Rural Marketing Charecters Challenges And Strategies Marketing Essay

Rural Marketing Charecters Challenges And Strategies Marketing Essay Rural markets have acquired significance in India as the overall growth of the economy has resulted in substantial increase in the purchasing power of rural communities. As urban markets are getting saturated and competitive, companies focus themselves in capturing the vast rural market. Go Rural is the slogan of marketing gurus after analyzing the socio-economic changes in villages. Rural markets accounts for 54% of FMCG and 60% of durable goods. Rural consumption is getting high as the technology is advancing everywhere and also buying pattern and demand of the rural consumers have changed from basic low-priced product to luxurious ones due to their increased income. Dynamics of rural markets differs from other market types and similarly its strategies also differ from the marketing strategies aimed at the urban consumers. A firm seeking the share of this rural market has to work for it as the market includes variety of problems such as physical distance, communication risks due to illiteracy, differed tastes and attitudes of rural consumers, risks in setting suitable pricing and distribution strategy etc. considering the environment in which the rural market operates and other related problems, it is possible to evolve effective strategies for rural marketing. Thus future is very promising for those who can understand the dynamics of rural markets. Character of rural market: 1. The households belonging to the middle-income and above categories that constitute the bulk of the consuming class had been increasingly steadily over the years. 2. The rural income is seasonal in nature and to a great extent influenced by non-controllable factors such as draughts and floods, crop failures due to pests, and similar factors 3. The rural market in India is vast and scattered and offers various opportunities in comparison to the urban sector. It covers the maximum population and regions and thereby the maximum number of consumers. 4. The steps taken by the government of India to initiate proper irrigation, infrastructural developments, prevention of floods, grants for fertilizers, and various schemes to cut down the poverty line have improved the conditions of rural masses resulting in increased rural consumption. 5. During the last decade the rural consumers were in need for low end products which would meet their basic demands and necessities. But of lately due to change in technology and rather advancement in technology, the demand for people have also changed and the buying pattern which initially comprised of basic products have now shifted to luxurious products. 6. Media reach is a strong reason for the penetration of goods like cosmetics, mobile phones, etc., which are only used by the urban people. Increasing awareness and knowledge on different products and brands accelerate the demand. 7. Sales will be higher in rural areas during harvesting periods as the income will be higher during that period. Characteristics of rural consumers People in rural areas have poor job opportunities than urban. The rural consumer is very conscious about getting value for money. He understands symbols and colors better, and looks for endorsement by local leaders or icons. He doesnt like to pay extra for frills he cannot use. He has a very high involvement in any product purchased especially when he decides to buy high-end products, which cost a few hundreds or thousands of rupees. The rural market of India is a geographically scattered market. Rural consumers continue to be marked by low purchasing power. The rural consumers are marked by a conservative and tradition-bound lifestyle. Rural consumers buy small packs, as they are perceived as value for money. There is brand stickiness, where a consumer buys a brand out of habit and not really by choice. The rural consumers of India are a tradition bound community; religion, culture and even superstition strongly influence their consumption habits. Challenges There are several difficulties confronting the effort to fully explore rural markets. The concept of rural markets in India is still in evolving shape, and the sector poses a variety of challenges. Unlike urban markets, rural markets are difficult to predict and possess special characteristics 1. Difficulty in Payment- collection: The majority of rural population is still unbanked. Non cash collections are not possible and even cash collections are also difficult as technical advancements in banking sector has not yet reached in rural areas. 2. Understanding the Rural Consumer: Unlike urban consumers, rural consumers taste and preferences are difficult to understand as their choices were influenced by many factors. 3. Poor Infrastructure: Lack of buildings, electricity, water supply etc affects the basic business functions. 4. Physical Distribution: Poor road connectivity is often a big challenge for the rural marketers to transport their products or services to the rural consumers. Only 40% of the villages in India have proper road connections. 5. Shortage of retail outlets: Non-availability of adequate retail outlets is a major problems faced by the marketers. 6. Illiteracy: Rural folks do not understand clever, gimmicky, quick (fast-paced), suggestive and hi-tech ad films. And also it is very difficult to make the rural consumers to understand the promotion campaigns and its theme and also the usage of a product. 7. Inadequate storage facilities and warehousing leads to inadequate stocking of products. 8. Highly credit driven market and low investment capacity of retailers. A rural consumer generally poses the habit purchasing goods for credit due to their low income. But financially unsound retailers cant give credit. 9. Dispersed or scattered rural population: it is very expensive to conduct market promotion campaigns and to meet other expenditures over scattered market. 10. Large number of intermediaries leading to higher costs. Due to physical distance, a producer needs the help of so many intermediaries in selling his product to the rural consumers. High intermediation increases price. Strategies Marketers need to understand the psyche of the rural consumers and then act accordingly. Rural marketing involves more intensive personal selling efforts compared to urban marketing. Firms should refrain from designing goods for the urban markets and subsequently pushing them in the rural areas. To effectively tap the rural market, a brand must associate it with the same things the rural folks do. This can be done by utilizing the various rural folk media to reach them in their own language and in large numbers so that the brand can be associated with the myriad rituals, celebrations, festivals, melas, and other activities where they assemble. Considering the environment in which the rural market operates and other related problems, it is possible to evolve effective strategies for rural marketing. The strategies discussed here though not universally applicable depend upon product characteristics, the targeted segment of the rural market, the choice of the rural area and its economic condition. A. Product strategies Meaningful product strategies for rural market and rural consumers are discussed here. 1. Small unit and low priced packing: Larger pack sizes are out of reach for rural consumers because of their higher price and usage habits. This method has been tested by other products like shampoos, biscuits, pickles, Vicks five gram tins, etc. the objective of giving smallpackagings is to keep the price low so that the entire rural community can try. This may not be possible in all types of products except some products such as shampoo, soaps and other cosmetics etc. 2. Designing new innovative and attractive products: A close observation of rural household items indicates the importance of redesigning or modifying the products. The manufacturing and marketing men can think in terms of new product designs specially meant for rural areas keeping their lifestyles in view. The new products should be designed in such a way that it should suit the lifestyle, needs and anxiety of the rural consumer. 