Criticisms And Arguments Against Transformational Leadership Management Essay

Criticisms And Arguments Against Transformational Leadership Management Essay A person can have many distinctive qualities, leadership is among those qualities, not everyone possess such quality, which made this quality special and extraordinary. In the field of business, a decision often comes down to success and failure, leadership is one of the most important quality for a managerial person to have. As Thomas J. Watson, Jr. had put it: I believe the real difference between success and failure in a corporation can be very often traced to the question of how well the organization brings out the great energies and talents of its people. Leaders that can bring positive or beneficial effect to a group or enterprise are consider as a transformational leader, they are energetic, passionate, not only they focus on the systems and the structure of a business, they also focus on the individual employee to do well and to be successful as well. According to Cox (2001), leadership is divided into two categories: transactional leadership and transformational leadership. The distinction between the two, according to James McGregor Burns work on political leader (1978), are those ones who uses the policy of rewards to motive and earn his/her employees efficiency and loyalty, is called transactional leader; and those ones who gets involve with his/her employee, also possess determination and committed towards success as well as motivates its employees in exchange for their high performance, also their loyalty. However, in this ever changing world, business leaders needs improve his/her skill and ability in order to coordinate wit h the change. In this particular essay, the main focus will be on the transformational leadership and some of the arguments and criticisms against it, as well as some counter arguments in favor of the transformational leadership; along with supporting explanations, facts and various examples. Arguments against Transformational Leadership Theory: Study results shows that Transformational Leadership have its positive effect on organizations, improve its work productivity, performance and as well as the creativities, according to Bass and Avolio (1994), it can be found in every aspect of an enterprise, because sometimes transformational leaders are the type of leaders needed for an company to survive, according to Burn (1978): recognizes and exploits an existing need or demand of a potential followerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ looks for potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower. A transformational leader in an organization often break through its frame of organization culture and thrive, which made transformational leadership one of the most renewed and popular leadership theory in modern days, nevertheless, its resplendency is not without oppugns. There are many criticisms against the theory of transformational leadership, one of the criticism is transformational theory is very difficult to be trained or taught, because its components are too comprehensive; on the other hands, one of the argument against transformational leadership is that supporters might be handled by leaders. Among them all, one of the important key criticisms against transformational theory is accusing it to be only for the selected individuals, which may lead to abusing of power. As Colonel Mark .A Homig (2001) have stated that: Transformational leadership is a double edged sword. Which means that, when a transformational leader over done his part in terms of leadership, his/her innate defect in personality or even later life experience can turn him/her into another type transformational leadership, the one on the opposite side-Pseudo transformation leadership. According to Mark. A. Homig: has a potential immoral and unethical dimension that could be exp loited by an unscrupulous leader inflicted on naive and unsuspecting followers. For example, Adolf Hitler was elected as the leader of Germany, he came into power during Germanys economic inflation and depression in 1920s, he did pull Germany out of its economic depression, however, after first couple of years honeymoon between him and the country, his follower later become so obsessed with him and followed him blindly into his conquest for his so called Lebensraum for Germany, which brought one of the worst disaster to Europe. Other example is Shoko Asahara, founder and leader of Aum Shinrikyo, also known as Aleph, a Japanese cult that is responsible for the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. The second key argument against transformational leadership is the un-clarity of its definition and components, since the definitions of the four components (Inspirational, Intellectual, Idealized, and Individualized) associated with transformational leadership are overlapping each other. According to Brayman (1992), the transformational leadership looks more suited to be a set of personality characteristics rather than special requirements. There are other various arguments against transformational leadership as well, like the ones associated with ethics, according to Avolio and Howell (1992), qualities that makes a great leader can lead to unethical act, as the first key point in this section stated, such leader can make his/her follower to make unethical decisions and even commit crimes as well, according to Yukl.G. (1998). One example for this case is Hitler. Within this essay, the focus