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Socrates The Unxamined Life Is Not Worth Living - 993 Words

Throughout this reading includes the definition of a quote from Socrates that states, â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living†? which explains his impiety for his corruption youth that lead to a sentence of death in court and in addition, the quote stated that Socrates’ ignorance in his conversations confused others so that Socrates can have others to believe that he’s always right. This statement relates to Socrates’ attitude and understanding towards his sentence of death and his commitment to his audience is to achieve a valuable lesson. Socrates’s religion and beliefs guided him to continue to speak the truth and to live a life that he didn’t identified himself. In addition, the quote stated that Socrates’ ignorance in his†¦show more content†¦He says that his close and impulsive friend Chaerephon once paid a visit to the Pythia to ask whether Socrates was the wisest man alive.† (Waterfield, 2009) He concluded that he must be the wisest man than other men by spreading his wisdom to everyone he knows, and Socrates explains that he is considered to obtain it is a duty to be a â€Å"wise† man. From my point of view, I think that Socrates is a fool to act obedient to others because no one is perfect, including Socrates. The quote â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living?† in the Apology is also about how he wants to get Athenians into their position. Socrates embarrasses innocent human beings, because they don’t know what they were talking about; because they are confused. For an example, his conversation with Meletus is a poor example of Socrates because Socrates exposes the absurdity of Meletus’s preposterous notion. Socrates questioned Meletus and accused him of â€Å"dealing frivolously with serious matters of non-responsivity things that Socrates doesn’t care about.† So, in other words, the quote means Socrates is questioning people to have no knowledge and power to claim that Socrates is wrong. In this case, this is the definition of virtue. Additionally, the quote means we should not ignore the thought of being right in life. Socrates mentions that we should be careful with our actions and we must analyze what we’re

The Changing City How Lagos became a major player in the global community Free Essays

Introduction Logos in Time 1.1 A BRIEF HISTORY Modern day Lagos; previously known as ‘Eko’ (â€Å"war camp†) is said to have been founded by its Bini Conquerors. According to a UN Habitat publication (2006), ‘Portuguese traders visited the area in 1472 and soon after began trading in goods and slaves, naming the area around the city Lagos, meaning lakes. We will write a custom essay sample on The Changing City: How Lagos became a major player in the global community or any similar topic only for you Order Now ’ Later, post British colonial rule saw the establishment of the Dependency and AssociatedState of Nigeria in 1914, of which Lagos was declared the capital. During the 1960s-70s, as the capital, Lagos experienced rapid economic growth. This continued through to the late 1990s and to present day. In 1991, the then military president moved to a newly purpose built capital and as a result, Lagos lost some of its esteem. Nevertheless, it has retained its importance as the largest city and economic state in Nigeria. Today, Lagos has become a major player in the global community. How did the former British colonial state become so influential? LagosState 1.2 lAGOS, THE MEGACITY? Lagos, along with Badagry, Epe, Ikorodu and Ikeja, are Nigeria’s main urban centres. The urbanisation process that has taken place in Lagos has been of such significance in the State and in Nigeria as a whole that it should receive special attention. As a result of its colonisation by Britain, Lagos represents most spectacularly one of those classes of Nigerian cities whose growth and development have been significantly contoured by western influences. Starting from small settlements made by the Awori (a subgroup of the Yorubas), first at EbuteMetta and later at Iddo, most likely in the early 17th century, the settlement of Lagos existed rather quietly up to the end of the 18th century. It’s a city that confounds and amazes due to its striking contrasts†¦ Lagos is rapidly becoming Africa’s largest city attaining MegaCity status in 1995 as a result of its population surpassing 10 million. The population of Lagos is estimated to reach 24.6 million by 2015, overtaking the Egyptian capital Cairo as Africa’s biggest city. According to UN Habitat’s State of African Cities report (2010), the number of people living in African cities will triple over the next 40 years to about 1.23 billion people and by then (2050), 60% of Africans will be city dwellers. Currently, LagosState currently has a population of about 18.5 million and this surge brings it ever closer to being a global contender. It is a city that confounds and amazes due to its striking contrast between the wealthy and the poor members of the population. The population in Lagos has been said to have a density of 1,305 persons per square kilometre and has already far exceeded the national estimates of 85 persons per square kilometre. By the 1980’s, over 40 slums covering over 1,600 hectares were officially recognised on the state’s records. Unsurprisingly that figure rose rapidly to over 60 slums in 1995 and then over 100 by 2003 with the addition of fringe towns. With floating slums like Makoko on the fringes of the city, Lagos certainly lives up to the controversy surrounding modern megacities. With many of these fringe towns being outside of the reach of normal authority, people tend to form their own policing methods. 