3. Designing strong and sturdy products: Sturdiness of a product either in terms of weight or appearance is an important fact for rural consumers. Generally a rural consumer handles every product roughly. Thus the product meant for rural areas should be sturdy enough to stand rough handling and storage. People in rural areas like bright flashy colors such as red, blue, green etc., and feel that products with such colors are sturdy but they are more concerned with the utility of the item also. 4. Creating a good brand name The rural consumers are more concerned with the brand name of the product than its utility. The brand name awareness in the rural areas is fairly high. A brand name and logo are very essential for rural consumers for it can be easily remembered and identified. Because rural consumers often used to stick towards a particular product by considering its brand name. B. Pricing strategies Pricing strategies are very much linked to product strategies. Some of these strategies are mentioned here. 1. Low cost/cheap products: This is a common strategy being adopted widely by many manufacturing and marketing men. Rural consumers wont like to have high-priced commodities due to their low income. So Price can be kept low by small unit packing resulting in higher sales. 2. Avoid sophisticated packing: Simple package can be adopted which can bring down the cost as it is presently being done in the case of biscuits. Some innovation in packing technology is very necessary for rural markets. Sophisticated packing can be avoided as it bears extra cost which may losses the number of consumers due to high price. 3. Refill packs/reusable packaging: The packaging material used should preferably lend itself for reuse in rural areas. An ideal example in this direction can be the packing of fertilizers. Now companies have started packing fertilizers in LDPE or HDPE sacks, which are not only tamper proof but also reusable. But it would be applicable only in case certain products. 4. Application of value engineering: This is a technique which can be tried to evolve cheaper products by substituting the costly raw material with the cheaper one, without sacrificing the quality or functional efficiency of the product, for example in food industry, Soya protein is being used instead of milk protein. Milk protein is expensive while Soya protein is cheaper but the nutrition value is same. This technique yields itself for application in many engineering or product designed areas so that the price can be kept at an affordable level. These areas have to be explored by manufacturing and marketing the pricing strategy for rural market will depend upon the scope for reducing the price of the product to suit the rural incomes and at the same time not compromising with the utility and sturdiness of the product. 5. provision of free frills or products along with the selling product will make an impression among the rural buyers that the price they are paying for the product is not high, as they are getting extra free products or services. c. Distribution strategies Rural India is widely populated and so it is obvious that the distribution costs are high. Here, one needs to deploy innovative approaches in order to bring down the costs. Most manufacturers and marketing men do have a distribution arrangement for village with a population of at least 5000 people. While it is essential to formulate specific strategies for distribution in rural areas, the characteristics of the product, its shelf life and other factors have to be kept in mind. The distribution strategies that are specifically designed for rural areas are through co-operative societies, public distribution system, multi-purpose distribution centers, etc.some other distribution strategies that can be adopted in rural marketing were: 1. Using Delivery vans to deliver products to nook and corner of villages. 2. Localized way of distributions such as melas, street outlets etc: To succeed in Indian rural market the producers or marketers have to reach the nook and the corner of the country. They have to reach the local Paan wala, Local Baniya only then they can succeed. MNC shoe giants, Adidas, Reebok, and Nike started with exclusive stores but soon they realized that they do not enjoy much Brand Equity in India, and to capture the market share in India they later preferred Local market shoe sellers. 3. Conduction of special sales programmes through temporary street stalls or showrooms in rural areas: This is one of the strategies widely adopted by automobile marketers. This strategy is suitable for high end products. 4. Direct distributions by opening outlets in villages avoiding intermediaries that will also reduce price 5. By offering certain discounts, the local rural distributors can be made to brainwash the consumers about the new product as rural consumers believes the word of the familiar person in purchasing a product. Thus risk involved in sales and distribution of the new product can be somewhat reduced. D. Promotion strategies Mass media is a powerful medium of communication. It could be television, cinema, print media, and radio and so on. The other means of mass media available are hoardings/wall paintings, shanties/hats/melas, non-price competition, special campaigns etc. Besides these, other mass media like hand bills and booklets, posters, stickers, banners of the schemes etc. Following are some of the promotion strategies that can be applied in order to promote a new product in the rural market: 1: advertising with local ambassadors is a right choice and also advertisements can be made colorfully as rural people like that. 2: providing the new product as a free product along with some other products that were already going in the market. So that, the consumers will be aware of the new product. 3: making a tie up with the ongoing market retailers in order to enhance proper distribution and to expand the business in the initial promotion stage. After gaining some goodwill and market, the producer can either continue with the ongoing retail distribution or it can open its own retail shops. 4: In the promotional stage, the goods and services can be given at low prices that would attract the rural consumers as they often prefer low-priced commodities with higher utility. In addition to all these strategies, there are some other strategies that a marketer should follow or implement in order to promote and succeed in rural market. They are as follows; BY TARGET CHANGING PERCEPTION If one go to villages they will see that villagers using Toothpaste, even when They can use Neem or Babool sticks or Gudakhu, villagers are using soaps like Nirma rose, Breeze, Cinthol etc. even when they can use locally manufactured very low priced soaps. Villagers are constantly looking forward for new branded products. What can one infer from these incidents, is the paradigm changing and customer no longer price sensitive. Indian customer was never price sensitive, but they want value for money. They are ready to pay premium for the product if the product is offering some extra utility for the premium. Thus a marketer has to design his marketing trend according to the changing perception of the rural consumers. BY PROVIDING WHAT CUSTOMER WANT The customers want value for money. They do not see any value in frills associated with the products. They aim for the basic functionality. However, if the sellers provide frills free of cost they are happy with that. They are happy with such a high technology that can fulfill their need. Motorola has launched, seven models of Cellular Phones of high technology but none of the rural consumers preferred it as they dont even know or wants or cannot use such advanced technologies in that models. On the other hand, Nokia has launched a simple product 1100, which has captured the wide rural market. BY DEVELOPING RURAL-SPECIFIC PRODUCTS Many companies are developing rural-specic products. Keeping into consideration the requirements and necessities of the rural consumers, products can be ultimately designed which aptly suits the rural necessities.for example; some bike manufacturers are designing their product very toughly which will suit the poor road facilities of rural India. (Hero Honda splendor) PAINTINGS A picture is worth thousand words. The message is simple and clean. Rural people like the sight of bright colours. COKE, PEPSI and TATA traders advertise their products through paintings.thus advertising through paintings can be made. Conclusion: Indian rural marketing has always been complex to forecast and consist of special uniqueness. However many companies were successful in entering the rural markets. They proved that with proper understanding of the market and innovative marketing ideas, it is possible to bag the rural markets. It is very difficult for the companies to overlook the opportunities they could from rural markets. As two-thirds of the Indian population live in rural areas, the market is vast than expected. For the companies to be successful in rural markets, they have to overcome certain challenges such as pricing and distribution. Thus by following the above stated innovative strategies, companies can capture markets and withhold in rural areas. AUTHOR: Pradeep kumar.B, SIIMS, Pollachi. EMAIL ID:[emailprotected] PHONE NUMBER: 9787077523