will be on the above arguments, in the following section, and in-depth analysis will be done. Supports for the Transformational Leadership theory: Two of the key arguments against transformational leadership theory primarily focus on the un-clarity of its concepts, and accusing it to be misleading. However, if we take a closer look at the details and examine the core components of the transformational leadership theory, one can easily notices the arguments against transformational leadership is losing its roots. Based on Benard. M, Bass (2006)s book on Transformational leadership, the qualification of transformational leaders are those who has great personality qualities and the ability to influence others in exchange for their loyalty, it focuses on the processes between the leader and followers. Therefore, those who uses negative examples of transformational leadership such as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini to fault the transformational leadership theorys core concept is false, because idea or the overall construction of the theory of the transformational leadership is solid, and does not varies when people interpolate it dif ferently. Arguments such as the requirements for transformational leadership are sets of personality traits, and it cannot be taught or learn, Oscar Arias (cited in blog: leadership, 2010) have stated: More than knowledge, leaders need character. Values and ethics are vitally important. The basics of leadership can be taught. What is desperately needed is more responsible leadership a new ethic to confront the challenges of our day. Based on an interview and commentary essay done by Jonathan P. Doh (, many educators believes that transformational leadership can be taught, in fact all types of leadership can be taught and learned. Here are some of the quoted interviews from that report: Jay Conger (Professor of Organizational Behavior at the London Business School and Senior Research Scientist, Center for Organizations at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles) have :Yes, most definitely. Here work experiences, bosses, special projects, and role models, education all play a role in leadership development. Using an analogy with sports, not everyone can become an outstanding player despite coaching, yet most will benefit and improve their game. A few will go on to become stars or outstanding leaders given coaching, extensive experiences, and personal drive. Also from Kim S. Cameron (Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the University of Michigan Business School.) said that: Some people have an inclination to learn some competencies faster or better than others, of course, and some people reflect more charismatic or likable characteristics than others. But many great leaders are not those that appear on the covers of Time and Fortune. They have learned to achieve spectacular results in their own circumstances. Think of parents. Can people learn to become better parents, or are we just born either competent or not? Everyone would agree that effective parenting can be learned and improved. So can effective leadership. Leadership can also be taught, according to Jay Conger, Kim Cameron, and Steve Stumpf (cited in Jonathan P. Dohs interview essay), have all agreed that leadership can be taught, but only to a certain extent. The reason behind this is the three dimensions of leadership: skills, perspectives and dispositions. Just like in school, everything can be taught to students, but there are always some students do better than others, in terms of adapting knowledge, and the ability of applying the knowledge that they have learned. Skills can be taught, and perspectives can be trained, however, dispositions such as ambitions, mental capacity, etc.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.is difficult to teach. Bottom line is, leadership can be taught and learned through education and training. There are a lot of examples of leaders that proved valuable to a company, just to name of few in this essay. Steve Jobs is one of the perfect example, he was fired from apple and later came back, and turned Apple into one of the most profitable technology company in the world. Another example is Gordon Bethune, CEO of Continental Airlines (merged with United in 2010), and he joined Continental Airlines during its bankruptcy, during that time, company was losing $55 million dollars per month, he, however, not only eliminated the debt they had at that not, but also increased Continental Airlines stock price from $2 a share to $50 a share. Conclusion: In conclusion, Transformational leadership theory have proved its value throughout the modern days, even if there are some criticisms, it still not enough to effect the core concept of transformational leadership theory. Counter arguments in support for the transformational leadership theory, have proved its aptitude in work performance, quality and earn their loyalty. Key arguments have been vindicated in this essay, even though, motive of a leader sometimes is questionable, but this does not change the core construction of the theory; transformational leadership theory or any leadership theory can be learned or taught, only difference is how well one can adapt and apply the knowledge of leadership. Transformational leadership is surely one of the most popular theory, and most likely will become the resolution for todays organization, as todays enterprises facing many tough challenges such as creativity, sustainability, and uniqueness.