1.3 Economic Status Lagos is the commercial and industrial hub of Nigeria, with a Gross National Product three times that of any other West African country. Lagos has largely benefited due to natural resources in oil, natural gas, coal, fuel wood and water Nigeria has. Light industry was prevalent in post-independence Nigeria and petroleum-related industry dominated in the 1970’s, directly affecting the express growth Lagos has experienced. LagosIsland The 1950’s saw the start of the oil industry, which increased seven-fold between 1965 and 1973, while oil prices around the world skyrocketed. By 1978, the metropolitan area accounted for 40% of the external trade of Nigeria, containing 40% of the national skilled population. The global recession in 1981, which caused a sharp fall in oil prices, sent Lagos reeling into debt and runaway inflation that still is a problem today. Consequently, a massive programme of infrastructure and social services expansion came to an abrupt halt. Developments in energy and water access, sewerage, transportation and housing were all adversely affected by the chaotic development of a geographically displaced city. In addition, the democratic changes in government policy have helped to catapult the city’s economic growth. Previously officials we not very readily held to account for their actions and the real potential of the city was not recognized. Officials can now be more easily held to account for corrupt behavior. Even though Nigeria is notorious for fraud and corruption, the changes in the past 10-15 years have contributed positively to the city’s status. Independent investors viewed these changes as cause to improve local services such as investing in private education and healthcare, though there is still tremendous work to be done. Because of the huge demands on the cities resources such as its energy supply, problems with social infrastructure are more obvious, nevertheless, with a growing population, there will be growing demands on the supply of goods and services, and this will positively affect the economy. Major Problems 2.1 POPULATION As mentioned above, Lagos is the most populous city in Nigeria. The unplanned growth of the population has it itself created a magnitude of problems. Lagos has more employment and educational opportunities than surrounding cities, so attracting thousands more people every day is a feasible concept. With space rapidly becoming an issue, accommodation prices sky rocket and become unreachable to the majority. As a result of this, slum type habitation becomes the norm. Canoed walkways like the one pictured above in Makoko, a growing slum in Lagos are typical around the city. Many of the residents there are fishermen attracted by job prospects of the big city because of its oil rich history. Two out of three Lagos residents live in a slum with no reliable access to clean drinking water, electricity, waste disposal – even roads. With the number of people entering Lagos every day, the problems associated with slum living will undoubtedly continue to increase. The city also has another problem. Because its shores are being constantly eroded, the inhabitants both old and the ones to come are ever losing precious land. Construction plans are underway to expand the city with constant supplies of water and electricity. 2.2 ECONOMY The economy of Lagos state is thought to be worth around $33bn, despite the habitual overcrowding, crumbling infrastructure and hellish traffic. As a result of said overcrowding, slums like the one mentioned above continue to grow. Government provided services like healthcare, education and police are not staples in these areas. The absence of the law supports the rise of Area Boys, who police their territory with threats and often violence. In addition, bribes and corruption have become common place. Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. After its independence during the 1960s, billions of dollars of Nigeria’s oil revenue have been siphoned from state and government coffers by the actions of the country’s rulers. As a result of this widespread corruption and lack of enforced laws, the country’s economy does not reflect its true potential. Elections of officials are more regulated and checked, so there is improvement in the system but with the city so far behind its mega city colleagues, there is still a long way to go. 2.3 Social Structure Despite the huge numbers of people flocking to the city, large proportion of people in Lagos still live in rural areas. Family life is still an important aspect of African culture. Families however continually get separated due to elders migrating to the city for work. The migrants are often unsuccessful in their attempt at financial prosperity, but are too ashamed to return to their rural lives, and therefore continue to contribute to the problems surrounding Lagos’s MegaCity status. Other city linked attachments such as a functioning transport systems, healthcare, education are erratic at best in their availability within Lagos. In the late 90s, the education system did turn out a significant number of graduates. High paying jobs require decent standards of education for hiring, but since most people who come to the city are from rural areas, those jobs are not usually accessible to them. The transport system in Lagos is woefully inadequate to deal with the demands of its mega city status. The bus rapid transit (BRT) system has made a start towards tackling these problems. Since its inception three years ago, the BRT between Mile 12 and CMS stations has transported 170 million passengers and reduced travel times by 30 minutes according to reports. A bright future? With constantly changing dynamics in population, economy and social structure, LagosNigeria will undoubtedly continue to change and develop. As demonstrated above, these changes while bringing Lagos to the forefront as a MegaCity, have brought along its own set of problems. The growing population; while bringing along problems like overcrowding and slum villages like Makoko, the surge in the city’s inhabitants help to sustain and cultivate Lagos’s reputation as a major economic world city. Slum alleviation projects and major regeneration to infrastructure continue to take place. The future could indeed be bright for the complex and contrasting city, if its leaders operate to its benefit rather than to its determent. BIBLIOGRAPHY â€Å"A Tale of Two Cities.