilian companies posed enough competition. Even though Minerva had a 19% market share in this segment, smaller Brazilian companies, enjoyed the rest of the 81%.In terms of price promotion strategies, Unilevers agiotage brand Omo was the highest priced (whole sale price) at $3/kg. None of the competitors came in this price range. Because of its strong power to remove stains with low quantity, it became a market pioneer. It used a very simple yet direct advertising pass which said removes stains on pockets, cuffs collar, clearly attracting consumers for whom cleanliness was of highest importance. It was meant to target the high income group. Minerva (Unilever), Ace (PG) and Bold (PG) fell in the same price category and probably targeted the hurrying middle income group while Campeiro (Unilever), Pop (PG) and Invicto (ASA) targeted the lower middle income group. Minerva attracted consumers for whom the fragrance and sof tness were of key importance with its advertising campaigns. Pop used a Bundle promotion and Contest Strategy it ran a contest go 200 washing machines and gave away 2 copies of the Viva Magazine with its purchase. elude 1 below gives details on the Pricing strategies followed by the primary(prenominal) brands in the laundry detergent segment.SWOT AnalysisAn analysis of Unilevers internal environment (strength weaknesses) and its external environment (opportunities threats) is depicted in Exhibit 3.Exhibit 2 SWOT AnalysisStrategy SuggestionWith the above mentioned scenario, Unilever faces the interest choices to cater to the low income group of the North eastern region of Brazil Extending OmoRebranding CampeiroLaunching a wise productCustomising a product from its international portfolioBrand extensions are only profitable if the existing brands equity is strong and positive and it is likely to transfer its benefits to the fresh extension. Brand extensions face a serious cha llenge if not recognised and met with positive action will probably lead to death of existing brands. Before considering extension of Omo, Unilever should be aware of the fact that consumers get puzzled by the variety of uniform products and may end up buying a rival brand. Omo already has its niche market with its Price-Quality inference strategy. It enjoys a 52% market share in the detergent powder product line. Even though the low income group of the NE likes Omo, but to target that segment, Unilever would have to reduce the price drastically and lower its profit margins. This would cannibalise its high margin gross revenue with low margin sales in the short term and in the long term Omo would lose its price premium and would create admiration in the minds of people.Radically changing Campeiro and rebranding it does seem like a good option Exhibit 4 details the strategy. But, the perception of its brand value is not strong or positive with consumers of detergent powder. It o nly has a 6% market share.One of the lucrative options is to launch a new brand. Exhibit 5 evaluates the strategies of introducing a new product altogether. Unilever can store a new product to replace /or supplement Minerva Campeiro in its existing markets, and to serve new market the NE region of Brazil. The issues with rebranding Campeiro, displace Minerva would also be resolved. But before deciding to establish a new product, Unilever has to layout the profile of the target market, understand the problems they face and group them into segments, evaluate competition, identify core competencies, identify areas where competitor is vulnerable and define a new value proposition for the new target market. Introducing a new brand would be to Unilevers advantage, as its entering a target market which it has not catered earlier in Brazil.Another worthwhile option is to introduce a customised version of an existing and successful brand from Unilevers international portfolio of detergen t powder. But the brand would have to be carefully selected one that caters to a similar demographics and similar income group one that has high success rate with the right marketing mix. For example, Active Wheel Unilevers brand in India targets the low income group, stresses that with this product people will need to put less efforts to do their laundry, promotes the whitening attribute, is the biggest laundry brand with sales revenue of 21million 2007. The advantages of considering this option are various. The same ingredients and basic formula can be used. Similar pricing strategy. Customisation required only in language on the cardboard boxes. content and content of advertisements can be the same, only changes required would be to fit the ad to local environment. Probability of success is higher, although it is not guaranteed that a brand that works in one region will work in the other too. Even if the rumours of reducing brand portfolio are true, this option would allay be lucrative as no new brand is being introduced alternatively, Unilever could completely drop Campeiro and reposition Minerva, along with introduction of a brand from its international portfolio.The growing size of typical supermarket retailers such as Wal-Mart, crossway and Grupo Po de Acar in Brazil has produced duplicate shelf space that has allowed and encouraged such proliferation. The US magazine craft Week publishes an annual survey of the Best New Products. From the 38 far-famed for the years 1989, 1990 and 1991, there were only 13 brand extensions and 3 unfeigned product innovations that were titled under the best new products over the 3 years. Ehrenberg (Repeat Buying, 1988) found that most buyers buy several brands over a outcome of time. They buy some brands more often than others and some not at all, but they mainly buy a large range of satisfactory brands. The frequency with which they buy each brand varies from consumer to consumer but, on an average, it matche s the brands overall market share. Unilevers forward strategy should not appear to make a distinct product without a real difference and that merely tries to differentiate the brand from competitors.