Study of Employee Behavior causing Accidents at the Workplace

Study of Employee Behavior causing Accidents at the Workplace Safety behavior is the key for reducing the injuries at the workplace and indirectly influencing the outcomes of the event before the injuries or accidents occurred (Johnson, 2003). There are many studies in occupational safety concluded that the root of the accident causes is human behavior (Geller, 2000; Cooper, 1998, 2000; Johnson, 2003). Therefore, it shows the relationship between the human and their behavior on causing the accident at the workplace. Studies indicate that more than 85% of workplace injuries and accidents can be linked to human error of commission or omission (LaBar, 1996). Granot (1998) also admits it in his review that industrial disaster is truly about people and their behavior. Most of studies in human safety behavior issues concerning only on the concept of safety culture (safety climate), defined as the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the organizations safety performance (Health and Safety Commission, 1993, p.23). Rasmussen (1990) expresses concern that despite the growing complexity, size and change in todays technical system, they continue to depend on human involvement for their safe operation. Previous researcher such as Mullen (2002), Subramaniam (2004) and Mahmood, Isa, Mustafa, Aziz Salleh (2009) did study several factors that have direct relationship with safety behavior such as organizational factors, safety commitment and human factors but they did not stressed out any variables that could mediated the relationship between those variables. Therefore, no study conducted to identify whether these relationship could be mediated by another factors such as attitudes, perceptions, knowledge, beliefs and personality. This study will not only help to improve the safety behavior at the workplace but it will also increase Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) knowledge and perception towards safety behavior. The purpose of this study is to investigate what are the main factors that influence human safety behavior among SMEs manufacturing chemical products in Northern Area of Malaysia. It is also seeks to identify the crucial parts in safety and health that is human factors which will influence the safety measures at the workplace. Besides that, it is also to identify the factors that need to be improved to achieve excellent standards of safety management at SMEs. To dig deeper into the causes of accidents at the worksite, one must understand the role of human factors, which are often the cause of human error. It is also to understand the factors that influenced the safety measures at the workplace. Industry Background Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs), plays a major role in the Malaysian economy. The development of SMEs has received much attention since the implementation of the New Economic Policy (1971 1990). It was then emphasized in the Second Long Term Malaysian Plan (1991-2000). A survey done in 1994 found that there were 12,000 SMEs established in Malaysia made up of 88% small enterprises and 12% medium-sized enterprises. These SMEs employed 33% of the workforce in the manufacturing sector. The importance of small and medium-sized businesses in helping the economic development of our nation cannot be refuted. Besides creating job opportunities, SMEs play a crucial role in contributing to the prosperity of big and multinational corporations. They enhance the industry through their creativity and innovation. In Malaysia, various agencies adopt different definitions of SMEs depending on their business interests. However one common definition is that provided by the Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation (SMIDEC) which defines SMEs according to two main factors i.e. annual sales turn over and number of full time workers. Medium sized business is a business establishment with an annual sales turnover of between RM10 million and RM25 million and which employs more than 150 full-time workers while a small sized business is a business establishment8 with an annual sales turnover of not more than RM10 million and which employs not more than 50 full time workers. SMEs offer different and unique challenges to the manager who is generally the owner of the business. Considering their importance to the countrys economic development agenda, the governments commitment to the development of SMEs has been clearly evident since the early 1970s (Saleh Ndubisi, 2006). Various forms of assistance have been given by the government to ensure the successful development of SMEs. Examples of the assistance are access to market and financial support, RD, the use of ICT, technology to enhance productivity and quality control as well as access to skilled labors (SME Performance Report, 2005). As a result of the growth of SMEs, safety measures should be taken into account seriously. It is because accidents at workplace can be prevented if employers and employees are more sensitive or have good safety behavior (Makin Sutherland, 1994; Christian, Wallace, Bradley, Burke, 2009). Moreover, to get better understanding of safety behavior, employers need to cater the human factors that can contribute to accidents at workplace and the employees to have some responsibility towards their own safety. Accidents at workplace involve monetary cost as the amount of compensation paid out to employees cost more than what it is perceived. The amount has been high in the last few years and this costs a lot of money to the economy, which can otherwise be used for other productive purposes such as an investment in new technology to boost productions. In 2003, compensation due to accidents amounted to a staggering RM 745 million. The amount increased to RM 817 million in 2004 and continued to rise to RM 883 million in 2005 (Labor and Human Resources Statistics 2001-2005, 2009). According to Thye (2009), 70% of all occupational diseases are due to the chemical exposure, which results in problems like skin diseases, poisoning and respiratory disorders. Previous studies showed that the occurrences of diseases and sickness were partly due to the improper use of personal protective equipment, from selection of such equipment to its washing or disposal (Thye, 2009). Therefore, this study will focus on SMEs manufacturing chemical products for agricultural industries and cleaning services. It is because from the data obtained most of the SMEs company at the Northern Region are producing chemical products for the agricultural and cleaning services. Problem Statement One of the topics in human resource management that is gaining attention is safety management. Generally, previous studies on safety focused on areas such as safety and health legislative compliance (Townsend, 1998), OSH implementation (Surienty, Hong Hung, 2010), OSH performance (Surienty, Hong Hung, 2010) safety climate (Zohar, 2000; Flin, Mearns, OConnors Bryden, 2000; Dedobbeleer Belan, 1991) and safety culture (Abd. Aziz, 2008; Clarke, 1999; Cooper, 1998; Cox Flin, 1998). In term of the context of the study, previous research have concentrated more on investigating safety behavior and lifestyle involving employees in construction sites (Aksorn Hadikusumo, 2007; Tam Fung, 1998; Toole, 2002) and less research focusing on manufacturing. Review of related literature revealed studies that emphasized on human factors and safety behavior are relatively spare. For example, Granot (1998) in his review of human factor in industrial disaster comprises that human beings are at the heart of disaster. They frequently play an active role in causing industrial failure through their shortcoming and fallibility. Human error can occur in every stage of industrial activities. Similarly, Yon (2007) states that consideration in studying human factors that influence safety behavior and lifestyle at the workplace has been a crucial reason for the researcher to study further on these matters. Yons (2007) study involved SMEs in Penang which focused on the factors that associated to the chemical safety. The factors are management of chemicals, employees cooperation, training and education, process hazard