Now, it has come to my ridiculous attention that a really big conflict is taking place as I am blogging right now.
The sad part, like all wars, this conflict actually is like any other game. It is a game that you need to pull people into your sides. Obviously, you are either winning or you are losing. And to me, it is a huge embarrassment. It is like running around in your undergarments in your neighbourhood. Not to put any fear into any of you, but people are actually talking more about you. People are staring, making observations, perceptions, more hatred, more unity. It really depends which side you are on.
Perceptions are born, bred and raised. For someone who does not have any idea about who you are in their previous life, the way you act in such a conflict is acceptable enough for individuals or society to stereotype you in a certain way.
For some, you are their inspiration. You stood up for your rights, you truly believe in what you are fighting for and that since there is a cause to fight, why not battle for it?
Now, I am in no position to be the negotiator or a jury here. I will not and shall not pick any sides. Like all sane humans we are, why not sit down and seek solutions?
Find the problem of where it could possibly went wrong? Get witnesses, pretenders(pretenders here is a noun mind you). Others that could actually cause the conflict. I am sure it is not just 2 heads clash without a third party.
Posted at » 7:49 AM
Saturday, November 08, 2008
The Classical Approach
Max Weber, a man with great sociological vision, had made significant contributions under the subject management. He was firm in his theories of bureaucratic management, in which he put forth the real and true structure of organisations in the midst of the post industrial revolution. In the most hilarious of terms, his study was not based on an organisation in an active manufacturing industrial landscape in Western Germany. Weber opted to study Germany's governmental bureaucracy---
the Weltpolitik.(Please note that the regime of Weltpolitik is as aggresive as those under Hitler's regime. However, some historians do point out that this regime could possibly be the most war-driven empire in modern Europe.)
Weber's definition of bureaucracy was largely based on formal hierachy, with this underlying framework of systems and rules, which were to ensure the permanence of the organisation, even though jobs within it might change.
The main characteristics of bureaucracy are
: rules and regulations
: impersonality
: division of labour
: hierarchical structure
: life-long career commitment
: authority structure
: rationality
Bureaucracy is everywhere. In fact, it is a simplistic idea. Common sense suggest that a new recruit, probably on the first day, have no single right to just barge in the doors of his CEO or his directors. All organisations have their own defined structure and the procedures to follow. Any individual that had been employed by an organisation before might have heard the term "chain of command" before. That itself is not a law, it is a standing order. It simply paints the harsh reality of organisations, although humanitarians suggest that
ALL MAN ARE THE SAME.Weber developed his ideas by considering three different forms of authority. Charisma---the power position is kept through the strength of an individual personality via his merits. Tradition--is also consistently linked to nepotism where the position of authority arises out of custom or birthright. Legal rational authority--where the power position is based on impersonal rules and laws that apply to all, that is, compliance is due to the office/position rather than the person holding it.
For all its strength in efficiency and predictability, one should never discount the negative aspect of Weber's theory. For instance, nepotism and class conciousness tended to influence career advancement rather than ability. In the case of a government, it could possibly result in concentration of power where the ideals of freedom and bureaucracy might be threatened here.
Moreover, Bennis(1966) suggests that bureaucratic ideals are perhaps not so viable in the late 20th Century.
The weaknesses of a bureacracy is quite stark actually. For one, an organisation would be slow to react to changing economic environment and hence could stagger their process of expansion.
As bureaucracy focus on a very rigid system and patterns of work, staffs within such organisation would go through routine tasks repeatedly. There would be very little development and retraining of staff, and as expectedly, staff turnover rate would be high within a bureaucratic organisation.
Other theories to look into.
1) Scientific Management
2) Administrative Management
3)Human Relations Theory
Posted at » 9:25 PM
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Personality.
In almost all management studies, probably the easiest of them all is the topic on personality. Unlike most classical theorists like Henri Fayol and Max Weber that emphasised on the issues of efficiency,profits and bureaucratization, many of the new schools of thought in both management studies and sociology have emphasised on the human factor within an organisation. Most importantly, as we move on in time, the issue here is no longer concerned with the efficiency of the production line itself, but on a more "human-approach" basis.
Question is: How do we make the most out of the people under us?
Mankind have the unprecedented advantage of technology within its grasp and for that, it has done wonders to the evolutionary of men. But in most cases, a machine will remain a useless item if its not being properly cropped up and used. Thus, there is always the cliche of finding the best man for the best job and in most cases, managers only look out for one thing--Personality.
A very sound definition of personality. A man's personality is his psychological patterns of behaviour, his organisational dynamics and how he responds or behaves in a particular situation. His personality affects how he interact with others. To simplify the idea of personality, it is actually the personal characteristics that determines his behaviour.
To distinguish personality between individuals, an interesting aspect is to look what really shapes one's personality. One of the 4 personality determinants is heredity. The issue on heredity, while emphasising on its importance as it has links to nature, cannot fully explain an indivdual's personality. Scientists have known for years that traits such as eye color and hair color are determined by specific genes encoded in each human cell. The Nature Theory takes things a step further to say that more abstract traits such as intelligence, personality, aggression, and sexual orientation are also encoded in an individual's DNA.