† UN Habitat. Version World Urban Forum 3. N.p., 19 June 2006. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. . Cossou, Egon . â€Å"BBC News – Lagos aims to be Africa’s model megacity.† BBC News – Home. N.p., 22 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. . Echeron, Michael J.C. .Victorian Lagos: Aspects of 19th Century Lagos Life . London: Macmillan, 1977. Print. IRIN Africa | NIGERIA: Lagos, the mega-city of slums | Nigeria | Economy | Governance | Urban Risk .†IRIN †¢ humanitarian news and analysis from Africa, Asia and the Middle East – updated daily. N.p., 27 Mar. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. . Nations, United . â€Å"United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.† United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2003 Revision. 1 (2003): n. pag. UN.org. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. Population Fund, United Nations. â€Å"UNFPA – State of World Population 2010.† UNFPA – United Nations Population Fund. N.p., 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. . UN Habitat. â€Å"State of the World Cities.† UN Habitat. N.p., 1 Jan. 2008. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. How to cite The Changing City: How Lagos became a major player in the global community, Essay examples

Contemporary Issues in Management and Organisational Behavior

Question: Discuss about the Contemporary Issues in Management and Organisational Behavior. Answer: Introduction Managers get work done through other people. Human resource is an important asset in an organization. Currently, the business environment keeps changing and demanding more concentration by managers to enhance improved productivity. However, various conflicts between the organization and the employees or between the employees themselves hinder an organization from achieving the set goals and objectives (Bartol et al., 2008). Organizational behavior studies the manner people interact with each other while in the workplace. The study of organizational behavior assists managers to effectively manage workers and hence creating more efficient business organizations (Murray, Poole, and Jones, 2006). In an organization, managers are tasked to make decisions, direct subordinates activities, and allocate sufficient resources so as to achieve the overall goals of a company. This report seeks to address organizational behavior challenges that face an organization. The change of demographics in today's workplace has made managerial roles keep on changing (Mintzberg, 1993). In particular, this report analyses poor staff behavior as the primary challenge facing the productivity of Wesfarmers, an Australian based company where one of our group members was working a few months ago. The stiff competition in the Australian supermarkets and hotel sector, accompanied by underproductive employees of Wesfarmers creates a challenge to the managers (Mintzberg, 1981). This report analyses the approaches taken by the company's managers in addressing and resolving staff behavior to establish a competitive and healthy work environment for the enterprise. Description of the Problem In the past, managers had only five roles to undertake within the workplace, planning, organizing, coordinating, staffing, and control of work operations (Nelson et al., 2012). As discussed with our group mate, Wesfarmers has been a victim of poor production due to the employee's poor behavior while at the workplace. Poor staff behavior is a broad term and entails a lack of cooperation, arriving late to work, inter-personnel conflicts, disrespecting the management, and poor communication skills (Davidson Griffin, 2006). As a result, the employees have turned to be less productive due to poor performance. The managers in the company have had a lot of pressure exerted on them since the workers have been unable to cooperate with all processes and operations of the firm. When a challenge is identified, it needs to get solved immediately to avoid poor productivity and loss of public image to the customers. In this case, the primary challenge is known, poor staff behavior. Therefore, the management should respond and resolve this menace. Managers are skilled people with expertise in conflict solving and will use their knowledge and skills to bring discipline to work in this company (Gettler, 2005). A good manager does not sack all personnel of the firm. Instead, they use their managerial skills to human, conceptual, and technical expertise in resolving the present challenges. This report shows the applicability of two topics in the class module; one, attitudes and job satisfaction and two, group and team behavior. Analysis of Poor Staff Behaviour at Wesfarmers Organizational behavior concepts require organizations to maintain a good relationship with its staff. For an organization to meet its set goals, employee behavior needs to be invaluable. Employees react differently to a given situation at the workplace. To maintain a healthy culture, employees need to behave sensibly in the workplace (McAdam, 2002). However, the