analysis and hazard identification, safe work procedures and practices, chemical safety data sheets, personal protective equipment progra mmes, emergency measures and first aid, operational control measures, medical surveillance programme, monitoring of workers exposure, warning sign and recordkeeping. Yon (2007) admitted that human is the key factors to ensure safety at the workplace but since her study are not focusing on the human factors, no further discussion was made. Eventhough human factors can be one of the factors on that studies, little consideration had been given. Workers play an important role in causing occupational accident but many researches continue to see human factor in a very narrow perspective. Previous researcher such as Mullen (2002), Subramaniam (2004) and Mahmood, Isa, Mustafa, Aziz Saleh (2009) did study several factors that have direct relationship with safety behavior such as organizational factors, safety commitment and human factors but they did not stressed out any variables that could mediated the relationship between those variables. Therefore, no study conducted to identify whether these relationship could be mediate by another factors such as attitudes, perceptions, knowledge, beliefs and personality. One of the models that emphasized on safety behavior is a model proposed by Subramaniam (2004). According to his model, safety behavior is the outcome of predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors. However, his model is lacking because the model did not take into account several important variables such as personality, communication, and knowledge and his model only proposed a direct relationship between human factors and safety behaviors. His study conducted at residential colleges in a local Malaysian university. Therefore, this study will conducted on the working environment because the situations are more expose to the hazard. This study will utilized his model and proposed predisposing factors as intervening variable in order to help gain further understanding of the antecedents of safety behavior at SMEs. In terms of theoretical perspective, Ajzens (1980, 1991) theory of planned behaviour (TPB) appears well-suited to the explanation of the link between human factors and safety behaviour in this study. This theory derived from previous research that started out as the theory of attitude, which led to the study of attitude and behavior. The theory was, born largely out of frustration with traditional attitude-behavior research, much of which found weak correlations between attitude measures and performance of volitional behaviors (Hale, Householder, Greene, 2003, p. 259). The key application of this theory is prediction of behavioral intention, spanning predictions of attitude and predictions of behavior. The subsequent separation of behavioral intention from behavior allows for explanation of limiting factors on attitudinal influence (Azjen, 1980). This theory will help refining the model that will be used to explain variance in the aspect of safety behavior. The TPB draws our attenti on to the role of subjective norms and the intervening construct of intentions, which in this case are the enabling and reinforcing factors as intervened by predisposing factors, which are useful additions to the network of variables that interact to influence safety behaviors. Why human factor should be related to safety behavior? Employee with high level of reinforcing and enabling factors will reflect a highly awareness (predisposing) employee. On the other hand, safety behavior is regarded as desirable among employees. So, we can expect that employees with high level of enabling and reinforcing factors that mediated by predisposing factors should be related positively to safety behavior. Meanwhile, SMEs in Malaysia continue to face many challenges both traditionally and new challenges. Previous studies by Watfa, Awan and Goodson (1998) showed that occupational safety and health conditions at the small medium enterprises (SMEs) were a cause for concern. One of the many challenges that SMEs face is the high workplace accidents rate which may reflect badly to the way safety and workers well-being are being handled by Malaysian SMEs. It is further supported by the Director General of Department Occupational Safety and Health Malaysia (DOSH), Che Man (2010) who estimated about 80 to 90 percent of the accidents reported to workmen compensation scheme (SOCSO) is from SMEs. Also, the Chairman of National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Thye (2009), studies showed that the occurrence of diseases and sickness in workplace were partly due to improper use of personal protective equipment, from selection of such equipment to its washing or disposal. He also s tated that almost 70% of all occupational diseases are due to chemical exposure, which results in problems like skin diseases, poisoning and respiratory disorders (Thye, 2009). The enforcement of applicable occupational safety and health legislation is also often limited to large enterprises due to inadequate inspection capacity of the SMEs by the competent authorities. Thus, millions of workers in SMEs are not sufficiently protected by the existing legislation. In addition, workers in informal sectors are often out of reach of most of safety and health programs. Hence, given the importance of safety behaviors among employees working with SMEs, this study will focuses on examining the effect of human factors; enabling and reinforcing factors mediated by predisposing factor on safety behaviors. This study is relevant in order to investigate the extent of safety implementation in manufacturing setting in particular in SMEs. In focusing on the human factors, the consequences in their aftermath also have to be considered. It is to see how they cope with them when its occurred. Any perspective should not to be overlooked when it deals with human factors because as stated earlier human play an important role in causing an accident at the workplace. Research Questions Whether dimensions of reinforcing factors (communications, societal influences and modeling) are related with safety behavior? Whether dimensions of enabling factors (resources, policies and skills) are related with safety behavior? Whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) mediated the relationship between the reinforcing factors (communications, societal influences and modeling) and safety behavior? Whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) mediated the relationship between the enabling factors (resources, policies and skills) and safety behavior? Research Objectives Generally, the purpose of the study is to find out whether the human factors will influence the safety behavior at SMEs. To identify whether dimensions of reinforcing factors (communications, societal influences and modeling) are related with safety behavior. To study whether dimensions of enabling factors (resources, policies and skills) are related with safety behavior. To examine whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) are related with safety behavior. To examine whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) mediated the relationship between the reinforcing factors (communications, societal influences and modeling) and safety behavior. To evaluate whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) mediated the relationship between the enabling factors (resources, policies and skills) and safety behavior. Scope of the Study The scope of the study is focusing on the human factors that will influence safety measures at SMEs in Northern area. It will focus on two main factors that influenced workers safety behavior mediated by predisposing factors. The factors are predisposing, reinforcing, enabling. Besides, the researcher also found other variables that are communication or co-ordination problems and poor social climates. These variables are not being used in this study because it is unsuitable with the working environment at SMEs in Northern area. The population for this study includes the SMEs in Northern area employees who are working in manufacturing sector. Significance of the study Generally, this study will help to improve the safety behavior at the workplace but it will also increase SMEs knowledge and perception towards safety behavior. Furthermore, it will also help to improve the safety implementation at their company. This research also can help SMEs to understand factors that contribute to the accidents and develop control strategies to prevent accidents happened at the workplace. To