While not discounting that genetic tendencies may exist, supporters of the nurture theory believe they ultimately don't matter - that our behavioral aspects originate only from the environmental factors of our upbringing. Studies on infant and child temperament have revealed the most crucial evidence for nurture theories. American psychologist John Watson, best known for his
controversial experiments with a young orphan named Albert, demonstrated that the acquisition of a phobia could be explained by classical conditioning. Harvard psychologist B. F. Skinner's early experiments produced pigeons that could dance, do figure eights, and play tennis. Today known as the father of behavioural science, he eventually went on to prove that
human behavior could be conditioned in much the same way as animals.
So, was the way we behave engrained in us before we were born? Or has it developed over time in response to our experiences? Researchers on all sides of the nature vs nurture debate agree that the link between a gene and a behaviour is not the same as cause and effect. While a gene may increase the likelihood that you'll behave in a particular way, it does not make people do things. Which means that we still get to choose who we'll be when we grow up.
The other essential factor linked to the construction of an individual's personality is mass media. Mass media is a potent instrument in this new millennium where its influences stretch from biased newspaper reports to superficial magazine issues and from the internet to even propaganda podcasts on ipods. Its most astounding aspect bears from its ability to make believe nifty tabloid celebrities into important political figures in society. Just take a look at Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera to name a few. The way most of these celebrities are dressed and their lifestyles were well potrayed by tabloid journalists like the Papparazzis. Mass media drains society. It promotes the idea of "new materialism" in society. The new human race is all about being a fashionista and getting them expensive handbags or shoes.
But, let us not leave out the good side of mass media. Some media in fact makes the society think and engage in a constant debate. For instance, the road to the US presidential election have cropped up issues like gay marriage and restructuring the tax system within the country itself. Harvard Bussiness Review, Herald Tribune and British Broadcasting Channel are just some incredibly important sources in when it comes to reports in the bussiness world.
In conclusion, personality is a socially constructed agenda and it is constantly changing, depending mainly on our environment, culture and influences. Our peer groups, could well affect our personality as well. Hence, the need to look out for and adapt to new social groups is enormously important.
p.s---this thread is hanging, thus there is a need to redraft it. At the moment, I shall just post it.
Posted at » 2:15 AM
Thursday, October 23, 2008
theories and theorising
Positivism and positivists.Positivist, created by August Comte(father of sociology), argued that the natural world and the scientific world have distinct similarities. Hence, it is due to the framework of positivism that the early sociological studies is based scientifically. Positivist aims to be objective and value free in their research. Their main research design is based on empiricism. In other words, empiricism is a systematic collection of evidence which promotes transparency and reliability. Durkheim's famous study on suicide is widely regarded as the best example to show the study of empiricism. He used official statistics and compared the suicide rates of different country before formulating a theoretical approach on his study. His study is important becauseBesides that, positivist do embark to explain the patterns of society through social causation and from a deterministic point of view. "Social causation" refers to the idea that a change in one aspect of a society could affect other parts of the society. Positivism sees the social word as--like the NATURAL WORLD, as compromising phenomenon that are causally related. For example, during an economic recession, the inevitable outcome is increasing unemployment and economic deprivation which leads to crimes and social disorder. In the case of determinism, positivists believes that the individual has no free will or choice and that society actually shapes the mindset and the way we think.Like all theories, positivism have had its fair share of criticisms and limitations. As sociology develops into a major discipline, many sociologist feels that the study of society could be theorised in other intellectual ways. For example, Max Weber, a German sociologists, argued that the principle and methods of natural sciences have little or no application the study of society. His other view is that people are reflexive in nature and try to make sense of the situation they are in. Most importantly, nature and society are completely different from each other and sociologist in fact studies people/individuals, unlike the matter studied by scientists.Such views brought about a new school of thought-----interpretivism. Interpretivism essentially determines to find the subjective views of each social action theory. Recall that the ontological position of Max Weber. Unlike other classical sociologists, Weber preaches on the concept of social action. This will be discussed later in this essay. Studying human beings, however, is different from observing events in the physical world and sociology should not be seen as directly as natural science. Unlike objects in nature, humans are self aware beings who confer sense and purpose on what they do. We can't even describe social life accurately unless we first grasp the concepts that people apply in their behaviour. For instance, to describe a death as a suicide means knowing what the person in question was intending when he died. Suicide can only occur when an individual actively has self destruction in mind. If he accidentally steps in front of a car and is killed, he cannot be said to have committed suicide.
The fact that we cannot study human beings in the exactly same way as objects in nature is in some ways an advantage to sociology. Sociological researchers profit from being able to pose questions directly to those who study--other human beings.----(Giddens 2005)
The yardstick used by intrepretivists is the fundamental difference between the natural world and social world. Their description of the the social world is that it is a meaningful one, and that human societies are essentially subjective realities. Weber further reiterated the point that "natural science' and "social science" are two very different enterprises requiring a different logic and different methods.