case at Wesfarmers during our friend's tenure of working with the company was different. The employees there behaved insensible to such an extent that they could not adhere to the rules and regulations set by the corporation. The employees there shout to the fellow workers the way they want, extremely criticize their supervisors and managers ability to run the firm, and always spread rumors and propaganda. The employees disclose the company's strategies to other competing companies; this remains to be a significant challenge for the enterprise. The behavior of employees in Wesfarmers is completely unprofessional. Most of the personnel take drinks and foods within the workstation. Whenever one is giving an idea or opinion to the managers, they make the suggestions harshly in a nonpolite language. The communication skills are poor, and ideas are passed as if it was mandatory for the management to implement or consider them in decision making (McAdam, 2002). The male workers have no respect to their female counterparts and sexually harassed them in the workplace, this is unethical and against the professional codes. Individual behavior matters a lot in the workplace. Some other times, the finance department employs unethical practices by stealing the office money and use creative accounting to balance the books of accounts. Further, theft of stationery is at a high rate within the workplace, and this needs to be stopped with immediate effect. Causes of Poor Employee Behaviour at Wesfarmers Human resources personalities differ, and these differences affect the manner they react to both internal and external pressures existing within a firm. The work environment also influences their mental framework and job performance. This report has identified that have an adverse effect on the performance of employees in the workplace. Ego or personality clashes Normally, people have different personalities, and this affects their behavior in the work environment. The employees have opposing personalities with the management of the company, and this forms a ground for arguments between the conflicting parties. The motives of the business differ from the purposes of the employees (McShane and Travaglione, 2007). Wesfarmers seeks to maximize profitability and productivity, while the employees strive to get a better take home pay. In a recent case, the employees requested for salary increment, but the company was not in a good position to offer the necessary wage increase because this was not budgeted. The employees reacted disruptively to the management by despising their managerial skills, and this resulted to decreased staff morale hence poor productivity. Stress and heavy workloads Wesfarmers diversifies its operations to supermarkets, hotels, and warehousing. The workplace is full of high demands and deadlines, and this requires the employees to tolerate this high pressure in the market and from the company. Some of the managers act unethically and force employees to work under this pressure at the actual pay. Some of the personnel succumb to this mounting pressure and a conflict between them and the managers arise. This leads to the establishment of stress, and this proves to be detrimental to employees performance (Hannagan, 2005). The quality of work done by employees under high pressure from the management is poor. The workers differ in their suggestions from the instructions given by the Directorate when they do not get paid their requested salary increment. To some extent, most of them steal from the company to compensate for the job done or even fail to report to the workplace. Poor leadership by the supervisors The work of a director is to instill confidence to the subordinates by motivation, enthusiasm, and training them the right skills of getting the job done. In Wesfarmers, some of the supervisors engage in punitive behavior which results to harassment of employees by the top management in the workplace. Aggressive behavior by the supervisors hinders maximum productivity and achievement of the set goals by the company (Davidson Griffin, 2006). Casual workers lack skills and knowledge deemed relevant in the execution of their duties. The failure of a supervisor to train them what to do hinders their efficiency, and this leads to poor production. Giving incompatible responsibilities to the interns and management trainees without clarity of duties creates tension between the employees (Mintzberg, 1990). When employees are not welcomed to the firm as they expected, they form a negative attitude towards the management and hence poor employee behavior in the workplace is build from the first day. Imperfect pairing of team members Group and team behavior is key to organizational behavior success. Personnel tied with partners who possess different skills proves detrimental to the overall productivity of Wesfarmers. Clash of inter-personnel values brings animosity and intolerance between individuals since everyone comes with their ideas, principles, values, and perceptions. This poor team selection establishes an environment for conflicts, insults, and disrespect amongst the workers in a given setting (Daft, 2014). Whenever a conflict exists within a team, poor results follow since gossiping, abuse, and discipline exists. The team members are unable to listen to each other's ideas, opinions, or suggestions since they already formed a negative attitude towards them. Gossip creates a loss to Wesfarmers and affects individual productivity since most time is lost discussing other team members. Intervention and Change Program Change management in the workplace needs to be executed thoughtfully and carefully. Poor employee behavior at Wesfarmers has established a huge gap between the current state of