ensure the safety environment and culture at the workplace, employees need to be educate about the human factors that related to their behaviors in order to prevent accident and work related injuries. It is important for the employees to aware that accident can be prevented if they are really working forward to it. Finally, it can also contribute to an academic knowledge for future researcher where it is expected to highlight the relationship between human factors and safety behavior. Definition of Key Terms Safety behavior can be defined as personal actions that prevent physical injury to self (Nursing Outcome Classifications, 2009). Human factors is defined as environmental, organizational and job factors, and human and individual characteristics which influence behavior at work in a way which can affect health and safety (Health and Safety Executive, 1999) Predisposing factors are the characteristics of the individual such as belief, attitudes and values that facilitate or hinder self-protective behavior. Predisposing factors are conceptualized as providing the motivation for a specific behavior (Subramaniam, 2004). Reinforcing factors involve any reward or punishment that follows or is anticipated as a consequence of the behavior (Subramaniam, 2004). Enabling factors are defined as factors antecedent to behavior that allow motivation or aspiration that is to be realized (Subramaniam, 2004). Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) are separately defined by SMIDEC. Small sized business is a business establishment with an annual sales turnover of not more than RM10 million and which employs not more than 50 full time workers while medium sized business is a business establishment with an annual sales turnover of between RM10 million and RM25 million and which employs more than 150 full-time workers. Conclusion This chapter has placed of introduction, problem statement, companys background, research questions, research objectives, significance of the study, and limitations of the study and organizations of the study. The next chapter will tackle the previous literature related to this study such as safety behavior, predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction The literature review discussed about all the variables in this research study, which is predisposing factors, reinforcing factors and enabling factors. It is important in order to study the human factors that will influence the safety measures at the workplace. This is also to provide overview from the past research that related to this study. The researcher is using the secondary data as their resources. The literature reviews are used to develop theoretical framework and hypothesis of the study. It also exists in synthesizing the methodology as well as findings. Safety Behavior Hassan, Basha and Hanafi (2007) stated that safety behavior is reflected by good attitude. They also stressed out that many incidents/accidents that occurred in the workplace especially in the building construction sites were due to inadequate adherence of workers to work procedures. Therefore, the interactive relationship between peoples behavior, their attitudes and perceptions they hold, and the situation or environment in workplace should be taken into account (Dedobbeleer et al, 1991). Much of this literature has focused on the concept of safety culture (safety climate), defined as the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the organizations safety performance (Health and Safety Commission, 1993, p.23). Rasmussen (1990) expresses concern that despite the growing complexity, size and change in todays technical system, they continue to depend on human involvement for their safe operation. Granot (1998), stated that industrial disaster is truly about people and their behavior. Hale and Glendon (1987) cited the Confederation of British Industry phrase the root of the problem is human behavior. Human Factors Health and Safety Executive (1999) in its publication Reducing Error and influencing behavior has defined human factors as environmental, organizational and job factors, and human and individual characteristics that influence behavior at work in a way, which can affect health and safety. Attention towards human factors role in accident causation has increased recent years and it can be seen by the evolution of models accident causation (DeJoy, 1990). It is important in order to understand the impact of human factors in causing an accident at the workplace. DeJoy (1996) in his study has developed a human factors model that consists three categories of causal factors that consists predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors and he also provide a control strategies that include in his model: engineering, self protection, and organizational management. Subramaniam (2004) then, adopt this model to study the relationship between human factors and fire safety behavior and lifestyle at re sidential colleges in a local Malaysian university. Eventhough he is adopted DeJoys human factors model, he does not include the control strategies and only study a direct relationship between human factors and fire safety behavior and lifestyle. Hence this study will modified the model in order to provide a more comprehensive model in understanding the human behavior at the workplace. Predisposing Factors According to Subramaniam (2004), person characteristics such as belief, attitudes and values are predisposing factors that facilitate or hinder self-protective behavior. He also stated that predisposing factors can be conceptualized by providing a motivation for a specific behavior. Predisposing factors consists items such as knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions (Subramaniam, 2004). Knowledge Knowledge agreed well defined as an organized combination of ideas, rules, procedures and information (Subramaniam, 2004). Safety and health knowledge takes on particular importance to workers, especially for the manual workers. Inadequate safety knowledge, pointing to deficiencies with education and training engaging in unsafe acts and the actions, behavior, capabilities and communication of the work team are affected by or shaped by their attitudes, motivations, knowledge, skills, supervision, health and fatigue (Haslam, Hide, Gibb, Gyi, Pavitt, Atkinson and Duff, 2004). Attitudes Most of the researchers agreed that attitudes are also one of the main roots that cause the way how the individual behave. Glendon and Mc Kenna (1995) suggests that attitudes are related to safe and unsafe behaviors. It is agreed that the attitudes will facilitate on how the individual will react or behave. Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) also agreed that attitudes are learned, involved a tendency to act and are consistent and specific to particular stimuli. The current study found that worker safety attitudes (workers concern for safety conflict between productions and safety) was significantly predictive for unsafe behaviors, but only the latter was predictive of workplace accident (Clarke, 2004). Gellor (2001) has investigated the safety triad theory in which he thought that maintaining a continuous process to three domains, which are environment, person, and behavior. Person will reflect the competency of a worker where as the behavior illustrates the attitudes of workers in carrying o ut job safely (Gellor, 2001). Beliefs Beliefs can be concluded as individual strong feeling that something true and real. Mullen (2004) emphasize that individual tend to believe that it is acceptable to continue to engage in unsafe behavior due to the overly optimistic belief that they are immune to or greatly underestimate (Chapin, 2001) the risks associated with the behavior. It can be indicate that an individual feels secure on the routine they had gone through. The individual beliefs that it wont happen to me has been found to be a reason of the unsafe behavior (Mullen, 2004). Perceptions Granot (1998) emphasize that resignation to fate in certain traditional cultures makes it harder to mitigate dangers in some societies than in others. Individual perceived accidents as fate or it is written in their journey of life in some religion supported by Granot (1998) that event occurred is the role of destiny in some Mediterranean cultures, the will of Allah among Muslims or Karma in Hindu Tradition. Reinforcing Factors Reinforcing factors involve any reward or punishment that follows or is anticipated as consequences of the behavior (Subramaniam, 2004). According to Subramaniam (2004), reinforcing factors involved