Impact of Prejudice and Discrimination in Canadian Society

Impact of Prejudice and Discrimination in Canadian Society Arjun Pasricha Introduction Words like prejudice and discrimination have become common terms and they are referred often in our daily life, such as media, books, news, casual conversations, and political discussions. Prejudice and discrimination have been in focus since 1960s and these issues have been researched extensively since the last few decades. This surge of interest to understand the impact of prejudice and discrimination in Canadian society has defined the purpose for this report and the report attempts to explore and examine a complete picture of prejudice and discrimination in the contemporary Canadian society. The report is built on sociological, anthropological and psychological perspectives and aims to examine prejudice and discrimination issues that emerge in Canadian social situations because of social interactions (Eriksen, 2010). The conceptualization of prejudice and discrimination, two forms of social bias have evolved over a period of time and are acknowledged as one of the greatest societal challenges because of their dreadful negative effects on the Canadian society. Presently, there is a universal consensus among all that prejudice and discrimination are one of the serious social issues in Canada and they typically appear together, prejudice is considered as the thought, while discrimination is the action (Dovidio, 2010). According to Driedger and Palmer (2011) prejudice and discrimination is always seen to intersect each other and manifests in many forms. For example, people may have prejudices against some groups and end up engaging in a discriminating manner with them. For instance, social pressures may subject prejudices against women and marginalized population and discriminate them in employment, education, or social services (Chin, 2009). Prejudice is defined as a construction of negative preconc eived beliefs, notions, feelings, attitudes, and opinions about a group of people or individuals, that may be felt or expressed, usually because of ethnicity, religion or race (Chin, 2009). On the other hand discrimination is defined as discouraging or negative treatment towards others because of their sex, gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief and age (Dawson, 2013). The discrimination construct not only involves biased treatment , but also unacceptable and inequitable behaviour towards some individuals or some group members, that are excluded from society because of prejudice (Dovidio, 2010). Ageism and Society Ageism is considered as one of the most prevalent prejudices in the society and can be defined as the denial of basic human rights to elderly population (Gutman Spencer, 2010). Sociologists are of the view that people have stereotype prejudice view of older population in the society because of their age, which leads to discrimination. Often aging population experience prejudice in their workplace and typically society holds negative stereotypes for aging population. They commonly presume that old adults are senile, sad, lonely, incompetent, have poor physical or mental health, have conservative thinking, and rigid ideas or opinions. Employment discrimination against old age manifests in different ways, old adults who worked for the company in their younger years are pushed out as they grow older, on the other hand, companies may refrain from hiring old adults, and aging population are unable to get similar employment opportunities as younger population (Gunderson, 2003). Moreover, younger population have negative stereotype thinking that aging population have massive medical expenses and they are a drain on the Canadian system. (Edwards, 2002). Therefore, these negative stereotypes and discriminations can have detrimental effects on aging population. They feel they are being unreasonably blamed for being a burden on health care systems, the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security. Therefore, these negative impressions of society foster discrimination against aging population (Mei, et all, 2013). It is time for all of us as individuals to increase our awareness and question our negative stereotype thinking, relook at our assumption about aging and older population. We need to take extra care to reach out to them with an open mind and treat them as valued and important contributors of our Canadian society. Employers too need to value them and make efforts to understand diverse needs of aging population. Moreover, Canadian government has a continued focus on expanding their age inclusive policies that facilitate aging population to have a choice to lead their life to the fullest. Thus, there is a great need for our society as a whole to address the societal issue of ageism. Although, change may not happen overnight, but we all can take the responsibility to collectively build an age-inclusive society. Social Anthropology Perspective on History of Immigrants Immigration to Canada led to an increase in population of diverse cultures. Immigrants were from varied economic and ethnic backgrounds. However, this led to rise in disagreements regarding aspects such as economic benefits or employment for immigrants. This report focuses on social anthropological point of view to describe impact of prejudice and discrimination on immigrants on basis of their ethnicity and culture. Historically, early Canadian immigration policies were largely discriminative Prejudice and discrimination emerged in 17th and 18th centuries in Canada between Aboriginals, and French and European colonizers. Europeans and French viewed those Aboriginals as uncivilized and uncouth. In the 19th century Canada opened its immigration policy and a number of immigrants from other origins were seen. However, Canadians shared prejudices concerning the capabilities of the immigrant groups. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whites considered themselves superior in front of nonwhite groups and nonwhites faced a great deal of social prejudice (Driedger Palmer, 2011). In the late 1800 and early 1900, Asian immigrants faced anti-Asian sentiments in British Columbia. They were considered inferior and were discriminated because of their willingness to work for lower wages than whites. Moreover, discriminatory social practices in British Columbia made Asians refrain from voting, practicing law, or careers with civil service. Numerous attempts were made by anti-Asians to prohibit Asians from studying in public schools (Driedger Palmer, 2011). Black Canadians also were subjected to extensive patterns of discrimination in the late 1900 and early 2000s in Nova Scotia and Ontario. They were forced to study in segregated schools, faced discrimination in housing, employment and use of public services. Moreover, on various occasions they were refused to be served in hotels or restaurants. Additionally, whites expressed prejudice toward Black Canadians and saw them as backward, ill-mannered, unaware, dishonest, violent, and law breakers (Driedger Palmer, 2011). After the Second World War, in response for human concern, Canada signed the United Nations charter on Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the year 1948 and The Canadian Bill of Rights was adopted in the 1960. This brought in new tolerance policies and helped to weaken the rigid relationships of prejudice and discrimination. The shift resulted in introduction of more unbiased immigration laws and by the 1970s globalization helped in greater inflow of multicultural immigrants (Driedger Palmer, 2011). Thus immigration policies and regulations have changed, mostly to eradicate overt discrimination on the basis of immigrants’ race or culture. Today Canadians are proud of being a tolerant society, where people of all different racial, ethnic, and national backgrounds live together harmoniously (Dion, 2002). An Ethnic Diversity Survey conducted in 2003 examined the ethnic and cultural backgrounds of Canadians and concluded that 93 per cent of population had never, or rarely, encountered discrimination or prejudice because of their ethnicity or cultural attributes. Nevertheless, some new immigrants did sometimes feel discriminated in personal, economic, social, or political situations (Driedger Palmer, 2011). References Chin, J. L. (2009). The psychology of prejudice and discrimination: A revised and condensed edition. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Dawson, C. (2013). Prejudice: Reed Business Information Ltd. Dovidio, J. F. (2010). The Sage handbook of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. London: SAGE. Driedger, L. , Palmer, H. (2011). Prejudice and Discrimination. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on July 12, 2014, from http://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. ca/en/article/prejudice-and-discrimination/ Edwards, A. (2002). Its about time: A new campaign by the ontario human rights commission aims to advance rights for older citizens. Marketing Magazine, 107 (32), 12. Eriksen, T. H. (2010). Ethnicity and nationalism: Anthropological perspectives. New York; London: Pluto Press. Gunderson, M. (2003). Age discrimination in employment in canada. Contemporary Economic Policy, 21 (3), 318-328. doi: 10. 1093/cep/byg013 Gutman, G. , Spencer, C. (2010). Aging, ageism and abuse: Moving from awareness to action. San Diego: Academic Press. Mei, Z. , Fast, J. , Eales, J. (2013). Gifts of a Lifetime: The Contributions of Older Canadians. Retrieved on July 13, 2014, from http://www. rapp. ualberta. ca/~/media/rapp/Home/Documents/Gifts_of_a_Lifetime_2013Sep23. pdf Novak, M. W. , Campbell, L. D. (1993). Aging and society: A Canadian perspective. Scarborough, Ontario: Nelson Canada. Retrieved on July 12, 2014 from http://www. nelsonbrain. com/content/novak0043x_017650043x_02. 01_chapter01. pdf Lozen, J. C. Barratt, J. (2012). Revera report on ageism. Revera Inc. in partner-ship with Leger Marketing. Annotated Bibliography Chin, J. L. (2009). The psychology of prejudice and discrimination: A revised and condensed edition. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Dawson, C. (2013). Prejudice: Reed Business Information Ltd. Dovidio, J. F. (2010). The Sage handbook of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. London: SAGE. Edwards, A. (2002). Its about time: A new campaign by the ontario human rights commission aims to advance rights for older citizens. Marketing Magazine, 107 (32), 12. Eriksen, T. H. (2010). Ethnicity and nationalism: Anthropological perspectives. New York; London: Pluto Press. Gunderson, M. (2003). Age discrimination in employment in canada. Contemporary Economic Policy, 21 (3), 318-328. doi: 10. 1093/cep/byg013 Gutman, G. , Spencer, C. (2010). Aging, ageism and abuse: Moving from awareness to action. San Diego: Academic Press.

MARY FLANNERY OCONNOR :: essays research papers

MARY FLANNERY O'CONNOR Flannery O'Connor was a Southern writer especially noted for 32 incisive short stories before a tragic death at the age of 39. Mary Flannery O'Connor was born March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, the only child of Francis and Regina O'Connor. The family lived on Lafayette Square at 207 East Charlton Street in Savannah, adjacent to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, where Mary Flannery was baptized into the Catholic faith on April 12, 1925. She attended school at St. Vincent's grammar school, taught by the Sisters of Mercy from Ireland. She received national media attention at the age of five when she trained a chicken to walk backwards. The summers were often spent visiting her mother's family, the Clines, in Milledgeville, Georgia. Because of financial difficulties with his real estate business, her father, who had developed health problems as well, took a federal job in Atlanta in 1938, when Mary Flannery was 13. However, settling in Atlanta proved difficult for the family, and Mary Flannery and her mother Regina Cline O'Connor moved to the mother's family home in Milledgeville in fall of the same year. Her father's health continued to decline, and it was not until shortly before his death on February 1, 1941 that he was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosis, the same disease that would claim Flannery. Following graduation from Peabody High School and the Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville, she began attending the State University of Iowa, where she began her writing career and introduced herself as Flannery. While in Iowa City, she attended Mass daily at St. Mary's Church; throughout her life, she remained true to her Catholic faith. During graduate school, her short story The Geranium was accepted for publication by Accent in 1946. She submitted her thesis in 1947, entitled The Geranium: a Collection of [Six] Short Stories, and received her Masters of Fine Arts degree on June 1, 1947. Flannery O'Connor's writings offer deep insight on the fallen nature of mankind through original sin, but redemption through the grace of Jesus Christ. Flannery O'Connor's first novel, Wise Blood, published in 1952, achieved only a modest reception. However, she received critical acclaim and popular success with the 1955 publication of A Good Man is Hard to Find, a collection of 10 short stories, the first story bearing the same name. A second novel, The Violent Bear it Away, was published in 1960.