Interpretivisits sociologists argue that different meanings require different explanations. A tool used, created by Weber himself, by interpretivists sociologist is VERSTEHEN which refers to the empathetic understanding and as quantitive measure to the social phenomena. Researchers, as far as possible, placed themselves in the position of those they are studying and asked how they see the world and what ends they believe are served by their actions. Weber noted that behaviour that seems the same "from the outside" can have very different meanings when examined from the inside.
For instance, when it comes to the study of crimes, sociologists approach
would begin by understanding criminal from the criminal point of view.
Next topic: Realism, Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx
Posted at » 9:43 AM
Monday, August 11, 2008
possibly the return
I knew it. All my senses knew it and I shall elaborate here. My instincts, my gut feelings, my butterflies in my stomach, my heart, my brain cells, my sixth unknown sense.
All of the above pointed out that I, verily should return to my blog for the second coming.
It had been a wondeful journey throughout when I am not blogging and I would call that "The Period of My Absenteism."
I would point out that during this period had seen radical and absurd changes on the world oil prices, the Malaysian national sex scandal, Obama and the Clintons, the NKF and TT Durai, Olympics, Tibet vs China, the YOUTUBE revolution, streaming pornography, ipods, ishuffle,iphones,hdtvs,bravias and regzas,tsunamis,earthquakes,gay marriages more rampant,prison break, unsung HEROES,hatred for Manchester United grew at an exponential rate,the love to hate, the hate to love of Liverpool, F1 coming to Singapore, inflation, shortage of rice,Power Supply increase electric and water bills by 40%, the discovery of compulsory bills such as "garbage" and the usage of "lifts", the twoface-FACEBOOK, El Nino's romance with the Kop, Brazil's visit to Singapore and Vietnam and so much more...
Thats all for now...
Love my readers...
Posted at » 9:07 AM
possibly the return..
Posted at » 9:07 AM
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Did they really said that? Bite into it.
"I write poems about girls who doesn't exist. They just try to fit in."--CPL Khidhir commenting on his love for writing poems that turned into songs whilst on National Service duty.
"If Pte Abdul Ghani is platoon best, you know there's something wrong somewhere."--Pte Nasruddin and Pte Ashafie reacting when they learned that Pte Abdul Ghani has been voted Platoon Best amongst his commanders.
"I have a won a 15 week cruise to Tekong, daily meals and accomodation provided."--Azmi's initial reaction when he received his call for National Service.
"I think i'll open up a cafe, probably serving sisha as well."--Ismayel explaining his future bussiness strategies.
"I want to be rich.I'll do whatever it takes to be rich"--Ismayel aspiring to be a millionaire someday.
"I think love is still the best cliche ever to indulge ourselves in." Darul Ellia, showing her sentimental side.
"If love is everything, itz a huge worry. Because if you lose love, you have nothing."--anonymous, observing "hostile" relationships amongst teenagers and young adults nowadays.
"Shit happens. Live with it. But please, help me to help you"--Khidhir, advising Ismayel after they conceded another goal. The goalkeeper-sweeper combination had never kept a cleansheet ever since they played together 4 years ago.
"Why am i talking to you? You know im a bit anti-social but why am i talking to you? I have no idea."--Afifa on her relationship with Khidhir.
"If you wanna go for style, you should wear Nike. Your feet cant fit Nike, they are broad. Others should serve you well, but if you just wanna go for style, then go for Nike."--Mr Emerson, a salesman advising Ashafie on what footwear he shouldwear. In the end, Ashafie bought Nike Air Legend as worn by Cesc Fabreagas.
"The is no difference between a sex kitten and a sex machine. I think they just perform the same role in bed."--Khidhir on the raunch culture nowadays that has been rampantly spread to Asia.
"If you cant assemble a team to play at the street soccer, then forget playing at the field. Better, forget playing the beautiful game. Just watch it."-- Ashafie, being advised on how to organise matches.
"If you cant find an icecream place to eat for your date, just buy a tub and eat it at the beach."--Suhaila giving tips on romantic dating.
"To fall in love with someone who smokes and drinks is still a big mystery. But i guess that's why love is a big illusion."--Ameera, on her previous relationship.
"So you think you can dance? Show me and i think you dont."--Former Ketua Budaya Perdayu Tpjc, Siti Farhana while trying to recruit new dancers for the society.
"When it comes to winning, certain things like friendships have to be sacrificed."--Azmi who opts to leave out some of his friends for football tournaments. His philosophy had rewarded him handsomely.
More to come, i promise.
Posted at » 6:52 PM
Saturday, November 18, 2006
yest was history..but a very important one..
It was a moment of silence at one end and a big hoo-hah at the other. This was probably the most appropriate description of yesterday's match at the fields of Marina South.
For a start, respect to the opponents who had put up a great battle nonetheless, but to say we are superior in every department is still susceptible.
Mexican keeper Ismayel Gaizka Sanchez kept his first clean sheet since taking the post at the age 16. It took 4 years 23 days 5 hours and 17 minutes for him to achieve such a feat, but such an achivement could create the platform for a leap of faith. The score stands at 7-0. The 0 was more imporatant here because its the first.
Hats off to the peoples from NCC HQ. It was a great game.