The Internets Accuracy and Usefullness :: Internet Research Papers

The Internet's Accuracy and Usefullness The following 15 web sites that I found on the Internet about the topic "Teenage Drinking and Driving" were given a rating between 1-5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. I have listed these paragraphs in order with statistics being first, then prevention, and finally why teenagers drink and drive. Plus, I have an article and a book that I found on this topic. The information that I found on these web sites could be useful in writing a research paper, but I ask this question to myself: Can I find this data and information somewhere else? In my judgement when anyone is doing a research paper you can find the same data you find on the Internet in a book, magazine, or newspaper article. Although, I think that the Internet isn't very helpful in writing a research paper, some sites do have good data, but you just have to know how to find a good site. The web sites dealing with statistics were given a rate of 4 because I found them to be accurate sites for teenage drinking and driving, but you could find these sites in a book or article. The reason that I did not give them a 5 is because I did not feel that they were unique, and that you could not find them in another place. For example, in the web site called "Teenage Drunk Driving! Know the Facts!" This web site gave a lot of statistics on teenage drinking and driving, and how serious a problem it is in that specific age group (www.fugitive.com/is18.html). Another site that gave a lot of statistics was the site called "What the Research says about Youth and Drinking and Driving and Ways to Apply Research." This site gives statistics on teenage drinking and driving too, but it also talks about laws that should be passed in order to come down harder on DUI's because of the deaths that occur with these accidents (www.ncadd.com/tsra/abstracts/youth.html). The web sites in this paragraph also deal with statistics and was given a rating of 3. Although, these web sites were less accurate than the 4’s, I would probably use some of these. The first one comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety, gives statistics about Teenage Drinking and Driving in California (www.ots.ca.gov/campaign/3d98impaired.html) Next was the site from the Arizona Department of Safety, gives information on statistics of drinking and driving in Arizona compared to other states (www.

Deviants and Crime

The person who deviates distinctly from the norm is called a deviant. A deviant may also be defined as the person whose attitudes and behaviors go against the set societal norms or standards. Deviance is not age specific but it starts in the early ages of human development and if it goes unmarked, it ends up reaching a point of no return making an adult whose personality can be described by one word; a deviant. The act of deviance is learnt either by association with other deviants or by trying to give excuses to justify the acts of deviance leading to habit. Deviance and crime is one and the same thing.This is because, when one goes against the set of norms in this case the formal rules called law, this is crime. Deviants defy both the formal and informal (Social) standards and norms. For example, a deviant may go against the social norms and commit an act of nose picking in public or against the law and break into private premises with an intention of stealing. Based on this, devia nce is a subject of concern to both the socialists and the criminologists. These two professionals engage in a serious study of how norms are formed, changes that the norms undergo over time and the enforcement of norms.The sociology of deviance can be summarized in three main theories i. e. symbolic interactionism theory, Structural functionalism theory, and conflict theory. These theories try to explain the causes of deviance. Stealing is one example of deviance that is a serious crime in the US today. People do not wake up one day and become thieves. Theft is a habit that is learnt at childhood and continues into adulthood. This paper seeks to define and develop a sociological theory that explains deviance from the symbolic interactionism theory perspective (Rodney, 2007:pp 48)Symbolic Interactionism Theories All the theories under this class are of the view that deviant behavior is learnt. As a result of the learning, the deviant behaviors eventually become part of an individual ’s personality or character. The theories under this class include Sutherland's differential association theory, Gresham Sykes and David Matza's neutralization theory and Tannenbaum and Howard Becker’s labeling theory. Sutherland's differential association theory proposes that the criminal and deviant behaviors are not inherent in individuals but they are only learnt.It amplifies the common belief that all human are created good. Every individual is inherently good but society makes them bad. The learning of criminal or deviant behaviors is the same as the learning of other behaviors such as saying â€Å"thank you† when one gives a compliment or gives a favor. The learning process comes as a result of interaction between people or groups of people through the use of symbolic communication. The symbolic communication may also include ideas and attitudes that are transferred from one individual or group to another.If the symbols used in the communication are favor able and desirable than the