How to Write a Good Essay Essay

A standard essay establishes a writer’s personal understanding, recommendation, analysis, and explanation of a specific topic. This piece of writing is generally used to teach, inform, orient, inspire, refute, warn, or even entertain the reader. As such, a good essay is well-researched, informative, interesting, well-written and easy to read. In order to write a good essay, writers can follow these guidelines: First, the chosen topic must be extensively researched from credible sources such as libraries, academic databases, factual websites, surveys, and interviews. Through adequate research, the writer gains sufficient knowledge in dissecting and discussing the topic at hand. In this stage, other areas and sub-topics are also discovered while listing notes, important keywords and ideas. Upon completion of the research, the writer must digest all useful information to plan and write the essay in a systematic manner that clearly explains its topic while distinguishing the introduction, body and conclusion of the essay. The introduction contains the thesis statement or central theme of the essay which gives a general idea on what the written work is all about. Read more:Â  How to write diagnostic essay samples. Therefore, the writer must strive to make it interesting enough for the reader to continue reading the whole essay. After the thesis statement, the body is written by using the researched notes and summaries taken during research. Initial questions previously laid down to determine the outline of the essay must now be answered. Ideally, this is done by composing several paragraphs where each paragraph systematically tackles questions addressing who, what, when, where, why and how. Supplementary examples geared towards reinforcing the thesis statement such as statistical data and other studies can also assist in further expressing the idea of the essay. However, the writer must keep in mind to cite sources and acknowledge them accordingly to avoid plagiarism. Ideas and words borrowed from others, even if paraphrased, should be cited using the required referencing style. Widely used examples of these styles include the American Psychological Association (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA). Since there are many existing styles, the writer must pattern the citation and format of the written piece according to the required style. Meanwhile, the conclusion is written by summarizing the important points, reiterating the thesis, and providing a call to action sentence for the reader to act on. A good essay imparts a lasting impression while encouraging the reader to think. In finalizing the essay, the writer must thoroughly edit and proofread the entire work. Spelling, grammatical, and structural errors should be checked again and again. One good way to do a spell-check is to read the essay backwards and check each word carefully. Most of the time, a good essay written by a good writer undergoes continuous editing, rephrasing, and rewriting until a cleaner and more concise copy is produced. For those aspiring to constantly write good essays, reading is a definite must to expand one’s vocabulary and exposure to other styles of writing. Careful research, effective writing, and thorough editing are essential stages of writing a good essay. By following these guidelines, together with constant learning, practice and dedication, one can develop the skills on how to write a good essay.

Growth of Real estate in Dubai - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1595 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Analytical essay Level High school Did you like this example? Growth of Real estate in Dubai Dubai residential property market is improving and growing. It started way of growing since 2008 2014. Especially after UAE won expo 2020, it brings more investors and visitors. Everyday there are new project launches. Everything gets sold out in few days. The rules and conditions for buyers are changed. It became more convenient and easy. Investors are coming from every place in the world. Mostly they are Indian, Pakistani, Russian Locals and Iranians. What make them come and invest in UAE? The country is developing everyday and changing rules for buyers. Dubai has attracted worldwide attention through innovative real estate projects and sports events. This increased attention, coinciding with emergence as a world business hub, attracting large foreign workforce and investors. To attract more visitors and investors government made a new law about freehold properties. In previous years there was leasehold buying of property (u p to 99 year leases) for foreign purchase had been allowed but this was not of big success. In May 2002 the Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum issued a decree allowing foreigners to buy property freehold. (Staff Writer) Leasehold is a property period when one party buys right to occupy land or building for a given time. At the end of lease period the leaseholder has the right to remain in occupation as an assured tenant paying an agreed rent to owner. Terms of the agreement are contained in a lease, which has elements of contract and property law intertwined. Freehold means that you own property and can do whatever you like with it. The property registered on buyersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ name, and can be used forever. The buyers heirs are entitled to inherit the property after his/her death.(Khalid Kadfoor Al Mehairi) It was adoption of freehold tenure in general and foreign ownership in particular that sparked the great real estate boom in Dubai residential market . The UAE based in few types of law. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a civil, common and Islam law. Mainly ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a civil law system. Civil law is hears all claims ranging from commercial matters (including debt recovery cases). After judgment has been delivered, the parties have the right to appeal to the civil court of Appeal on factual and legal grounds within 30 days of the date of judgment. (Mohamed Ali Abou Sakr) Common law is generally uncodified. This means that there is no comprehensive compilation of legal rules and statutes. While common law does rely on some scattered statutes, which are legislative and decisions, it is largely based on precedent, meaning the judicial decisions that have already been made in similar cases. Common law functions as an adversarial system, a contest between two opposing parties before a judge who moderates. A jury of ordinary people without legal training decides on the facts of the case. The judge then determines the appropriate sen tience based on the juryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s verdict. (School of Law) But Common law is used as a supplementary source of law only in the DIFC free zone. Although a religious system, Shariah law is used in personal affairs matters for Muslims (divorce, inheritance and etc) Before buying property foreign investors should know where they are allow to buy it. Law ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾-7 of 2006 about property registration in the Emirate of Dubai.UAE and GCC nationals have rightness own real property in Dubai. No distinction is made between UAE nationals and the other GCC countries. They are afforded equal status. They can own any property right and seek registration of title in the land department. This includes freehold ownership and lease hold up to 99 years. About foreign nationalities except UAE or GCC can own freehold title, a 99 lease hold only in specific areas of Dubai. In summary, it is the most superior form of private property ownership. A freeholder is considered to be the absolute owner of land and building. (Tmalouli) Government of UAE made a law which save investors to lose money if a project was canceled. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a law ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾-13 of 2008 and applies to: all disposal of real estate unitsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ off-plan, other dispositions of real estate unitsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ off-plan that transfer or restrict title like mortgages, covenants and easement. A developer shall not commence a project or sell units off pan until and unless the developer has taken possession of the plot on which the project is to be constructed. (Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum) Project should be registered with RERA and should have details include: plans of the units, apartment numbers, internal and external size and common areas plan. The Master developer and sub developer are not allowed to charge any fees for the sale, re-sale and other dispositions of units that have been completed or marked as a sold off plan. An administration fee ma y nevertheless be charged by developer, provided the developer has obtained from Dubai Land Department. Developers must register completed projects in the real estate register maintained by the department as soon as a completion certificate has been obtained from the competent authorities, including any units that were sold to purchasers who have fulfilled their contractual obligations according to the applicable procedure of the Department. If a developers project is cancelled by order of RERA under law 13 of 2008, then the developer shall refund to the buyer the full amount paid by him. Real estate development trust accounts Law ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾-8 of 2007(Escrow accounts). The provisions of this law shall apply to developers who sell off-plan units in real estate development projects in the Emirate and, in consideration receive payments from buyers or financiers. Trust accounts required by developers for each project, aiming to the protection of buyers and creditors duri ng the development of project. A trust account must be in the name of the project and proceeds used exclusively for the purposes of constructing the real estate project. The amounts deposited in trust account may not be attached in favor of creditors of the developer. A trust account opened with an approved provider. Account Trustee is necessary before a developer can launch and sell off-plan. Five percent of the monies deposited in the trust account shall remain in such account for a period of one year after registering the units in the name of the buyers and title deeds are issued on their names. (Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum) As an owner of property in UAE ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not necessary to have resident visa. In case if owner need visa he/she can apply for a multi visit visa. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a renewal six month property visa. If multi visit visa issued and property owner abroad, his/her visa will be renewed at the airport on the time of arrive. This move is hoped to improve the local economic environment and offer all fundaments that would help ensure prosperity and economic in the country. According new regulations, investors should meet few criteriaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s to get a property visa. They have to own property which cost worth than one million derham and have a monthly income or salary of minimum 10000 derham. The investors should be 100 percent owners of the property with original title deed and present it in department to apply for visa. In the same time ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not allowed work with multi visit visa. (Exclusive Dubai) Dubai residential property price indices: September 2013 results. Real estate prices in some popular residential areas grow by 30 percent or even more in 2013. Even new projects and off plan property market is raised in value. Property sales index for all residential increased by 7, 2% points, from 225, 2 to 232, 4 which represents an increase of 3.17% month on month. On the other side, prices incre ased by 19, 8 year to year. Apartment sales price register an increase in September 2013. Price grows by 3, 16% month on month and 21, 7% year to year. (Reidin Emerging markets) Dubai property market will continue to outperform his global peers and the reason is that not just an inflation-proof store of value, also a great for higher return on investment. Dubai property market is faster growing and price rising in the world. (Vicky Kapur) Dubai is very vibrant city in terms of geographical location, infrastructure and trade. This will attract even larger numbers of tourist. The real estate sector will get a big boost as a people see this lovely city and would like to invest in all sectors. New regulations for investors can give them greater legal protection this time. Looking ahead, strong economic conditions, developing of country and new rules will be prospective and attractive for them as well. Before buying a property, better come to UAE as a tourist have a look around and af ter make your choice to invest or no. If you can find your happiness, success and comfort and enjoyment in Dubai then get a property here. If in the other hand you are not comfortable with rules and unsettled by the extremes of the emirate, leave it. Bibliography https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/robbins/CLCLTglossaryreading.html https://dubai.usconsulate.gov/emergency_uae_court.html https://www.awf.ae/law-13-2008.html https://91.74.184.66/videoplayer/Law%208.pdf?ich_u_r_i=0cc08ba67d59414bb57dc09cfec08d8dich_s_t_a_r_t=0ich_e_n_d=0ich_k_e_y=1445078911751063442424ich_t_y_p_e=1ich_d_i_s_k_i_d=5ich_u_n_i_t=1 https://www.arabianbusiness.com/how-buy-freehold-property-in-dubai-444037.html https://www.gulfpropertyguide.com/Freehold.asp https://www.estatesdubai.com/2009/05/multiple-entry-visa-for-property-owners.html https://www.albawaba.com/business/uae-property-growth-580343 https://rebis2.reidin.com/blog/en/519-dubaiabu-dhabi-residential-property-price-ind ices.html https://www.thedubailaw.com/uaelaws/2010/12/dubai-law-no-7-of-2006-concerning-land-registration-in-the-emirate-of-dubai/ Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Growth of Real estate in Dubai" essay for you Create order

Persuasive Essay The Indian Gaming - 1941 Words

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Essay about Protecting the Privacy of Individuals on the...

Protecting the Privacy of Individuals on the Internet Over the past decade the world has gotten much smaller due to the electronic communication the Internet has fostered. While this promotes business and international relations, problems arise regarding the protection of individuals’ personal information. Many countries around the world have developed privacy policies and laws protect an individuals information in the realm of electronic communication. Universal enforcement gets complicated because the Internet is not restricted to one country; it’s worldwide. As a result, concerns arise regarding the compatibility of various countries privacy policies. This paper will discuss the current legislation in place for various major†¦show more content†¦On a more global level, international agreements such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights protect the privacy of individuals around the world. 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The next time I check my yahoo mail account, the side banner advertisements have allRead MoreProtecting Us Citizens And Important Infrastructure876 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction: Protecting US citizens and important infrastructure which have impact on national security, economic security or public health and safety from cyber-attacks is one of the recent congressional interests and the internet protection is also needed. Initial there was an approach to ensure the operations of critical infrastructure and larger economy regulatory framework is needed. There came an argument that these regulatory schemes may not improve cybersecurity and it increases the costs

Book Summary - Management Teams free essay sample