items such as feedback, societal influences, societal opportunities, modeling, and repercussion. In this study, researcher has considered to analyze only three items that is feedback, societal influences, and modeling. It is because previous study by Mullen (2004) has revealed these factors (feedback, societal influences, and modeling) has become the most influenced factors towards safety behavior (Mullen, 2004) Feedback/Communications Zohar (2002) argues that supervisors who demonstrate greater individualized consideration in their supervisory practices encourage open, informal safety communication, which in turns affects injury rate. Researchers agreed that an open conversation between co-workers, supervisor and management about safety issue will lead to the safety behavior. Ineffective communication regarding safety issues occurs between workers within an organization as well as between workers and subcontractors often found to be a factor in the cause of workplace accidents (Ayers and Kleiner, 2000). Hassan et.al (2007) in his analysis of study stated that line management involvement such as relationship with worker, talk on safety and advice on safety matter is related to the workers safety behavior and motivation. According to Cudworth (2010) in her articles on positive impact of communication on safety at Shell stated that communications within the organization plays the vital role to ensure the safety perfo rmance is at the zero level. Societal influences Many of the relevant definitions of safety culture emphasis share attitudes, values and beliefs and stress the interactions with the organizations safety structures and control systems and appropriate behavioral norms (Reason, 1998; Uttal, 1983). Furnham (1997) explains that in terms of the societal, environmental, and historical influence on the organization or group; for example, the evolution of an organization might have some effect on its culture. It means that the environment of work also give effects towards safety behavior. For example, co-workers, supervisor views on the safety itself whether they are concern or not. Modeling It was perceived by the individual that they had to experience some type of shock or close call that would raise their awareness of safety and make them realize the potential consequences of unsafe behavior (Mullen, 2004). It means that from the events that already occurred, it will develop self-protective behavior to inhibits accidents from happen to themselves. Mullen (2004) again stated that management and co-workers play major roles to the workers whether an individual will engaged in unsafe behavior. It shows that individual action also depends on what they saw on other behave and finally it became their norms of working procedures whether it is safe or unsafe. Enabling Factors Subramaniam (2004)has defined enabling factors as factors antecedent to behavior that allow motivation or aspiration that is to be realized. He has classified enabling factors into four items, which are resources, access, policies, and skills. Therefore, the researcher has adopt three items (resources, policies and skills) from the models for further investigation. Resources The desired goal of a safety program cannot be achieved when resources are lacking. An effective safety program is the result of a commitment by top management to give an appropriate level of resources. Management must consider and allocate sufficient resources to carry out day-to-day activities in order to accomplish short and long-term goals (Aksorn et al., 2007). Resources can be considered as the tools and equipment such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and machinery provided by the management to help them carry their works properly. All equipment tends to wear out with use and requires careful monitoring. Many industrial disaster result from equipment failure (Granot, 1998). Policies Safety does not have to come at a price. When there are cost implications, regulatory bodies and trade associations need to work to make sure there is a level playing field with respect to tendering (Haslam et al., 2005). Developing a safety policy is one of the crucial tasks faced by the company because all the rules and procedures are dealt with their employees. It is important to make sure that the policy are really works and became one of the agents to prevent accident at the workplace. Clarke (2006) suggests that safety interventions need to focus on how individuals perceive their immediate work environment as well as improving safety policy and procedures. Skills Skills are the most crucial items to be deeply looking to ensure that the risk of workers to get involved in the occupational accident can be reduce and behave towards safety. Goldenhar, Williams, and Swanson (2003) found a significant direct effect between job certainty and self-reported occupational injuries and/or near misses for a sample of construction workers. A lack of job clarity may have a direct effect on injuries as this leads to the individual operating in unfamiliar situations, increasing the likelihood of accidents (Hemingway and Smith, 1999). Relationship between Predisposing Factors and Safety Behavior Predisposing factors as mentioned earlier includes knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and personality. According to Subramaniam (2004) in his research findings, predisposing factors significantly are positively correlated with the fire safety behavior. Eventhough the study are focusing on the fire safety behavior, the relationship are still relevant to be measured in the safety behavior. Inadequate education and training contributed to approximately 70 percent of a sample of construction accidents studied as a research report published by the HSE (2003b). Attitudes also play a major role in predispose the safety behavio

John Pappajohn :: essays research papers

John Pappajohn was born July 31, 1928 in St. Luke's Greece to George and Maria Pappajohn. His father was a U.S. citizen and thus he is a U.S. citizen by birthright. He immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 9 months with his mother and they joined his father in Mason City. Iowa. In 1961, he married Mary L. Limberis of Minneapolis, Minnesota and the two of them have a daughter, Ann Pappajohn, who resides in New York. Mr. Pappajohn attended Mason City public schools and then attended the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, and received a bachelor's degree in business in 1952. Upon graduation from college, he started his own insurance business. In 1962, he moved to Des Moines and organized the Guardsman Life Insurance Company. He was Chairman of the Board of Guardsman Insurance from 1962 to 1969, at which time he sold his interest and dedicated himself full time to venture capital investments. He organized Equity Dynamics Inc. in 1969 and continues as its President today. He also organized Pappajohn Capital Resources (a venture capital fund) in 1969. Pappajohn Capital Resources is well known on Wall Street as a venture capital fund primarily investing in high tech, medical and healthcare projects. He has over 35 portfolio companies in his fund and has averaged over 68% annual return on investments for over 25 years. At the present time, he serves as director on the following company Boards: Radiologix, Inc., Dallas, TX PACE Health Systems Inc., Des Moines, IA Allion Healthcare, Inc., Huntington Station, NY Logisticare, Atlanta, GA Patient Infosystems, Inc., Rochester, NY MC Informatics, Inc., Irvine, CA. He has served as director in over 40 public companies and also serves as a director for many private companies. He is a member of many professional organizations including The Society of Financial Analysts, Association for Corporate Growth, National Association of Corporate Directors and the Association for Investment Management and Research. He was a Horatio Alger Award recipient in 1995 and serves as a member of the Board of Directors and on the Executive Committee for the Horatio Alger Association. He also is on the Board of Trustees for Anatolia College in Thessaloniki, Greece, the University of Iowa Foundation Board of Trustees, Iowa City, IA., and formerly a Trustee for Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, MA. He was named Iowa Business Leader of the Year in 1992 and was inducted into the Iowa Business Hall of Fame in 1996. He served as a member of the Advisory Board for the J.F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. He was initially appointed by President Ronald Reagan and re-appointed by President George Bush.

