Colin Powell :: essays research papers

My Written Report is a Short Biography of Colin Luther Powell. He was born on May 5, 1937 in Presbyterian Hospital. He was born, and grew up, in the South Bronx, New York. There was a big influence of drugs and gangs where Powell lived but, he seemed to steer away from all of that (source 1, page 23). Powell's parents were immigrants from Jamaica. His mother's name is Muad Ariel McKoy. In Jamaica the McKoy fammily watched over sugar plantations. She came to America with her mother (Colin's grandmother). Powell's father's name is Luther Theophilus Powell. In Jamaica the Powell families were peasant farmers. Muad and Luther while in New York not in Jamaica (source 1, page 20, 21). Colin Powell is a smart man. Surprisingly when he was in fourth grade he was in the slow class. When he attended Junior High School, he went to an all male school. He did well academically but he was over looked by his parents because his sister, Marilyn Powell, always did better. He attended Morris High Scho ol in 1950. He was good in high school; he never got into any fights or any sort of trouble. He completed High school in 1954 (source 1, page 29, 30, 32). Powell applied to two colleges City College of New York (CCNY) and New York University (NYU). Both accepted him but he went to CCNY because it only ten dollars a semester as opposed to seven hundred and fifty dollars a semester at NYU. Powell majored in Engendering. He finished college in 1958 (source 1 pages 32, 36). While in college Powell joined the Recruit Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Powell said he joined ROTC because of the discipline and "The sense of comradery among a group of young men who were similarly motivated. Maybe it was the uniform." Another reason he said he joined is because of the association with the military [source 2 (interview page 1) (biography page 1)]. While Powell was in ROTC, he was in the Pershing Rifles. The Pershing Rifles showed that a cadet was more serious about ROTC than a regular ca det. The Pershing Rifles had to stay in ROTC their whole college career. They were distinguished through a yellow wrap worn on their right shoulder (source 1, page 40). In 1987 Powell was the Nation Security Advisor to Ronald Regan. Two years later in 1989 he became the first black officer and the youngest officer to hold the nation's highest military office, the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Leadership in organizations Essay

Leadership is a term with a variety of definitions depending on the context that it’s been defined. One common definition of leadership is â€Å"the behavior of an individual directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal.† The following paragraphs would elaborate on one major approach of studying leadership, its strengths and weakness, and an example in which it was used in an organization. (Yukl, 2010) Participative Leadership style Participative Leadership is the most common leadership style in business settings such as hospitality. Participative Leadership â€Å"involves all members of a team in identifying essential goals and developing procedures or strategies to reach those goals.† It is also known as democratic leadership. In which the leaders often provide guidance to the group. There is active involvement on the part of everyone on the team. It also expands the range of possibilities for the team. (Yukl, 2010) Strengths of Participative Leadership Some advantages of participative leadership involve acceptance, morale, creativity and retention. Participative leadership allows employees to readily accept policies because they were involved the policy change, development one way, or the other. Morale of employees remains high because they feel that they are part of the team. It also helps bring a lot of creativity and creative ideas to the team. (Yukl, 2010) Weaknesses of Participative Leadership One potential disadvantage of participate leadership is the time factor. This leadership style does often involve the need for more time before action is taken. The disadvantages or weaknesses of participative leaderships are fewer than its advantages. Mostly employees are confused, with too much responsibilities and little guidance from management. There is room for major errors that can affect the organization at large. This  leads to lower performance, high employee turnover, customer dissatisfaction and decreased profitability. (Yu kl, 2010) Organization Example: Arizona Biltmore One example of participative leadership is at the front desk department of the Arizona Biltmore. Front Desk Agents are often involved in policies that pertain to the front desk. For example agents are given authority to resolve guest issues by rewarding them with dollar amount credit up to $100.00 based on the issue. Anything over $100.00 needs to be approved by a manager. In addition, employees are encouraged with incentives on room up sells. Thus, this motivates employee morale, brings about creativity with new ideas to improve their performance. On busy days the front office manager is at the front desk working with employees to assist guests. There is active involvement with everyone on the team. One disadvantage that applies to this organization example is there are too many responsibilities for employees and little guidance. Sometimes when agents need a manager to be around with an unresolved guest issue, the manager is not around. Therefore, this type of behavior motivates guests to give negative ratings on line about service or give positive rating if their problems are resolved. Participative Leadership has its advantages and disadvantages, and would determine an organization’s improvement or downfall if used wisely. (Yukl, 2010) References Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in Organization (7th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Daimler s Corporate Social Responsibility - 1617 Words

Daimler’s Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts Introduction Daimler Daimler, an automobile company founded in 1998 and headquartered in Germany is the owner of Mercedes-Benz, one of the most recognizable car brands in the world. Daimler is a Fortune 500 company and produces an array of luxury automobile products including, but not limited to, cars, trucks, motorhomes, and buses. Mercedes-Benz and Daimler products are recognized and driven around the world. Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR, is an initiative companies voluntarily take part in to give back to the local and global community. There are numerous domains of corporate social responsibility, such as environmental conservation and sustainability, diversity and equal employment opportunity, and volunteer service projects and charitable giving. The number of companies embracing the practice of corporate social responsibility has increased in recent years, as the public has formulated higher expectations that companies act responsibly. Numerous companies have given in to this pressure and have adopted policies to show the public that they value the different domains of CSR. However, despite this attempt to become more socially responsible, companies may excel in some areas while they lag in others, leading to a mixture of both positive and negative CSR within the same company. Daimler is one company that has both positive and negative CSR practices, with the company leading byShow MoreRelatedDaimler s Corporate Social Responsibility1428 Words   |  6 PagesDaimler’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Efforts Introduction Daimler, an automobile company headquartered in Germany is the owner of Mercedes-Benz, one of the most recognizable car brands in the world. 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