The scientific research that gave birth to the Belbin Team Role theory started in the 70’s when funds were assigned to researchers from Cambridge and College of Henley to study the use of computer in management. The research started from a recurring phenomenon observed at Henley College that some teams performed better than others despite their homogeneity in terms of qualifications and experience. The problem related was that there seemed not to be a straightforward way to forecast which combinations of managers yielded the best results. A management exercise was created in a controlled research environment where teams entered a competition under the observation of researchers. There were two innovative points about this approach that were that (1) the outcomes of the exercise, namely the teams performances, could be measured and compared on a single axis of success; in this case it was the amount of financial assets1 gathered by each team; and (2) that the ‘input’ of this process was quantitatively measured based on the observation of researchers and on psychological tests that members of the teams had to take beforehand. In this way they could form different combinations of members based on the tests; check their performance and find causal links between input and output. The research went through five stages in which each member that wished to participate took the tests voluntarily and the financial outcomes were measured as an indicator of success. The stages evolved from observation and learning from the exercises to forming different combinations of teams; from which they could build and test hypothesis and start making forecasts. Later on team members were allowed to orm their own combinations, which led to further learning and to more sophisticated forecasts. Nine years of research concluded with a very close prediction in a final exercise and a sound and compelling model that could be used in the consultancy world. The Apollo syndrome The first hypothesis to be tested was based purely on mental ability; the starting point was that cleverest people tend to get the best results when solving prob lems individually, therefore it was reasonable to think that a team formed by highly clever members would obtain better results than a team with a lower average intelligence. The Critical Thinking Appraisal2 (CTA) was used to measure mental ability and members with the highest CTA scores were grouped together in teams called Apollo teams. The outcomes of the experimentation were quite revealing and contrary to the expected results. The Apollo companies turned out to be a big disappointment; out of twenty-five companies that competed in different exercises, only three came in the first place (i. e. 12%) and the rest felt out of the podium. Only a small percentage were indeed effective teams, which clearly indicates that collective cleverness on its own was not a sufficient ingredient for success and definitely not an accurate predictive criterion. The results were useful to analyze the flaws in Apollo teams and to draw useful principles in building effective teams. Members of these companies engaged in abortive debate trying to convince other members of their point of view. Apollo companies usually got involved in open confrontations of ideas and strategies; they tended to act on personal beliefs and maintain their opinions without consideration of what others were doing or thinking. As a result there was a limited constructive debate and teamwork, which neutralized every potential individual contribution. Managers are expected to produce results, and a reasonable way to measure results in companies is in terms of financial outcomes. That’s why financial assets were chosen as the criterion to evaluate team effectiveness. CTA or Critical Thinking Appraisal measures the mental ability of a person in five areas: inference, assumptions’ recognition, deduction, interpretation and evaluation of arguments. Page 1 of 10 2 1 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 Successful Apollo teams. Occasionally Apollo teams did excel in the exercises. In these cases the Chairman played a decisive role, either by exerting a dominant influence over the rest or by having a special character. Why? A possible explanation of why these seemingly promising teams were so ineffective is linked with the selection criterion that is the high score in CTA. The word critical has two meanings associated, one is linked to mental acumen and analytical ability, and the other is related to expression of adverse and disapproving judgement. From the PPQ3 it was found that people with high CTA also had high negative constructs ratios, which are related to the second meaning of the word critical; that is clever people expressed more negative comments and opinions about the world around them, making them appear as having a negative perspective. Creating high negative constructs is usually detrimental for the social interactions and teamwork. Conclusions. People with high analytical abilities are not necessarily creative. Good ideas need time and especially favourable conditions to develop; which was not the case of Apollo teams. Destructive tendencies would dominate and any potential talent would be brought down, making Apollo teams fail to be creative and effective. Apollo companies usually had all the talent, at least in a technical sense, that was needed if only they knew how to use it. Similar Personality Teams The Personality factor was generally difficult to assess per se and it was even more difficult to link with team effectiveness, but still it emerged as being more important as a decisive advantage than pure mental ability. Therefore the next stage in the research study was to form teams with similar personalities. The teams were composed using two scales of personality, that is introversion/extroversion and anxiety/stability; which allowed to create four broad types. Stable Extroverts. As a team they create bonds, enjoy the teamwork using resources well. Performance was overall good, but dependency among members was at times too strong. Anxious Extroverts. They are good at working under pressure and at a high pace. As a team they were entrepreneurial, with a good eye for opportunities and likely to end up in constructive disagreements. They were good for periods of change but unreliable and distractible otherwise. Stable Introverts. As a team they were strongly organized but very s low to make progress and displayed a rigid mind to take in new information. Anxious Introverts. As a team they could produce good ideas, but the lack of cohesion and a tendency for worrying resulted in poor performance. Lessons    learned from Stable Extrovert Teams. Extrovert teams tended to perform better than introverts, and overall Stable Extrovert teams performed better than all the other types, being Anxious Introvert teams usually the last ones. The behaviour of Stable Extrovert teams showed more proposing and less opposing than other companies, with commenting at a high level. Three patterns of effectiveness were devised: (1) good collective work, which allowed individual expression and important issues to be treated by discussions; (2) good internal ommunication, which was achieved by giving direct responsibility in pairs, so no major decisions were left to one member; and (3) excellent use of external resources, establishing good relations with external individuals that would later on turn into their advantage. Company    Worker. There was a team member common to all successful teams. Based on the 16PF4 test scores, differentiators were identified and grouped into a cluster of factors. This team member was called Company Worker (CW) and was the first team role to be identified. This member had the following characteristics: disciplined individual, conscientious and aware of PPQ is a test that stands for Personal Preference Questionnaire, it gives leads on personality and outlook. In other words how people see the world around or construct their image of the world and how they are seen by others. 