affairs and the targetted objectives of the company as defined in its strategic plan (Gulati, Mayo, Nohria, 2014). This problem needs to be resolved to establish quality management and bridge the gap that at the end employee behavior would be made positive. The management of Wesfarmers should adopt the following intervention programs to establish an excellent organizational behavior. Wellbeing maximization through training programs Training and development programs play a significant role in enacting the right skills and knowledge to employees. Wesfarmers managers have been very slow and ignorant when it comes to organizing training and coaching programs to their newly recruited staff and casual workers. Their ignorance results in the formation of the wrong attitude to the management of employees from their first day in the company (Drath, 1993). The management should, therefore, organize training programs for the personnel to equip and nurture them with the right skills of undertaking their roles. By this doing, the employee's morale and commitment would get raised and thereby establishing a positive work behavior whose end results is profitability and maximized productivity. Improve communication skills Communication is the most important tool of conflict resolution within the workplace. Every challenge at the workplace is resolvable. The initiation of an integrative communication program by the management would lead to positive work behavior. For example, one cause of poor workers behavior is their being overlooked when it comes to making crucial decisions under pressure demands by the companys clients (Campling et al., 2008). The management should employ an inclusive and participatory program where every stakeholder within the workplace has a right to give their ideas, opinions, and thoughts towards a particular issue. Participation of every employee in decision making avoids disagreements, gossip, indiscipline, and disrespect of the set decisions since everyone' idea has been put into consideration. Support the workers There is need to bring poor employee behavior to an end. First and foremost, the manager must understand employees personalities and values since as seen from the above, this is the mother of poor employee attitudes within the workplace. The managers need to listen and understand the situation facing the organization as per the employee's ideas and thoughts (Belbin, 1993). The supervisors of groups in the company have forgotten this aspect whenever in challenging situations. Addressing workers complaints requires the practitioner to understand the source of criticism that leads to poor behavior. When they stop to listen and understand the cause, they will come up with the right decision to end this challenge. Conclusion Organizational behavior keeps on changing, and these changes affect the organization's structure, processes, and decision-making processes. Effective conflict resolution is vital in today's organizational behavior. Job satisfaction, workers attitude to the management, and team behavior affects the overall productivity and profitability of a company. Employee behavior and values significantly determine whether the goals of a firm will be realized on not. Poor employees behavior adversely affects an organizational performance since the personnel act disorderly, disruptively, and harshly to each other and the management as well. Therefore, business managers must design change programs which seek to control employee behavior. The management should develop an integrative communication program whereby each stakeholders idea gets considered in the decision-making process by the firm. Maximizing stakeholders wellbeing within the workplace results in maximized productivity of the company and thus maximum care should be taken. References Bartol, K., Tein, M., Matthews, G., Sharma, B. (2008). Management a Pacific Rim focu (5th ed.). Sydney, Australia: McGraw-Hill. Belbin, R. M. (1993). Team roles at work. Oxford, England: Butterworth Heinemann. Campling, J., Poole, D., Wiesner, R., Ang, E. S., Chan, B., Tan, W., et al. (2008). Management (3rd Asia-Pacific ed.). Milton, Qld. Australia: Wiley. Daft, R. L. (2014). Management (11th ed.) USA: Cengage Learning. Davidson, P. Griffin, R.W. (2006). Management (3rd Australasian ed.). Milton, Qld., Australia: Wiley Drath, W. H. (1993). Why managers have trouble empowering: A theoretical perspective based on concepts of adult development. Greensboro, N.C.: Centre for Creative leadership. Gettler, L. (2005). Organizations behaving badly: A Greek tragedy of corporate pathology. Milton, Qld. Australia: Wiley. Gulati, R., Mayo, A. J. Nohria, N. (2014). Management, 1st Edition, England: Cengage Learning. Hannagan, T. (2005). Management: Concepts and Practices (4th ed.). Harlow, England: Prentice Hall/Financial Times. McAdam, N. (2002). A brain styles model of change responsiveness and distributed leadership in 21st Century network organizations. International Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 5(7), 213-241. McShane, S. Travaglione, T (2007). Organizational Behaviour On the Pacific Rim (2 ed.). Sydney, Australia: McGraw-Hill. Mintzberg, H. (1981). Organization design: Fashion or Fit?. Harvard Business Review, 59(1),103-116. Mintzberg, H. (1990). The managers job: Folklore and fact. Harvard Business Review, 68(2), 163-176. Mintzberg, H. (1993). The pitfalls of strategic planning. Californian Management Review, Fall, 32-47. Murray, P., Poole, D. Jones, G. (2006). Contemporary issues in management and organisational behavior. South Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Thomson. Nelson, D. L., Quick, J. C., Wright, S. Adams, C. ( 2012). ORGB: Asia Pacific Edition, 1st edition, Australia: Cengage Learning.