converse, then an individual or group embraces deviance communicated by the symbols, ideas or attitudes and will tend to be oriented to of deviant behaviors more than any other behavior (Lanier, 2004 pp. 162-163). Taking theft as an example of a deviant criminal behavior, we realize that if an individual associates with an individual or group who steal or hold the idea of stealing more favorable than unfavorable, and the association is intimate, then motives ideas, attitudes , techniques etc that are favorable to stealing are learnt.Once this learning occurs and incase there is a need, then one will tend to steal and in this way we say that this criminal and deviant act of theft has resulted from symbolic interaction. The Neutralization theory, just like the name suggests, sets out to explain the ways that the deviants eventually kill their guilt conscience through rationalization. Some of the rationalizations used include the denial of responsibility of the deviant action aimed at making the criminal feel better.Denial of responsibility is simply an argument that the offender had no option and that any other person put under the same circumstances would have acted the same way the offender did. Continued denial of responsibility eventually kills the guilt conscience making the criminal cold and to have a propensity of committing the crime again. For example, if a criminal steals and accepts responsibility, then there is some guilt that comes with the acceptance and this guilt has a reform component. Failure of accepting responsibility rules out possibility of reform and thus high probability of committing the crime again in future.Other defense mechanisms or rationalizations used include the denial of damage and denial of victim. Denial of damage or injury refers to the reasoning that the criminal act did not hurt anybody and thus the offender is not morally wrong. This reasoning is based on the elementary conviction that if an act ion doesn’t cause any harm to others, then it is morally right. On the other hand, denial of the victim is an argument that the victim deserved the deviant act due to his /her perceived lack of morals by the offender. Denunciation of his denouncers is yet another rationalization used by deviants or criminals to protect their actions.It is an argument that those who denounce their actions have the potential of committing same or similar acts or they also commit similar acts and as such they are hypocrites. Denunciation of denouncers makes the offender feel better about his actions and it too blocks reform thus opening up a possibility of future criminal acts. Finally, appeal to higher loyalties involves positive reinforcement of the criminal act by what he beliefs in. The criminal argues that some values surpass the law or traditions and thus the criminal construes the values to be more important than the law.For example, if one steals because he is starving, he has done nothi ng because he believes in saving life. To him, life is more important than the law. Generally, under this theory, criminals rationalize criminal acts by neutralization (Lanier, 2004 pp. 168- 9). The labeling theory is a popular one which has been used not only in sociology but also in psychology. The psychological labeling theory, in a layman’s language states that if you continually call a child names, say a thief, the child will end up becoming one. Frank Tannenbaum and Howard S.Becker proposed the labeling theory in the sociological context. They said that the act of society creating rules whose violation amounts to defiance causes deviance in itself. If society says that the people who take other people’s property without permission are thieves and thieves are not good people, this definition amounts to labeling. The labeling represents the negative attitude the society holds against a deviant such as a thief and makes the offenders to internalize the label and try to act out the label by carrying out actions that conform to the label.For example labeling of a thief, makes the deviant such labeled to internalize this label and carries out acts of theft in a bid to conform to the label. This theory lies at the boundary of symbolic-interactionism and conflict theory. The conflict theory orientation of this theory proposes that the society wield power to create norms and label deviants. A good example is the prison system which labels the convicts of theft to a point that these theft convicts also begin to view themselves as thieves (Giddens, 2006 pp. 525-7).In a bid to reinforce the reinforce Edwin Lemert proposed the idea of primary and secondary deviation. He construed primary deviation to be the deviance before the deviant is labeled as such. Secondary deviance on the other hand is the acts of deviance that come after the primary deviance as a reaction to the societal institutions that have power to set norms and to label. Lemert explains fu rther how one moves from primary to secondary deviation and finally to assumption of the role of the label he/she has been given.The transition between these stages starts when an offender commits a deviant act for the first time prompting the society to administer some disciplinary penalties on him. If the disciplinary penalties administered on the primary deviant do not manage to stop the crime, the offender may act the same crime or deviance again thus prompting even harsher punishment from the society. The harsh punishment makes the offender to resent