16PF is known as Cattell Personality Inventory and its a self-reporting questionnaire which comprises sixteen personality factors, each one described by two opposite words that form a scale; e. g. reserved/outgoing. Page 2 of 10 4 3 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 external obligations and a sense of self-image with good internal control. Tough-minded, practical, trusting, tolerant towards others and conservative. Validation experiments for CW were conducted during two years. Using both companies high in pure CW and low in CW. The results revealed strong limitations for pure CW companies; even with high mental ability they performed worse than average. Overall   lessons. Each combination had certain advantages but faced particular weaknesses. The main, and probably only, advantage of pure teams is that its easier to find a style of operation that fits everyone. Nevertheless pure teams are, in general, not an effective combination of people. The cases of Apollo teams, similar personality and pure CW show and support the fact that lack of diversity and a spreading of characteristics are detrimental for team performance. Creativity in the Team The capacity to innovate and to come up with creative solutions is important for virtually every company and it can be a source of competitive advantage. Therefore companies have long been interested in how to foster new ideas from their employees. The methods used in those days can be grouped in two types. The first approach was to turn an already established team into an ideamaking team; i. e. everyone becomes creative and contributes with ideas. The problem is that most people are not gifted with highly creative minds; therefore this approach becomes a waste of manpower. The other method was to create two teams; one to generate a large number of ideas, the other to evaluate and select the best ideas. This is advantageous for a limited number of applications, but in most teams that work with everyday tasks this approach is impractical. The alternative approach proposed and tested by Belbin was to Induce a team to understand and to make better use of the individual talents of its members. Identifying inside the team individual(s) that have the potential to contribute with ideas and establishing favourable conditions for them to use their creative minds. In order to identify those individuals with potential for creativity, the Cattell’s formula for Creative Disposition (CD)5 was used together with the CTA. High scores on both scales indicated individuals with the most potentially creative profile, which was called the Plant6. The results after 38 cases supported the predictions. In 25 companies (out of 38) the predicted ‘Plant’ was identified by observers and other members as the first or second idea-maker inside the team. While conducting the exercises, a new group emerged with different attributes from the ones that Plants (PL) possessed, yet they were seen as idea-makers. While PL had average in negative constructs, with high value given to Brain and Originality; the new group showed instead high scores in Versatility. PLs had a tendency towards introversion, while this group preferred extroversion and showed high sociability and enthusiasm, and low anxiety. Ideas were still a focus of interest, but they would rather pick up fragments of ideas from others and develop them; at the same time that they were astute at exploring resources outside the group. This new profile was given the name Resource Investigator (RI). Both are seen as innovators in a team. They contribute to the effectiveness of a company in similar yet different and complementary ways. Leadership in the team Leadership is vital for any organization and team leadership is no exception. To change the direction or even to guarantee survival of a troubled company, the most common strategy is change the head of the firm. This leads to the reflection about the profile of an effective leader in a company or in a team, which this section seeks to answer based on Belbins research. According to Cattells formula: a creative individual has a distinctive set of personal qualities that lie embedded in his character and which do not depend on intelligence. 6 5 The name Plant was given because this individual was planted in the company for experimental purposes. Page 3 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 Through observation of the members acting as Chairmen in the exercises, it was possible to identify a cluster that belonged to the most effective chairmen and it was shown that the outcomes of companies depended to a certain degree on the personality attributes of the team member in the Chair. After mapping the CTA scores of different chairmen, one interesting result appeared: cleverest chairmen were less successful than less clever chairmen. The average CTA of all members participating in the exercises was 74 (in a scale of 100). The most successful chairmen were between 75 and 80, i. e. slightly above average. Less successful Chairmen, yet effective, were between 80 and 85; and all the rest yielded in general poor team performance. Besides being clever slightly above average, successful Chairman (CH) displayed characteristics such as trusting by nature and accepting people; they exerted a basic dominance and commitment to external goals; they were calm and unflappable before controversy; they showed practical realism and were self-discipline; they were enthusiastic towards others and rather extrovert. From the PPQ tests, the CH appeared as a person who thinks in very positive terms; showing approval for those who accomplish their goals and engage in struggle and effort. Other    leadership qualities. From consultancy in industry, significant differences appeared between the profile of successful senior executives and the Chairman formula, which led to identifying the next Belbin team role. From the tests profiles and the behaviour observed, this new type of leaders was extroverts abounding in nervous energy that actuated by the need for achievement. They challenged, they disagreed, they argued. They were impatient and easily frustrated and their main focus was on winning. Their capacity to dominate, to shape the way team effort is applied and to impose a course of action, gave them the name of Shapers (SH). Behaviour. In a team SHs can have opposite effects. On the one hand they can galvanize the group into action, any passivity and slow-pace signals would be pushed towards activity. On the other hand they represented a disruptive force in well-balanced teams; especially if the team was led by an effective CH. As final considerations we can say that the two distinctive approaches to leadership are useful for different teams with different purposes and member composition. SHs are well suited for teams susceptible to stagnation, while CHs is better for well-integrated teams. Key Team Roles Belbin defines functional role as the role that a member of a team performs in terms of the specifically technical demands placed upon him. This is determined by the job demands that a member has to fulfil by supplying the requisite technical skills and operational knowledge. On the other hand team role is defined as a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others inside a team in certain distinctive ways. It describes a pattern of behaviour characteristic of the way in which one team member interacts with another where his performance serves to facilitate the progress of the team as a whole. Each team role is associated with characteristic types of personality measured by psychometric tests. Summary   of Key Team roles7 Company Worker (CW). He is conservative, dutiful and predictable. He possesses great organizing ability, practical common sense, hardworking nature and hes self-discipline. At times he lacks flexibility and can be rigid towards new ideas. Chairman (CH). A calm, controlled and self-confident individual. They have the ability to welcome all potential contributors on their merits and without prejudice. They display strong sense of objectives, but rather limited in their intellectual and creative abilities. Some names were modified later on to better fit the description of