The Character of Marco in A View from the Bridge Essay -- View from th

The Character of Marco in A View from the Bridge After reading Arthur Miller's play "A view from the bridge," I am convinced that the most striking character is Marco. He is an Italian immigrant that moved illegally to the United States with his brother Rodolpho to work as longshoremen, since at the time (the play was written in 1955) his country of origin, Italy, was going through a major economic depression because of the outcome of World War II. In the play, we are told that Marco's plan is to make enough money to survive and be able to send some of that money to his wife and his three kids back in Italy, who are starving. Marco physically resembles the Sicilian stereotype, with dark skin and dark hair. He is also very strong and he could easily "load the whole ship by himself."(pg.541) In this play, the author uses plot, dialog, actions and symbolism to emphasize Marco's honor which, in my opinion, is his prominent characteristic. Throughout the play, we can clearly see that the plot helps us develop Marco's character in our imagination. For example, he is an illegal alien, and this might give the reader a less honorable view of him, and it might justify Eddie's action. But the fact that Marco left his family to give them support and to save his oldest son who is "sick in the chest," (pg. 535) makes the reader forget about his illegal stay and makes his status rise to the one of a hero. In this play, Marco's actions lead us to the discovery of a violent side which he uses to defend his honor in a number of occasions. For example, when he challenges Eddie to lift... ...e for mocking Rodolpho. But only in the second act his character is fully exposed and we see his image transform into a round character. In this play, Marco is portrayed as the victim, since he hasn't done anything to Eddie but he still gets arrested. In addition, although his brother Rodolpho gets away with it by marrying Catherine, he has no other choice but to go back to his hungry wife and sick children in Italy. This thoughts, and knowing that Eddie has no regrets for what he has done makes him furious, and at the end of the play he seeks revenge. I belive this play would not be complete without this character. If Marco would have not existed, it would have left Eddie unpunished and alive, and this would be in conflict with the very conception of drama which drives this works.

Adolf Hitler Essay example -- Biography

Adolf Hitler was born and raised in Austria. From the early start of his life he had a very brutal look on life. When he moved to Munich his life on the streets worsened his views. In the 30s he moved to seize power and make Germany a dictatorship. After becoming Dictator he used his powers to cleanse the nation. His racial views on life and brutal tactics made Germany a world Power. Hitler was born on the eve of April 20th 1889. He had two sisters and a brother. The first three children of his mom Ida Hitler died shortly after their birth. There are few records about Hitler’s first years in Braunau Austria. His own book Mein Kamph gave little detail and they are based on translations (Kershaw 3). He was born to Alois and Klara Hitler. They moved around from time to time to different small farm towns in Austria (Adolf Hitler 3). One day while his father was eating breakfast he collapsed and died. Years later in 1907 his mom died, he then dropped out of high school and headed to Vienna Italy (Adolf Hitler 3). He went to realize his dream of being a painter. He applied to the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts hoping to realize his vision. His paintings got him into the exam but he didn’t score high enough to get in (Adolf Hitler 3). He lived painting and sketching in low taverns while living on the streets (Adolf Hitler1). In 1913 he traveled to Munich. At first he was living on the streets going day to day doing odd jobs. Then he wound up in a men’s home. This is where his Nationalist and Anti- Semitic views skyrocketed (Adolf Hitler1). He developed his first education in politics by studying the Demagogic techniques of Christian Social Mayor Karl Lugar (Adolf Hitler1). This view was brutal and was about keeping the German race pur... ...ermany Hitler’s top officials plotted an assassination attempt, they failed and were all shot. Hitler hired new officials and told them that there Germans were to fight to the death. He holed up in Berlin with the remainder of the Third Reich. The Allied forces stormed the city from all sides and soon the Reich fell. Before they broke the defenses Hitler married his love Eva Braun and a day later the both slaughtered themselves. This brought a end to what is referred to as Germanys darkest days (Adolf Hitler2). Hitler was one of the most brilliant strategists of all time. He was a good leader and rallied his troops although his intentions weren’t noble. He moved Germany from depression and a time of crisis to a formidable force. When Hitler died it put an end to a oppressive tyranny. In Germany today the holocaust isn’t taught because of those dark days.

Band of Brothers Essay

The book title, â€Å"Band of Brothers,† by Stephen E. Ambrose is a book that shares the risky undertaking and hazardous experience that the United States Army had to go through in World War 2. Bravery is an understatement when describing the men of East Company’s personalities. The book really helps the reader describe the relationships and friendships that were either directly or indirectly developed as a result of going to war. From the extremely brutal training, to the depths of enemy territory, these men developed a brotherhood that only can come about as a result of extreme situations such as preparing and training for war, as well as World War 2 itself. This book not only describes Easy Company but other military veterans or active service members can relate to the situations described in the book. First of all, the book’s title describes things very accurately. Like most military divisions, Easy Company which was a part of the 101st Airborne Division in the Army, had to go through an exhausting basic training course in Camp Toccoa in Georgia. This alone is going to establish bonds and friendships among the young men participating in this training, whether they are looking for a buddy or not. Much of Easy Company already had an unspoken brotherhood before they even came into basic training. Many of these men had grown up in the terrible time of the depression and many of them had something in common. During Easy Company’s time in basic training, they not only had to compete with their selves, but with other militaries. â€Å"A day or so before leaving Toccoa, Colonel Sink read an article in the Reader’s Digest that said a Japanese Army battalion had set a world record for marching endurance by covering 100 miles down the Malayan Peninsula in seventy-two hours. (p. 28)† Colonel Sink wanted to top the Japanese’s achievement so he ordered his men to do better. This was a very miserable journey and test for Easy Company but they accomplished more than the Japanese Army had. War in itself is a competition but this book also examines with detail, the miniature competitions that occurred during World War 2. This march helped bring the soldiers together even closer and it also gave them the confidence and conditioning they needed to go into the brutal battles of World War 2. Most importantly, trust develops between these men because they are confident that they have well trained soldiers going into battle with them and not people that are going to drag their feet. â€Å"They were prepared to die for each other; more important, they were prepared to kill for each other (Pg. 1). The first battle which was the invasion of Normandy proved to be an eye opener that would just only strengthen the bond and brotherhood that Easy Company had. The pure terror of landing in Normandy and facing the Nazi German in a low vision area was at this point, the ultimate test to see if the training they bared in Camp Toccoa was good enough. With bullets flying and loud bangs disrupting their hearing, many of the men could not locate the rest of the group. Winters helped to organize and reunite a few men so they could have a better chance against the Germans by sticking together. Even though men were lost, Lieutenant Winters proved in a small victory that Easy Company was a highly trained group of soldiers that could get the job done in defeating the Nazis. Winters achieved this with a small group of soldiers as well. â€Å"The attack was a unique example of a small, well-led assault force overcoming and routing a much larger defending force in prepared positions (Pg. 84). † Even though this gruesome battle was an eye opener to the horrors of war, Easy Company’s soldiers were described as confident, had a will to survive and a sense of pride.