the society or the institution in the society that administers this harsh punishment. The resentment sets pace for more crimes with the institution reining harsher and harsher punishment on the offender.As the number of crimes increases the society, apart from the punishment given to the offender, lavishes stigma too on the offender. This stigma marks the labeling g stage. The stigma sandwiches the offender between a rock and a har d place where he has no option than accept the role prescribed by the label. In a bid to fulfill the role, the offender acts out the role prescribed in the label and this constitutes the secondary deviance. Secondary deviance hardens the criminals courtesy of the labeling act by the societyPrimary and secondary deviance is witnessed in the American legal system when a first time offender receives lesser punishment as compared to a second or multiple time offender of the same crime. For both the offenders, say thieves, the punishment is meant to reform them. The multiple time offenders get a harsher punishment because the society feels that the first- time punishment was not sufficient enough making the offender commit a second crime. The second time offender is more likely to commit the crime the third time that the first time offender is to commit a second crime.The implication of this primary and secondary deviance can be applied in the prison system where the criminals are suppos ed to be viewed as good people except fore the crimes they have committed. They should not be condemned but subjected to rehabilitation. This is necessary because it has been witnessed that the harsher the punishment, the deeper the deviance and the higher the probability of the crime or deviance being repeated again (Hanson, 2005, P75). In conclusion, the reformation of criminals should not be harsh and inhuman.The harsh and often inhuman punishments we witness in our American prisons were put in place to scare the larger good population away from crime. It is evident that this intention has blatantly failed and thus there is need for an alternative strategy. This is necessary because if people are no longer scared of that harsh and inhuman punishment, then they will automatically engage in criminal activities. This is the same as threatening a person who doesn’t fear death with death. This won’t achieve any end at all. However, removal of such harsh and inhuman punis hment may trigger the same response that its existence triggers; resistance.What will happen if people know that the punishment given after a crime is lighter than before? The US government represented by the prison system is at a cross road and there is dire need to try a punishment devoid rehabilitation approach as opposed to the harsh punishment. Just like labeling has the impact of acting out, positive labeling may create desirable reformation in the criminals. The society too needs to be sensitized so as to respect the innate goodness of the criminals such as to avoid stigmatization that has led to the hardening and resistance of the criminals. References Rodney, Stark Sociology; Biological Theories of Deviance (10th edition) Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007 Newman, Graeme Crime and Deviance: A Comparative Perspective. Michigan: Sage Publications, 1980 pp127-135 Giddens, Anthony Sociology. Polity Publishers, 2006 pp 525-7 Lanier, Mark Essential Criminology. Westview Press, 2004. pp 168-9   

The Relationship Between Bisexuality And Its Effects On...

Bisexuality is described as having romantic or sexual attraction to both males and females. This means that a bisexual woman can be attracted to either a man or a woman and have a meaningful relationship with either gender. Bisexuality can be transitional but it can also be a stable sexual orientation no different from lesbianism. With transitional bisexuality women typically experience attraction towards men and women but soon identify with either heterosexuality or lesbianism. Their bisexuality is merely a way for them to find out who they are and what they like. Stable bisexuality means that this is not a stage and it will not simply disappear with age. It is a sexuality with just as much stability as lesbianism, their attraction towards men and women will remain constant. Both types of bisexuality exist and are experienced by real women. Stable bisexuality is the more common type and most women who identify with it do not adopt a different sexuality with age. Simply because a bis exual woman may marry a man does not make her heterosexual and just because she may marry a woman does not make her a lesbian. Her sexuality remains the same because her attraction to both genders does not change. When concerning bisexuality and friendships there is a stigma that you cannot be a bisexual woman and be friends with a heterosexual woman because you will be attracted to them sexually. Typically when looking at friendships people tend to â€Å"choose friends who are similar to themselvesShow MoreRelatedThe Negative Stereotypes About Bisexual Lifestyle1408 Words   |  6 PagesThe second contributing factor is the negative stereotypes about bisexual lifestyle. The political â€Å"treachery† of bisexual women resulted in their connection to sexual promiscuity. Lesbian women also frequently accused bisexual women of being fence-sitters who were able to â€Å"choose† between having a heterosexual and a lesbian relationship. 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