the role. This summary uses the original names. The changes are: Company Worker (CW) became the Implementer (IM), Chairman became the Coordinator (CO) Page 4 of 10 7 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 Shaper (SH). They are highly strung, dynamic and outgoing. They challenge the inertia, ineffectiveness and complacency of the group by exerting a relentless driving force. They tend to be impatient and easily irritable causing provocation. Plant (PL). They are unorthodox, serious minded and rather individualistic. Their strengths include their genius, knowledge, imagination and intellect. Usually up in the clouds with a tendency to ignore practical details and protocols. Resource-Investigator (RI). They are extroverted, enthusiastic, curious and communicative. Great capacity to deal with an extensive network of contacts, to explore new things and to respond to challenges. They are prone to lose interest once the initial fascination has passed. Monitor-Evaluator (ME). They are sober, prudent and unemotional. They have good sense of judgment and discretion, and the ability to spot controversial points in arguments. They may show a lack of inspiration and the incapacity to motivate others. Team Worker (TW). They have social skills and are mild and sensitive. They stand out for their ability to deal with conflictive characters and promote team spirits. Their main weakness is indecisiveness in moments of crisis. Completer-Finisher (CF). They are painstaking, anxious, and conscientious about every task presented. They posses the ability to follow through and finalize tasks, they are perfectionists. They have a tendency to worry too much about small things and to be reluctant to delegate. Specialist (SP). Knowledgeable and technically skilful, usually experienced member. Contributes highly on his area of expertise, and may turn out to be indispensable for certain projects. He doesnt possess the qualities of other team roles so he contributes on a limited front. Principle   of Balance - ­ Team Roles in Pairs Specific pairs of team roles provide balance to the performance of the team from different viewpoints. They contribute with behaviours that may appear to be complete opposites but that are complementary at the same time, and therefore balancing, if used effectively (e. g. the contrasting leadership styles of CH and SH). This principle of balance is also common in nature and for almost every team role theres a corresponding counter-balancing role that pushes towards stability. These are examples of the need for complementary behaviours in a team: (1) Providing the team with ideas and resources internally and externally. This is the case of the PL and the RI in which both provide the group with a considerable flux of ideas. One retrieves to his own thoughts and reflections while the other makes external resources available to the group. (2) Leading the team by coordination against provoking disturbance to defeat stagnation. Both the CH and the SH type of leader offer complementary ways of bringing coherence to the functioning of the team. The CH pulls the group together towards a common goal while the SH pushes the team out of its point of equilibrium challenging them and putting them back to action. Other cases worth mentioning are: (3) Creation (PL/RI) vs. evaluation of ideas (ME); (4) enthusiasm to jump into action (RI/PL/SH) against the ability to thoroughly finalize anything that was started (CF); (5) behaviour that affects team spirit negatively (SHs) vs. the ability to avert potential frictions and enable conflicting member to work cooperatively (TW/CH). Unsuccessful Teams Teams that performed poorly in the management exercises provided very useful lessons on what to avoid when designing effective teams. These lessons helped to established basic principles as well as to gather valuable information about what can go wrong if teams are badly composed. As it was found from the experimental exercises; morale is just a marginal factor for team performance, there was few evidence that linked them in a cause effect fashion. On the other hand the mental ability can be considered a critical factor. Every team needs at least one member Page 5 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 with high mental ability in a creative or analytical sense (i. . PL or ME). If this condition is not met, chances are that the team will have serious problems to perform. As previously discussed in the case of the Apollo team, if all members are clever the team will also perform poorly. Unfortunate combination of characters. The drawback of this case is that members are hindered from using their preferred team role. Individuals that have the potential to make a valuable contribution to the team are blocked and the group is deprived of benefiting from them. The following table summarizes poor design combinations for each Belbin team role. Belbin Role Chairman (CH) Plant (PL) MonitorEvaluator (ME) Company Worker (CW) Team Worker (TW) Shaper (SH) Resource Investigator (RI) CompleterFinisher (CF) In combination with: Two dominant SHs, both above average in mental ability Another PL (more dominant but less creative), and no candidate to take the chair. No PL and many TWs and CWs of high mental ability and stable disposition. With other CWs and no PL and no RI. With other TWs, CWs and CFs, but no RI, PL, SH or CH. Another SH (highly dominant but less clever), a super PL and two or more CWs With other RIs and PLs but no TWs, CFs, MEs or CHs With MEs and CWs but no RIs, PL or SH. Consequence CH will most likely fail to get his job leading the team. PL will be inhibited and his creative contribution reduced or nullified Solid orderly working climate but will fail to consider alternative strategies and ideas. Team will lack direction, and the organisers (CWs) will not have much to organise. Over-conscientious and happy team anxious to reach agreement disregarding critical points. Unbalanced team where any action of the SH will meet provocation and aggravation, disturbing further the group. An overly talkative group where no one listens, follows up points, or makes decisions. Slow-moving team where any intervention from the CF will further hinder progress. Winning Teams After nine years of extensive study of management teams, the research unit was able to make important discoveries and to make an accurate forecast of the performance of each team in a final management exercise. Probably the most remarkable outcome of this study was that the theory was validated by successful prediction; a quality that is seldom seen in social pursuit science. These are the characteristics that are often seen in winning teams. The leader (person in the Chair). The person leading a winning team has to meet the attributes and characteristics of the CH profile as identified by the study. A patient yet commanding leader who is skilled to identify and foster the potential abilities of members. One strong Plant in the team. A winning team needs a very creative and clever member; creativity being an essential factor that has to be accompanied by high cleverness in a single person to yield a great advantage for the team. High creativity with just average cleverness was however not a sufficient condition since the PL tended to lack credibility and respect in the team. A fair spread in mental abilities. As a general rule of thumb its a smart decision to avoid intellectually homogeneous combinations and to give priority to a wide spread of scores in mental ability. Best results were seen in teams composed by one very clever PL, another clever member, one CH with slightly above average mental ability and the rest of members with slightly below average cleverness. Wide team-role spread. Winning teams had members that covered most or all of the Belbin team roles. There were differences between the EME and teamopoly in terms of combinations, but in general terms as expressed by Belbin a winning company has a wider range of team-roles strengths on which to draw than less successful companies. Good match between attributes of members and their