Mahatma Gandhi and his non-violent struggle

Mahatma Gandhi and his non-violent struggle against the British Empire was a result of the political situation in India. Prior to World War II, the world has witnessed the rise of the Soviet Union in terms of political and military power. We also saw the rise of popular national liberation movements across the colonized world. In most colonies, the way of gaining independence from Western colonialism has been through the waging of armed revolutions, such as the struggle of the Chinese and the Malaysians, led by Mao Tsetung and Sukarno, respectively. However, such a type of struggle for Indian independence was essentially difficult in Indian society where a strict and clearly defined caste system was in place. The caste system hindered the creation of unity of Indians as a united people while transcending class divisions. More so, divisions between the ranks of the Indian people became more pronounced as fighting between rightist Hindu fundamentalists and left-wing communists never stopped, with both espousing violent means of securing Indian independence. All of these confused the majority of a people who continued to wallow in poverty and desolation. In all of these, Mahatma Gandhi emerged to present an alternative viewpoint, a seeming middle-ground between the pro-people radicalism of the left and the religious conservatism of the right. Related article: Favoring Pragmatism Over Principle It was founded on the principle of non-violent struggle. It dismantled all previous ideas that political power comes from the barrel of a gun. Gandhi turned the idea of revolution on its head and succeeded in doing so. While a major factor for their triumph was the waning power of the British empire after World War II, their struggle through non-violent means inspired other civil libertarians the world over to give peace and non-violent struggle a chance prior to the taking of arms. As can be seen from above, Mahatma Gandhi was clearly faced with almost immense tasks, particularly leading the Indian people in the path to independence, despite the power of the British Empire and the ethnic tensions evident in Indian society. At a time when almost the entire colonial peoples of the world were engaged in armed struggle, Gandhi decisively implemented his idea of non-violent struggle to force the British Empire to recognize their demands for sovereignty and independence. He utilized creative forms of protest, such as the non-payment of taxes, peaceful marches to the sea, even if these actions were met with brutal force by British security forces. One of the great things about Gandhi was his ability to present his vision of a free and independent India to the masses in very simple terms which could be clearly understood and grasped. More so, he fully understood that Indian culture was still basically rooted in Hinduism. He believed that the application of foreign theories such as Marxism and nationalism might isolate the independence movement from the vast majority of the people. He was also a very simple man, who embraced the entire cross-section of Indian society, even the so-called untouchables, to the extent of earning the ire of the elite Brahmin caste. As such, his own person was a concrete mobilizing force to move the Indian people into action and determine their destiny. On the other hand, a minor weakness of his leadership was the seeming personality cult that ensued even years after his death. This is shown by the absence of second-liners to continue his work in building a just and peaceful Indian society. While all the mass actions were joined by Indians from different castes, the focus was always primarily on Gandhi’s thoughts and decisions. Such a personality-based leadership, while effective in inspiring people into action, cannot work in the long-term insofar as empowering the people and sustaining the gains of Indian independence. This is due to the lack of a concrete organizational structure to effectively implement the ideas of Gandhi. Lastly, Mahatma seemed to favor speaking in very mystical and vague language, which tends to confuse his followers as to the exact meaning of what he wants to articulate. Nonetheless, his leadership style was still very effective in mobilizing almost a billion people to demand their independence from the British Empire. Being a charismatic leader, he used his gift of astute yet mystical articulation to convince all sectors of Indian society about the necessity of seeking independence. The clearness of vision and objectives, and the creativity of his means of action of pursuit of these goals, were also indispensable factors of his success in leadership. More so, his propensity for personal sacrifice, at the cost of his life and liberty, in pursuit of his goals are very high on the list of his outstanding leadership qualities. Years of imprisonment and the beatings he received from the British security forces did not deter him from continuing his leadership. This is a crucial part of his leadership style, especially when not many leaders in the world are prepared to do sacrifices like such. Usually, leaders are hidden above their ivory towers and palaces, to the extent of alienating themselves from the people they serve. Gandhi, however, was different, as he was like the common everyman, save that it was his leadership of commitment and sacrifice that helped his people achieve independence. In terms of my own personal leadership style, I accede to the leadership traits of Gandhi, in terms of his clarity of vision and propensity for sacrifice. In any organization, these are very fundamental because these will determine how the followers will appreciate their role in the organization. If the vision and goals are clear, the followers can quantitatively measure, in a given amount of time, the progress of the organization and their individual development as well, relative to the vision and objectives. It ensures that the organization does not operate in limbo, without any purpose or necessity of existence. Gandhi’s propensity for sacrifice can also be incorporated in my leadership style. It is important for followers to see and realize that the leader himself is willing to lay himself on the line in pursuit of the vision and goals of the organization. Such a leadership trait reassures the followers that the leader is serious about the success and development of the organization and dismantles notions that the leader’s only interest is to make his people follow orders and deliver results. However, my leadership style differs with Gandhi insofar as adopting a pragmatic and realistic view on plans and actions. I would accede more, in this regard, to the Leninist maxim of â€Å"concrete analysis of concrete conditions†, instead of the Gandhian mode of relying heavily on a notion of non-violence in the face of difficult odds, as I still contend that the success of Gandhi and his movement was also based on external factors (e.g. British losses after World War II) than his non-violence alone. I even surmise that without the world wars and the decline of the British Empire, his non-violent movement would never have been successful. Nonetheless, the above mentioned leadership traits of Gandhi are included in my notion of the ideal leader – clarity of vision and goals, and propensity for sacrifice. In analyzing situations and challenges, and making decisions, it must include the Leninist maxim of â€Å"concrete analysis of concrete conditions†, without, of course, prejudicing the principles and objectives inherent in the organization. A leader must always seek to create candor and camaraderie among his followers, to drive home the point that no unseen barrier exists between them. More importantly, the leader must always seek ways of empowering his people and training new second liners, based on the idea that leaders, no matter how great they are, will always have to step down and be replaced by new blood. If possible, the leader must shun micro-managing the affairs of the organization, especially when competent persons have been assigned to ensure the success of projects and goals. However, while being democratic and consultative as possible, the leader must exercise full control of the more important decisions of the organization, based on the notion that his experience and vision will always be beneficial for the future of the organization. Works Cited: 1. Gandhi, M. (1962). Essential Gandhi. Edited by Louis Fischer. New York: Vintage   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Books.