responsibilities. A winning team has to allow its members to undertake functional roles that match their team role and personal characteristics and abilities (which is not often the case). An example of this is that the person Page 6 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 leading a project should have a team role preference for either CH or SH depending on the specific project. Most winning teams were seen to adopt a flexible pairing system, that is a pair of members would take care of specific functions. Thus mismatching was minimized or easily modifiable; allowing members to switch functional roles. Adjustment to the realization of imbalance. Probably the most important feature of winning teams is their ability to compensate weaknesses and to stimulate their strengths by adaptive pursuit. They consciously take account of their potential team-role strengths, as well as compensate for their team-role weaknesses. These teams are able to see the important tasks, responsibilities and functions in terms of underlying team roles. Firstly they identify areas of weakness team-role-wise and then search for a member to be appointed to cover this area; someone who would represent the closest match for the missing team role. In this way theres always someone suitable for any job and a fair coverage of team-roles is virtually guaranteed. Team Size In the discussions of teams its worth to consider the implications that the size of the group of members has on the performance of the team. The first consideration to make is that the size of a team will depend on the need of human resources to undertake the workload of a project. Larger projects will naturally require a bigger team and vice versa, however there are limitations to this. The ideal size of a team can be found considering the conflicting forces at stake; the need for more members to keep up the workload against the need to keep the team small to maximize involvement and individual effectiveness. Smaller teams have the advantage of providing more time for personal interactions and this facilitates bonding among members. A group of ten members might seem full of HR resources that the team can draw utility from upon necessity; but it has limited scope. This size is suitable solely as an efficient decisionmaking body in which everyone reports to a leader on top, which gathers essential information, takes decisions, informs and gives instructions to the subordinates. Fruitful and dynamic discussions would be hardly possible since its difficult to allow a fair-share of talking of each member and there would always be a few members that would dominate the discussions. It might be reasonable to think that a team of eight members is the minimum necessary to cover the eight Belbin team roles. This is not necessarily true because a single member can make use of more than one team role; he can contribute with the strengths of two or even three team roles. Therefore smaller teams of up to three members can be large enough for a fair spread in team roles; even though teams of five or six seem to be a good compromise between the conflicting forces. After deciding on the team size, the next step is to guarantee a good design of the team. How to design an Effective Team Designing a well integrated and effective team is not an easy task. Compatibility of members of a team is crucial to its effectiveness, which was often ignored for the lack of assessment tools. After years of research, it was possible to establish five principles to guide the design process of effective teams, as well as to assess team roles and to use this info for the composition of teams. 1 Members can contribute in two ways. Each members has the potential to contribute in his functional role and team role to the achievement of the team goals. He can draw on his technical background to fulfill the needs linked to his specific job requisites; as well as perform the team role(s) that match his preferred Belbin roles. 2 Optimum Balance. A team needs an optimal balance in terms of functional roles and team roles; which depends on the team objectives as illustrated in the example of team composition. 3 Recognition and Adjustment to Strengths. The ability of a team to recognize the relative strengths in technical expertise and team roles, and to adjust accordingly to the needs of the objectives will improve its effectiveness. Page 7 of 10 COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT ME2305 – Management: Traditioner, teorier och trender Santiago Bravo 830810-3699 4 Personal qualities. They can help a member fit certain team roles while hindering him from adopting effectively other team roles. Seizing Technical Resources. Only a team that has a range of team roles to achieve efficient teamwork can take full advantage of the technical resources that its members possess. Team   composition. Four steps can be followed when composing effective teams. Step 1: Identify projects purpose, demands and needs. The purpose of a project will de termine which type of team roles combination is the most suitable to obtain the best results. At the same time different projects demand different sets of technical skills and knowledge. Step 2: Find the specialist for the project. One distinctive, talented, and experienced employee in the specific field of the project is needed to get the best results, this is the specialist (SP). Step 3: Find a suitable project leader. Find someone that can make a good team leader, who is compatible in terms of team roles, and that has affinity with the specialist. Step 4: Compose the rest of the team. According to the team role of the leader and the needs of the project, different compositions for the rest of the group will be possible. The next design cases illustrate the selection sequence and the importance of considering the purpose of the team. Both teams are composed by five members. One has to design a new model for a prototype; the other one is needed to streamline a production system for that prototype. The focus of Team I is management of innovation. The critical member to find first is a genius designer that has experience in the field and a strong team role as a PL. This member needs someone of similar mental ability that he can respect. This second member should be a clever ME that can bring the ideas of the PL down to Earth. These two members will focus on the mentioned team roles, so they wont have time to coordinate the project. For this a CH of low profile but clever enough to keep up with the discussions would be suitable. In addition, another creative talented member with good external contacts is needed; a RI fits this description. This fourth nominee will have a tendency for weak follow-up, therefore the final member should compensate this weakness; so a CW/CF would be perfect for the job. The purpose of Team II is getting things done and it requires a leadership from the front; a leader who can guarantee results and deliver on time, for this a strong SH that is also a CF is suitable. This team doesnt need a specialist member for the purpose of the project, so the rest of the members can be seen as a support group around the leader. They are more similar to each other from a team role perspective, with a high concentration of TWs to compensate relentless presence of a SH. Assessment    of Belbin team roles in organizations. The approach used by the Belbin research unit and by companies with a well-developed HR system is to use a battery of psychometric tests including the ones developed by Belbin. This method is well suited to design high performance teams as well as to help in career development. Another approach commonly used is through training courses. Participants can take the Belbin assessment test and learn about the principles and lessons of effective management teams. The last approach doesnt require the use of sophisticated methods; many managers have an extensive knowledge of their employees and coworkers, so they can apply the principles and fundaments of this theory to figure out their team roles and to form fairly well-integrated teams. Page 8 of 10